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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hit my neighbours car ... puzzled by his response ?

92 replies

Glitterzzz · 18/07/2018 12:27

Hey everyone. I feel awful! Came home from the school run this morning pulling into the space as normal, I got destracted and somehow ended up too close to the neighbours car already parked and hit the wing mirror ( so I thought )

Upon getting out I could see his car already has extensive damage to it on different spots but looking at my side of the car that has obvious long scratch marks in differential places where I’ve hit his and some scuffing to the front wheel I’m not sure how much of this I’m responsible for.

Some is clearly old, or in spots where it’s nit likely to be me. I knocked on his door apologised and explained that I’m sorry I’ve hit your wing mirror and I’m not sure of the damage.

He was super nice,,, didn’t want to come and see for himself and told me not to worry.

I am worried! The cosmetic damage to my car is my own fault and I will get it fixed in the coming weeks but having taken both photographs of his and my car and excluding what I believe to be the the older damage I can see I did more than just the wing mirror.

He has since come out and left in his car. I expected him to come knocking the door but nothing. I just feel it’s a bit ... odd ? I have admitted it was me and said shall we swap insurance ? And he was all smiles and said no problem forget it and have a good day...

Am I wrong to think he doesn’t have insurance 🧐 I still feel so bad for the damage I have caused

OP posts:
Barbaro · 18/07/2018 13:37

Cosmetic damage to my car wouldnt bother me either to be honest. Its generally easily fixed when its small damage and is only panels. Wouldnt even tell insurance to be honest, it doesnt effect the structure of the car so why bother?

Sarahjconnor · 18/07/2018 13:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EvenThoughYouDidCHEAT · 18/07/2018 13:46

I don't understand your OP, to be honest. You hit his wing mirror? But then you said "his car already has extensive damage to it on different spots but looking at my side of the car that has obvious long scratch marks in differential places"

So you hit his car entirely, or just the wing mirror? If it's the latter, of course he doesn't care.

enjoyingscience · 18/07/2018 13:50

You seem puzzled that he has different values to you. Some people care about cars, some people see them as a means of getting from A to B. neither are wrong.

You should be thankful he was so chilled! I agree you're being snidey about his insurance.

silversfish · 18/07/2018 13:50

www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx you absolutely can here some people seem very naive i like you would think the same tbh but then there are about 1 million uninsured cars or 1 in 20 cars are unisured

WindyWednesday · 18/07/2018 13:52

He sounds like a nice chap who isn’t uptight about his car.

sleepyhead · 18/07/2018 13:55

Another one here with an old car. As long as it didn't stop me driving it, I wouldn't care about a minor dent or scratch. It's not likely to last long enough for rust to be much of a concern.

Storminamug · 18/07/2018 13:59

This happened to me once. I had an old car - wasn't worth fixing. Some people are really bothered about cars and some people aren't.

WinnieFosterTether · 18/07/2018 14:00

Some people just don't care about their cars especially when they're already covered in scratches and dents.
I scratched a car once. It was covered in scratches and dents already, and the scratch I made was small in comparison. I left a note with all my details. Never heard from them.

WeirdAndPissedOff · 18/07/2018 14:02

My car is around 7 years old, and no dents yet (couple of minor scratches), and I also wouldn't really be bothered about this.
I like my car, but I view it similarly to a tool - it gets me from A to B. As long as the lifespan or functionality of the car isn't affected I'm really not too bothered what the cosmetics are like!

Chocolala · 18/07/2018 14:03

My one and only car of my own was an old banger. I wouldn’t have cared so long as it was still roadworthy. Don’t worry OP - he probably does have insurance, but just isn’t bothered with the cosmetics.

TSSDNCOP · 18/07/2018 14:05

If he’s anything like the woman I bumped back into then he’s possinly goIng to get all the damage to his car fixed on your insurance.

Call you insurance company asap.

My bill was £800 which included a new bumper, re-spray and hire car for her. I had bumped her at zero miles per hour.

