Kid scratches car

[crosby50]

I picked up my kids yesterday at a friend's house and parked on the street. When I came outside again, the neighbor's 7 year old girls were leaning all over the car. Not wanting to be a dork, I resisted the urge to ask them not to touch the car in front of their parents. My kids know better so I would be correcting someone else's kids. Big mistake. This morning when I took the car out of the garage I wiped off the inevitable fingerprints and there it was: a two inch scratch along the door. Luckily, its not deep.

Any advice on minimizing the scratch without causing new problems? The car is black and I believe that the paint is original from 1989. True, it wasn't perfect before - but this is the first imperfection added during my one year of ownership.

[dweymer]

get it buffed out, by a paintshop, NOT the carwash guys. Not that all carwash guys are bad, but you just don't know. If it is down to metal/primer, go to paintscratch.com and order a touchup pen.

[Az911]

Originally posted by crosby50
I picked up my kids yesterday at a friend's house and parked on the street. When I came outside again, the neighbor's 7 year old girls were leaning all over the car. Not wanting to be a dork, I resisted the urge to ask them not to touch the car in front of their parents. My kids know better so I would be correcting someone else's kids. Big mistake. This morning when I took the car out of the garage I wiped off the inevitable fingerprints and there it was: a two inch scratch along the door. Luckily, its not deep.

Next time man up and tell those kids to respect your property and not to touch it. All it would have taken is a simple hey watch out.

[atlporsche]

How about "I like my car more than I like you, so beat it!"

sjd

[Super_Dave_D]

Originally posted by crosby50
Not wanting to be a dork, I resisted the urge to ask them not to touch the car in front of their parents.

I guess I am a dork - I would have nicely asked them to not lean in the car. At 5, my daughter knows better and would correct you herself.

[crosby50]

Yeah, the timing just wasn't right. They had already swarmed the car by the time I came outside so at that point I figured I would distract them by saying, "okay guys, time to go." Little gnats (not my kids of course).

[chuckr]

I'd suggest using 3M Rubbing compound 1500 grit. Available at
Wal-Mart...about 6 bucks. If this does not take it out, professional
help is needed. This is clear coat safe, although, your 89 may not
have clear coat, depending on the color.
Good Luck
Chuck

[SeaDweller]

On my '85, I would work out any light scratches slowly with a low speed buffer and 3M Perfect It.......

[aigel]

I would just use a swirl mark remover type wax, none of the harsher stuff recommended above.

Anyone that thinks it was a mistake not to yell at the kids probably doesn't have any offspring that age. It can be quite embarrassing for an older child if your parent yells at your peers. If you keep that up, you'll be asked to drop them off 5 blocks from school. Honestly, I'd rather have a scratch than my kid worrying about an uncool dad even before their teens ...

Cheers, George

[FastCarFan]

Makes me think of a time when I was looking for a friend's house & I was a bit lost. I stopped by a man who walking his medium-sized dog to ask directions. As he stepped up to my passenger window the #@&%*# dog jumped up on my passenger door with his front paws.

I could not believe that the man let it happen in the first place, & that he didn't even stop the dog. He just kept talking.

Thankfully, it only made a minor scratch that rubbed right out.

[Super_Dave_D]

Originally posted by aigel

Anyone that thinks it was a mistake not to yell at the kids probably doesn't have any offspring that age. It can be quite embarrassing for an older child if your parent yells at your peers. If you keep that up, you'll be asked to drop them off 5 blocks from school. Honestly, I'd rather have a scratch than my kid worrying about an uncool dad even before their teens ...
Cheers, George

I do have a young child and its called respecting peoples property.

There is a polite way of doing it without being a jerk. "hey would you mind not laying on the car?" not "hey punk how would you like it if I sat on your ipod now get the fizzuk off my car!"

[Rusty Heap]

7 year old girls are a little to big and heavy to drop kick or punt like a football, thats more for the 3-5 year olds.

7 year old girls are fine for field goal attempts though.

[Laneco]

You guys are TOTALLY handling this wrong!

You need to let out an extended terrifyingly loud SHRIEK of horror when you see this happen! I mean you need to scream like you find a live spider in your underpants!

