Prius Wash Day Blues

[timberwolf]

Today, when I washed my car, I discovered a dent in the rear hatch pillar, a scratch on the roof and the aerial was no long central :(

As my car was parked for the whole week, and I only went shopping first thing this morning, I think the damage probably occurred whilst my car was sat in the drive. The only thing I can think of is that something must have blown onto the car, impacting the hatch pillar and bending over the aerial and causing a scratch to the roof. As I haven't seen anything in my little front garden, I assume that means somebody took away whatever damaged my car. To cause the dent it must have been hit with a lot of force!?

I was going to include the pictures in-line, but I thought they would take up too much room, instead I've including a link to an album.

http://imgur.com/a/o9IZj

Any ideas how this would be repaired and what it would cost?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

OK are you the ONLY driver of this car? If not, are you sure someone hasn't let the garage door fall down on it? Alternatively has it been windy near you? If so, it could have been anything, any old piece of flying junk could have done it. Did a neighbour have a gazebo up in their garden until very recently?

As the paint has cracked I fear a full professional and expensive job might be the only option. You might be lucky with one of those dent doctor type people - maybe.

[timberwolf]

The split in the paint worries me.

I am the only driver, and there isn't room to park a car in the garage, I'm not even sure if a Smart car would fit.

Mmmm, yes, I think my neighbours did have one of those tent things up on Tuesday, it was a really horrible day Tuesday, it rained heavily most of the day and Wednesday the weather was windy. The tent isn't there now.

If it was my neighbours, I don't hold out any hope that they'll be honest, partly because he is a car salesman, they have three kids and a dog, and I've discovered them in my garden in the past trying to cut down branches that were completely within my property boundary having gained access through a hole in the fence.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Too much of a coincidence about the gazebo eh? I only know as I had similar damage done to a car in the past caused by one on a windy day.

[timberwolf]

Yes, I think you are right, it seems like a prime suspect. The evidence of the bent aerial and damage to that side of the car, does suggest something came over the hedge from the side, and the gazebo tent was just the other side of the hedge. I'd no idea those things were so heavy?

That part of the body work does not seem to have any flex in it, so I am surprised that it could be damaged like that. I wonder what would have happened if the impact had been to a rear or side window?

[Chris Dance]

I think the repair will be expensive. My neighbour left his car out and somebody scored a deep scratch from front to rear of the car. He got it fixed on insurance it was not cheap to repair. Your neighbours gazebo does seem the most likely cause but they will never own up to it. During the recent strong winds my neighbours wheelie bin ended up on our drive. Fortunately I can garage our Prius I rarely leave it out. I can fully understand how frutrated you must be. Hope you get it repaired GCs idea of getting a "dent" firm to assess the damage is a good idea.

[B&J]

Hi, Timberwolf

Sorry to hear about the damage. Must be extremely annoying.

I've had good experiences (due to the garage door not being as wide as the car ) of paint repairs using a company called Revive. They're a UK wide franchise.

Hope this helps

B&J

[wass]

That has all the makings of one very nasty dent. Albeit quite small, it looks to be very tricky to access the inside surface of it which makes a panel beating job less of a dent doctor on your own driveway and more of a full on body shop affair. No wonder the car salesman is a bit quiet about it he would know the likely cost of a) a decent repair and B) a bodged repair and neither are cheap.

A friend of mine once had her car repaired on her neighbours house insurance because a roof tile fell off her neighbours roof while she was opening the garage door to put her car away. I was very surprised that the neighbours house insurer would pay up but she said that was the case and it saved a hefty loss of no claims. ( her neighbours got their roof fixed at the same time too)

[Opifex]

My sympathies Timberwolf. I was very annoyed when I found a small dent from someone carelessly opening their door while the car was parked at a supermarket last year. Only tiny in comparison to yours but it still cost a couple of hundred to repair.

A friend of mine once had her car repaired on her neighbours house insurance because a roof tile fell off her neighbours roof while she was opening the garage door to put her car away. I was very surprised that the neighbours house insurer would pay up but she said that was the case and it saved a hefty loss of no claims. ( her neighbours got their roof fixed at the same time too)

I had a shower of mortar from around my chimney hit a car a few years ago damaging the roof, bonnet, wing and windscreen. The house insurance people said it had to be a car insurance claim. The car insurers didn't argue with this and paid up without any problem but it did count as a fault claim.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I think it depends on who is liable and the main insurer of the insured rick picking up the tab - if it's your house that causes the damage to your car then the car insurer picks up the claim. If your roof tiles fell on a neighbours car then you're liable and your house insurers pay or vice versa. Your neighbours insurance should pay the damage ASSUMING it was him and that he has reported it and admits it - which by the sound of it seems unlikely.

The split in the paint does seem like it will be a tricky job - especially considering the metal is rather thin on that rear panal. Worth getting a quote if nothing else.

Oh, I'd also double check your ariel to make sure it isn't loose - you don't want it letting water in!

[GreenJuice]

My previous Gen 2 got a rear panel dent from a passing bus while stationary. Cost was covered by insurance and repaired by a good quality body shop in London for a few hundred pounds.

[r04drunner1]

Sorry to see that mate.

It must have been pretty substantial to cause that amount of damage. Many years ago I had a dent in the bonnet of my Celica caused by a hefty stone being thrown at it while it was parked in front of my house. It caused much less impact damage than your pictures show. The dent on my car was small enough to just leave it... but I don't think the dent on your car falls into that category. We ended up putting a CCTV system in front of the house, it was very unobtrusive but remarkably effective at picking up picture and sound. Bolting the stable door I know...

[timberwolf]

I think there must have been a lot of force on a small area to cause that damage. The wind can be strong, you've probably seen pictures of tornado damage where planks of wood have been driven into trees. I'm not saying we had a tornado here, but it was quite windy last week.

I do wonder what would have happened if a person had been stuck by a flying gazebo pole to the head, would it have been a deadly blow? I wonder if who ever was responsible would have tried to hide the evidence of what they had done by removing the murder weapon i.e. one gazebo?

I found a bent tent peg this evening, I guess that could be a clue.

I'm not happy, but if it was just the dent, I think I could have lived with that. The potential split in the paint work along the edge does concern me though, and this torrential rain isn't helping. The car is over 3 years old, but given my low mileage, I was thinking of keeping it for a long time, and so I would be looking at a repair to protect the body work from rust rather than a cosmetic repair that may only last a few months.

Edit: Yes, the aerial base is secure. I can't tell if the base has moved or not, I find it difficult to tell because of the shape and I couldn't see any difference in the paint around the aerial base. I did notice the aerial was scuffed on one side on the rubber section. I think the aerial is designed to just bend at the rubber part.