I drew the line at her hysterics over her cracked bumper with a hole in it. In the dark she hadnt see it was bird poo.

sleep5 · 18/07/2018 14:06

You can check if the vehicle is insured here:
ownvehicle.askmid.com/

Xtrah0urzz · 18/07/2018 14:12

I damaged someone's old car recently. They said if they put it through their insurance it would right the car off. They ordered a spare part and fitted it themselves (I paid for the spare parts) . The car is now fully functional again. I was fortunate that this person had the knowledge to fix. It would have been a different scenario if it was a new car

supersop60 · 18/07/2018 14:16

I've always had old cars, and sometimes, a little bit of damage isn't worth claiming for because you lose your excess payment - which may be more than the cost of repairing the damage.

MikeCheck12 · 18/07/2018 14:22

You clearly interrupted a marathon wanking session and he wanted you to bugger off immediately

AjasLipstick · 18/07/2018 14:26

Dh and I are a bit "meh" about our cars. They're both old and battered already. We don't care if they get another scratch.

puddleduckmummy · 18/07/2018 14:26

My DH car is a completely battered 13 year old 'hack'. He would be exactly he same in this situation, he would thank you for telling him but would not be concerned in anyway of any damage you may or may not have caused! I wouldn't worry, some people don't bother about things like this and he probably knows you haven't done it maliciously

hazell42 · 18/07/2018 14:33

I doubt it has anything to do with him not having insurance.
This has happened to me several times, when people have hit my car and I haven't bothered to claim against them. My car is a bit old and a bit dented and I am not really a materialistic person. I certainly don't give a monkey's about cars.
We're not all out for everything we can get. He is being nice to you. Accept it as such, and buy him some beers/chocolate as a thank you

MindBodyChocolate · 18/07/2018 14:33

I wouldn't worry: consider it a lucky escape. I wouldn't mention it again.

If he's the sort of person who's going to try to pull a fast one and claim for all the damage to his car on your insurance policy, then he would have made a fuss at the time. Leaving it til later makes everything much more difficult for him to prove, so I'd say it's very unlikely.

TheLesserOfTwoWeevils · 18/07/2018 14:35

My car is 10 years old and a right state, covered in loads of dents and scratches (husband's fault, he just had a run of bad luck with it!). I'm also not sure how much longer that car is for this world so it will probably be destined for the scrapyard before too long. If a neighbour hit my car and dented it I probably wouldn't be terribly impressed but equally I wouldn't be concerned about getting it fixed so I would probably just tell my neighbour not to worry about it.

Mind you I was furious when someone knocked our wing mirror off, but that's because that HAD to be repaired and the bugger didn't stop

BrexitWife · 18/07/2018 14:35

Someone clipped my mirror one. I had a Vague scratch on it.
I had the same reaction than your NDN
I knew (because I was in the car) that only the mirror had been touched. I wasn’t worried.
The guy was as surprised as you are though Grin

Tbh my car is old (about 8 years now). It’s in a good condition but has some scratches. One more isn’t doing a big difference! Esp as I am planning to use it until it’s on it’s last leg so not going to sell it etc...

starryeyed19 · 18/07/2018 14:39

I wouldn't bother either tbh if my car was already dented. Count your lucky stars you have such a nice neighbor!

MirandaWest · 18/07/2018 14:41

If someone did that to my car I wouldn’t be bothered. Car is 13 years old and has a few scuffs and scrapes. A few more wouldn’t harm it. I probably would have had a look but would hopefully have reassured you there was no problem.

My car is insured by the way Smile

Myotherusernameisbest · 18/07/2018 14:45

I have an older car too, which I like very much but if someone scraped the wing mirror I'd just say it didnt matter. Things happens. It wouldn't be worth the hassle of insurance and all that for a few scrapes. It already has a few dents. I mean its not a complete wreck and I wouldn't want a massive dent down the side but the odd ding and scrape wouldn't bother me at all. I do have insurance!

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