[libranof1987]

So, do you call this vandalism or quirky?!

[Cenez]

I was reading the first few posts, and had a quiett laugh to my self, because I live right next door to a school!! Needless to say that my car is covered with scratches. I too had sworn, as many do that "if i catch the kid who did this..."
It so happened that i did catch a kid, who was about to scratch a car parked on the road. It was not my car, but I was furious. The rascal has one of those small pen knives, and was about to scratch a neighbours car. To cut a long story short, I caught him by the scruff of the neck and gave him a shaking-up. The usual threats followed, i.e. will take you to the principal, the cops, etc. One thing that I realised from the episode, is that, you cannot generally bring your self to hit a kid. No matter what you tell your self!!

The sad part is that it is not only one child, and its not only scratches on the car. Insignias also get stolen!! There are quite a few hooligans around, so needless to say, cars still get scratched, logos still get stolen! Guess i'm just waiting to catch a "junior college" kid doing the the scratching

[Captain Slow]

Finally got the huge key marks removed. Used strong rubbing compound with a orbital buffer.
Followed by valvoline paint sealant again with the orbital buffer.

Then finally applied 2-3 layers of wax and buffed the hood.
This got rid of the marks. But if you look closely you can see see the deep lines of the scratch I have to live with it until I repaint the hood.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

So, do you call this vandalism or quirky?!

Same problem at my place but here its a CAT! Every night this cat climbs on my car and sleeps or does something on the roof. Next day morning I find paw marks all over the car
I need to spray some pepper powder on the car to shoo this cat away.

Another thought- There is a large lake near by anyone got a plastic bag?

[libranof1987]

Cats eh, how about this Captain??

There were 5 on the roof and 4 on the hood/windshield before I got there. One idiot was chewing the antenna off!

[Captain Slow]

Looks like even the super rich and powerful cant protect their cars

Mallya’s joy in RCB win spoiled by scratching of his prized Merc

Vijay Mallya, the chairman of the UB Group, thought his customised gold Mercedes S600 would be safe if he parked it near the players’ entrance at the Chinnaswamy Stadium during an Indian Premier League match. The place is patrolled by private security guards, making it one of the safest parking spots on the premises.

Even Anil Kumble, who also owns a Mercedes, has his vehicle parked there. However, Mallya suffered a nightmare which car lovers dread most — a miscreant, using a sharp object, had scratched the gleaming body from bumper to fender on both sides of the car. Mallya would have to spend more than Rs 1 lakh to restore his beauty back to the pristine condition it was in.

After a horror run in the IPL, things were beginning to look up for the Royal Challengers Bangalore - Mallya’s team. He had driven his uber cool set of wheels to the KSCA on April 29 for the Royal Challengers’ match against the Pune Warriors at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mallya witnessed a treat. With Chris Gayle leading the charge, the Royal Challengers cantered to a facile 26-run win. Things couldn’t have been better for Mallya.

But he was in for a nasty surprise when he walked out to the parking lot. His car (KA 01 MB 11) had deep scratch marks on both sides of the body. Mallya had purchased the car for Rs 2.2 crore from Sundaram Motors a couple of years ago. The vehicle is now back with the same auto dealer for repairs. Sources say the car has already been polished, but the scratch is still visible. The body has to be repainted and it would cost about Rs one lakh. A repaint job would take about 10 days.

While the cost would hardly be the issue, getting paint to match the colour of Mallya’s car is proving to be difficult because it cannot be spray painted. The original coat is a water-base paint and getting the right shade is a difficult task, sources say.

Mallya

[vaibzi]

^^ Well thats a shame, considering the security blanket at the stadium. These jealous bozos are everywhere!
My car has been vandalized on all four doors when parked at college and also right outside my house. I've gotten so used to this now that I've stopped brooding over scratches these imbeciles make!

