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Its been awhile since ive been on... busy enjoying summer in the car. This past weekend I drove up to watch the Rolex Cup Grad-Am race in South Jersey. While waiting in the ticket line a guy backed into me pushing in my front light. After checking everything out and realizing there was no fiberglass or paint damage I asked the guy if he would be good for the damages, that we could forgo a call to the cops and insurance companies involvement if he woud agree to pay for the parts. After getting his name, number, email and drivers license number i said "lets go watch a race".

The next day (Sunday) i emailed him with the replacement cost of the headlight. No response. I called Monday over lunch and left a message. I called this evening around 7:30, left a message. No response.

Sooo... my faith in mankid has once again been bitch smacked. Im here to ask "what would you do". Please let me know.

on another note...

As I was pulling past the ticket gate and heading toward the track a mini clubman pulls over in front of me. The door swings open and out comes our very own Mr. Al Shapiro. I explained what happened as we both stared at my headlight hanging on by its single mounting screw. Al looked at me and said with a smile "you have the worst luck". I had to laugh. I asked Al if there was a VW shop near by and was told about 15 minutes up the road. We taped up the light (always cary a roll of blue tape) and I proceded to follow him to the shop. They were closed (remember the bad luck thing). Al suggested I come to his place after the race. He offered me dinner with two lovely ladies, a cold beer, pizza, and his garage/tools. An offer I could not refuse. I headed back to the track to catch the ST class race(and spent time poking my nose arount the Brumos GT3 garage.) then headed over to Al's. I will say as I pulled up to his garage i suggested we only put the front wheels of my car in. I would have felt horrible had my car stained his squeeky clean garage floor. 40 mintues worth of metal bending and I was back on the road.


Al, thank you for helping me safely get on my way. Thank you for dinner and the beer, for the great conversation and in the end, thank you for helping me to feel better about humanity. I know this to be true, you can always find a friend in a fellow speedster owner.



1956 Thunder Ranch(Speedster)
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Its been awhile since ive been on... busy enjoying summer in the car. This past weekend I drove up to watch the Rolex Cup Grad-Am race in South Jersey. While waiting in the ticket line a guy backed into me pushing in my front light. After checking everything out and realizing there was no fiberglass or paint damage I asked the guy if he would be good for the damages, that we could forgo a call to the cops and insurance companies involvement if he woud agree to pay for the parts. After getting his name, number, email and drivers license number i said "lets go watch a race".

The next day (Sunday) i emailed him with the replacement cost of the headlight. No response. I called Monday over lunch and left a message. I called this evening around 7:30, left a message. No response.

Sooo... my faith in mankid has once again been bitch smacked. Im here to ask "what would you do". Please let me know.

on another note...

As I was pulling past the ticket gate and heading toward the track a mini clubman pulls over in front of me. The door swings open and out comes our very own Mr. Al Shapiro. I explained what happened as we both stared at my headlight hanging on by its single mounting screw. Al looked at me and said with a smile "you have the worst luck". I had to laugh. I asked Al if there was a VW shop near by and was told about 15 minutes up the road. We taped up the light (always cary a roll of blue tape) and I proceded to follow him to the shop. They were closed (remember the bad luck thing). Al suggested I come to his place after the race. He offered me dinner with two lovely ladies, a cold beer, pizza, and his garage/tools. An offer I could not refuse. I headed back to the track to catch the ST class race(and spent time poking my nose arount the Brumos GT3 garage.) then headed over to Al's. I will say as I pulled up to his garage i suggested we only put the front wheels of my car in. I would have felt horrible had my car stained his squeeky clean garage floor. 40 mintues worth of metal bending and I was back on the road.


Al, thank you for helping me safely get on my way. Thank you for dinner and the beer, for the great conversation and in the end, thank you for helping me to feel better about humanity. I know this to be true, you can always find a friend in a fellow speedster owner.



Paul,
Sorry to hear about your bump and run - it has happened to me as well - I always get the
insurance info now no matter what happened and call the police.
Anyway - I am replacing my headlights w/ new on my ride and the old units are not in bad shape other then the outside chrome ring - not sure what was damaged on yours, but you are welcome to use one of mine if you need parts to repair. I do think you can order just the outside ring as well if that is all you need ( I found this out after I ordered the whole new buckets ).
Dale
In some states you don't have to file a report immediately if the damage is under $1000 and there is no bodily harm, and you have a certain "grace period" to do so. I believe here in Indiana that time frame is 10 business days... so check your local laws and since the guy isn't cooperating, file a report (if you can) and let the insurance companies fight it out. You tried to do the "right thing" and take someone at their word, they tried to f@%k you over so nail 'em to the wall. Just my 2c.
On the other hand, if all you need is a headlight and you don't feel like messing around with it, call me and I'll hook you up. :)
I really want to nail the guy to the wall... but then think its not worth the aggravation. I know that if I backed into a car, no matter the make of car, and the owner was nice enough to not call the cops, to not hit my insurance with a claim... id happily hand over some cash accompanied by a hug and big thank you. In a way, the right thing to do is get insurance involved, let him know he cant get away with it.

Thanks for the feedback.

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