Paintless Scratch/Dent Repairs
 

So my 900 year old neighbor smacked my passenger door with hers and left two nice dents and a line of scratches (I know, it's totaled). None of them are deep and through the paint, so I took it over to the paintless dent and scratch removal place and they said they can totally remove the dents, remove the lightest scratches, and mostly reduce the deepest ones without any paint work for a little under $200.

How well does this work, particularly for the scratches? I know the dents will be fixed (I've done this before), but how noticeable will the scratches be? Will they become more noticeable as time goes by (they aren't filling anything)?

I have to live next to this lady and she is living off a pension, so I would prefer to have her pay me some token amount (I'll pay the first $100) and have her sign an agreement saying she will be extra careful and if she hits me again, she will have to pay full price. Give her an incentive to actually pay attention. But, if this paint less isn't a viable option - so be it, she will just have to deal with the price of a full repair to sand the clearcoat down and redo it. I've already watched her back into a concrete wall and put a hole in the garage drywall running head-on into it and warned her, so I knew something like this would eventually happen (underground parking, assigned spots, can't move) so I really want to incentivize her to not hit me again (or at least err on the side of hitting my other neighbor instead)

Of all the paintless repair and detailing places, they have the best reputation around and I was referred there by a friend with a much, much more expensive car than me who gets detailing there and had hail damage removed flawlessly (though no scratches).

What do you think?

It actually works really well and their description of the results sounds honest and spot on.
The deep scratches will probably get to a point where you will know they are there but nobody else will notice. You will eventually just ignore them. The rest will be completely gone.

PDR works well.
Signed agreement means nothing if it isn't notarized.
Switch parking spots with her and let the other person deal with it.

I'm in Wisconsin, so they are mostly as polite and honest as your stereotypical Canadian so I wasn't worried about being lied to. Sounds like I'll go this route then.

Plus, I can make the old lady feel bad by saying I'll just live with the scratches in my new-ish and as-of-yesterday flawless sports car because I don't want to make her pay close to $1000 - so long as she is extra careful and doesn't hit me again (the car on the other side is an old JGC, it can take another few dents caused by her "extra care").

Who knows, maybe she will watch my dog or give me some cookies and a nice card for Christmas or something for not being a ****hole about it.

The agreement means absolutely shit - it is just to make her pay more attention. If she knows in the back of her head the nice man next-door saved her a ton of money in return for being careful, it's served it's purpose. I am not going to take and old lady to court over $100 and lose a day's worth of work - I get paid a hell of a lot more for a days worth of work and I don't get a rage boner over principle unless you are an asshole to me.

They are assigned spots and mine is the most difficult to get into. Plus, I save $30/month on it because the HVAC fan hangs above my spot so only an FRS or Miata or somethign would fit. Her boat of a car would never fit under.

In for updates regarding her reaction.

LOL jesus god

Well, first off, I would explain to the old lady what she had done and what marks her door left. She may not even know what she had done.

Next, I'd just get your car fixed and not bother the old lady.

Then I'd invest in something like this ..... especially since you know where and at what angle the flying door might be coming from.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Door-Shox-STANDARD-EDITION-Protection/dp/B000XEFKEE"]Amazon.com: Door Shox (STANDARD EDITION) - Removable Magnetic Car Door Protector, Car Door Guard, Car Door Protection, Door Ding Dent Protector: Automotive[/ame]



If the old lady is struggling to get in and out of her car, she may not be able to completely control her car door.


humfrz

Welp, like they tell a tight rope walker ........ just don't look down ........ :D


humfrz

This...

She told me she would pay for it all (she said she didn't realize it did any damage). I am asking her to pay half of the bill ($90) so she pays attention next time. If she left a note when she hit the car, I would have paid it all and told her to be more careful. She knew she hit it, but chose not to leave a note. Since she owned up to it after she got caught, she has to pay something (though, if it was my grandmother in law, she would have sued me for getting in her way).

My door was just dented and scratched, hers has chipped paint (though it pales in comparison to the damage she did putting her license plate and bumper through the wall). I'll upload pictures of that tomorrow because, tbh, who gives a shit about seeing some scratches on my door when you can see a perfect license plate shaped hole in the wall?

My car is small enough and the spots are big enough that as long as she is actually in her spot, her door won't reach mine. Her door hit mine HARD - and she knew she hit it - she just said she didn't see the damage. Her paint is chipped and she has hit multiple other things in the past 4 months in the garage that I personally witnessed.

If she left a note saying she hit my car but didn't see any damage I would have paid for it. I got away for less than $200 and if she told me to pound sand and was a bitch, it would cost me more to collect than that

If I saw those on a car, I would probably purposely hit it. Just saying.

Stop sending us the pictures your wife texts (or faxes, or telegrams) you when she is bored... I know you are proud, but you are making humfrz jealous.