Sad Day

[Yblocker]

Car was hit while parked. Hit and run that is. Insert very sad face here.
The fender, rear view mirror, the door and pillar are damaged. Hood is fine.
I carry liability insurance only so the repair if any, would be on me.
How would you guys proceed? Other than wrecking yards where do people source body parts?

I'm a fair mechanic, but I have very little body work experience. I've put a lot of work into this car, it's really sorted out well, so I hate to part it out, but it's tempting.

 

[twentyeight]

That's really rough, but at least it wasn't the rear quarter.

It looks like a nice car, and if so you can probably just replace the fender and mirror and have a body shop paint it. If you do most of the prep yourself it won't be too expensive. Was there any potential camera on the area? I got hit in a parking lot a long time ago with PLPD and there was some clause that insurance would cover hit-and-runs. I didn't handle the details, though, so I'm not much help there.

I might have a good fender in the garage, though it's LC6P green. One was had some rust so I'll check and get back to you.

 

[Yblocker]

How is it to R&R fenders on these?

 

[Tdijarhead]

Check with your insurance, hit and run is treated differently in different states.

 

[Yblocker]

I'm pretty confident I could R&R the fender and and least the mirror if not the entire door since it's damaged too. It's the ding in the windshield pillar that I don't think I can do much about.

 

[ToddA1]

Sucks, but post a wtb for the parts, in the same diamond metallic black color.

When I bought my last B4, I was able to find a hood, and 2 complete doors from a local seller for $100. The fender was shipped from CT for $100. All in the same metallic black.

These parts are easily swappable.

Get a body shop to fix the a-pillar if it bothers you. The roof trim will allow the repair to be pretty small.

-Todd

 

[john.jackson9213]

Given the amount of work that has gone into the car, I would look to fix the car, because it is cheaper and easier than starting all over again with another car of unknown quality.

First thing I would do is take the car to a couple of different body shops for a price to fix it. Ask each one of them how they would do it and, since it is an older car, how can you cut the cost with out cutting the repair quality. If nothing else you will learn what they think of the A pillar damage.

Sorry to see this happen to your car. Hit and run really sucks. But in the end, nobody got hurt and the car is just metal. I plan on putting my wagon in the paint shop in the next week or two, knowing that this could happen to me.

 

[JDSwan87]

As other have said, check your insurance. I carry PLPD on my cars but if they are hit while parked, its covered like full coverage... Looks like it was/still is a nice car!!

 

[Steve Addy]

In Iowa it used to be that if the car was parked and it was hit it was covered under the comprehensive component of insurance. Whether or not that's the case anymore or not I can't say. I had a door repair covered under those circumstances even though I didn't have full coverage.

If your damage doesn't extend up into the hood or beyond the front door (besides pillar dent) you only have to worry about bolt on components...and maybe some painting.

Sorry to hear about your incident.

I'd be checking out the place you were parked for some surveillance camera video, you might be surprised what you turn up.

Steve

 

[Yblocker]

All great comments and advice- I'm checking my options.....
Thanks guys!

 

[Yblocker]

I checked with two shops. One would repair the door which is torn and bent in the corner by the mirror and the other would replace it; $2,000 and $2,800 respectively. This includes the fender and mirror. A fender, mirror and door will run about $800-$1,000 shipped with the online yards I've checked with. I do need to check with the yard near me.

I'm inclined to look for a 96 or 97 gas or TDI parts car. There is a straight 96 gas Passat on CL not too far away for $500. I swap the parts and and farm out the A-pillar and paint.

 

[Rapidrob]

Most parking lots have CCTV surveillance cameras set up since 9-11.
I'd check with the manager and see if you can see the footage for the date and time.
Hit and run is a felony. The height of the damage seems to show it was a truck or other large vehicle.

 

[lisab4]

Replace the fender, door and mirror. The hardest part is the pillar. Can't really see the extent of the damage on the image, but if repairable, go for it

 

[john.jackson9213]

I checked with two shops. One would repair the door which is torn and bent in the corner by the mirror and the other would replace it; $2,000 and $2,800 respectively. This includes the fender and mirror. A fender, mirror and door will run about $800-$1,000 shipped with the online yards I've checked with. I do need to check with the yard near me.

I'm inclined to look for a 96 or 97 gas or TDI parts car. There is a straight 96 gas Passat on CL not too far away for $500. I swap the parts and and farm out the A-pillar and paint.

Think that is the way I would go also. Check the Pick-n-Pull yards near you. They seem to have quite a few B4 cars over the last 6 months or so. Right now I see 3 in San Jose, 1 in Stocton and 1 in Sacramento. All showing November arrival dates.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

Most parking lots have CCTV surveillance cameras set up since 9-11.
I'd check with the manager and see if you can see the footage for the date and time.
Hit and run is a felony.

Ookland is full of felons already, who commit way-more serious felonies than this. I wouldn't expect the cops to do anything but write a report. The video could be useful for insurance though.

I also vote for grabbing that $500 gasser. Is your pillar structurally (or functionally) damaged, or just cosmetic? Hopefully you can just buff it out & live with the dent.

 

[john.jackson9213]

Ookland is full of felons already, who commit way-more serious felonies than this.<snip>

Yes, no surprise to Senator Ted Cruze because, most of Oakland votes Democratic! Sorry, I just could not resist!

