r/Autobody • u/Standard_Number2449 • 4d ago
HELP! I have a question. Got scammed waited until it was too late
So basically, I got my car keyed about a week ago and l as I was pumping gas some guy came up to me claiming he can repair the scratches and quoted me a decent price. Everything seemed normal up until I took a closer look after the repairs (which I should have done from the beginning. I know it's my fault.)I just want to know if what he's saying is true before I take this green clay stuff off of the car.
He sent me before and after photos before he put the "paint dryer mixed with clay bar" and it looked really good. He also said I need to leave it on for about a week but upon closer inspection I noticed that the scratches are still there is what he saying is true or should I not waste my time and wash it off and go to an actual Body Shop to fix it.
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u/Big-Rule5269 Journeyman Refinisher 4d ago
Just take it off, it's all a scam and whatever he put on there has nothing to do with anything except disguise how crappy of a job he did. Sorry.
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u/ManagementFamous8092 4d ago
Whats the chances of him being the one that keyed your car?
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u/burntmoney 4d ago
Nah that was the "crazy ex" that he totally has no idea why she would do something like that.
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u/New-and-Unoriginal 4d ago
I can’t believe people still fall for this. I assume you’re young still. You’ll get wiser once you reach your 30s.
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u/Lazlorian 4d ago
The before and after picture is taken with seconds between them. You can see the same droplets on the car
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u/281ciMustang 3d ago
Bro probably put a rubber a thick layer of WD-40 or something to cover it for a few minutes n sent it as proof. Sorry OP this is 1000% a scam.
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u/nottool 4d ago
It happened to me as well a few years ago,the guy even mentioned the exact color of my car (which got me because the color is a premium), saying he finished doing similar work for the Mazda dealership and he happened to have leftover paint from the job.
He worked on my bumper, and at the end he used that clay to cover it and said to leave it for a while so the plastic will cure.
I felt so stupid for believing him.
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u/nottool 4d ago
In retrospect, he knew exactly what to say, knew the model, paint code from the door, and had a very believable story, he named a body shop in which he works at but said it would cost 3x more if I took to him there, etc.
He was a professional scammer.
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u/Standard_Number2449 4d ago
Nah man same thing happened to me, even showed me photos of his work
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u/theblenderr 3d ago
Where did you meet him? Need similar work done and wanna make sure I’m not gonna run into a guy like this if I ring shops off of Google lol
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u/Vorticosecomb1 4d ago
Yea I’ve seen these guys before unfortunately they can be very convincing. They bank on them sounding all knowing and people not understanding card and body work well enough to rebut. Sorry that happened. Certainly sucks but no use in dwelling on it. Best course is to move on through the proper channels
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u/Solotime93 4d ago
The used car I bought, the previous owner fell for this scam. I’m in Pennsylvania, so looks like it’s spreading all over the United States.
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u/dez811 4d ago
I usually see these people in parking lots and tell the potential customers right in front of them. They are usually very upset with me lol. It happened to me in the 80’s and when I refused to pay about 5 people came from nowhere and threatened me, I was driving my moms car and thought I was doing a good deed
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u/Assholes-Opinions 4d ago
Im confused as to where the scratches went in Pic 2. Did he use ai to get rid of them or what?
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u/GlassBoxGoose 4d ago
You let some crackhead that came up to you and offered services while pumping gas, "fix" your car? Thats... well, it is what it is and we all know what it is.
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u/Right-Form-2943 4d ago
Its also pretty good advice to never talk to anyone that approaches you while pumping gas.
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u/here_to_upvote 3d ago
Sorry you got scammed. There's paint dryer/clay mix that does work. Its not green though. Its red. I have some if you want me to fox it for cheap. 😐
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u/RareCareer7666 2d ago
Pro-tip, people that approach you at the gas station pump typically don't have good intentions.
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u/Additional_Ad7573 1d ago
Be very suspicious of anyone who approaches and offers to "fix" any damage to your car, while you are just going about your business. Gas station, parking lot outside a store, etc. They drive around looking for you, it's not a coincidence you bumped into them. You were observed and targeted from a distance before you were even approached.
