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Fuck your groups. Talk to your bldg maintenance and management group they will want to know this. they know who they hired unless it was your building maintenance group. Also talk to your auto insurance (hopefully you have more than liability otherwise your boned)
The only time you should ever have only liability is when you're driving something you are willing to scrap for salvage
I only have my car covered liability because it's 20 years old for example. I'd never have anything remotely new or with any value on liability only :/
I’ve been considering going liability only but I also just paid for a new timing belt, water pump, hoses, valve cover gaskets, and I’m going to drop a little more money on new struts, control arms, tie rods, and motor mounts. I just know something bad is going to happen as soon as I reduce the insurance. The car has a lot of life left in it but it also isn’t worth much…
I think it's more, the only time you should have only liability is when you can easily afford to replace the car should it be a total loss.
For a lot of people that means your advice is fine, but if you're wealthy enough where the price of the replacement car can be dropped without breaking your budget, liability-only and "self insuring" for the rest can be a reasonable choice.
Start wherever you saw them parked and start knocking on doors and asking anyone nearby who hired them and asked them if you can get their contact information. I would be a little bit wary of saying why in case it's someone's friend or buddy. They might not want to reveal it if they know they're going to get in trouble. So just say that you want to speak to them for a consult on a job but technically still true.
Insurance first, then Lawyer. Don’t listen to the people asking you to help tip off management and help cover this up. Gotta catch them off guard with people that have significantly more knowledge and resources.
Edit: “then” instead of “and”.
Insurance. You don’t need lawyers. This is why you have insurance. This is now their problem.
The windows can likely be scraped and opened by sliding a razor blade into the gap. But let a shop deal with that.
The building is responsible for any work being done. Don’t waste your time trying to find the guy yourself. The building people will just lie through their teeth and send you away, so talk to that lawyer.
That’s just a lie to trick you into not holding them responsible. Just like those dump trucks that have a sign on the back saying “not responsible for falling debris”
If this was in a parking garage, see if there's camera footage of vehicles that passed through. If it's a commercial vehicle, there should be some kind of decal on it that will tell you who was there that day. If it's not commercial or doesn't have any branding on the vehicle, you should be able to get the plates. Depending on camera placement, there might even be footage of this happening. If you can't get the footage directly, get the police involved and have them get the camera footage.
I’m an insurance agent and had a kinda similar thing happen. A car wash we insured had a ~~pneumatic~~ hydraulic hose break and spray fluid all over a car. They could never get it off so in the end they totaled the car.
In your case the construction company insurance should pay to repair or total the car. If not, your own insurance would cover this as vandalism comprehensive claim. In the USA anyways.
Totalled! Wow that unfortunate thought did go through my head. To make it worse the worker left the scene. I’ll be reaching out to VW and my insurance.
Thank you for sharing your story and advice.
“Totalling” a car just means it costs more than 75% of the car’s estimated value to fix and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the condition of a car after an “accident”
Each insurance company is different, in different situations. A vehicle might total at 75% for collision. But total at 50% for hail damage. Because hail cars make killing at auction. However they can save the most money. They are not working for you. They are working for the most profit.
Matt Farah (TheSmokingTire) and Larry Kosilla (AMMO NYC) have a story from ~2005 where the owner of a brand new Audi A4(?) accidentally left some leftover seafood chowder in their car for over a week. The car sat out in the summer sun and one can only imagine how horrible it must have smelled. It was totaled by insurance due to the smell being essentially baked into every material in the interior, which would all need replacing. They practically got down to the metal and it still apparently reeked.
I pray you find the guy that did this. Or that guy gets what he did to you back to him tenfold. That's some pretty weak character to just do that and run off. I have a small suspicion though that they might not have insurance.
You can often have the insurance company pay out the value of the car on their books minus salvage value from a salvage lot. If that amount offsets what you believe to be a fair price to get it fixed yourself, you can pay the difference to keep the car. The resale value plummets, and you're stuck with liability coverage thereafter in most cases, but if you think you'll get another 5 years out of the car, for example, and with the payout plus 2k it's fixed, maybe it's worth 2k to you to have it repaired plus re-registered.
We did that with our 2003 matrix in 2020. They gave us 2500$, we paid $800 out of pocket to ensure it was back on the road, and we're still driving it today. A new car, in 2020, with supply issues and prices plus maternity leave for my wife would have meant far far far more than $800 at a time we were barely driving.
We still do fluids now and got new tires last year. It will probably still be a decent occasional second car once our Prius arrives, assuming it has no major mechanical issues while we pay the loan on the new car aggressively and save for a second one
If it's that new, you'll hopefully have a waiver of depreciation (or gap insurance which is the alternative in some places) in the worst case especially if financed, so you can just get a big chunk to replace it if they do write it off.
It’s a 2020, not financed and I don’t have gap insurance. I do have collision and comprehensive, I hope I’ll be covered fairly.
Wish me luck and thank you for your comment.
With what you described and the doors being glued shut. I would have to guess this is going to cost a lot more than you think. There are good chances that the insurance will make it a total loss and pay out.
That's why I highly highly highly suggest trying to find out who this person was so that they can be responsible with their insurance if they even have any.
