[pappillon]

Some pratt keyed my MINI last night/this morning . The scratches are pretty deep - all across the passenger side and across the bonnet. Not sure whether it could be touched up. Looks more like it will be a respray job (not sure really!!)

Any advice/suggestions would be good, especially if you've had to deal with something similar yourself. Things like insurance, MINI Emergency thingy (don't even know what that is really) !!!??? . Would it be worth trying to get it done without involving the insurance co (astonomical insurance premium already ... and goodbye WKS kit if premium goes up any further ).

I'm sure this topic has been covered many times in the past but don't have that much time to look into things. On route back home and will need to deal with this in a couple of hours.

Thanks everyone

[ScottyB]

Ohhh nooo, not another one

Sorry for the loss, and the stupid, retarded, selfish act inflicted upon your car...

An advanced search might bring up a few of the old threads, from similarly affected people...

[the W'rkncacnter]

Hunt the kid down, use his face to buff the scratches out. That'd be the best way to deal with it.

[Ibb]

Then Key him, see if he likes it!

I hate vandals!

[snuffy]

Sorry to hear this is this kind of thing inevitable?

My only advice would be get quotes ASAP and see whether it is worth paying for it yourself or sacrificing an insurance premium.

[Smurfn]

Sorry to hear about this. I think the best thing to do would be to take it to a couple of repairers and get quotes on how much the repairs will be. then you will be able to decide if it is worth claiming your insurance (excess, loss of no claim bonus etc).

The people that do this really annoy me

Good luck

[ScottyB]

Quote: Originally Posted by the W'rkncacnter

Hunt the kid down, use his face to buff the scratches out. That'd be the best way to deal with it.

I can definately agree with that one. If you need any help pappillon...

*ScottyB grabs the cricket bat*

[snuffy]

It might also be worth questioning whether you need to report it as vandalism to the police to get any reasonable co-operation from the insurance company?

[Skatemom]

Oh my, I'm so sorry this happend to you too. I just got Audrey back from the body shop 2 days ago. She was there for 7 days. Yours sounds worse than mine, because yours got the bonnet too. The jerk who keyed mine (homeless guy, vandalizing meters) did the drivers door and rear panel. I'll tell you about my experience but I don't know how it compares because I'm in the USA.

My comprehensive insurance covered it paying all but my $250 deductible. The bill came to $919. Because it wasn't a collision I will not be penalized. My premium will not go up because of this claim.

The different body shops I went to told me varying stories about the paint/repair process. One shop told me that they use the original German paint (OEM?) When I asked another shop if they used the original paint, they told me no, they couldn't because of the tough US environmental laws. Supposedly the German paint doesn't meet the US standards for "environmental friendliness". Well, after getting so many different stories about that I decided that they are all lying or just don't know what they're talking about. I ultimately went with a shop that was very large and quite reputable, but mostly I chose them because they were CLOSE to my MINI dealer. My MINI dealer uses them for all their own body work, so I knew the body shop staff was accustomed to working on MINIs. Secondly, if anything broke when the trim parts were being removed or re-installed (which sometimes happens) then they would be very close to the MINI parts dept. to have them replaced. My experience with the body shop was good, they were professional and quick. They only have to reinstall the mirror (rubber gasket thingy is crooked/crushed) and rebuff a few spots. My insurance company (Mercury) representative was less than professional, not all of those I spoke to, but the guy handling my claim didn't seem to be playing with a full deck.
Sorry this is long but it's all still very fresh in my mind. Bottom line is get your car repaired as soon as possible, you'll feel better. As for the insurance thing, if your premium is going to go up more than what you'd pay out of pocket to have the repairs done, then you might have to eat the cost yourself.
Sorry again that this happened to you, here's a pat from me and Audrey to you and your baby. Hope it all gets resolved soon.

[dinger]

Sorry to hear that.

To Give you some idea of the costs involved....some ****** keyed our drivers door the scratch was about 6 inches long,so we took it to our dealership who advised us the whole panel would have to be resprayed the cost was a whopping £410.00.

[Smurfn]

Quote: Originally Posted by dinger

Sorry to hear that.

To Give you some idea of the costs involved....some ****** keyed our drivers door the scratch was about 6 inches long,so we took it to our dealership who advised us the whole panel would have to be resprayed the cost was a whopping £410.00.

Ouch

[AidenL]

Oh no................

Sorry to hear that Pappi, I can't help on the body shop info , sorry.........

[s_and_m]

Makes me mad to think that plebs do this sort of thing and we have to pick up the costs!

Check your insurance policy by phoning your broker as some companies do allow you to claim against vandalism without loosing your no claims bonus (but they tend to be classic insurers though).

If the key weilding jerk hit more then one panel, you are probably looking at a claim - resprays are not cheap

Sorry it happened to you and good luck getting this sorted

S

[Harpo]

Oh Papps, what a downer.

*hug from Harpo*

Stick around here with yer mates, you'll feel so much better.

[Red Dwarf]

Sometimes I wonder how these pea brained idiots even manage to get out of the house in the morning. Low life.

It's sad, but they will do it to any car. I had my first car, a Fiat Strada scratched. Like it needed any encouragement to rust!

Don't let the b tards get you down.

[pappillon]

"Educated" guess of my local dealer is £2800 for the respray (apparantly, it's trickier when they're dealing with metalic paint and quite a large portion of the car will need to be done)

Good to have all the kind words from my MINI2 friends. Will post an update on Monday following a visit to the bodyshop.

[Smurfn]

Wow, that's an amazing amount Unfortunately sounds like an insurance job anyway now

[ScottyB]

Crumbs.... thats loads.

[Ibb]

You could always get it done elsewhere from your dealer, for much less, but if your insurance will do it without hurting your claims do it through your dealer.

My dad had a 30cm long dent (which took a fair bit of the paint off) in the side of his door in his VW Bora, VW said they wanted £2000, he went to a local auto body shop that had a good rep and they charged him £800 and you can't tell that any work has been done to fix the dent, looked perfect!

Good luck

[TheBlackKnight]

Quote:

To Give you some idea of the costs involved....some ****** keyed our drivers door the scratch was about 6 inches long,so we took it to our dealership who advised us the whole panel would have to be resprayed the cost was a whopping £410.00.

Had almost exactly the same thing, got mine done for £400 at Cooper Tunbridge Wells.

Are these cars targets for key-vandals or something????