[Gilead]

Originally Posted by sterlingjames

for those who live in chennai, you must have noticed newspaper snippets on sporadic cases of bikes 'catching fire'

Was this in North Chennai (Washermanpet etc)? I remember reading that the police were suspecting the handiwork of a gang in this area, but all other sporadic incidents of fire were attributed to electrical issues.

another strange happening which needs highlight is that most cars that are parked in offices, (especially in the IT corridor-OMR,GUINDY,ADAYAR) are being scratched out by some miscreants on a regular basis

Culprit is poor security in these campuses. I work in one of the largest office complexes in the city and I believe nearly every square foot of the parking lot is covered by cams. There is adequate physical presence as well. Once a cab driver was caught stealing some tools. The cab co. which was sending over 200 cars a day to an MNC was banned outright. There has never been another incident since then.

another new problem for which i too, have been a victim twice, is getting scratched out in standing traffic. on two occassions, i was surprised (both times)by slightly over-middle aged guys who squeezed past in standing traffic

Sorry to hear about this, but it could have been accidental as well. I get nervous when bikes squeeze near my car as well. So if there is a divider, I stand in such a way that there is no chance of a gap for a bike to squeeze in between the car and the divider. I also dont leave enough of a gap for a bike to squeeze in front of my car as well. Cycles still manage to sneak in at times.

[mvaidy]

Its very strange to hear scratches happen in office complexes. It is very sad that educated people do these kind of mess.

Most of the scratches happen in flats, where kids play nearby your car. Unfortunately you will not be able to avoid those scratches.

[anarchist]

Always watch up for such jerks on bikes, cycles and especially on TVS 50 who try to squeeze into every gap available. Stay alert keep a look out on ur rear view mirrors all three and do not let anyone overtake from the left and while stopping always ensure there is no room for these a$$ holes to squeeze in, thats the mantra to keep your car safe. Typically the normal tendency of any car lover is try n move out of the way of such jerks, but I'd say never move out of the way but stick to squeezing them out, that definitely scares them out atleast they move away from your car. I do that all the time. I am not trying to advocate violence or road rage but there is no other option definitely

[sterlingjames]

dera Gilead, the incidents were in annanagar(17th main road and kadhiravan colony) and choolaimedu.the ones in annagar were all near or on the same road where lots of IAS, senior officials reside.

[rg_chn]

Let me narrate a similar incident.
One of my friends bought a new civic around a year back. He had parked it at the basement parking at City Centre, went shopping and came back to find his car completely scratched. It was like someone drew on the car with a key. He had to get the entire car repainted.

Another incident that happened to me.
I had just bought an accent when i was in college. I park it rite outside my house the day i got the car. The next morning, i wake to find out that my car was scratched(again with a key) on the right side. All the way from the head light till the rear panel. After this incident, i shifted, to a better apartment, which had car park.

There's nothing much that one can do about it. People like these exist everywhere. It's sad to see something like that happen to a car that we love.

[esteemer]

Originally Posted by rg_chn

Another incident that happened to me.
I had just bought an accent when i was in college. I park it rite outside my house the day i got the car. The next morning, i wake to find out that my car was scratched(again with a key) on the right side. All the way from the head light till the rear panel. After this incident, i shifted, to a better apartment, which had car park.

Must have hurt a lot. What do people get by spoiling other's cars?

[slipstream]

Originally Posted by rg_chn

He had parked it at the basement parking at City Centre, went shopping and came back to find his car completely scratched.

my office is at Citi Centre and I park my car EVERYDAY there...havent had a problem in a year and a half now (TOUCH WOOD !)

[MX6]

That's terrible. I too had scratches on my bonnet when parked in chennai. It sure didn't happen inside my place. I'd taken it to T-Nagar/ Mylapore/ Annanagar etc for shopping. Guess some moron scratched it there. There has been patterns on the bonnet and I was frustrated. I drove all the way from pune to 70 kms north of kanyakumari. Nothing happened. 1 week in chennai and vandals pockmarked my car!
Anyway, getting a polish done on my car this weekend which might make it slightly better. But the mechanic has said, it needs a complete paint job to come back to how it was before.