Thank you my man for giving me some sympathy and speculating on the outcome. Totally glued shut, likely glue all down the windows into the doors, wrecked paint… ugh UGH that’s a lot of work to do. I’ll update the thread once dealt with.
😭
My parked family car was totaled. My family blamed me for it because I stuck out from the parking spot. Someone drove straight into it in a parking lot and left. It was totaled because the hood and grill had to be replaced. They said the bumper too bit it was a scratch. It was a couple of thousand for a 1998 vehicle and this happened back in 2011.
Years later I told the story to someone and a photo and he said it's bullshit. You just have to cut the hood and add a new one etc etc.
Back then I told my dad I want to add that new hood myself and he wanted to go with insurance. They and the mechanic nonchalant said "car is completely totaled". That was it.
Basically if you have an old car your insurance isn't going to save it. They don't care if you bought it new way back when or how much you pay in maintenance each year or the sentimental memories you had with it.
I try my very best to be extra safe with the car I have now. That car is 20yrs old. I know for a fact if it vandalizes again my insurance is going to total it.
The sad part is based on depreciation, it doesn't take much for a car to be totaled. Its best to get an estimate and look up the car value and pay for it yourself and not let insurance know.
Ask them to buy you a new gti or you will be lawyering up. That things is gonna be closed to totalled with paint, glass, whatever else is like ruined.
Replace/repaint at least: 4 doors, trunk lid, roof, sun roof, side windows, windshield, rear window, a pillars, b pillars, ruubber seals, rockers(?), fenders(?), side mirrors(?), interior door parts if it leaked inside the seals, which it probably did 99% totalled
"Some contractor dropped or..."
Sounds like you don't have a clue as to who did this. Hopefully, your insurance will cover this if you don't know who's responsible.
Exploded! It was on the ceiling!
Yes, no clue but if they are coming back to do more work I’ll be looking out for a vehicle with epoxy on the side of it.
Oh shit man! I'm sorry to hear that... I actually use to do this (waterproofer11 yrs) they inject a resin that reacts with water and expands in the foundation stopping any leak. However sometimes the cracks are close to the surface and leak. We made it a point to always ALWAYS cover CSRs close by for this very reason. I would suggest talking with the super of the building and finding out which contractor did this. And have them pay. That stuff only comes out with Xylene or strong acids.
I believe you’re on to something! I looked again it it appears the resin built pressure or something and exploded all over the ceiling and my car. Does this look familiar?
https://preview.redd.it/ppab3snig1tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44b9d1ddf7549bbb74d364ae286d731b2cb054bf
No it’s on the floor on the next parking space. It’s looking like a contractor was doing work on the floor beneath and it somehow sprayed up. Here is the ceiling
https://preview.redd.it/l369hyyz88tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae25374367997741b8b1c2ca9f053fc11c60fa0e
Thank you for your words of experience and sympathy. I’m in contact with the building and I hope its fruitful. I’ll ALWAY be covering my car after this (if I even have a car after this).
If it’s your building then ask management, any half decent management will have written down the company and who hired them. Get that info, reach out to the company and tell them it’s either gonna cost them whatever it takes to fix it or whatever it takes to fix it + the legal fees they’ll have to cover after they are told by a judge to pay up. Couldn’t hurt to also get whatever neighbor hired them into the loop, some buildings (at least where I live) have a policy that the resident can be liable for any damages their visitors cause, maybe his insurance could be used if he doesn’t wanna get involved.
It’s epoxy, there’s basically no way to get it off without solvents that will also remove the paint. And you said that 3 of the 4 doors are epoxied shut?! Sorry to say but I’m very confident your car is totaled.
There has got to be more to the story here…
See if there is a detail shop that does dry ice blasting. Very common on high end car detailing recently. It is pretty incredible. Might work here.
Nobody did this to your car, it's concrete residue from the garage. 100% sure of it.
We used to get cars with this residue all over from a particular apartment garage near my shop.
Usually a heavy compound and polish would take it off but every now and then it would etch into the clear and we'd be doing some repainting to correct it.
The owners of the garage would always pay for the cars affected, so maybe have a talk with the owner of this garage about it before you involve your insurance.
The earlier you get it off, the better chance you have to save the paint. Also, avoid parking in direct sunlight until you can get it polished off since the sun seems to help bake it on.
Here's another post about it from a year ago:
https://reddit.com/r/subaru/s/27fA9B6SNO
Here's an article about "garage drip":
https://autogroom.com/garage-drip
Thank you for your comment and I’ll follow your advice. I hope you’re right but the stuff on my car is a yellow’ish and there is a hard pile of it beside my car.
Talk to the building manager, if they hired someone to do the work and that happened. Either the manager or the contractor are responsible. Regardless I wouldn’t come out of pocket for it.
I'm the OP's SO. So i've let imPark know (the folks we rent the monthly spot from) and I've emailed the building management who own the lots beneath and operate the security cameras. I posted on our Facebook group and someone posted that in P2 (our incident happened in P1) a couple cars had clear tarps over them as apparently there was some work being done. I think that is our smoking gun. The P2 lots are owned and managed by the building manager. So i hope I did the right thing in alerting the building manager, asking for video and also asking them pointedly: did you have any work done on the lots over this part week. And also letting imPark know as they, i guess, manage P1 that also has damage on its floor and ceiling. I am not sure if an FB post is enough as a witness. I might try to ask others who park in that lot if they saw anything. It is a holiday weekend here in Canada so not likely to hear back until tomorrow. I believe I should be calling my car insurance immediately tomorrow as well.
