I hate parking lots now

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nmikeyjay

New member
Well I kind of always hated mall parking lots - you know what I'm talking about. The slow queues as you wait for an elderly driver to maneuver their car out of a spot or into a spot; giving way to pedestrians with shopping carts full of stuff they don't need; giving way to punk kids who just think they can walk across the road even though it's not a pedestrian crossing; giving way to anything that's in your way of getting in or out of the lot. Fucking. Hell. I hate parking lots with a passion after today.

I parked my car in a row of 90 degree angle parks at the mall today, I was perfectly within the lines on all three sides. So I locked up and left it behind. When I returned to my car I found that the right side of my bumper had been unclipped and there were some minor scratches and dents in that area. My car was looking something like this:

bumperoffeg.jpg


(That's not actually my car, but probably a similar make. Just giving you guys an example of how the bumper looked when I found it.)

I checked all the cars immediately surrounding mine but I couldn't find any evidence of their car being involved in an accident with mine. So I checked with mall security if they could pull up any tapes, but they said they could only do it if a police officer requested it (??? They are assholes?). Knowing that the police don't really deal with stuff on private property if no one was injured, I decided to just go home and fume about it/ call insurance later.

I can't even claim insurance unless I want to pay another $900 excess fee for that minor damage, plus my premium would go up again. Seeing as this wasn't my fault (but I can't prove it because the bastard drove off and no one witnessed it/ wanted to help me out) I don't think I want to go through insurance again.

My main problem is: the culprit didn't even leave a note, probably didn't even consider leaving one. I'm not really surprised, but still incensed that the asshole didn't even consider leaving a note. Even a simple sorry note would have sufficed. I really hate people who can't park because of this. Someone innocent always gets caught in their bad parking errors.

I would try and park in more secluded areas, but the mall pretty much is always busy. Fucking consumerism.
 
Mercury Cougar? Kinda what it looks like from the view given. Either way, if there's no dents, just a piece that popped out of it's place from the impact, you could probably get it back in by bare hands. I understand this isn't your exact car, or the exact problem at hand, just throwing my advice out there.

Now, you ready for a secret? Park in the fuckin' boonies. If you park way out yonder and you're not afraid to walk an extra 200 feet, chances are, the rest of the fat lazy population will all be parking up close, so you won't have to worry about it. I've managed to avoid any parking lot shenanigans with this simple tactic alone.
 
Like he said, park in the boonies, and under a light pole to help increase your cars visibility and decrease the chances some cocksucker might smash your window to grab something like your radio inside.

You might as well have called the cops and seen if it was possible to identify the person who damaged your vehicle through the security tapes. I used to be a security technician, and I can tell you that even though you may not be able to make the license plate on the vehicle from the footage, they may be able to pull the person's receipt up on the store's computers if they made a purchase at this location. If they used credit/debit or check, it should be easy to identify them. Remember, you're already paying for the cop's service through your taxes. Might as well use them when you need them, right?

If you've got the time and they've got the cameras, it's worth the 900. Otherwise, like Necro said, you should be able to attach the corner of your bumper by hand or maybe with a screwdriver. Some car manufacturers use little plastic fasteners to keep that shit in place. They may have been damaged, but you can replace them at pretty low cost from the dealer (low cost compared to say the entire bumper).

As for the scratches, you might want to try a few respected local body shops and see what they can do for you. Get a few estimates.
 
You could probably literally punch that piece of the bumper in with the heel of your hand. I've taken my bumper off several times and that's how I get that part back in. You might have to take out a screw and put it back in when the piece is in place, but it's nothing difficult and shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Looking at that picture you posted, notice the little tabs/holes along the edge of the bumper. There should be little metal clips attached to the quarter panel (that's the body piece over the wheel). Make sure the plastic tabs on the bumper go into the metal clips on the quarter panel and you should be good. If the scratches are bad enough that you want it repainted, it'd cost you around $200.
 
In hindsight I should've just called the cops; I'll probably go and get a police report before I attempt to fix the damage. But who knows if the cops actually have time to look into it? Whenever my friends have had something like this happen, they wait weeks (or are still waiting) for a reply from the police.

Yeah hopefully I can clip my bumper back in. I would be satisfied with just that. I'd probably just attend to the scratches and little dents if I wanted to sell the thing.

Thanks guys; I'll have to make sure I park way out in the boonies from now on. Well away from people who don't understand the concept of parking. :rolleyes:
 
The parking lot of the post office in my town has been named the "the geriatric killing field" because of all the old people who can't turn their head around to look and back out so they move their LeBehemoth out of the space with only a prayer on their lips.
 
Yeah the parking lots around here are hell on cars. It's a good thing I'm not all crazy about minor dings and scratches, or I'd have gone nuts long ago. Between the seniors and the rednecks, it's normal to get smacked into around here.
 
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