An "interesting" (to say the least) incident happened to me when I was visiting Watertown, New York. A lovely summer evening, riding around in my pride and joy.

I approached an intersection in the middle lane, where the left two lanes had to turn left. I made the left turn onto a street that was under some construction, and noticed that there were large pylons on my right. The lane was narrow and I was nervous about the car just behind me on the inside lane. He too was turning left. I hugged the right side of my lane, watching the pylons and my left rear view mirror in horror as he seemed to be closing in on my lane. I felt a slight thud, and I realized he had nudged my left rear fender just by the bumper. Janice did not even notice anything - until she saw the look on my face and the expletive I blurted out. I pulled over between some pylons, afraid that he might take off - but he too pulled over. Two young kids (19 & 20) were in the car, and apparently they were gawking so intently at my Vette, that they veered over into my lane.

At first I was mad and defensive. The damage was barely a scuff mark - we were going 3 or 4 miles per hour, and it was just a slight nudge. I could have done more damage with a dirty towel, but I was still very upset. Less than 500 miles on the OD. I hadn’t even opened it up yet, and now this happens.

We started talking, and I began to calm down. These were actually two nice guys - soldiers stationed in Fort Drum (10th Mountain Division). They were being deployed to Iraq in 2 weeks - suddenly my scuff seemed a little irrelevant. They called the police on their cell phone - they knew the officer personally. Half hour later I was on my way. I actually shook their hands.

Their was a silver lining in this cloud. His insurance company was Geico - and I can tell you, this is one great company. In 3 days I got a call (in my home in Ontario, Canada) from an appraiser who wanted to see the car. He hops over the next day, and looks over the damage in great detail. He clearly liked the car, and appreciated my pain. He said it would be 100% resolved.

There is a local body shop call DEZ’s Paint Shop. This guy (and his crew) are pros. No one else was going to touch my baby. I went to see him and he said when he was done, I would never see any scuff marks. Now the kicker - I asked him if he can do something about the orange peel. He smiled, and said ‘oh yes’.

I received the Geico check in the mail in 2 weeks - about the time DEZ's artwork was done. Not a mark on the rear fender! I looked over the rest of the car in great anticipation. WOW! I just couldn’t believe what some 2000 grit sand paper and a buffing could do. Yes there is still orange peel - but what a vast improvement. He had to be careful not to damage the thin clear coat - but what a job he did! Cotton cloths and micro fiber towels just glide over it. It just glimmers.

All’s well that end’s well.


MG.....

 

Nice outcome.

 

I bet the soldiers insurance went up because of this.I understand you where pissed,but i think in the end he should of just paid you out of pocket for the detail job.Glad your car got fixed like new.........................Its guys like them that make it possible for us to drive around in the greatest car, on the greatest place on earth.

 

 

 

 

Indeed.

 

Great outcome. Thanks for sharing.

 

if it's geico, they might have been dropped. that's a company that doesn't tolerate very much at all.

 

As they say"All's well that ends well".

 

Glad to hear everything worked out for you.

 

the police were called for a scuff mark?

 

that was a great way to show your thanks for their sacrifice for your freedoms

 

Kudos to the boys from the 10th Mo-Town...stand up guys!

Sometimes, there really is a silver lining. I'm glad everything worked-out for the best! Good post!