[rajeshsundaram]

My Alto suffered a kick from a drunkard. The left-rear door was kicked and received a dent so deep that I was worried it is going to blow a big hole in my wallet. Upset, I parked it in the parking and concentrated on other things for a week.

To my surprise when I walked near my Alto that sunday for cleaning, the dent was not there.. but a small visible dent (4" dia) was there on the crease. I was like - "oh god thank you".

Don't know how exactly the door restored to itself.. but I guess it has got something to do with the sheet metal engineering / physics / chemistry / biology..

[sohail99]

Its a common phenomina that you can try yourself to repair dents!!

Basically when you heat up the sheet metal with a hair dryer or a heat gun etc. the sheet metal expands. Then if you immediately cool it to sub zero temperatures, the rapid contraction of the sheet metal kind of pulls at the edges of the dent thereby straightening it out! (and you hear that sound of dent popping out!)

Dont heat it up too much cuz the paint might get damaged.

(it could've happened when your car was in the sun for quite some time and immediately you took it to a covered parking where it was much cooler!)
Or the sun heated it up real good and suddenly it rained and situations like that)

Originally Posted by BangaloreMirror

While the cost would hardly be the issue, getting paint to match the colour of Mallya’s car is proving to be difficult because it cannot be spray painted. The original coat is a water-base paint and getting the right shade is a difficult task, sources say.

Every paint has a specific code. And that code contains info on how much of what to mix to create the exact same paint!(Decoding is available at dealership or company)

Paint matching is an art. Just saying that it cannot be done is just absurd!!

Here, as most painters aren't able to do it, they assume it cannot be done(as if its impossible). It definitely can be done, but requires a bit of hit and trial to perfect the matching in proper lighting(halogens and best, sun light). Its just that they are lazy and don't want to do a lil' extra effort. It straight away proves that they're doing it just for the heck of it! Passion for perfection is literally dead here! :(

[SuperSlick]

@rajessundaram. Looks like your car has got super power of some sorts. A self-healing trick huh?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by sohail99

Its a common phenomina that you can try yourself to repair dents!!

Basically when you heat up the sheet metal with a hair dryer or a heat gun etc. the sheet metal expands. Then if you immediately cool it to sub zero temperatures, the rapid contraction of the sheet metal kind of pulls at the edges of the dent thereby straightening it out! (and you hear that sound of dent popping out!)

Dont heat it up too much cuz the paint might get damaged.

(it could've happened when your car was in the sun for quite some time and immediately you took it to a covered parking where it was much cooler!)




Every paint has a specific code. And that code contains info on how much of what to mix to create the exact same paint!(Decoding is available at dealership or company)

Paint matching is an art. Just saying that it cannot be done is just absurd!!

Here, as most painters aren't able to do it, they assume it cannot be done(as if its impossible). It definitely can be done, but requires a bit of hit and trial to perfect the matching in proper lighting(halogens and best, sun light). Its just that they are lazy and don't want to do a lil' extra effort. It straight away proves that they're doing it just for the heck of it! Passion for perfection is literally dead here! :(

Well, I'm sure they could find out the code and get the correct colour match.

However, even if they do find the exact match, it is not going to match perfectly with the rest of the car, right? Over time, colour will inevitably fade (to whatever misiscule of a degree but it will). And that difference ("freshness") would be noticeable.

[sohail99]

If the paint is clearcoated, its actually the top layer of the clearcoat that is oxidizing(due to UV rays), thereby occluding the full view of the basecoat giving the appearance that the paint is faded!(swirls and other minor scratches are also responsible for this appearance)

A thorough polishing job will remove all the oxidation and swirls giving a crystal clear view of the basecoat thereby reviving the paint!

Painters tend to miss this step of polishing the existing/undamaged paint to reveal the actual shade of the basecoat to match to!

A freshly done paint job will match the paint on other panels in terms of 'freshness' if that OEM paint is polished properly!

[SuperSlick]

@sohail99. Is it possible to get dents on the roof due to the phenomenon what you have mentioned?

