Posted on 08/28/2003 1:32:52 PM PDT by lowbridge
For the half dozenth time since we've lived here in this neighborhood, our car has been vandalized. It's not the neighborhood (suburban) itself that's bad. It's the rotten teenagers who live in it, and have nothing better to do with their lives than to harass us. (When we first moved here, my Brother became friends with these jerks, and we've been having nothing but trouble with them since. All our other neighbors are mercifully left alone, while we wake up to find our property has been yet again vandalized in the middle of the night).
I have no proof who did it this time, but I suspect the kid across the street. My brother, thoroughly brainwashed by these kids, shoots off his mouth about what he's going to do about it. But when it comes right down to actually doing something about it, he's all talk, no action. He winds up doing nothing. He prefers to protecting his so called "friends" lest they "gang up on us again" for him being a snitch. ("Our car was spray painted on/tires slashed/holes kicked in back fence/scratch keyed into the paint job, did you do it?" "Nope". "Well, that's good enough for me.")
No, we can't afford an elaborate security system. Cant afford alarms, or a camera, etc.
The car in question is a Lexus SUV. We bought it a few years ago when we were doing a slightly better off financially, but even then it was a tight squeeze to get this SUV (I was against getting this overpriced monstrosity from the beginning, but my family overruled me). Now we have hit on hard times, and every little thing like this is like another stone around our necks. My other car was stolen, it was found, but partially stripped. And we cant afford to pay for it. So it's still in the shop waiting to be picked up and paid for. And as a result, we now rely on this one car, the SUV, for all of our needs. To get to our jobs, to do the shopping, etc. If we lose this car, we're completely screwed. (We bought it brand new, and we have about two more years to go on the payments)
The original paint on the Lexus is black, with gray trim. The vandal(s) spray painted a sort of rust colored red on the drivers side of it while it was sitting in our driveway (2 years ago the drivers side of the Lexus was keyed with the scratch going completely from one end of the car to the other, again while it was sitting in our driveway.)
The paint been there for at least day, that we can tell. (We suspect it was done last night).
Is there any way I can have the paint removed without going through the whole expense of having it painted over? What would it cost for a job like this (spray paint removal)? Could I do it myself? If so, how? (I would hate to do this job only to find myself accidentally remove the car's original paint job along with the vandals spray paint! Is there any danger in that happening?) And what kind of materials do I need, and how much does it cost?
This site used to have an article on the topic, but it looks like they've removed it.
There are few things more chickensh*t than vandalizing someone's car.
It doesn't matter if you restore the paint from the most recent vandalization, it sounds like it will only happen again. Make your brother in charge of restoring the paint since yours is the only car being vandalized, and you suspect it's being done by his "friends". Even Bubba might get over his fear of being a "snitch" if he has to start taking responsibility for car damages. Looking into all the repair details would be a good education for him.
I'm assuming your car insurance won't pay for this latest attack. But the real problem that you have pointed out is your Brother's "friends", and you've given no reason to think that this will stop. The car can be repaired again, that's not the problem.
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