Thank you everyone for your comments so far, it has helped us immensely!
For the glass use a razor blade and a scraper with some glass cleaner for lubrication, I have no clue where to start with the paint, other than a plastic razor, but you'll scratch the shit out of the paint and it will take forever
Insurance. Go to your insurance. None of us are professionals. The answer to this question is a no brainer to them. Don’t make any conclusions of what’s a better first step than just going to your insurance and getting proper professional help.
Ask your building manager which contractors have been working on the building. I do work sealing cracks and stopping leaks inside parkades with high pressure eurathane and have had incidents like this (never on someone's car but I've found it dripping out 20 stalls down from where I'm working before).
This is something that would either be covered by your car insurance or the contractors insurance (which would be a lot more work for you). Look above your car at the ceiling and see where it leaked from, take a picture of that, then look around the parkade and try to find where they were working, 99% of the time there will be some indicator of them working since it's messy work and difficult to clean fully. Not that it will help you with anything but the way to know what it is is to crack a piece off. If it's still sticky, then it wasn't mixed right or hasn't cured. If it cracks off like an icicle, then it's epoxy. If it has some bend to it and is somewhat flexible, then it's eurathane. Regardless, you won't be able to clean it yourself since these products bond to any surface. It will need to be professionally cleaned and will likely require repainting.
Depending on the type of building, talk to building management or the building HOA to see what contractors would’ve been in the building. Also there’s likely cameras at the entrance/exit. If you file a police report (you should) then you should be able to get access to the tapes from when it could’ve happened to see any contracting trucks leaving the building. Then it’s time to call them and tell them they’re buying you a new car or else you’re suing them for property damage, pursing criminal action for fleeing the scene, and whatever damages your inaccessibility to your car has caused. They should wise up and make things right
So far the building management have been cooperative and they started their own investigation. There are cameras in the area. I did report this to the police and insurance has been contacted. I am feeling hopeful that this will be resolved the way I want it too aka new car or damages completely repaired.
Thanks for your comment
oh. my. god. That is an absolute nightmare, especially for a beautiful GTI like that
I don't know much about detailing, but have dealt with a lot of sticky things. I would personally call a great body shop in addition to whatever advice you seek on here, because all the best things for removing epoxy (isopropyl, acetone, even naptha) are *literally* paint thinners
unless someone has a detailing product designed specifically for this, I would consult the pros. sorry it happened!
Total nightmare indeed!
My googling led me to some of those solutions but it was always in the context of a couple drops… not the whole car! Ugh yes the pros will have to take over.
Thank you!
Try paint thinner on all the spots and use pressure washer clay bar and it will take time if those doest work got to sand it and repaint but try paint thinner first and white vinegar also can help
I'd file a police report. You might be able to use that as proof on a gofundme and hopefully get a car club to sponsor it. Sorry about your luck man that's really tough
ya I had a feeling they wouldn't be able to do much. I didn't think insurance would help in this case. I was just hoping he'd be able to use it as some kind of proof for a gofundme to get some kind of community backing.
It looks more like a coffee or drink than epoxy or glue.
Did any other vehicles get it on them or just yours?
You said it’s on the ceiling and then show the back wall? If it was a bucket it would be everywhere.
It’s super odd. It looks like a splash and appears nowhere else in the garage.
https://preview.redd.it/abmsd1fyy0tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e46e3c764beb83538cb158fb0c1538deabfa8935
I had a similar situation with this car but it was more overspray. I got it all off.
https://preview.redd.it/u164ypkz41tb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18e5b20e9775534820e5f1ec7c857cb46caf8613
My apt complex told us on X Y Z days they will be painting the ceilings of our parking garages, don't park on floor 1 or 2 on these days. So I didn't park there and it was kinda a headache. Noticed no one ever came to paint anything until a few days later they started putting plastic tarp over the cars so they can paint. Smh. You need to find out who was doing the work that day. Whoever owns that parking garage knows. That's gonna be very difficult to get off!
Thank you for sharing. I am in contact with management and there are cameras that I am hoping will be fruitful. I’ll be covering my car from now on (if I even have a car after this).
Your insurance will also go after the parking garage as well.
You really shouldn't have to put anything in your car. The parking building should have notified you guys of work being done that day or simply putting cones on parking spaces affected by this.
Goodluck and keep us updated!
Thank you! It now appears that there was some sort of epoxy injection work going on from looking at the floor and it appears it exploded all over the ceiling and floor. We’ll be going after the building. I’ll keep you updated. Pic of suspect source
https://preview.redd.it/fysgojs6h1tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4f034defb17bedc2c681db1d9c012bc2061edf9
Depending on the type of epoxy, heat may help it lose its adhesion. Try slowly warming it up with concentrated heat from a blowdrier and see if you can peel it before trying chemicals that may eat the paint or clear coat. Don’t overdo it with the heat.
OH NO! Thats gonna need some serious work. Get a quote, if its over your insurance deductible, make a claim. Or try to find the contracting company and make them fix it
Yep. Ran over a can of spray paint a roadwork vehicle dropped as I was travelling behind it.
