turbojet

Last night, I was driving home in my A4. I was stopped at a red light, waiting for the light to turn green. There was not much traffic on the road. I was tired, and somehow I went into a deep thinking mode, (I guess many of the A4 fans were in deep thinking mode last night!). I was watching the light, and there was not much movement around that could distract my thinking mode. It was sort of relaxing. In this time, I completely lost track of what is in my rear view mirror.

And then, all of a sudden, I felt a light jerk that moved my car about an inch forward! The shock suddenly broke my thought process, and in a reflex I looked in my rear view mirror and I saw the grille of a SUV touching my back! Obviously, I got very angry, and got out of the car. There was a girl in the driver's seat of the SUV and (probably) her mother in the passengers seat. Her front license plate was touching my rear bumper but I could not see any damage. I was still very upset, so I asked her to get down and then we both checked out the damage. I ask her to move the damn thing back, so I could see my bumper. She moved the SUV a little back and I see a very slight (negligible) damage, which was in the form of three tiny white marks. She says something like "Oh, its nothing, its nothing", but I was not sure. It was dark and I could not see if there was real damage or not. However, because I could not see any real damage, I sort of felt embarrassed about getting angry in the first place. So I calmed down. But now I was in a funny situation. Should I let the girl just go, or should I give her a lecture, or what? I did not know what to do. I really wanted to check it in the light, so I told her that I would really know what happened only on next morning, and I wanted her name and number, in case the damage was big and I had to pay to fix it.

She said, "fine, get a pen and paper and I will give you my number". Now I realize that I have no pen or pencil. I asked her if she has a pen, and she says no! Now I am really embarrassed and I am just waiting there. She says again, "Get a pen and paper and I will give you my number." And since I did not know what to do, I said something like "Forget it, I am just leaving." And I just left from there. After coming home, I checked in the light, and I could see a few tiny white marks. Today, I washed the car and even those white marks came off and now it almost looks like nothing happened. Now it looks fine, but the car still feels violated, nobody had touched her like that before!

So my question is, what would you do if somebody causes very little damage to your car? I mean, how much damage is necessary to get real angry, and call the insurance or police or whatever On the other hand, if there was some damage, what is the best way to handle it? Should I call police, or just get her insurance information and go home?

Sorry for the very long post, but I am bored and felt like doing some typing!

Thanks,

Anand

CP

Cars do age...and this stuff happens. Life goes on...

EdP

if not call the police for a report. After the fact, and no witnesses, they can say they got whiplash or other injuries. Then it'd you word against theirs, with no proof of who was at fault. They could even try to blame old damage on you.

MrHydeA4

...a woman at a stoplight drifted into the back of my A4. No major damage, just two small indentations where the license plate screws dug into the bumper a little.

She actually accused me of backing into her! I was trying to keep my calm since in reality, it was very minor, but in the process of getting her information, she made a similar "oh it's nothing" comment. That is what really set me off.

But, after all was said and done, her insurance company wrote me a check to have my bumper fixed.

Ferris TMK

There could be unseen damage, you have to remember, at least on the s4, the bumpers are rated at 2.5 mph. So you could've cracked the energy absorbers or something inside the bumper.

As far as getting pissed in my old cars I've gotten minor taps and damage, but never really cared. I think if some hit my S4, I'd be really pissed. I would've gotton her info just incase, and if she was beotch about not having a pen, F-her she hit you.... Anyway you should have gotten a pen with the car

Monkeyboy

when the police writes up the report, otherwise their 'testimony' carries little weight. Happened to my wife. Witness wanted to get to work, so he left his card with one person involved in the accident. Cop said that that is no good. Witness needs to give his/her story to the cop on site.

EdP

bitch. And you couldn't say otherwise, cause you never got HER plate, which would prove you stopped and got out to trade info.

QuattroRocket

Always have pen and paper in car! Even buy a disposable camera and keep in in glove box just in case

turbojet

You are scaring me, Ed. Can I do anything now?

EdP

and they recorded it over the phone.