Yesterday i returned home from work and noticed that I had aquired some nice new scratch marks on my beloved car! Not only that, but also the passenger side mirror was "closed" not sure thats the term. Car is parked in my driveway/parking bay which is off street.

The only thing I can think is that the council bin men have done a good job and instead of walking down the perfectly good walkway have walked down the side of my car to replace/move bins. And thus have scratched my car.

I've writted a complaint to the council and am awaiting the reply, but in the meanwhile are there any recommendations that I can get for a fix? Would the ford paint repair kit work?

http://www.fordpartsuk.com/shop/ford_panther_black_metallic_touch_up_paint_f_1326554.htm

Here are some photos :

Damn that really sucks, i hope they sort it out for you.

as for the paint kit, ive found the halfords scratch repair kit works better. it comes with a little tip so you apply it to more fine scratches. and it does a good job :)

Is this the stuff?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_201037_langId_-1_categoryId_165580

Is this the stuff?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_201037_langId_-1_categoryId_165580

Yep thats the one

or you can try this one too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiesta-Focus-ST-Zetec-S-PANTHER-BLACK-Touch-Up-Paint-Car-Scratch-Repair-/390613740137?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item5af264aa69

i ordered one but havent tried it yet

Thanks for that, I'll try the ebay one first as I think the pen thing may not work as to the size and amount of scratches.

Yeah, i got a keyline scratch that goes all along the passenger's side

im planning to use the ebay bottle with toothpicks to slowly fill in the scratch

Im guessing that Barnet council will deny everything as usual! So I'll probably end up doing the repairs myself.

Im guessing that Barnet council will deny everything as usual! So I'll probably end up doing the repairs myself.

Yeah, unfortunately with no proof, I can't see you getting far... There is no CCTV right?

Barnet Council is awful, they have made the news several times too.

yeah I know, they are pretty C**P even in their services. Funny that, and you still have to pay through the nose for poor service!

Personally I don't think those scratch removing products are that good and looking at the damage there it's gone to the primer I have cat scratches on mine that are fine and find it difficult to hide them looking at yours I'd say something has had a good claw at that rather than a brush down it with say a wheelie bin as your arch would keep most of the bin away from the body work but agree with you that local authority's don't give a monkeys about people's property.

from the scraches the amount and deepness its a repaint job none of the touchups will make any difference other than make it look awful

That looks like a mask off and spray job to me. The scratches go in 2 directions. Vertical and horizontal. Looks quite deep too.

SOB!! How much am i looking at roughly?

depends on the shops round youre way to do it right they will spray the arch and the rear quarter panel up to and behind the tail light to blend it in so the repair is unnoticeable ide say a few hundred pounds but really youde need to take it into one of the body shops and ask some can do an extremely good job and not have to spray everything but it goes round the edge at the rear to the boot so the easiest way and most professional would be to do it on the whole rear quarter panel

Great! Another expense! LOL!

Looking at places at the moment around me to get a price. So annoying!

Hi, something like this brings a nasty taste to the mouth, however I would have thought that anyone walking down the side of the car would have made horizontal scratches not vertical ones...

There is a "lip" to where the bins are, so my theory is that they wheel the bin up to that lip and then leaned backwards against the car to get it up over the lip and thus scratched it, or put themselves between the bin and the car and scratched the car with something on their belts ie keys etc

Do you have any co-operative neighbours who might have seen anything. Our local council have instructed all their bin men to ensure that the empty wheely bins are replaced well away from vehicles after a spate of claims from the public. The bins were normally left all over the place and were blown over and damaged cars.

I seriously doubt it because all our neighbors that i know go to work during the day. I can check with the dude upstairs, but I think it's wishful thinking.