[INFURNO]

So my dad came back into town today. I was driving him home and running some errands on the way. He wanted to stop by a wine & spirits store so I parked while he went inside. I look down at my phone and in the corner of my eye a tail light catches my attention and *CRUNCH*.

The truck that just hit me in my drivers side fender starts to pull away like nothing happened. I start the engine and start to follow it while hitting the horn for about 15 feet. She stops, I pull up beside her and roll down my window and yell 'hey! you just hit my car!'

She responds 'No I didn't, I didn't hear anything' and I reassure her of what I saw/felt happen as I was sitting inside. She gets out of the truck in total denial of what happened and I've got a bad feeling about this. I did not think she was going to wait for the police so the first thing I do is grab my phone and take pictures of her license plate.

While I'm doing that, she gets back in the truck and flees the scene. Last thing I hear is 'It's not my car anyway'

My fender/signal is crushed but I don't think there is much more damage than that. It could have been much worse, I was lucky... but I'm just in shock by what happened.

How the hell can someone get away with something like this? It's one thing if I did not see it but I was THERE. I stopped them. I talked to them. Hell, I took pictures. The only thing I did not do was tie them up.

Filed a police report and a started an insurance claim. Now I'm waiting for the cops/detectives to figure it out.

This is absurd

This may take up to months to settle... meanwhile, I'm stuck with the damage and it looks awful.

I'd post a nice high resolution picture of the truck and license plate but I want to make sure with the police that it's ok in this context.

I'll post a picture of the damage tomorrow morning... Don't want to deal with it right now. I wrote this to try and vent it off my mind.

[bimmertt]

Good thing you got the plate. Was there any damage on her car?

She should get in quite a bit of trouble for fleeing the scene like that.

[username604]

you should have yelled that you got her plate, and that a hit and run is way worse than a fender bender.

[ZuerstBMW]

Originally Posted by bimmertt

Good thing you got the plate. Was there any damage on her car?

Why would she care...remember, its not her truck.
And people wonder why insurance rates are so high, stupid people like this woman.
Sorry to hear. Some stupid woman hit me as well, but she stopped at least.

[bimmertt]

Originally Posted by ZuerstBMW

Why would she care...remember, its not her truck.
And people wonder why insurance rates are so high, stupid people like this woman.
Sorry to hear. Some stupid woman hit me as well, but she stopped at least.

It would serve as evidence that she did in fact hit his car and would significantly help the OP's case. At this point, it is still he said she said.

[ZuerstBMW]

Originally Posted by bimmertt

It would serve as evidence that she did in fact hit his car and would significantly help the OP's case. At this point, it is still he said she said.

I was being sarcastic.

[boost986]

hit and run people are the worst.. if you ever get rear ended and the guy says 'hey lets move off the main road into that parking lot', DON'T do it. happened to me and the guy just took off after I pulled into the lot. people these days ....

[tmo24]

I would have followed her while on the phone with cops until they could track our location and pull her over. Good luck on the investigation man.

[bsamoul]

I'm so sorry, man. That totally blows. Some people just don't have any respect. Maybe she isn't insured. You should get it fixed and just wait for the check. Hope it works out for the best

[John 070]

Same thing happened to my brother, they caught the woman, and she claimed she had a seizure (do seizures cause hit and run?), provided some sort of prescription, and got away with it. Actually my brother chased her down at 50 mph through local streets but backed-off as she drove even faster and got away.

[dhan]

i was in a similar situation where i was hit and ran but someone caught the perp's plates. the cop showed up (very helpful), pulled up the plates, found out she lived a block away, bluffed a threat to get her to show up to the scene of the crime, and allowed me to figure out a deal with her.

why?

she had no insurance, it wasn't her car, and since there were no witnesses, the cop couldn't really do anything. if she denied action, we would've gone to court without a witness and i would end up losing more money than just repairing the damage myself (knocked off my sideview mirror $1200 estimate). and if i went thru my own insurance company, i would have to pay a high deductible and a point would appear on my driving record.

luckily, the cop was on my side and persuaded her to settle the matter privately with me and she ended up paying $500 for the damages and i found a shop who replaced it for $500. worked out ok, but was a huge headache nonetheless.

point is, even if you have plates and ID, seems like without a witness, you are screwed.

[INFURNO]

The police and detectives are on the case, the insurance company is working on tracking down the owner and insurer of the vehicle, and I'll call my attorney later today.

Let's talk about repairing this... I don't think PDR is an option. If I wanted a fast & cheap fix I could source any e90 black left fender and just bolt it on? Under the hood, under the skirt, and up front behind the fender liner?

Should I worry about matching color or is that pretty safe on black at this age?

[be1ieve1111]

Seems you got lucky. Just need a new panel and paint. probably looking at 500-800 depending on how reputable the shop is.

[ABerry]

wouldn't happen in Portland

[ernster]

i would have killed the bitch.

[bsamoul]

It looks like she hit you in a pretty cheap part to replace compared to most.

Does your door open okay?

[GnokGnik]

This shit pisses me off, I hope they apprehend her for the hit and run.

[INFURNO]

Door and everything else is ok I think. The thing is smashed in a few inches, I just hope nothing got stretched or cracked where it joins with the rest of the body.

All this sucks but if had a choice where I'd get hit, I would have picked the fender. If I can find a used black fender I may come out without much expense and an hour of labor.

I don't want to drive around like this so I'm looking for some quick way to get things back to normal.

[hmmcolor]

Originally Posted by INFURNO

I don't want to drive around like this so I'm looking for some quick way to get things back to normal.

You can probably pop it out somewhat from the inside. Lift the hood and have a look. It's obviously won't be perfect, but won't look quite as bad while you wait to get it fixed.

[canucklion]

Originally Posted by boost986

hit and run people are the worst.. if you ever get rear ended and the guy says 'hey lets move off the main road into that parking lot', DON'T do it. happened to me and the guy just took off after I pulled into the lot. people these days ....

If it happens again (hopefully not, knock on wood for you), take pictures of the actual accident with your phone, pictures of the offending driver, license plate, his/her car... THEN move to the side of the road

[Kroy]

i feel for you, OP. someone just hit and run my parked car at costco 2 weeks ago. scrape mark as big as my head on my rear bumper. in my case, costco doesn't even film their parking lots so i was SOL.

[Eric335]

wow this sucks big ones....