Would you file a claim for damage this light? (Tesla Cam Footage)

[Prolificant]

How little damage would you guys not bother making an insurance claim for assuming you have the person's license plate number and he hit you and left? If I didn't have any details on the person that hit me I wouldn't make a claim since it would be on my own insurance, but I happen to have evidence of the p3erson doing the damage in this case.

After getting off work yesterday I was walking out to my car and saw a bunch of black lines on my front fender. There was no car in the spots near me when I parked, and no car there when I returned nine hours later. I saw that I had Sentry Cam alerts and when I made it home I went through the footage. Sure enough I watched a video of some people in a Ram pull into the spot next to me, my car wobbles at three seconds into the video then you see the passenger looking out the window at my car and the driver backs out and re-parks in that same spot. About fifteen minutes later they get back in the truck and leave.

The car has 350 miles on it now and I have had it for a few weeks. The day I brought it home I did a full clay/polish then applied a ceramic coat. The car was 100% perfect and I am pretty anal about keeping it clean, parking away from people, etc, and went over the entire car with a light to make sure it was abrasion free before coating it.

Once I reviewed the footage I then tried to see if it was just superficial damage. I was able to get all the rubber off with some ONR detail spray and clay. I see that there are very faint dark streaks that wont come off and some light scratching. It is hard to feel with a fingernail so I don't think its all the way through the clear coat and I think If I took a semi aggressive polish to it I could probably get it near/at perfect again.

Normally I would just be hosed, and start trying to fix it right away but thanks to the footage I have clear video of the incident and his license plate. I am sure most people would just not bother since it is so light, but should I file a claim against this guy? I am pretty upset and I will likely try and repair it myself. I don't want any paint repair and would likely polish further and leave it as best I can make it despite the outcome, but think I'd feel better even if the claim ended up having him pay for someone to simply polish a small spot for a minute. So should I just let it be or file a claim?

I stopped the video before his plate becomes visible, but have the license plate. You can see the car wobble at about three seconds in as his tire rubs against my fender.

You can see the persistent light horizontal dark streaks after claying the area
Imgur

There is also some light scratching. I don't think through the clear-coat.
Imgur

 

[I<3URANUS]

Hi. Lol. Definitely file a claim, definitely report it to the police.

Good luck bb.

 

[Prolificant]

Hi. Lol. Definitely file a claim, definitely report it to the police.

Good luck bb.

Hey its you!

Its too quiet over there, I need action!

 

[cgiGuy]

I would file a police report regardless of your intent to fix it or how minor the damage. This is unacceptable behavior.

 

[I<3URANUS]

Hey its you!

Its too quiet over there, I need action!

My man!

 

[jpfive]

I would file a police report regardless of your intent to fix it or how minor the damage. This is unacceptable behavior.

It would be nice for the guy to at least get some official notification of his carelessness and failure to stand up. If nothing else he might be more careful in the future - around Teslas at least. Given our situation right now, don't expect much effort to be extended by the police though - and I'm not sure I would go through my insurance if I were you. They would reach out to him probably, but who needs the claim history for something you seem well on the way to correcting?

 

[Unclenapolean]

How little damage would you guys not bother making an insurance claim for assuming you have the person's license plate number and he hit you and left? If I didn't have any details on the person that hit me I wouldn't make a claim since it would be on my own insurance, but I happen to have evidence of the p3erson doing the damage in this case.

After getting off work yesterday I was walking out to my car and saw a bunch of black lines on my front fender. There was no car in the spots near me when I parked, and no car there when I returned nine hours later. I saw that I had Sentry Cam alerts and when I made it home I went through the footage. Sure enough I watched a video of some people in a Ram pull into the spot next to me, my car wobbles at three seconds into the video then you see the passenger looking out the window at my car and the driver backs out and re-parks in that same spot. About fifteen minutes later they get back in the truck and leave.

The car has 350 miles on it now and I have had it for a few weeks. The day I brought it home I did a full clay/polish then applied a ceramic coat. The car was 100% perfect and I am pretty anal about keeping it clean, parking away from people, etc, and went over the entire car with a light to make sure it was abrasion free before coating it.

Once I reviewed the footage I then tried to see if it was just superficial damage. I was able to get all the rubber off with some ONR detail spray and clay. I see that there are very faint dark streaks that wont come off and some light scratching. It is hard to feel with a fingernail so I don't think its all the way through the clear coat and I think If I took a semi aggressive polish to it I could probably get it near/at perfect again.

Normally I would just be hosed, and start trying to fix it right away but thanks to the footage I have clear video of the incident and his license plate. I am sure most people would just not bother since it is so light, but should I file a claim against this guy? I am pretty upset and I will likely try and repair it myself. I don't want any paint repair and would likely polish further and leave it as best I can make it despite the outcome, but think I'd feel better even if the claim ended up having him pay for someone to simply polish a small spot for a minute. So should I just let it be or file a claim?

I stopped the video before his plate becomes visible, but have the license plate. You can see the car wobble at about three seconds in as his tire rubs against my fender.

