Neighbour Scratched My Paint - Temporary Rust Protection?

[Jucius Maximus]

The guy who parks next to me in the condo parking lot majorly scratched the paint on 'my' Camry. On the driver's door there are two small but deep scratches. I can see the matching scratch on the edge of his Lexus's back door. *Technically it is my dad's Camry and I have permission to use it this week. He will be royally pissed because he just got it recently.

The scratch is deep and the metal below is exposed. How do I temporarily protect the surface from rusting? Rust Check?

(I can't really 'confront' the guy about this either because he barely speaks English. He is my next door neighbour though because the parking spots follow sequentially with the suite numbers.)

[sbin]

why not confront him? seriously, if he was ur best friend, i would say to let it pass, but just neighbor?? tell him to pay for it, dont need to be shy

[Jucius Maximus]

why not confront him? seriously, if he was ur best friend, i would say to let it pass, but just neighbor?? tell him to pay for it, dont need to be shy
As I said before, the neighbour doesn't understand English!

Also, I can't really prove that he cause the damage. He might plausibly say that the matching scratch on his car door was there from before.

[Kasakato]

Write a letter and do a translation?

[Jucius Maximus]

Write a letter and do a translation?
I don't even know what language he speaks... I think it is something from the Far East. Maybe Vietnamese or Malay. Not really sure.

[phillbert]

take pictures and use arrows. he should understand that.

[nano]

key his car

[jetway1212]

take pictures and use arrows. he should understand that.
HAHHAHAHA that is hilarious.


OP, call cops, explain your story why you cant confront him. Cops can do investigate. The damage is easily over $1000. Repaint a door isnt cheap, the shop has to do the fender and quarter panel to match color.

I dont care if its my neighbour, heck if its true, hes a bad guy after all.

[weedb0y]

ask him for $200 and tell him you are gonna cover the rest..

no bad feelings on either side..

[Jucius Maximus]

Thanks for your comments about the neighbour... but what about protecting the spot from rust? Is there anything I can do now to prevent rust from forming?

[dodo]

Thanks for your comments about the neighbour... but what about protecting the spot from rust? Is there anything I can do now to prevent rust from forming?
you can use a touch up & clear coat for that

[PCDawg]

He's gotta understand some english or know someone that does. How did he buy/rent his condo???

He still has to revie the contract and sign papers.

Just call up security or talk to the superintendant and they will help out....

[anabeces]

key his car

i agree.

[ah802]

As I said before, the neighbour doesn't understand English!

Also, I can't really prove that he cause the damage. He might plausibly say that the matching scratch on his car door was there from before.
For starters... just because he doesn't speak english doesn't mean he isn't responsible, let his lawyer do the talking. You need to take this to the next level... I know your dad would.

You're right, very hard to prove... but with close-up photography, matching height damage, and flakes of paint transfer... a case could be made. Down to the bare metal damage will leave transfer marks, presented with convincing photogrpahic evidence, the neighbour should pay-up (cost for a repainted panel is ~300)

Contain the problem with dealer touch-up paint asap.

[ah802]

i agree.Childish response... both become losers and not to the same degree. Take judical steps and let an impartial judge decide with evidence...

No evidence....? we live in a civil society, your neighbour shouldn't have to suffer if you are not 100% sure he did it, and you can't prove it to an impartial person.

[Coke355mL]

This is Canada. Write him a letter in English and let him get someone to translate it for him. I'm sure he has someone to do that for all his regular mail that gets sent to him. Ask them to pay for the damages or you will take this to small claims court.

Take digital photographs with proper lighting/flash of the damages. I would take the car to a shop and get it repaired immediately instead of a bandaging it with touch up paint (depending on the damage).

[rp_guy]

rust ? it's summer

[Evil Techie]

why not contact insurance and let the authority to deal with this

if he didnt leave u a notice then he is violating the law by escaping the scene of the crime and failing to leave you with contacts

authority may get things solve properly

im sure a cop talking to him, he would take it more seriously and get a translator if thats the problem

for the mean while, dont worry too much about it
it wont rust that fast

if u are really worried however, maybe try putting wax on it
anyone know if there are any bad consequences regarding that?
i mean wax can come off easily with Dawn dish detergent and stuff so its a good temporary measure

[aquariaguy]

Would a cop really waste his time coming? Isn't this private property? It's just a scratch. It's not like an injury in a parking lot. Would they come?

[jetway1212]

Would a cop really waste his time coming? Isn't this private property? It's just a scratch. It's not like an injury in a parking lot. Would they come?


Sure they come, its their job. They have to do report in case like this and it helps in court.

heck, even if i'm scared of my neighbour's dog, i can still call cops. LOL

[Jucius Maximus]

Thanks for your responses.

My dad and I looked at it today in better light and it is not nearly as bad as it first appeared. The scratch is NOT down to the metal as I first thought. We got some touch-up paint from Dixie Toyota and the spot is protected.

[taKuto]

rust ? it's summer

and why won't things rust in summer? The frame around my door panel rusted after I recovered my car last month. Paint below my door handle was scraped away and the metal has rusted after a week or two.

[Sprite_TM]

i dont think u shoudl touch the spot, let it rust, because if u do anything to it, it may invalidate ur evidence

[aquariaguy]

Sure they come, its their job. They have to do report in case like this and it helps in court.

heck, even if i'm scared of my neighbour's dog, i can still call cops. LOL

Well thats different. It's a dog that can attack you. I don't know if the rust will jump out and eat ya!

I know if you're in a parking lot, police don't get involved. Can anyone confirm? I'm pretty sure this is what I remember.

[cil254]

To answer the original question, clear nail polish will do the trick, temporary.

[ViperZ]

use car paint undercoat to cover the scratches - this will protect the car from rust. If the scratches are not very wide, try using touch-up paint over undercoat, then use one of those things that are advertised to "remove scratches". There is Turtle Wax and there was "as seen on TV" one. I have both, they also come with "pencils" for deep scratches. Both work pretty well on most scratches.

[sunnybono]

Thanks for your comments about the neighbour... but what about protecting the spot from rust? Is there anything I can do now to prevent rust from forming?

Toyota has a neat touch up pen that you can apply. I would probably go with 2 coats. On the other side of the pen is the clear coat application. This is a short term solution to your problem. Just walk in to a dealership with the colour code, which can be found on the driver door, and the year and make of the car!!!!

sk :)