[swamp2]

Well we see these sad stories that pop up here every so often. They seem to get a lot of community empathy which is a good thing. In short my poor car will need to be somewhat disassembled and almost, or perhaps fully repainted and re clear coated from 45 seconds of a violent destructive lashing out with no rhyme or reason. Photos to follow a short story...

I debated leaving my car at my office in Irvine (near I-5 and Jamboree) during an overnight business trip (a driving trip but took my colleagues big SUV for more comfort for 4 of us). I pondered leaving my car nearby at a colleagues place or with a good friend and encouraging them to actually drive the car and have some fun (I've got some very trustworthy friends!). In the end, based in part on Irvine's stellar reputation as one of the safest cities in the US, I just decided to leave it at my office. I grabbed a great spot between some hedges on one side and an handicap spot on the other. We were gone for just about 24 hours and upon returning I did see a scratch, but thought due to its location and curved shape to perhaps be just some odd water/debris streaking driven by aerodynamics. My colleague, despite it being dark was admiring my car (he's a gear head and has driven it but still takes the time to admire it now and again) and asked if I had a scratch. From there it was all downhill... extensive key marks. During the walk around inspection I found extensive and deep (3-4 "track") key marks on nearly every major panel of the car. They even got the CF roof and roof trim. The front is all clear bra covered and when they could not get a scratch into the car through the clear bra they simply dug in with more and more pressure to insure damage to the hood. The clear bra clearly frustrated the perpetrator here which is a bit bizarre...

My initial guess is that this will be a $20k repaint job and to think that this took about 45 seconds to inflict is a bit mind boggling. The Irvine PD showed up quickly and asked all of the logical questions (ex-girlfriends, ex-wife, coworker, angry client, etc.) all of which are definite no's. Thus we are left with a$$hole teenager, thief upset that no juicy laptop was available or perhaps a reasonably knowledgeable "car guy" who was really jealous. I'm about 99% sure that this was done to my car very specifically because of the type of car and perhaps because it stood out a bit being well maintained, clean and waxed. That's really sad.

My car is completely covered with a reasonably low deductible so that's good. But she'll never be quite the same again. Blending the paint/clear around panels and into the inside of the vehicle and around all of the edges will be challenging. All of the trim that must be removed and all of the chances for broken trim bits falling into somewhere and perhaps not fitting just quite as well as OEM is certainly depressing. I suspect I'll be without a car for close to a month.

Overall I'm taking this better than I expected. My wife was amazed how well I appear to be taking it all. However, infuriating and depressing it is, I am trying to focus on two key points. 1. The shop I have in mind (Penske in San Diego) will do a phenomenal repair job. Their "mantra" is that for any repair you simply will not be able to distinguish the car from new. 2. We just can't be too attached/obsessed or vulnerable to let replaceable possessions really interfere too greatly with our enjoyment of life. The more angry I get the more the perpetrator here "wins".

Thanks in advance to this community. I know I'll hear from some old and new online buddies here, as well as complete strangers and that in itself encouraged me to rapidly share my story here.

Do let it be a lesson. I'm sure many of you are even more particular than me. Just take the conservative route with your car when possible. Park further away and walk, leave the car with a buddy in a good neighborhood, use your garage, even if sometimes a bit inconvenient, etc., etc.

Well cutting to the chase here are the gory details...