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After a year of work, we finally got her on the road! For my second trip ever in this car I went to try filling up with 93 octane to see if it would stop the run-on / dieseling at shut-off (it did), only to have a little old lady back her land monster into the front end. <Pausing for a second for everyone else to stop crying, too>
Fortunately, no injuries, and the chrome bumpers were actually lower than her bumper, which scraped the top of the front clip. Relatively minor, seems like just paint. Do I need to have the fiberglass underneath checked? Any specific issues I need to insist her insurance look at?
Hard to tell by the photos but looks like allot of transfer... do you have some compound to clean it up a bit and see what's there?
Definitely no structural damage... just cosmetic but I would clean it up a bit to remove what looks like some transfer to see what you have
Not sure what compound is but I will look it up... I took the pictures after trying to gently wash off (simple car wash soap and water) what gray paint from her bumper I could.
I would clean with dish soap and water then try clay baring it. If you don’t have some already many parts stores sell a kit. From the pictures it doesn’t look too bad.
As for your run on issues. What is your ignition timing set to?
Last edited by Piersonpie; May 16, 2026 at 08:01 PM.
Not sure what compound is but I will look it up... I took the pictures after trying to gently wash off (simple car wash soap and water) what gray paint from her bumper I could.
compound can be purchased at any auto parts store, its a light paste to clean the paint with a light abrasive... Meguires #2 is a nice light cleaner compound and will remove any transfer from the other vehicle
frankly a little grit toothpaste will remove some transfer as well if you want to try it.
Last edited by Golfobsessed; May 16, 2026 at 08:04 PM.
I don't want to get too involved in fixing it myself yet... Oklahoma is an at-fault state so if there is anything that needs doing her insurance should cover it. I realize these scratches are extremely small potatoes and aren't much worse than the rest of the car's patina, but after chasing gremlins for a year and replacing more than I had originally anticipated I am upset about a careless old bitty backing her land cruiser into it the second time I've ever driven it...
I agree, it looks really minor. My car has been hit twice. And I crashed it twice. All of these incurred damage to the fibreglass. Yours looks like it might buff out. Perhaps some paint but hard to tell. Very minor. Good thing she stopped when she did!
Also a good thing your headlights were not up! A good body shop may be able to cut and buff the area. You can go from there as far as respray etc. Jerry
If it was my car, I would take my Griots G9 Random Orbital Polisher, put on an Orange pad and use Griots Ceramic All-in-One Wax (Item# 10895). Not the spray. I use it to remove, marks like you have and fine scratches.
It is hard to tell if those marks will buff out. Before You do anything have an estimate done by a qualified body shop, that will help you decide if you need to file a claim. If the marks will buff out you still could looking at a couple of hours of body shop labor depending on their rate that could be around $200.00. If you touch it before insurance looks at it you may not be able to get damage covered. Let's say marks can not be buffed out requires repair and paint you could be looking at a couple thousand dollars or more for the corrections.
As far looking at anything else just verify the headlamp still operate correctly which they should but check anyway if you haven't already done so.
I don't want to get too involved in fixing it myself yet... Oklahoma is an at-fault state so if there is anything that needs doing her insurance should cover it. I realize these scratches are extremely small potatoes and aren't much worse than the rest of the car's patina, but after chasing gremlins for a year and replacing more than I had originally anticipated I am upset about a careless old bitty backing her land cruiser into it the second time I've ever driven it...
I had exactly the same thing happen with my 69. You have nothing to be concerned about, other than the cosmetics.
You can spend $40 and in 30 minutes compound out the defect and polish.
You can spend several hours engaging a detailed to do the work, possibly tying up the car for a few days. Plus, whatever time is required processing claim forms, dealing with the subrogation process, the other insurance company, etc. etc.
You can find a body shop who might try to encourage a respray (in addition to the aforementioned).
If the lady was apologetic, cut her some slack. Not worth giving her additional stress which she clearly doesn’t need.
I have one of my vettes backed into it was a C7 convertible $12500 damage and by looking at it you would have thought a little paint work and it will be fine, I wish you luck
Last edited by socal_tom; May 17, 2026 at 11:31 AM.
Hi OP, first off, really sorry this happened, but accidents happen. Some good advice above. I'm going to mention a couple of things that come from years of experience, having restored/painted many cars, and having won best paint a few times at ISCA events.
I'm all for cutting someone some slack if they're apologectic, etc. (we all need a break or two at times!). But they also need to be accountable if there is real loss on your part.
It looks like much (but I seriously doubt all) of this can buff out using a cleaner wax, maybe some light compound and then polishing. But I doubt all of it will come out.
The bumpers on these cars are pretty sensitive to 'light' hits.....
Did your bumper line up perfectly to the 'crease' in the nose of your car before the hit? It doesn't now - it's off to the side. Does the bumper line up vertically with the nose? You can't tell from these pictures but it's very likely her vehicle scrapped over your bumper too and could have pushed it slightly downward. Are the gaps along the nose uniform and where they should be? It's hard to tell from the pictures but the gap between the nose and bumper looks a bit too large, which could easily happen in a slight hit like this.
The nose on these cars have 'rivets' - make sure this hit didn't cause the rivets to start to show. I can't remember exactly where they are - it seems like they are close to the rear line of the headlight doors. Someone on the forum can tell you exactly.
White is a great color to 'hide' stuff that would show up with a darker and/or metallic color.
You have a great looking C3. I'm not suggesting that you take someone 'to the cleaners' at all for a hit like this, but I am suggesting that you want to be made whole. Best, Paul
Hi OP, first off, really sorry this happened, but accidents happen. Some good advice above. I'm going to mention a couple of things that come from years of experience, having restored/painted many cars, and having won best paint a few times at ISCA events.
I'm all for cutting someone some slack if they're apologectic, etc. (we all need a break or two at times!). But they also need to be accountable if there is real loss on your part.
It looks like much (but I seriously doubt all) of this can buff out using a cleaner wax, maybe some light compound and then polishing. But I doubt all of it will come out.
The bumpers on these cars are pretty sensitive to 'light' hits.....
Did your bumper line up perfectly to the 'crease' in the nose of your car before the hit? It doesn't now - it's off to the side. Does the bumper line up vertically with the nose? You can't tell from these pictures but it's very likely her vehicle scrapped over your bumper too and could have pushed it slightly downward. Are the gaps along the nose uniform and where they should be? It's hard to tell from the pictures but the gap between the nose and bumper looks a bit too large, which could easily happen in a slight hit like this.
The nose on these cars have 'rivets' - make sure this hit didn't cause the rivets to start to show. I can't remember exactly where they are - it seems like they are close to the rear line of the headlight doors. Someone on the forum can tell you exactly.
White is a great color to 'hide' stuff that would show up with a darker and/or metallic color.
You have a great looking C3. I'm not suggesting that you take someone 'to the cleaners' at all for a hit like this, but I am suggesting that you want to be made whole. Best, Paul
it is hard to tell if those marks will buff out. Before you do anything have an estimate done by a qualified body shop, that will help you decide if you need to file a claim. If the marks will buff out you still could looking at a couple of hours of body shop labor depending on their rate that could be around $200.00. If you touch it before insurance looks at it you may not be able to get damage covered. Let's say marks can not be buffed out requires repair and paint you could be looking at a couple thousand dollars or more for the corrections.
As far looking at anything else just verify the headlamp still operate correctly which they should but check anyway if you haven't already done so.
Minor accident, what needs checking?