 

[FordGuy100]

Yes, no surprise to Senator Ted Cruze because, most of Oakland votes Democratic! Sorry, I just could not resist!

I would have a bodyshop fix the pillar, and source yourself a door/fender and bolt them on yourself, like you mentioned. It would save you a lot of money.

 

[Yblocker]

Actually the car was parked on a residential street in Berkeley not Oakland.
No cameras in the area that I can see.

 

[steves96tdi]

I checked with two shops. One would repair the door which is torn and bent in the corner by the mirror and the other would replace it; $2,000 and $2,800 respectively. This includes the fender and mirror. A fender, mirror and door will run about $800-$1,000 shipped with the online yards I've checked with. I do need to check with the yard near me.

I'm inclined to look for a 96 or 97 gas or TDI parts car. There is a straight 96 gas Passat on CL not too far away for $500. I swap the parts and and farm out the A-pillar and paint.

You might check these guys out, I bought both right & left as a pair for my rusted out fenders. There made in Taiwan. I haven't installed them let, I think I'll wait till spring after the winter salt is gone.
I paid $94.73 for the pair shipped. They do sell them individuality.
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/s...me:Fenders+&+Components,wpn_scat_name:Fender)

 

[Rapidrob]

The insurance company will go after the "bad guy/gal" if you can get a license number. The cops could care less even if they found the vehicle that hit you.

 

[Abacus]

And this is one of the reasons I now have a dash cam that automatically starts recording if the car is bumped.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Actually the car was parked on a residential street in Berkeley not Oakland.
No cameras in the area that I can see.

Do any of your neighbors have security cameras?

 

[Stromaluski]

And this is one of the reasons I now have a dash cam that automatically starts recording if the car is bumped.

I also bought a dash cam recently. Still have to run the power wire behind the headliner and pillar trim, though. Luckily, the windshield in my mk3 has been replaced before and they glued the headliner to the windshield during replacement, so it's going to be a job to tuck the power wire under the headliner.

 

[Abacus]

Not too bad, run a chase wire from the console light and thread it that way.

 

[Steve Addy]

I also bought a dash cam recently. Still have to run the power wire behind the headliner and pillar trim, though. Luckily, the windshield in my mk3 has been replaced before and they glued the headliner to the windshield during replacement, so it's going to be a job to tuck the power wire under the headliner.

They did the same in my Mk3, the far edge was stuck in the urethane seal, had to cut it a tad to get it loose when I ran a different antenna wire.

For powering the dash cam it would be nice to hook it into the wiring for the dome light since part of that has power continuously without the car running. It's also very close to where the camera (in front) would likely be mounted. For a rear mounted camera something else would need to be done.

Steve

 

[john.jackson9213]

Tell me more about a dash cam for security? How wide is the field of view? What is the price range? Lastly, what else do you use your dash cam for?

I have gotten a bit more used to the backup camera in the 2015 Camry. It has a wider field of view than I expected. But I still do not see it as a good substitute for well adjusted mirrors.

Still, I have to wonder about the usefulness of a dash cam to record accidents or hit-run incidents. How many times does it happen to most of us? If I had a dash cam when my truck was stolen - the thieves would have taken the dash cam.

 

[Abacus]

The field of view on mine is excellent. On playback, it's very easy to see the plate number. It will also double as a 12Mp camera should I decide to take stills.

With today's insurance THIEVES, who deny everything and anything, having irrefutable proof is key.

Case in point: I was once in an accident while sitting on the side of the road. A guy was traveling in the left lane to turn left, with his blinker on, and a person was traveling in the straight lane to go through an intersection. The guy in the left lane suddenly decides to turn right and t-bones the guy in the center lane, and the whole mess comes sliding into my car in a parking lot, stationary.

There were 6 witnesses, two in my car, two in a friends car next to mine, the guy in the center lane, and the guy causing the whole mess. The State Trooper who investigated the scene also determined from the skid marks the fault was with the driver who was turning left.

A month later I got a call from the person going straight, who said the other guys' insurance denied the claim because they didn't think that was what happened. They tried saying it was his fault and that he turned left rather than going straight.

So we have 6 people involved, a professional cop who wrote up his report and took statements from all 6 people, the pictures, and physical evidence. And yet the insurance THIEVES still disputed it!

THAT is one of the reasons I now have a dash cam. Another is from when revkev was rearended and the guy took off. If his car was incapacitated, he'd have never chased them down and would have had to pay out of his pocket. At least with a camera there is the possibility of getting a plate number or at least vehicle description.

 

[paramedick]

You can pick up cameras as cheap as $25 from tanga.com or eBay. Autohausaz.com had some nice blaupunkt cameras at a reasonable price. Some nice stereos, too, that plug right into a B4 harness. ?

Check out L&T Enterprizes in Pennsylvania. They usually have lots of B4 parts. 800 228 3895

Good luck, Bruce

 

[Stromaluski]

Good site for comparing different dash cams.

https://dashcamtalk.com/

 

[turbodieseldyke]

I'm guessing you'll need 1080p, and the cheaper cams aren't much good for reading license plates. I have the 720p model (sold by Tanga, as mentioned above), and I tried using it to record some ridiculous bumper sticker in the next lane. No dice.