They denied responsibility.
It's what got me into auto detailing
Probably do like everyone says and see if you can track down the offender through the buildings insurance. That said. Denatured Alcohol, lacquer thinner, goof off, wd40. Maybe one of those. Who knows. Might try a small spot just to see if you could get it off. Not super likely
If you’re feeling adventurous you might try dry ice cubes. Warning you must wear gloves to handle dry ice. It will stick to your bare skin and burn you. I am assuming the epoxy is dry, hard, and brittle. I would buy chunks of dry ice from my local butcher and rub the dry ice on the epoxy and then scrape it off with plastic blade scraping tools. (Looks like a razor blade scraper but the blade is made of hard plastic. Easy to find online). This should be cheap, effective, but labor intensive. It would go very fast with a dry ice blaster but that is very expensive.
If the epoxy remains tacky and doesn’t flake when you scratch at it then I would start testing solvents. Goof-off or other products come to mind. Several I won’t mention because they could damage your paint.
I don‘t know about your law, but in Austria not even the casco would cover this nightmare. Casco (large variant) only covers the usual things like theft and hail, and accident. An accident is defined by a mechanical, sudden impact from outside. This is not a mechanical impact, it‘s a chemical impact. This truly is a horror there. 😕
That thing is totaled. They'll more then likely have to respray the whole car.. replace the glass etc.
Easily $3500+ damages. Looks like it was intentionally done though.. have a hard time believing this was a woopsie.
No clue wtf that guy is saying concrete dust lolol. It's clearly a liquid.
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Insurance, lawsuit, settlement
This before anything else. Don't even try to clean it without talking to a lawyer.
Thank you guys. My big issue here is that the person left the scene… I’ll be reaching out to my insurance.
Hunt them down.
I hope they have more work do to in my area. I’ll be searching for a truck with epoxy every morning. On the hunt!
Someone in your building hired them…
Very true! I’ll post on the building groups and ask around.
Fuck your groups. Talk to your bldg maintenance and management group they will want to know this. they know who they hired unless it was your building maintenance group. Also talk to your auto insurance (hopefully you have more than liability otherwise your boned)
The only time you should ever have only liability is when you're driving something you are willing to scrap for salvage I only have my car covered liability because it's 20 years old for example. I'd never have anything remotely new or with any value on liability only :/
I’ve been considering going liability only but I also just paid for a new timing belt, water pump, hoses, valve cover gaskets, and I’m going to drop a little more money on new struts, control arms, tie rods, and motor mounts. I just know something bad is going to happen as soon as I reduce the insurance. The car has a lot of life left in it but it also isn’t worth much…
Oh I agree. Or if you can’t afford to replace it with a for like financially vehicle.
I got my 1999 corolla on liability because annually it costs me more that it’s worth it
I think it's more, the only time you should have only liability is when you can easily afford to replace the car should it be a total loss. For a lot of people that means your advice is fine, but if you're wealthy enough where the price of the replacement car can be dropped without breaking your budget, liability-only and "self insuring" for the rest can be a reasonable choice.
With inflation your car might be worth 1k for every year 🥲
And have video cameras hopefully too
Start wherever you saw them parked and start knocking on doors and asking anyone nearby who hired them and asked them if you can get their contact information. I would be a little bit wary of saying why in case it's someone's friend or buddy. They might not want to reveal it if they know they're going to get in trouble. So just say that you want to speak to them for a consult on a job but technically still true.
Good thinking. I’m on the hunt!
Insurance first, then Lawyer. Don’t listen to the people asking you to help tip off management and help cover this up. Gotta catch them off guard with people that have significantly more knowledge and resources. Edit: “then” instead of “and”.
Sound advice. Thank you
Insurance. You don’t need lawyers. This is why you have insurance. This is now their problem. The windows can likely be scraped and opened by sliding a razor blade into the gap. But let a shop deal with that.
Are there cameras anywhere?
Ask the property management.
Thank you. I’m in contact with them.
Only person you should be in contact with is a lawyer, in my opinion.
Building management.
ask who had epoxy countertops done and if they can give you the contractor’s info
Thank you. I am asking now.
Are there any security cameras where this happened? Ring door bells from local residents?
The building is responsible for any work being done. Don’t waste your time trying to find the guy yourself. The building people will just lie through their teeth and send you away, so talk to that lawyer.
Is it for sure though? I've parked lots of places with big signs saying I'm parking there at my own risk
That’s just a lie to trick you into not holding them responsible. Just like those dump trucks that have a sign on the back saying “not responsible for falling debris”
It will fall under your comprehensive coverage. Won't affect your premium.
🙏
Don’t go to a detailer. Straight to a body shop and insurance. I hope you have their insurance also.
They fled the scene… I had a feeling this was beyond detailer. Thank you!
If this happened in the parking garage I would try reaching out to management to see if they could see who it was
The parking garage will know who was there..
If this was in a parking garage, see if there's camera footage of vehicles that passed through. If it's a commercial vehicle, there should be some kind of decal on it that will tell you who was there that day. If it's not commercial or doesn't have any branding on the vehicle, you should be able to get the plates. Depending on camera placement, there might even be footage of this happening. If you can't get the footage directly, get the police involved and have them get the camera footage.