You can see the persistent light horizontal dark streaks after claying the area
Imgur

There is also some light scratching. I don't think through the clear-coat.
Imgur

If you want to teach this guy a lesson, here's what you could do. You could have the police issue him a ticket for hit and run based on a citizen's complaint. It's the same as making a citizen's arrest. He would be required to appear in court to defend against the ticket, you would have to appear to show the judge your evidence (video, photo(s) of damage). He would have to pay a fine for the ticket and probably court costs, if found guilty, and you would have court documents to file a claim against his insurance. The court documents would make the claim a lock for you and you could press for all expenses you incurred. This is assuming you want to go to the expense in time it would cost you, but it will be costing him a lot more than time, like dollars and points on his license.

 

[Runt8]

I had a similar incident a few months ago (although I was in the car, it was so light of a tap that I convinced myself that I just hit a bump in the road). I filed with my insurance, and when they contacted me I told them I wanted to go through the other drivers insurance if possible. They were able to look up the other driver from the license plate and open a claim with their insurance. In the end saved me a $600 repair job.

 

[jkoya]

When I click on the video I get "Video unavailable. This video is private"...

 

[neptunesfinest]

I would would definitely make an example out of this careless jerk. You’ve got him by the balls. He could’ve parked his big truck somewhere else.

 

[Rothgarr]

I filed a claim for similar (my car was maybe 3 weeks old) when it was struck by a parallel parker. The damage was barely visible, but I was pissed that someone did this and immediately took off after realizing what they had done. Showed the footage to the police, they got the guy on hit and run and gave me his insurance. His insurance immediately accepted responsibility. I got $2,500 out of it. I still haven't fixed it -- the damage becomes less and less visible each time I wash it and had it detailed once. At this point I'm thinking of leaving it alone since I don't even notice it any more.

 

[Prolificant]

I called my insurance company with his plate number and they will try and get ahold of his insurance company to file a claim against him. I am hesitant to bother the police unless I have to being the state of things currently. They said they will let me know where they get with it. They told me if they cant get anywhere I have the option to drop it or use my insurance, and if that happens I will just drop it as I don't want to take a hit for this.

 

[ChairmanMeow]

Most Tesla owners hate having front license plate but here's a situation where having front license plate is beneficial.

 

[focher]

I'd give my insurance a copy of the video and call the local police to ask them for their recommendation - file a report or not. I sure wouldn't let my insurance take the approach of giving up.

By the way, your YouTube video is set to private and cannot be viewed.

 

[Adam3]

I've had bad luck with repainted bumper covers. Personally, I would try to buff it out and go from there.

 

[Unclenapolean]

I called my insurance company with his plate number and they will try and get ahold of his insurance company to file a claim against him. I am hesitant to bother the police unless I have to being the state of things currently. They said they will let me know where they get with it. They told me if they cant get anywhere I have the option to drop it or use my insurance, and if that happens I will just drop it as I don't want to take a hit for this.

My daughter in NJ was in an accident, not her fault, and told her insurance company she wanted the other driver's insurance to pay. They gave her pretty much the same response, something like, "we'll try, but what do you want to do if we don't get anywhere with the other driver's insurance? Don't you just want to use your own insurance to cover the damage? It'll be faster." Don't let them get away with the lazy attitude. In my daughters instance I told her to insist that her insurance go after the other driver's insurance. The police report she had proved the other driver's fault, so why should her insurance pay? it seems now-a-days that insurance companies are taking the attitude that they're all (the auto insurers) in the same boat, so why rock the boat. Just cover it ourselves and it will all equal out in the end and all the companies can remain on friendly terms. That could be because many of them use the same adjusters, the same repair shops, even the same agents sometimes. The only time they want to fight for their insured is when a suit for injury is filed and now they may face a big settlement; then suddenly they get adversarial. My advice is push the issue. Having a ticket issued will help and may carry more weight with the insurance then your video because now you have the legal system involved.

 

[focher]

My daughter in NJ was in an accident, not her fault, and told her insurance company she wanted the other driver's insurance to pay. They gave her pretty much the same response, something like, "we'll try, but what do you want to do if we don't get anywhere with the other driver's insurance? Don't you just want to use your own insurance to cover the damage? It'll be faster." Don't let them get away with the lazy attitude. In my daughters instance I told her to insist that her insurance go after the other driver's insurance. The police report she had proved the other driver's fault, so why should her insurance pay? it seems now-a-days that insurance companies are taking the attitude that they're all (the auto insurers) in the same boat, so why rock the boat. Just cover it ourselves and it will all equal out in the end and all the companies can remain on friendly terms. That could be because many of them use the same adjusters, the same repair shops, even the same agents sometimes. The only time they want to fight for their insured is when a suit for injury is filed and now they may face a big settlement; then suddenly they get adversarial. My advice is push the issue. Having a ticket issued will help and may carry more weight with the insurance then your video because now you have the legal system involved.

NJ is a no-fault state. I'm not familiar enough with NJ rules, but I do know sometimes you can make a claim against the other driver's insurance but usually not.

 

[Mojito]

Remember when you file with the insurance your car is going to show up in carfax with an accident or claim on record if im not mistaken.