Can I get a witness?
 

OK, I'm trying to be cool here. I need a reality check.

A few weeks ago SWMBO creased the front fender on the 11 month old car while backing out of a parking space w/o really paying enough attention. (tautological?) Anyway, I was cool about it and the $500 deductable, merely briefly hinting at the concept of the large deductable was that we don't smash up the ride. I let it drop.

The car comes back form the body shop and the repair is acceptable. much better than I could have done, but reasonably good. What made me so fucking happy was that they seriously detailed the car. It looked better than it did when it was new. SWMBO is a slob. There was mashed avocado on and in the floor mat that had been there since six months ago, moments after we had the following exchange:

me: "There is an avocado on the floor, it fell out of the bag. Why don't you pick it up so it doesn't get stepped on?"

she: "I won't step on it I'll be careful."

Anyway, THEY CLEANED THE AVOCADO OUT OF THE FLOOR MAT. I wasn't too impressed with the tires being shined up with armor all, but they cleaned that avocado out out of the floor mat. Not to mention all the spilled coffee and sesame stick crumbs etc etc.

Plus, they washed and waxed the outside. It looked seriously new. I would have paid five bills for that stuff alone, the fender was a perk.

Today, I have to go on an errand and I take the car. As I get in I notice that the drivers side is turning from pearl white into pearl white with black polka dots.

The frigging assholes from DPW caem by and sparyed tar into the cracks in the road and I saw the moron waving the wand around and didn't think much of it until I got in the car today.

I'm not talking tiny specks either. these are nice juicy dime sized blobs 1/16 of an inch thick.

It was 5:30 when I noticed it otherwisw I would have gone down to the town garage and went ballistic on those fuckers.

I'm trying to be cool here and would like some suggestions on how not to end arrested after this upcoming confrontation.

If it hasn't completely dried yet, go find some chicken feathers and stick them to the goo.

Then tell everyone you've been tarred and feathered.

That would be seriously cool!

Peanut butter should take it off , the whole clean oil -v- dirty oil thing

Take pictures of the car - close- ups. Were you informed ahead of time that they would be doing this? If not, you at least have grounds for a complaint, IMO. In my town when they are going to do such things, they warn everyone a week or so in advance and ask them to move their cars.

Write a letter of complaint to the department in charge of the road repair, cc copies to your local city council and anyone else who you can think of. Re-read the letter in the morning and edit out all the 4-letter words, then mail the letter and photos off. It may not do any good, but at least you won't have gone down without a fight, and writing the first draft of the letter might prove cathartic. I'm not sure what a SWMBO is, but you might consider replacing her, if possible.

Good lord, woman! Don't you watch Rumpole?

She Who Must Be Obeyed.

I don't think he's shopping currently.

What should you do about the tar?

That's a great solution. Then he won't have the car (or any other significant material possessions) to worry about. :lol2:

oh lord bruce! :lol2:

Carbon Tetrafluoride, as in Goof-Off, or some other such cancer-in-a-can solution will do the job.

Or...

Since you've paid your deductible, crease another fender and have the pros take care of it. You could even choose the vehicle against which you crease it, like say, the shiny new rig of the road crew supervisor who was busy polishing up his truck to notice he was spraying tar everywhere. Yeah. That has a certain...symmetry to it. Good Luck.

edit: Corrected a spelling mistake. Not that it matters since the error was quoted in the following post. (note to self: smack proofreader in the head at next opportunity :smack: There. I feel better now.

Revenge is a dish best served PIPING HOT!

Or bubbling hot!

http://www.gagme.com/greg/vacation/2001/la/labrea02.jpg

Why not go to the body shop that did such an awesome job on your car and #1: Tell them that you were really impressed with the state of your vehicle upon its return (if you haven't already) or again if you have. #2 ask them if they could recommend a product they use to get the tar off the brand new paint job. Since what they use probably won't be available at your local NAPA, you could reiterate what a nice job they did on your car, and it really burns your butt that city workers were so careless. Is there anyway you could get a little of *magic tar-B-gone* to clean up your car for a small fee? If you're sufficiently humble, they'll probably take care of it for you, for free since they seem to be so concientious already. Good Luck.

It's probably a per incident deductible, unfortunately. And don't forget the resulting increase in insurance costs for having actually used the insurance.

I like the suggestion of going to the body shop, but instead of just asking for some of their cleanup goo, ask them for some cleanup goo and the guy who did the work, and then see if he wants to earn a couple of bucks on the side cleaning up your car again.

Then, take the cleanup goo (which is undoubtedly highly flammable), go down to the maintenance shed, and torch it.

blah blah blah insurance blah blah insurance blah....

:fingers in ears: lalalalalllala alalalallala dododo bebeobobpp

[narrator]Our intrepid poster is politely, but stubbornly, striving to avoid being drawn into a discussion about insurance. He'll be ok in a little while.[/narrator]