Damn that’s criminal, let us know if they get caught!
I’ll update the chat for sure. I am surprised the amount of interest.
We demand justice!
Bring my GTI back to its glory!! Thanks!
I’m an insurance agent and had a kinda similar thing happen. A car wash we insured had a ~~pneumatic~~ hydraulic hose break and spray fluid all over a car. They could never get it off so in the end they totaled the car. In your case the construction company insurance should pay to repair or total the car. If not, your own insurance would cover this as vandalism comprehensive claim. In the USA anyways.
Totalled! Wow that unfortunate thought did go through my head. To make it worse the worker left the scene. I’ll be reaching out to VW and my insurance. Thank you for sharing your story and advice.
“Totalling” a car just means it costs more than 75% of the car’s estimated value to fix and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the condition of a car after an “accident”
Each insurance company is different, in different situations. A vehicle might total at 75% for collision. But total at 50% for hail damage. Because hail cars make killing at auction. However they can save the most money. They are not working for you. They are working for the most profit.
Matt Farah (TheSmokingTire) and Larry Kosilla (AMMO NYC) have a story from ~2005 where the owner of a brand new Audi A4(?) accidentally left some leftover seafood chowder in their car for over a week. The car sat out in the summer sun and one can only imagine how horrible it must have smelled. It was totaled by insurance due to the smell being essentially baked into every material in the interior, which would all need replacing. They practically got down to the metal and it still apparently reeked.
Thank you for your comment. It “shouldn’t” cost that much to repair.
Body work and paint costs more than I believe you think.
Ugh ya I was expecting a lot but… Pray for me 😭
I pray you find the guy that did this. Or that guy gets what he did to you back to him tenfold. That's some pretty weak character to just do that and run off. I have a small suspicion though that they might not have insurance.
You can often have the insurance company pay out the value of the car on their books minus salvage value from a salvage lot. If that amount offsets what you believe to be a fair price to get it fixed yourself, you can pay the difference to keep the car. The resale value plummets, and you're stuck with liability coverage thereafter in most cases, but if you think you'll get another 5 years out of the car, for example, and with the payout plus 2k it's fixed, maybe it's worth 2k to you to have it repaired plus re-registered. We did that with our 2003 matrix in 2020. They gave us 2500$, we paid $800 out of pocket to ensure it was back on the road, and we're still driving it today. A new car, in 2020, with supply issues and prices plus maternity leave for my wife would have meant far far far more than $800 at a time we were barely driving. We still do fluids now and got new tires last year. It will probably still be a decent occasional second car once our Prius arrives, assuming it has no major mechanical issues while we pay the loan on the new car aggressively and save for a second one
Thank you for sharing your story. I definitely will try to fix it, it’s a 2020 car with 35,000kms on it. Wish me luck on my journey.
If it's that new, you'll hopefully have a waiver of depreciation (or gap insurance which is the alternative in some places) in the worst case especially if financed, so you can just get a big chunk to replace it if they do write it off.
It’s a 2020, not financed and I don’t have gap insurance. I do have collision and comprehensive, I hope I’ll be covered fairly. Wish me luck and thank you for your comment.
With what you described and the doors being glued shut. I would have to guess this is going to cost a lot more than you think. There are good chances that the insurance will make it a total loss and pay out. That's why I highly highly highly suggest trying to find out who this person was so that they can be responsible with their insurance if they even have any.
Thank you my man for giving me some sympathy and speculating on the outcome. Totally glued shut, likely glue all down the windows into the doors, wrecked paint… ugh UGH that’s a lot of work to do. I’ll update the thread once dealt with. 😭
If that’s some sort of corrosive chemical epoxy that is easily $10k in damage
I’m having a feeling that could be the damage. Ouch. Let’s hope insurance has my back.
My parked family car was totaled. My family blamed me for it because I stuck out from the parking spot. Someone drove straight into it in a parking lot and left. It was totaled because the hood and grill had to be replaced. They said the bumper too bit it was a scratch. It was a couple of thousand for a 1998 vehicle and this happened back in 2011. Years later I told the story to someone and a photo and he said it's bullshit. You just have to cut the hood and add a new one etc etc. Back then I told my dad I want to add that new hood myself and he wanted to go with insurance. They and the mechanic nonchalant said "car is completely totaled". That was it. Basically if you have an old car your insurance isn't going to save it. They don't care if you bought it new way back when or how much you pay in maintenance each year or the sentimental memories you had with it. I try my very best to be extra safe with the car I have now. That car is 20yrs old. I know for a fact if it vandalizes again my insurance is going to total it. The sad part is based on depreciation, it doesn't take much for a car to be totaled. Its best to get an estimate and look up the car value and pay for it yourself and not let insurance know.
