It finally happened :(

I'd seen reports of door dings and the "remember: it's just a car" messages that always ensued. So I had sort of braced myself, and didn't take it too hard, at least not at first. Now it's just disheartening. Two separate panels (rear and front). I'm having security at some of the buildings I work at check their cameras, but I really fear it was one of my neighbors :/ The photos are linked below, but here's a shot of one of the worst, the two scratches up near the gas tank: Photos

Justinmm2 -- so sorry to see that happen to you. That just completely sucks! I hope you can get it taken care of to your satisfaction. You have a beautiful car.

so... who's wife did you sleep with? sorry, just trying to cheer you up. i know i'd be devisated if this happened to me. hopefully it can get fixed and hey, it could be a good excuse for getting an upgrade too those 997s look hot.

!!! F*@k these people !!! (excuse my language.) Hope you find the a-hole.

That is just so wrong. I really feel for you. It's worth asking around on the forum for a good body shop in Arlington, VA that can fix it really nicely for you.

My old M3 got keyed twice, once with a screwdriver from front fender to rear bumper, up and down... I had the keying fixed but it NEVER looked the same to me. Even if it was close in color, i mentally knew it wasnt the same... I feel for you man, it sucks...The good thing is that your car is black, which is the easiest to match. My M3 was yellow -Keith

Thanks guys, the kind words are definitely appreciated. If I end up having it fixed right, I already know a fantastic, fantastic body shop in the area. We'll see. My dad (who is an expert in such matters) advises against making an insurance claim... but he did tell me, a few hours later, that instead of his original $1500 estimate (WagonWorks = expensive!), one of the Ferrari guys said it could probably be done for $500. Which makes it sort of possibly worth thinking about.. Also: it's black, but it's metallic (Basalt) black - is that really easy to match??

Wow, that's so sad to see. People really suck, and hate something they can't have.

Man, I am speechless! Very sorry to see that happen!

Man I HATE people like that. Sorry for your pain. I honestly think people that key cars should be strung up in public and hanged. UGGH. I swear, everytime you get something nice, some jerk reminds you why it is so much easier to drive a car you don't give a damn about.

My mom's MB was keyed from front to back. The car was repainted with original metallic black color on 6 panels (pretty much 3/4 of the car). It came out great and we did use insurance. It was over $3500 for insurance company. Our insurance went up 40% for some prior claims which insurance said was our fault. I think when a large claim is made, the account is reviewed and they pull DMV records etc trying to raise premium. Good thing our records are good but we still got dinged. If you can fix it for not much more than deductible, pay it out of pocket. There is no way I'd pay $3500 for repainting the car out of my pocket. That's why I have insurance. Good thing the deductible is $250.

wow, that is just F*UCKED UP!!!!! Find them, kill them...i know it's just a car, but it's wrong.

Justin, I am so sorry to hear about this. I am sure it was not a neighbor because no one from VA would be that horrible of a person, must have been a co-worker from MD :-) Just joking, trying to find some humor in a hurmorless situation. If you go the insurance route definatley go to Wagon Werks. They have an awesome reputation. I work around the block from them and I have seen some really nice work come out of there. I hope you catch the bastards.

find the a hole. and put the same scratch on his flesh. i am all for eye for an eye, scratch for a scratch.

Damn....I feel for you bro. Man, you gotta put that baby in a garage so your neighbors cant get to it. And when you're at work, park her where she'll be visible to you. PM me if you need assistance on where to take that baby of yours around here to get her back to normal.

Sorry to see that happen...I hope the cameras catch something.

Damn Justin! That sucks! I feel your pain! I had Wagonworks install my RUF aerokit. They did an excellent job matching the paint. They are more expensive but they do good work. The hardest part about dealing with them is trying to get your car squeezed in -- they're always busy and you have to schedule a month or so out.

Good Lord...seeing that makes me cringe. The joy of owning a P-car is only matched by the disgust in such act of hatred. I feel so badly for you.

Oh Man... very sorry to see these awful scratches, it hurts through everyone's eyes here, damn!!!... Your car black color will be manageable for a good color match. It's hard to really keep our car safe 100% of the time, just try to enjoy as much & as long as you can and hope for the best... Good luck to you!

Sorry for your loss. Some people are garbage.

I had a couple of punks throwing CDs at me on the highway yesterday. They missed, hehehe ... Anybody have a good idea what to do with these people?

Landfill

i have an idea. not sure how good it is. you take the little ***** out of the ball bearing like this one . you pull up in front of those people, with your car aligned 50% to the right of them. you simply stick your hand out as if you are flicking boogers down on the ground (hah!) but instead drop the ball bearing down to the ground. that should take care of their radiator in a nice way together with a few hood/bumper/window "dont forget me" marks... ok. just for the record: this was typed up by my evil twin. i would never ever recommend anybody to even think of doing something like that. its plain stupid and immature. i am just answering your question

Do you have any top notch Detailers near you? I had my car scratched a couple of months ago, and I was certain that it would have to be repainted since I could easily feel the scratches with my fingernail. The Detailer spent about five minutes buffing the scratched area, and removed about 99% of the scratches. There's no way you can determine where the scratches were unless I told you where to look and you get within a couple feet of the car. So before repainting, check it out with a Detailer. BTW the Detailer charged me $30 for his work.

Riad is completely correct. This is pure jealousy. Same thing happened to me with a very near perfect '01 Audi S4. Keyed the entire rear quarter panel. People can just be incredibly malicous. Find a very high end body shop that routinely does Porshe, MB, BMW work, and get them to do it right. I doubt from your pics, that buffing will restore the finish to your satisfaction. I did a full panel repaint and the result was visually undetectable. Good luck and hope you find the bastard. Phil

Here's another thread awhile back, someone tossed a full cup of coffe onto a GT3, while they were driving. https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=Coffee

Justin, Sorry to hear man. Wagon Werks is expensive but good. My old M3 got keyed and they did the work on it. The bright side is they had a couple of hotties working there which made the trips there more worthwhile.

I say if you catch this person take their skin off with a rusty cheese grater then roll them in Comet. I woudl seriously not be agains the death penalty for people who do this kind of thing. Worthless asses.

The jealousy thing is what scares me when I take the wife out and have to park on the street. These people if caught should be sent to guantanamo.

that sucks!!! I hate people who do this sort of thing to cars. I Know how you feel. I too had an angry key a few weeks back. I was parked in the tysons garage and on my way to Pauli Moto�s for happy hour. I think I was a little too close to the car next to me (he/she was over the line) I didnt notice the key mark until a few days later. It was a long line from the rear quarter to the rear view mirror, and then a squiggly line around the door handle. It appeared that they were not satisfied with the first mark and so they proceeded to do the squiggly thing. Lucky for me most of it buffed out. I used scratch X, zaino, zymol, claybar, and anything else i could find.. Mike at HBL knows a guy that does good work for a really good price. Give him a call.

You might try First Choice, which is a block behind Porsche Arlinton and is the shop they use as it is easier to schedule than wagonworks (which does excellent work as well) and they also mix the paint to match the car, accounting for sun fading, etc.