[esteemer]

Is it just because of the jealousy factor?

What else could be the possible reason for such behaviour?

Such a pathetic lack of civil sense is one of the many reasons we have been "developing" for decades, and haven't become developed.

[shishir_bn]

There are also instances when in the middle of the night some junk head/mobs throw stones to parked cars(outside the building/on footpaths) damaging the whole windscreen/body parts. So guys whop are parking their cars on the roads be careful or else you will end up paying for the repair work

[leodelg]

When I used to live in Bangalore, I went through a lot of trouble to find a place with a place to park my car, at least inside the compound wall - and not on the street. The sole reason was to prevent incidents like this. But I underestimated the naivety (or stupidity or laziness) of the human race. There was a line to hang clothes for drying next to where I used to park the car. One of the residents of that complex kept a bucket full of wet clothes on one side of the hood, and dragged it all the way to the other side of the hood, so that he/she didn't have to bend down to pick up the clothes. I was so surprised at this act of stupidity that I couldn't even get angry. I approached the landlord and asked him to inform everyone in the complex NOT to do that again. He smiled at me, apologized and immediately removed the cloth line from there saying "People will never understand".

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by esteemer

Is it just because of the jealousy factor?

What else could be the possible reason for such behaviour?

Such a pathetic lack of civil sense is one of the many reasons we have been "developing" for decades, and haven't become developed.

Lot of reasons
1) Sadistic pleasure one may get of destroying someone else's asset
2) Jealousy factor for someone owning a better car.
3) Invasion of privacy space - Space which was meant for one's parking occupied by someone else.
4) Install fear factor so that they dont park in the space ultimately freeing the parking space.
5) Road rage revenge.
6) Collusion of Garage owners with antisocial elements

The list is endless. However careful you think you are somewhere you might miss and end up having a dent, scratch on you prized possession. The worst part is you cant even identify who's done it.

[ElantraGT]

Guys I am there with you on this and I have gone throught the pain. Some of the vandalism marks on my car are

* A big X mark on my the top of the Trunk lid by a kid (around 10 years) with a 1 Re coin
* A long running scratch on the door (both front and back doors) - possibly with a key and this happened in Office premises
* Hyundai and GT logos are ripped from its place and are missing. I am not able to source a new one from GP road.

I caught the kid who ut the X mark, but he is so yound to be punised. I let him go, and the reason he gave me was he loved the sound when the coin rubs the car surface. I was not sure what i should do hearing that answer. I take extra precautions while parking now a days.

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by ElantraGT

I caught the kid who ut the X mark, but he is so yound to be punised. I let him go, and the reason he gave me was he loved the sound when the coin rubs the car surface. I was not sure what i should do hearing that answer. I take extra precautions while parking now a days.

Hari, I'm sorry but I cannot stop reading this. Did you ask him why he made a specific X mark when he loves the sound ?

I was a victim with one of my previous cars. A kid was walking along a roadside parking and he was dragging lines along the parked cars. We, two car owners stopped him and on asking, we came to know that he did not even know what he was doing. It was almost involuntary.

We can be cautious while parking near our homes but what could we do when we travel somewhere, say a bank, restaurant etc., We have to live with this mess.

As a thumb rule, I sometimes make my car dirty when taking to busy places so that it does not attract much attention

[esteemer]

Originally Posted by ElantraGT

I caught the kid who ut the X mark, but he is so yound to be punised. I let him go, and the reason he gave me was he loved the sound when the coin rubs the car surface. I was not sure what i should do hearing that answer. I take extra precautions while parking now a days.

Yeah, I can understand your position. I don't think there's any sort of law for punishing someone who scratched your car just to listen to that irksome noise.

On a more serious note, what should be done is :

1) Park your car in a safe guarded parking, preferably beside your building.

2) Talk to people in your society, tell everyone to be on the lookout for such scratchers(), and discuss ways of getting over them.

3) Any more suggestions? Please pour them in for benefit of others.