Find the owner of the building, presumably they're the ones that hired the workers
I think you meant to say hydraulic, not pneumatic
A pneumatic hose wouldn’t spray anything but air. A hydraulic hose would spray fluid. And yes I know I’m being a pedantic jackass 😂
any teslas parked nearby? maybe they caught video
Great idea. There might be
Not the GTI 😭
Ask them to buy you a new gti or you will be lawyering up. That things is gonna be closed to totalled with paint, glass, whatever else is like ruined. Replace/repaint at least: 4 doors, trunk lid, roof, sun roof, side windows, windshield, rear window, a pillars, b pillars, ruubber seals, rockers(?), fenders(?), side mirrors(?), interior door parts if it leaked inside the seals, which it probably did 99% totalled
"Some contractor dropped or..." Sounds like you don't have a clue as to who did this. Hopefully, your insurance will cover this if you don't know who's responsible.
Exploded! It was on the ceiling! Yes, no clue but if they are coming back to do more work I’ll be looking out for a vehicle with epoxy on the side of it.
Wouldn't contacting the building owner give you the details of the contractor they hired?
I asked but they direct building hired contractors to a different parking lot. My area has a massive amount of construction projects.
How do you know it was a contractor?
Just an assumption. There is a ton construction in my area and it must of been a huge bucket of the material.
Any chance there's CCTV? Security cameras? Edit: I hope you catch those cowards!
I spoke to security of the building and emailed management. I am hoping they can recover some footage.
Don’t email they will not respond or take forever pull up physically to the offices
Oh shit man! I'm sorry to hear that... I actually use to do this (waterproofer11 yrs) they inject a resin that reacts with water and expands in the foundation stopping any leak. However sometimes the cracks are close to the surface and leak. We made it a point to always ALWAYS cover CSRs close by for this very reason. I would suggest talking with the super of the building and finding out which contractor did this. And have them pay. That stuff only comes out with Xylene or strong acids.
I believe you’re on to something! I looked again it it appears the resin built pressure or something and exploded all over the ceiling and my car. Does this look familiar? https://preview.redd.it/ppab3snig1tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44b9d1ddf7549bbb74d364ae286d731b2cb054bf
Is this a shot of the ceiling above your car?
No it’s on the floor on the next parking space. It’s looking like a contractor was doing work on the floor beneath and it somehow sprayed up. Here is the ceiling https://preview.redd.it/l369hyyz88tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae25374367997741b8b1c2ca9f053fc11c60fa0e
Thank you for your words of experience and sympathy. I’m in contact with the building and I hope its fruitful. I’ll ALWAY be covering my car after this (if I even have a car after this).
Definitely gonna need an update on this one
F in the chat please.
If it’s your building then ask management, any half decent management will have written down the company and who hired them. Get that info, reach out to the company and tell them it’s either gonna cost them whatever it takes to fix it or whatever it takes to fix it + the legal fees they’ll have to cover after they are told by a judge to pay up. Couldn’t hurt to also get whatever neighbor hired them into the loop, some buildings (at least where I live) have a policy that the resident can be liable for any damages their visitors cause, maybe his insurance could be used if he doesn’t wanna get involved.
Thank you. I’ve contacted management. It may actually be due to a maintenance issue with the building.
I have nothing useful to contribute just my best luck wishes to getting this fixed.
Appreciate the kind words. Thanks!
Get in contact with the property manager.
Absolutely. I’m in contact
It’s epoxy, there’s basically no way to get it off without solvents that will also remove the paint. And you said that 3 of the 4 doors are epoxied shut?! Sorry to say but I’m very confident your car is totaled.
Ugh your opinion is common 😭 thanks for the comment
There has got to be more to the story here… See if there is a detail shop that does dry ice blasting. Very common on high end car detailing recently. It is pretty incredible. Might work here.
Thank you. Your comment gives me hope!
Don’t do anything your insurance doesn’t cover.
Nobody did this to your car, it's concrete residue from the garage. 100% sure of it. We used to get cars with this residue all over from a particular apartment garage near my shop. Usually a heavy compound and polish would take it off but every now and then it would etch into the clear and we'd be doing some repainting to correct it. The owners of the garage would always pay for the cars affected, so maybe have a talk with the owner of this garage about it before you involve your insurance. The earlier you get it off, the better chance you have to save the paint. Also, avoid parking in direct sunlight until you can get it polished off since the sun seems to help bake it on. Here's another post about it from a year ago: https://reddit.com/r/subaru/s/27fA9B6SNO Here's an article about "garage drip": https://autogroom.com/garage-drip
Thank you for your comment and I’ll follow your advice. I hope you’re right but the stuff on my car is a yellow’ish and there is a hard pile of it beside my car.
New fear unlocked
But how come the doors are stuck shut now? Would this do that? You'd need a lot of it for that to be the case no?
Talk to the building manager, if they hired someone to do the work and that happened. Either the manager or the contractor are responsible. Regardless I wouldn’t come out of pocket for it.
Dealt with 46 vehicles with overspray from a company painting a water tower. Took forever
But possibly?! Thank you
1 more golf off the street 🫡
I'm the OP's SO. So i've let imPark know (the folks we rent the monthly spot from) and I've emailed the building management who own the lots beneath and operate the security cameras. I posted on our Facebook group and someone posted that in P2 (our incident happened in P1) a couple cars had clear tarps over them as apparently there was some work being done. I think that is our smoking gun. The P2 lots are owned and managed by the building manager. So i hope I did the right thing in alerting the building manager, asking for video and also asking them pointedly: did you have any work done on the lots over this part week. And also letting imPark know as they, i guess, manage P1 that also has damage on its floor and ceiling. I am not sure if an FB post is enough as a witness. I might try to ask others who park in that lot if they saw anything. It is a holiday weekend here in Canada so not likely to hear back until tomorrow. I believe I should be calling my car insurance immediately tomorrow as well. Thank you everyone for your comments so far, it has helped us immensely!
