Re: My 2005 WRX STi - 55+ new pictures on page 26, 9 more added on 27
Background Info: On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have an 11:30am class and a 5:30pm class. I park in the very back of the parking lot in the mornings, usually next to/across from the other guy who goes to my school that has a WRX. After my first class I spend some time in the library or eat lunch, and when a round of classes let out, I move my car to one of the very front spots next to a curb so that I can park close to the curb and only have a car on one side of me, wit plenty of space to spare. Sometimes I sit in my car in another parking space and wait for a spot to open up.
The other day I was sitting in my car eating lunch between classes. It was raining pretty hard, and I had moved to a closer spot and was waiting for a front spot to open up. I pulled in next to a crappy looking late 90's (later found out to be a 99) Cavalier coupe. This car was primered up to the windows, with overspray on the windows and mirror tint. The top was purple, it had 18" aftermarket wheels on the back and 15" stock Cavalier wheels on the front. Generally I wouldn't even park next to a car like this, but i figured I was only going to be there for 10 minutes or less so it would be fine.
So I'm sitting there eating and enjoying the sound of the rain when suddenly I hear a loud thud and my car rocks. Someone ran up to the Cavalier I had parked next to, whipped the door open and hopped in the back. I immediately lay on my horn and get out into the pouring rain to see that my rear door now is scratched and has a pretty decent dent in it (6" crease, and deformed above from the impact, it was a hard hit). The guy that damaged my car gets out and is says "Oh man it's fine don't even worry it'll buff out." I point out that it's dented (he then rubs his hand all over it, which swirled the paint) and says "You can't even tell." I move my car to an open space in the next row over and start walking back to the Cavalier with my phone out to take a picture of the license plate to turn in to campus P.D./my Insurance, and then 2 more people come over (driver was already out of the car because he was behind the guy who threw the door open and front passenger got out.)
The front passenger, who was in no way a part of the situation until now tells me "You better not take a picture of this car or I'll knock you out, and don't call the police or I'll find you." I put my phone away because I'm not trying to fight anyone but I make a mental note of the plate. Some words are exchanged, nothing gets resolved, and these guys take off. I got the plate anyhow so I filed a report with the school and with the local police (the school actually called the local police, they said I'd need the report of the damage for insurance and it's S.O.P. when someone makes a physical threat).
The police ran the plates and got a name, campus security ran the name of the owner and he is not a student there, he was probably picking up his friend who dented my car. Anyhow, now I have a door that dented and I'm concerned that if I make a claim on my insurance these guys are going to see my car out somewhere and vandalize it. It's not a low-profile vehicle and there aren't many around my area, so it's more than possible.
So anyhow I've got thousands of thoughts running through my head. First of all I should have switched my phone over to video and let it record the whole situation. If the guy making the threats came after me I would have had proof of it. I shouldn't have parked next to that car (I never would have any other day so I don't know why I did). Is it worth making a claim over? Should I just buy a door and install it myself? Are these guys going to mess with my car anyhow (they certainly seemed stupid enough to do so)? it's driving me nuts.
The big dent (looks worse in person):
The rest (you can see how it got pulled in if you follow the line of the garage floor meeting the driveway):
I really try to take care of my stuff, so this kills me to see it every time I get into the car.