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Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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insurancewriterdenver
New User
Oct 19, 2012, 12:59 PM
Post #1 of 10
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Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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Hi,
I am working on a story for carinsurance.com in regards to auto vandalism and I had a couple of questions about the cost of fixing a vandalized car. I would like to be able to quote a person by name but if you are not comfortable with that I can make up a name. The questions are below. Thanks for your help.
1. Roughly how much would it cost to repair a deep key scratch that goes from the rear of the car to the front, across doors and side panels. Lets say the car is a 2011 Toyota Avalon.
2. What are some of the worst examples of vandalism that you have seen?
3. What are the most common types of automotive vandalism that you see?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 19, 2012, 1:57 PM
Post #2 of 10
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Re: Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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Impossible to estimate for anything for a universal answer. Prices of labor alone will vary greatly. Extent of damage would be one situation at a time. What might be common in one area could be rare in another so info for all would be useless,
T
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insurancewriterdenver
New User
Oct 19, 2012, 2:56 PM
Post #3 of 10
(6379 views)
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Re: Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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I understand that it would be impossible to give a universal price and I am not looking for one. Certainly it is possible to give a general cost range. Is the repair going to be in the hundreds or the thousands? As for labor costs, I understand they vary and would expect anyone that was kind enough to reply to the question to base the estimate on their own labor costs. I would like to quote the person by name and business as well as location so readers would be aware the information was coming from a specific region. The same goes for how common or uncommon types of vandalism are, I am only looking for common types of vandalism that the person answering the questions has seen, not a universal answer. Thanks for any help you can offer.
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nickwarner
Veteran
/ Moderator
Oct 19, 2012, 4:14 PM
Post #4 of 10
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Re: Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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Costs are pretty much impossible to even guess at without seeing the actual car in front of you. Even the color of the car and that car brand's paint codes vary wildly. Had to get some maroon paint for a 00 Ranger once and it was sold by the ounce because it was through the roof. Almost identical color on a Chevy Beretta was much cheaper. Body estimation is harder than mechanical damage because bodywork is more of an art form. There are general guides but still unseen issues can make it take much longer. Book times are well established (though generally loathed by most flat rate techs) and while I think they need tweaking its a set in stone number to base a repair cost on.
Most common vandals tend to break the windows, key the paint, hammer the body panels and less than you think slash the tires. Try cutting through one with a knife sometime. They're a lot stouter than hollywood makes them out to be. People who have a real grudge and aren't just kids looking for kicks get the money spots, like bashing a rear quarter panel or cutting up the sidewall of a tire so it can't be patched. Makes for an expensive bill. Cutting brake lines requires a stout sidecutter and the need to get under the vehicle and most won't do it.
Most vandalism I see is usually collateral damage as the result of theft. Breaking a window to get into the vehicle for instance, like to steal a stereo. Damage to the dash and trim because he was moving fast when he was ripping out the stereo. Prying marks on trunk lids and doors from inexperienced thieves thinking they can get it to open that way.
My brother owned a 99 Grand Am a few years back and came over to my house one morning so I could fix what he had found done to it. The driver's door on top was pried on with a crowbar so badly it had about a 1 inch gap in between the weatherstrip and the door. There were pry marks down by the latch as well. He said he had left his MP3 player sitting on the seat and during the night someone tried to break in to take it. His car was parked in a very good spot for theft, and his neighbor has a daughter who was always bringing over a houseful of hoodlum type delinquents as the mom worked two jobs. I have a suspicion he was right about one of them doing it as when we both came though the door to have a "chat" about it with them they already knew why we were there. I think they all needed new underwear later. But I knew that damage was done by an ametuer because any pro would've used the crowbar he obviously had in his hands to just bust the window and grab the MP3 player. They were too dumb to figure it out and simply got frustrated and left.
The most imaginative vandalism I ever saw was a lesson to a punk who just happened to live up the road from me.He had a habit of cruising around all hours of the night in our quiet residential neighborhood with rap music cranked up on a very powerful stereo system. It would rattle the windows in the house and wake up the sleeping kids along with everyone else. But "someone" went to his house in the wee hours to send him a message. The car was unlocked and this person proceeded to set the radio at its normal obnoxious levels of noise to Wisconsin Public Radio. Then superglued every single knob, button and dial on the stereo so this couldn't be changed. This person even went so far as to glue in the fuse for the stereo, all the wiring plugs to the amplifier, the subwoofer wire connections, RCA's, the amp cable at the battery and last but not least every screw head to every trim panel that held a speaker in it. He was driving around listening to the farm report at full crank for days until somehow he found someone to help him shut it off. Whoever was the culprit must've gotten the point across though, because I never heard that car stereo wake my kids up at 2am ever again. Sure wish I knew who that guy was......
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 19, 2012, 5:55 PM
Post #5 of 10
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Re: Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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There is always a reason.
One of the most common types of vehicle vandalism.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
Feb 15, 2013, 6:18 PM
Post #6 of 10
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Re: Cost of Vandalism Repairs
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Sorry I'm bringing this post back up but had to comment. After reading this thread all I could think of is.... out of all the forums out there she just happened to fall upon some of the biggest jokesters/smart asses on the net. After reading Nick's hilarious "wonder who it was" story and then DS's "hope she was worth it" I laughed for 10 minutes. I would've loved to have known what was running through her head after reading the replies. She probably just threw her hands up in the air and said, "I give up". I doubt she quoted anything from you two in her story to car insurance dot com! Maybe Comedy Central though.
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nickwarner
Veteran
/ Moderator
Feb 15, 2013, 10:14 PM
Post #7 of 10
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I still wonder who did it. Must've been a pretty cool guy.
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Sidom
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Feb 15, 2013, 11:52 PM
Post #8 of 10
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I think she is a liar.........I don't think she really "hopes" she was worth it......If I had to guess....I would say she didn't give a rats azz if she was worth it or not.........Just my opinion.......
(This post was edited by Sidom on Feb 15, 2013, 11:53 PM)
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nickwarner
Veteran
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Feb 16, 2013, 5:17 PM
Post #9 of 10
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I'm just laughing because it wasn't my car. He was parked two spaces over from mine just happened to drive the same model. Joke is on my ex I guess.
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monsterxl
Novice
Mar 21, 2013, 12:59 PM
Post #10 of 10
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and how did you get rid of that one?
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