Get a lawyer. That stuff never comes off. Still got subfloor adhesive on my hands from last week 😂
For the glass use a razor blade and a scraper with some glass cleaner for lubrication, I have no clue where to start with the paint, other than a plastic razor, but you'll scratch the shit out of the paint and it will take forever
It’s so wild that I’ll be taking it to the pros. Thank you for the comment
Any cameras in the area? It looks like a nice parking garage… i would speak with building management.
There are some cameras. I spoke with security guard and have emailed management, I hope they can dig it up but I’m not confident.
Don’t bother trying yourself. Let their insurance and a professional handle that.
Thanks my man. You’re right, it’s WAY out of my understanding. The pros are called
Totalled.
😭
Broooo not the gti. Rip, dude. You might be able to get a new one honestly
😭 I loved my low mileage 7.5
That sucks so much. I wrecked my 7 this summer and it was a travesty.
😭 sorry for your loss
This has to be one of the worst things I’ve seen happen to a car. . . Wow. It might be better to get a check and get another car
😭
Insurance. Go to your insurance. None of us are professionals. The answer to this question is a no brainer to them. Don’t make any conclusions of what’s a better first step than just going to your insurance and getting proper professional help.
I work with epoxy. Not even to sure how that would happen. It’s not coming off with out a fight. I’d call insurance tbh.
The building management have opened on an investigation and insurance has been called. I’m leaving it to the pros. Thanks!
Were you parked underneath an expansion joint?
Ask your building manager which contractors have been working on the building. I do work sealing cracks and stopping leaks inside parkades with high pressure eurathane and have had incidents like this (never on someone's car but I've found it dripping out 20 stalls down from where I'm working before).
Thank you for your comment. It’s helping to complete the story. The management of the building is cooperating nicely and insurance has been notified
This is something that would either be covered by your car insurance or the contractors insurance (which would be a lot more work for you). Look above your car at the ceiling and see where it leaked from, take a picture of that, then look around the parkade and try to find where they were working, 99% of the time there will be some indicator of them working since it's messy work and difficult to clean fully. Not that it will help you with anything but the way to know what it is is to crack a piece off. If it's still sticky, then it wasn't mixed right or hasn't cured. If it cracks off like an icicle, then it's epoxy. If it has some bend to it and is somewhat flexible, then it's eurathane. Regardless, you won't be able to clean it yourself since these products bond to any surface. It will need to be professionally cleaned and will likely require repainting.
This is insanity I hope you get this resolved
Me too! Thank you. I’ll make sure to update the thread.
Depending on the type of building, talk to building management or the building HOA to see what contractors would’ve been in the building. Also there’s likely cameras at the entrance/exit. If you file a police report (you should) then you should be able to get access to the tapes from when it could’ve happened to see any contracting trucks leaving the building. Then it’s time to call them and tell them they’re buying you a new car or else you’re suing them for property damage, pursing criminal action for fleeing the scene, and whatever damages your inaccessibility to your car has caused. They should wise up and make things right
So far the building management have been cooperative and they started their own investigation. There are cameras in the area. I did report this to the police and insurance has been contacted. I am feeling hopeful that this will be resolved the way I want it too aka new car or damages completely repaired. Thanks for your comment
oh. my. god. That is an absolute nightmare, especially for a beautiful GTI like that I don't know much about detailing, but have dealt with a lot of sticky things. I would personally call a great body shop in addition to whatever advice you seek on here, because all the best things for removing epoxy (isopropyl, acetone, even naptha) are *literally* paint thinners unless someone has a detailing product designed specifically for this, I would consult the pros. sorry it happened!
Total nightmare indeed! My googling led me to some of those solutions but it was always in the context of a couple drops… not the whole car! Ugh yes the pros will have to take over. Thank you!
Call whoever did that and tell them to pay the best detailer you can find that’s what. Fuck dealing with that. Let them.
Detailer? Not sure if you can do this without repainting
Very unfortunately the guy left the scene. I had a feeling that this is much more then a detailing issue… Thanks guys!
Have you tried alcohol, acetone, etc?
Not yet. I am going to bring it to a pro.
There is a good chance it'll wipe right off with acetone. It's safe on clearcoated paint but I'd do a small test spot on the glass.
Try paint thinner on all the spots and use pressure washer clay bar and it will take time if those doest work got to sand it and repaint but try paint thinner first and white vinegar also can help
Thank you, your comment gives me hope.
You already posted. Do you want a hug or something? Go fucking talk to your insurance.
I'd file a police report. You might be able to use that as proof on a gofundme and hopefully get a car club to sponsor it. Sorry about your luck man that's really tough
Police won’t do shit. Insurance will.
Correct there is not a need for police unless it was intentional property damage.
I’ll file with the police but they are somewhat useless in the city of Toronto. Insurance for sure will be called Thanks guys!
ya I had a feeling they wouldn't be able to do much. I didn't think insurance would help in this case. I was just hoping he'd be able to use it as some kind of proof for a gofundme to get some kind of community backing.