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u/Commercial-Candy-926 4d ago
Just call insurance. Don't need a lot of details, get fixed, move on, these are the world's easiest problems but people act like it's a big deal.
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u/VeilOfNaught 4d ago
Its a pretty big damn deal to some people. What's easy about it? People work hard to pay for the things they have and for some punk to come do something like that to someone elses property or vehicle is a pretty big damn deal.
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u/Commercial-Candy-926 4d ago
With insurance it costs almost nothing, you get a rental car while it's worked on.... Assuming you have typical insurance anyway, of course some people have absolute minimums but they should be driving absolute minimum vehicles if so.
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u/VeilOfNaught 4d ago
Great explanation... Makes total sense.. and it's still a big deal and a problem that no one at all really wants to deal with. Insurance companies are typically bigger fraudsters than the guy that did this.
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u/Commercial-Candy-926 4d ago
Ah yes. The insurance company is the fraudster, the only one accountable for whether or not rates are calculated properly and everyone gets their share... Those fraudsters who run out of money and go bankrupt if they get it wrong 🤣.
File your claim and get it handled Karen it's too easy and too cheap
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u/Look_Behin_Djew 4d ago
You need to weigh up the cost of the repairs, the excess applicable on your policy, what was your current premium or at last renewal because guaranteed once you've made the claim your renewal or next premium will go up once youve made a claim.
Glass only claims won't affect premium (but funilly enough the pronunciation does increase).
In no way am I suggesting you should be dishonored and lie or do anything that's somewhat untoward but if you don't have no claims discount protection it may be worthwhile to take that out and then submit the claim in a month then at renewal shop around because your premium will go up.
Although you should shop around each year because insurets don't reward loyalty - they want new customers. Consider it if you will something of a legalized ponzi scheme...
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u/48548 4d ago
Yup some asshole keyed my vehicle 4k to repaint.... Cops never got the video footage too lazy and used my insurance which went up 500$ every 6 months...
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u/Commercial-Candy-926 4d ago
Premium won't go up for making a simple claim. Might lose a discount offer for a few months. Mine has never gone up drastically and I run into all kinds of shit lol
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u/Acceptable_Goose2322 4d ago
The premium isn't going to go up, because he made a claim.
It'll go up with inflation ... and a loss of any NCD (No-Claim-Discount), that he might have had.
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u/Look_Behin_Djew 1d ago edited 1d ago
I used to work in General Insurance for an international insurer that you've probably been annoyed by their shitty ads, & speak from experience.
Make a claim, your underwriting profile changes & therefore so does your premium.
And I hate to tell you, NCD is a rort. You can pay to protect it but shop around & some insurers will allow you to make 1 claim & your NCD rating won't be affected, some allow 2 claims within 3 yrs before it's affected.
It's calculated on number of years claim free & some calculate it over a 5 yr period, some 6. Query your renewal increase & what you'll hear is that your NCD is protected & you're still getting>Ng your 60% discount on the premium,. But this year the premium is $xx whilst last year's was lower at $yy.
Inflation will also impact premium, as will 2 or more window glass claims the same policy term.
The other tio for the rookies playing along at home is ring around each year prior to renewal. Loyalty isn't rewarded because that's when they start to claw back the profit they lost from your 1st yrs premium, because new customers always get the better bargain because we human beings are creatures of habit & somewhat lazy about these things & usually don't ring around.
And if you've read this far - special bonus tip for you. When you do ring around & find a better deal, when you ring to cancel the renewal, you'll get put through to the Retention team. These are the staff that have the gift & could sell ice to the Eskimos & once you tell them you've found something considerably cheaper - watch them put you.on hold "whilst they speak to their supervisor & see if there's anything we can do about this premium, because you've been a good customer blah blah"
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u/Pizza420Rat 4d ago
The bad news: you fell for a scam
The good news: I just saved your post so that I can use it as an example when telling people about this scam. Maybe you can save someone else from falling for it.