Actually, there are a few crumpled-like dents on the roof of my Alto. They are not visible unless you notice them keenly though. This happened when i was in BLR. The car was parked outside under direct sunlight throughout the day without any cover and the temperature inside would have been high due to the sunlight and heat during the day. And since the night time temperature would have dropped significantly, resulting in the crumpled-like dents?

[sohail99]

Only way that the sheet metal gets dented is due to physical contact with someone or something! Maybe a few dogs slept on the roof or something!(look for any other scratches like the ones caused by their nails paws, or it might be the work of a vandal!)

My neighbor's daughter climbed on their car's roof thinking that it'd take her weight , but it left a BIG dent in the roof. Maybe some kid or miscreant did something similar?

Can you post a few pics of the area in question?

btw check this out about how this guy took care of a dent in the bodyline through this technique

YouTube - DentRepair

You can even try some big suction cups for pulling out dents! My dad and I pulled out a pretty big dent from the rear quarterpanel of my bro's ANHC using a suction cup that you get with your GPS to attach to the windscreen!

[SuperSlick]

Well first thing, there are no signs of scratches. Secondly, the car was parked inside the compound wall that's about 10-12 feet high where there are no dogs or cats inside or even outside. If it was some kids, then i would have denitely been able to see some scratches, but that's not the case again. Will try to post some pics as early as possible. In office right now and can't access youtube to check out the video you've shared either.

[nowwhat?]

A few weeks ago, we went to Commercial Street and parked our car in the free parking next to the army administrative offices. When we came back a few hours later, our car had a scratch along one side. This scratch though wasn't deep and it appears that someone had walked alongside the car scratching it as he passed by.

When we inquired with security, we were told that they have received numerous complaints about it. They said pedestrians usually do not walk through the parking lot as they keep to the footpath and this is usually done by the drivers of passenger vehicles who loiter around while waiting for their employers who are shopping on Commercial Street. They haven't been able to catch a single culprit.

That same week on Friday, my wife parked the car at the parking lot of a well-known restaurant in Marathahalli. When she came back, she saw a person hiding behind a tree. The person was behaving strangely as he was trying to get a good look at my wife and note her reaction while pretending to be invisible at the same time. My wife got spooked and left in a huff. By the time she came home, her suspicions were aroused and she inspected the car. We saw many deep scratches on the rear driver-side door all the way to the rear. This handiwork was done using a key or some such object and the person had made deep scratches to remove the paint until the metal which on being felt by hand appear to be more like cuts than scratches.

The next day she went to complain at the restaurant and they told her that it must have been done by one of the drivers. As is to be expected, they feigned liability but promised that they will take better care of the car 'the next time'.

In both cases, the cars were parked out in the open, with security at hand and good light and visibility. The common factor in both cases were that there were plenty of bored drivers around who were waiting for their employers. The restaurant said that these drivers resent the fact that their employers spend hours in the restaurants wining and dining until late while the employers do not care if their drivers are out starving. So they take their anger out by vandalizing cars and these usually happen to be the ones which are self-driven as the others will have a driver somewhere nearby.

I have enclosed one picture of our car below just to give an idea as the scratches do not contrast properly in the picture due to its silver color.



To give you a better idea, I am enclosing another picture, this time of my neighbor's car in the condition I saw it in today. My heart simply went out for them.



I have one request to all those Team-BHPians who have drivers. Please educate them not to vandalize the cars of others and also to spread the word. In these modern cars, each panel costs Rs. 10,000 or so to paint and three panels would cost at least 30K+. That's a lot of money to spend unexpectedly.

NOTE TO MODS: Please merge with the "Vandalism" thread if you think right. I opened this thread because having lived in Bangalore for many years, I feel vandalism is a relatively new phenomenon (earlier, cars used to be damaged occasionally in hit-and-runs while parked and kids would paint on the cars when they collected enough dust). We must all work together to impart a better civic sense.