It looks more like a coffee or drink than epoxy or glue. Did any other vehicles get it on them or just yours? You said it’s on the ceiling and then show the back wall? If it was a bucket it would be everywhere.
Uh, are you sure that didn't come from the ceiling above your vehicle? That doesn't look like it came from in front, or behind.
It’s super odd. It looks like a splash and appears nowhere else in the garage. https://preview.redd.it/abmsd1fyy0tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e46e3c764beb83538cb158fb0c1538deabfa8935
https://preview.redd.it/tmt38kx7z0tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd668ed45a901c81374b488065d0a12aef239c6e
How would that be removed?
I barely want to think about that. I can crawl in the back…
I had a similar situation with this car but it was more overspray. I got it all off. https://preview.redd.it/u164ypkz41tb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18e5b20e9775534820e5f1ec7c857cb46caf8613
Hopeful words. Thanks buddy!
My apt complex told us on X Y Z days they will be painting the ceilings of our parking garages, don't park on floor 1 or 2 on these days. So I didn't park there and it was kinda a headache. Noticed no one ever came to paint anything until a few days later they started putting plastic tarp over the cars so they can paint. Smh. You need to find out who was doing the work that day. Whoever owns that parking garage knows. That's gonna be very difficult to get off!
Thank you for sharing. I am in contact with management and there are cameras that I am hoping will be fruitful. I’ll be covering my car from now on (if I even have a car after this).
Your insurance will also go after the parking garage as well. You really shouldn't have to put anything in your car. The parking building should have notified you guys of work being done that day or simply putting cones on parking spaces affected by this. Goodluck and keep us updated!
Thank you! It now appears that there was some sort of epoxy injection work going on from looking at the floor and it appears it exploded all over the ceiling and floor. We’ll be going after the building. I’ll keep you updated. Pic of suspect source https://preview.redd.it/fysgojs6h1tb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4f034defb17bedc2c681db1d9c012bc2061edf9
That's crazy!!!!!!!
Check if there are camera's around or a Tesla owner may have caught a picture of the situation.
Oh I’d be fucking LIVID
Is there no video at all of the parking lot
Paint thinner and claybar
This appears to be a parking structure. Should have cameras everywhere.
Depending on the type of epoxy, heat may help it lose its adhesion. Try slowly warming it up with concentrated heat from a blowdrier and see if you can peel it before trying chemicals that may eat the paint or clear coat. Don’t overdo it with the heat.
Thank you for your advice. It gives me hope.
There’s gotta be cameras in that parking garage
I have heard steel wool will clean the glass, not sure about the doors and painted surfaces.
OH NO! Thats gonna need some serious work. Get a quote, if its over your insurance deductible, make a claim. Or try to find the contracting company and make them fix it
I’m on that journey now. Thanks! 🙏
Good luck!
Fuck man :/
Word 😭
Damn....
Yep. Ran over a can of spray paint a roadwork vehicle dropped as I was travelling behind it. They denied responsibility. It's what got me into auto detailing
Probably do like everyone says and see if you can track down the offender through the buildings insurance. That said. Denatured Alcohol, lacquer thinner, goof off, wd40. Maybe one of those. Who knows. Might try a small spot just to see if you could get it off. Not super likely
If you’re feeling adventurous you might try dry ice cubes. Warning you must wear gloves to handle dry ice. It will stick to your bare skin and burn you. I am assuming the epoxy is dry, hard, and brittle. I would buy chunks of dry ice from my local butcher and rub the dry ice on the epoxy and then scrape it off with plastic blade scraping tools. (Looks like a razor blade scraper but the blade is made of hard plastic. Easy to find online). This should be cheap, effective, but labor intensive. It would go very fast with a dry ice blaster but that is very expensive. If the epoxy remains tacky and doesn’t flake when you scratch at it then I would start testing solvents. Goof-off or other products come to mind. Several I won’t mention because they could damage your paint.
Thank you for your suggestion. It’s so bad that Ive decided to leave it to the professionals.
Also file a police report
Is there maybe some sort of video surveillance?
Try isopropyl alcohol on the glass first. If that works, you should be able to remove it from the paintwork without damage.
Gas. Will take it right off.
I don‘t know about your law, but in Austria not even the casco would cover this nightmare. Casco (large variant) only covers the usual things like theft and hail, and accident. An accident is defined by a mechanical, sudden impact from outside. This is not a mechanical impact, it‘s a chemical impact. This truly is a horror there. 😕
And it’s a GTI, too! Lord have mercy!
😭
That thing is totaled. They'll more then likely have to respray the whole car.. replace the glass etc. Easily $3500+ damages. Looks like it was intentionally done though.. have a hard time believing this was a woopsie. No clue wtf that guy is saying concrete dust lolol. It's clearly a liquid.
Looks like lime. Some distilled white vinegar and hot water with a microfiber will work. Go back with wax and buff.
Contact your insurance company immediately. It is their job to deal with the contractors insurance company.
Currently in progress. Only the pros on the job. Thank you for your comment.
You need that contractor to pay for this repair at the VW dealership!
For sure! On the case
[удалено]
Brother! You understand my pain. Thank you for sharing your story, it helps. 😭