Then cover your mouth in horror and stumble wide-eyed toward your car...gasp for breath...begin blubbering about the paint costing thousands of dollars to repair...insurance won't cover it...Then turn to the offending party (parent or dog-walker) and in a choked up voice state "I think I'm gonna need your home-owner's insurance policy for the damage..."

Another effective tactic if you have an alarm with a panic - is this: Hit the panic button - let the siren and lights go long enough to attract a fair amount of attention and annoyance. When people begin looking out their windows, explain loudly: "I'm really sorry - this guy's kid/dog/whatever set off my alarm and it takes 5 minutes to reset..."

Let the alarm run for five full minutes, all the while explaining to the neighbors that SO AND SO's kid/dog/whatever touched something they were not supposed to... A little public humiliation is pretty effective when dealing with social clods.

angela

[bhyde]

Take the car to a professional auto detailer and then give the bill to the parents. If the parents don't give you the cash, simply refuse to release the children from captivity.

[aigel]

Originally posted by Super_Dave_D
I do have a young child and its called respecting peoples property.

There is a polite way of doing it without being a jerk. "hey would you mind not laying on the car?" not "hey punk how would you like it if I sat on your ipod now get the fizzuk off my car!"

Well, we all weren't there, so it is hard to gauge what was going on. I just wanted to side with the dad here and remind folks that there are some aspects to this that people without kids in that age probably don't think about.

George

[RSBob]

I like the above approach. An alternative is one of those alarm systems with a peripheral sensor which talks to the people and warns them away. "Warning, please move away from the car". "Warning, alarm will sound if you do not move away from the car" "Warning, an idiot spent big bucks on this warning system, and is probably extremely irrational, has bad taste and could be considered extremely hostile"

[berettafan]

my wife recently gave me grief when i sternly asked a neighbor kid (3) to please not play IN my garage. MY 3 year old is not the best listener in the world and i KNOW he knows what i mean when i say 'please do not ......'. I told her if the dad, who was standing 5 feet away, would recall that i've asked them not to play IN the garage many times before we wouldn't have this problem. i expect parents to curb their kids in the same way i expect dog owners to curb their dogs. nothing difficult about this.

i was rather pissed because i should not have had to ask the kid to get out of the garage; his dad should've been on top of that looooong before. but these folks are not passionate folks. their entire lives are kid proofed such that their boy can go ANYWHERE in their house, garage, yard, etc. and have free reign. i refuse to adjust my lifestyle just because they have no concept of life after kids. 'well that's what kids do' they would say after little johnny failed to listen for the 12th time and finally broke the tv or vcr or glass bowl or camera or whatever.

i understand that, within reason, 3 yr olds can be expected to make a mess and if you have nice stuff you might be sorry. but when your neighbor has a 1970 nine-****ing-eleven Porsche in the garage you need to keep your damned kids off of it!

[brendon]

I have a problem with parents who don't police their own children and teach them what is right and wrong. Not a fan of the passive parenting - 'child proof everything and forget about it'.

Now if I could just get my own 3 year old to listen when I tell her; although she does respect cars and won't touch them unless told she can. She does like to hug the "horsey" on the front of my car

[theclaw]

I put a big yellow stripe down the center of my garage. My kids know what side is theirs and what side the car is on. They are even good enough to police their friends (ages 6-9) about the rules.

As far as leaning against the car, its inevitable. A fact of nature. Sheet happens. Unless you live in a bubble stuff like this will occur. I usually give the kids a firm "Don't do that" at that usually puts a stop to the behavior.

[crosby50]

Sorry to cause such a passionate debate! I make it very clear to my children that other people's property is off limits to them. But, they are kids (5 & 6) and sometimes they allow their curiosity to get the better of them. If another adult corrected them I would applaud it so long as it wasn't cruel.

It is very difficult for enthusiasts like us to imagine that other adults don't see the value in an automobile other than as a mode of transportation. This is why I never park anywhere near another car. The funny thing is, I don't mind others driving my cars. I just don't want them parking them.

Another thing that just occurred to me is that most adults don't realize how delicate paint is. My wife probably doesn't realize the number of scratches on her leased car because she doesn't hand wash and wax it. I know every imperfection on both of my cars - I guess its the curse of being an enthusiast.