So I think I my neighbor backed up into my car. How do I approach this? (Large pics)

[ItTheCow]

Here's the scenario. The picture below is of the bottleneck in my cul-de-sac. Saturday night, I decided to park on the right hand side (near where the fault in the street is).

My parking spot

Sunday I go to work, come home, decide to wash the car, and notice this very large crumple in my front bumper.

?!?! What's this?

Upon inspection, it seems like someone swiped it. It DID NOT HAPPEN while I was in the car. It must have happened sometime when I was parked either at work (my original thought) or at home.

This morning, my dad woke me up to tell me that he found some matching blemishes on a neighbor's minivan (you can see it in the first picture as well).

Hmmm....

I'm seeing this as pretty solid evidence that my neighbor backed up into my car Saturday night or Sunday morning. I see a mulitude of methods that I could approach the immenent confrontation with them, but I'm wondering what's your guy's oponion.

 

Knock on their door, ask them what happened, if they deny it, show them pictures. If they get combative, tell them you'll be calling the police and your insurance company.

Be polite, but firm.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Here's the scenario. The picture below is of the bottleneck in my cul-de-sac. Saturday night, I decided to park on the right hand side (near where the fault in the street is).

My parking spot

Sunday I go to work, come home, decide to wash the car, and notice this very large crumple in my front bumper.

?!?! What's this?

Upon inspection, it seems like someone swiped it. It DID NOT HAPPEN while I was in the car. It must have happened sometime when I was parked either at work (my original thought) or at home.

This morning, my dad woke me up to tell me that he found some matching blemishes on a neighbor's minivan (you can see it in the first picture as well).

Hmmm....

I'm seeing this as pretty solid evidence that my neighbor backed up into my car Saturday night or Sunday morning. I see a mulitude of methods that I could approach the immenent confrontation with them, but I'm wondering what's your guy's oponion.

it's just a ding and you cant prove it was the neigbor. I have the same "blemishes" that your neighbors got on both of my cars...

Get underneath your car and push the dent out, or get one of those ding-king things to do it for ya

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Knock on their door, ask them what happened, if they deny it, show them pictures. If they get combative, tell them you'll be calling the police and your insurance company.

Be polite, but firm.

exactly. you have some solid evidence

 

[StageLeft]

Somebody who's proven their ability to hit your car and run off is likely to fess up now. I would call the police first instead of talking to the neighbor after taking a lot of pictures with that yardstick there and what not.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I don't know if your neighbors did it or not but if they did make sure to be hard on them. Nothing pisses me off more than someone who hits a car and doesn't take responsibility for it.

 

[PingSpike]

It may be more obvious in person, but to me those pictures do not prove anything. My car has scuffs and crap all over the bumper and has had them for years. It certainly makes your neighbor a possible culprit...but I'm not to sure it proves anything. I think there would need to be paint transfer for it to be provable. I would call the police, point them in that direction and hope they don't pull that lazy ass do nothing sh|t they do to me. (My car was vandalized, I reported it to the police, they did absolutely nothing.)

 

[Murphyrulez]

Take the yardstick and rap them on the knuckles with it until they confess.

It worked for my teachers when I was in Catholic school.

 

[ItTheCow]

Update: The police have been called.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Update: The police have been called.

You did talk to your neighbors before you called the police on them, right?

 

[ItTheCow]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Update: The police have been called.

You did talk to your neighbors before you called the police on them, right?

Acutally, no.

 

[oniq]

Originally posted by: ItTheCow

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Update: The police have been called.

You did talk to your neighbors before you called the police on them, right?

Acutally, no.

So what was the point of your thread?

 

[Tom]

exactly where were you parked ? in my state it's illegal to park within several feet of a driveway, for just this reason.

 

[EngenZerO]

dude that sucks.

I had a chick run into my car @ my friends appt. she felt bad and went door to door until she found me the owner. she gave me her insurance and withing a week my car was repaired (dent was too big to be knocked out by the dent doctors).

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: ItTheCow

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Update: The police have been called.

You did talk to your neighbors before you called the police on them, right?

Acutally, no.

Well, that will certainly screw your neighborly relations if it's determined that they had nothing to do with it.

 

[KB]

The evidence is entirely circumstancial; unless you can find some matching paint flecks in your neighbors bumper.
Oh well, it looks like you and the neighbor won't be friends.

 

[ItTheCow]

Update: The police came. They started to file a report, but it turns out that the culprit would face jail time since this accident consitutes as a hit and run (provided the investigator found the minivan driver to be at fault). Seeing as how I didn't want that, I opted to not have a report be made yet. They suggested that I go talk to the owner of the minivan. They told me that if they didn't cooperate, then I should call the police again.

Next step: Talking to my neighbors.

 

[dquan97]

update?

 

[dman]

Originally posted by: ItTheCow
Update: The police came. They started to file a report, but it turns out that the culprit would face jail time since this accident consitutes as a hit and run (provided the investigator found the minivan driver to be at fault). Seeing as how I didn't want that, I opted to not have a report be made yet. They suggested that I go talk to the owner of the minivan. They told me that if they didn't cooperate, then I should call the police again.

Next step: Talking to my neighbors.

Do the neighbors have kids? might be that they took the car w/o permission and the 'rents don't even know about it...

If so, they could still be pricks about it, but, you can use that as a way of letting them off the hook for not coming to you sooner and it may make them more willing to handle it from there.

 

[halik]

hah,
so
a) you're about to completly fvck up your relations with the neighbors due to

b) something you can't prove if it was them at all

c)over minimal damage to a car that isnt worth that much to begin with (unless you have an AllTrack, in which case im flying over and beating the neighbor with the hoodscoop)

 

[Mandos]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Knock on their door, ask them what happened, if they deny it, show them pictures. If they get combative, tell them you'll be calling the police and your insurance company.

Be polite, but firm.

A+++

 

[ItTheCow]

Neighbors aren't home right now, but I'll keep updating this thread. As far as I know, they do not have any kids. I'm personally either at work or school a lot, so I never see them that often. However, I do belive they are middle-aged.

 

[ItTheCow]

Update: I just talked with the neighbors. The wife admitted fault, and we exchanged insurance information. It's kind of anti-climatic, but that's all there is.

 

[toy4x4]

If you parked right across from their driveway and never do that, what did you expect. Hope that teachs you to park where it is safer for you and them.

 

[Evadman]

why not the first time? who knows who else she hit! File a damn report!