This car is bad luck?

If you’re in a low-crime area where the police might actually investigate, I’d suggest making a report, if you haven’t already—that’s clearly over $400 in damage, enough to be charged as felony malicious mischief (594 PC).

If the supermaket has good security camera coverage of their parking lot, as some do now, the perpetrator might be identified easily enough, especially if he or she appears on other camera angles at the store entrance or checkstands (perhaps even using a payment card, which would give the police a name).

 

I'd be tempted to have a letter drawn up by a lawyer and send it to the grocery store. It is their property. Don't they have some liability here? If they don't have security cameras, they should. My local market has LOTS of cameras and people don't get away with this stuff. They are ALWAYS caught and prosecuted.

 

Wow. I am very sorry to see that. And you live up in the Bay Area (CA) where I thought everyone loved a Prius?

I see incidents like this (obvious vandalism!) and all the tailgating that goes on, and sometimes I just want to say the hell with it and get me a big older "beater" to drive. As long as it is mechanically sound, I don't care what it looks like. I am sick & tired of all the Prius hating! There is a lot of sick people out there. And getting worse.

(I always park as far away from the front door of the store as I can. I hate being around other vehicles, shopping carts, busy areas, etc. They can still "get me" if they really want to, but just maybe they will leave my car alone parked way out in the boondocks).

 

Sorry to hear about your luck. Yes, definitely contact the store and see if they might be able to help you out in any way possible. If the parking lot has hills, sometimes the carts can catch some wind and start moving on their own possibly.

 

bummer dude!
that happen to my fathers car at bj's. they wouldn't pay up, so he took them to small claims court. they sent 3 lawyers, and lost.
judge said they were responsible for the carts.
i don't think you're under a black cloud, ship happens. all the best!

 

1 contact police
2 wonder why police don't get serious and ask for security film
3 call your insurance co ,,
4 wait for results

 

I'm not sure how or if, the store could be held responsible if this was a deliberate act of vandalism. The store has no control over the customers in the parking lot. (what if they had sliced your tires, or used a key to scratch your car? The store has no control over people out there in the lot.)

Now if that was caused by a strong wind that blew a cart into a vehicle, that might be a different story. But even that is pretty weak, as far as the store being responsible.

I think the best you can do is just ask the management if they happen to have any security camera footage of the parking lot. Maybe you'll get lucky and be able to identify the idiots and/or their vehicle. And if you're positive it was intentional, definitely get a police report.

"It was obviously malicious in nature and I'm trying to figure out why."

That's because there are so many weird freakin nuts and creeps out there, and for some strange reason they hate Prius drivers. I learned that within two weeks of buying my car.

 

two cursed cars? makes a great case for 360 car cams.

 

maybe don't fix this one?

i was delivering groceries to the local food pantry. when backing out into the street, i hit a mercedes parked in a no parking zone. cracked my bumper cover, and $3,400. in damage to the mercedes. still my fault, and i get 3 year surcharge and higher rates.
it would have been cheaper to have cut the food pantry a check for a grand, and never have left the house.
i'm still toying with the idea of replacing the bumper cover.

 

Ah ha! There's your answer, and yes, your culprit!

I was wondering when I first read your post, if you might have had some type of negative engagement with someone, prior to when you parked... Mystery solved. So, what exactly did you say to that fine gentleman?

( HUMMER vs Prius? I think I would just bite my tongue, apologize, and don't stir up any trouble. Even if I'm not at fault. There are too many nuts out there!)

 

This is my worse fear and one of the primary reasons why I haven't bought a new car until now. My curse is the other one: after paying it off, it gets hit.

Happened to my 4Runner. Two weeks after paying it off, some Mustang driver, not paying attention on the freeway, rear ends me.

Some simple things that I do to protect my Prius:

1. Drive slow. All the retard drivers will speed past me and leave me alone.
2. Park away from everybody else if possible. Even if you have to do some extra leg work, it'll be in an area unpopulated by other cars.
3. If I do have to park in a populated area, look for a spot that is at the end. Only one other car can park next to you, thus minimizing the chance of being damaged.

And I really need to drop some money on a dash cam.

 

For 3. you forgot the guy flying around the corner in the parking lot.

 

Perspective:

1. Your car isn't cursed. The average car cost is above $30,000 and the average car gets less than 40mpg......
If all of this happened to you and you were driving a $40,000 Camaro or Challenger?
That would look more like being cursed.

2. I'd cash flow the repairs to prevent your car from being a previously wrecked car.
Once your car's VIN gets attached to a police report or an insurance claim, then it no longer has a 'clean' CARFAX record.
If you're one of the few people who drive their cars until they have 250,000 miles on the odometer then this will not matter in the long run.
Trading or selling on the other hand........well accidents count.
On top of all of that your insurance company will count it as a 'claim' regardless or irregardless of the circumstances. One or both of those is a real word, and I never know which one to use.
Isn't flammable and inflammable the same way????
Anyway....
Insurance claims count too.

3. As much as it hurts to look at it now, this is very superficial damage.
It doesn't affect mileage or ride, and you can't see it from the inside of the car.
Yeah......I know.
It sucks to pay $25,000 for a new car and get it whammed, but as another poster already noted.......deification occurs.

4. Shopping carts.
This is why I like Aldis and even though I drive a beater that's already got multiple battle scars, I always park in the far end of the lot.
So....if the Bay area is the bay area on the left coast, then the you're in a pretty good place to file a complaint in small claims court.
I personally think that Groceries have very limited liability exposure WRT carts, but we already have a model that WORKS where shopping carts are kept under control with the Aldi system of requiring a quarter as a deposit for a cart - and if they can put an UHD camera on a $100 cell phone, then there's no reason that one cannot expect a standard of performance for parking lot security---- so this is just a money thing.........and for some reason, small claims courts dig that.
Of course.....you'll have to notify the grocery store immediately and file, all of which have a down side, but the up-side is that if you're going to file an insurance claim anyway, then small claims might be a way for you to get some of the money back.
Your call.

5. LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) aren't into this kind of property crime because there's a non-zero percent chance that a crooked car owner backed into something and then drove to an honest, hard-working merchant's parking lot, put a buggy (mid-western slang meaning: grocery cart) next to their car and started squalling about out of control grocery carts.
NO police officer dreams about solving that kind of crime when they graduate from the academy.
They would rather do traffic.

All of this will pass.
Don't let it consume you.

Good Luck!!!

 

take it to a paintless dent repair shop they can do wonders .. probably 400$ though for the work.

Pixel XL ?

 

+1!
Excellent advice.