Help me ID this dent

[ATLstang]

When I got to work this morning, I noticed that there was a little dent/scratch combo right on the top of my 3 WEEK OLD jetta, right above the back seat on the driver's side. I'm trying to figure out what caused this. At first I thought a limb from a tree that I parked under fell on it, but the scratches look like they were caused by more force than that, and also by something sharper/harder than a limb. Then I thought it might be an errant tennis ball from the tennis court at my apartment complex, but again, it looks like it was caused by something harder/sharper, and the dent seems too small for a tennis ball. Then I thought hail, because we did have a little bit here in Atlanta last night, but why would it be isolated to only 1 spot, and why would there be scratches like that? Whatever it is was small, hard, and dropped in with some force. I'm leaning towards a rock or piece of gravel thrown up by another car.

Any ideas? Sorry for the picture quality, gray is a hard color to take a picture of in the daylight.

[SGI]

A squirrel must have jumped on your car and proceed to run away from its prey w/ its crawls out.

[itskohler]

Vandalism?

[DFWSKATE]

Vandalism?

seems too random.

I would expect vandalism to be on side of car.

[ATLstang]

seems too random.

I would expect vandalism to be on side of car.

The more I think about it the more vandalism seems likely. It's just an odd place to have random damage. I'm pretty upset about it, I'm going to get some repair estimates, and hopefully those guys can give me their opinion.

[itskohler]

Best of luck, keep us updated with what this is gonna run you.

[simonrjones]

somebody threw something, and inadvertently it hit the top of your car, and skimmed off the roof. Ask your neighbour what hes been up to.

[Mk6-GLI]

JETTACABRA STRIKES AGAIN!!! Sucks man hope it isnt too much to fix

[ATLstang]

somebody threw something, and inadvertently it hit the top of your car, and skimmed off the roof. Ask your neighbour what hes been up to.

Yeah, I've asked some people, nobody knows anything of course.

I think the most likely scenario is that at some point I was parked next to a truck that was unloading/loading a ladder or something that bumped the roof and didn't care to leave a note.

I can get the dent popped out and the scratches fixed to the point where they're not really noticeable for $150-225, and get the spot resprayed for $425-500. I'm leaning towards the cheaper option, I just don't have the money to get it resprayed.

[cute jetta]

under a tree, possibly a squirrel fell from the top

[ATLstang]

under a tree, possibly a squirrel fell from the top

That squirrel has the sharpest claws of any squirrel in history. This isn't a surface scratch, it's down to metal in a few places.

[UltraAvant]

Have there been any big storms in you area?

[BHump]

That squirrel has the sharpest claws of any squirrel in history. This isn't a surface scratch, it's down to metal in a few places.

One creature I know can take off paint like that would be a horse. Usually when a horse scratches a car it looks like its been done with a small screw driver. not like the picture.

[ATLstang]

Have there been any big storms in you area?

Not really. A few summer pop up showers, but not much else.

[spazzyfry123]

Looks like something skimmed it pretty good at speed. Maybe someone threw something out of the lawn mower while you had it parked?

[Verebs1]

Did you have the car at the dealer of any type of service? The dealers in my area are *******s and will scratch your car and not care. Also get that taken care of properly ie. someone qualified (VW authorized repair/paint shop) because if you do and it rusts in the future it WILL be covered under the rust warranty. If you don't, well then you are basically ****ed.

[ATLstang]

Did you have the car at the dealer of any type of service? The dealers in my area are *******s and will scratch your car and not care. Also get that taken care of properly ie. someone qualified (VW authorized repair/paint shop) because if you do and it rusts in the future it WILL be covered under the rust warranty. If you don't, well then you are basically ****ed.

Nope, not at the dealer. It happened in the parking lot of my apartment complex.

[Mk6-GLI]

Looks like something skimmed it pretty good at speed. Maybe someone threw something out of the lawn mower while you had it parked?

This is actually pretty likely scenario

[kDubya_SE]

This may be a crazy thought, but I wonder if it could be from a Hawk's (or other large bird) claws? I'm picturing a cute little bird hanging out on your roof getting snatched up.

[simonrjones]

I used to manage an apartment complex. And the kinda stuff idiots would throw out of their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th floor balconies would surprise you.

Q: Do you park near a skip or garbage/recycle receptacle can?...if so, someone is lazy and aiming, and missed.

Its probably not a beer bottle or similar, as it would leave glass/and or beer/alcohol smell residue( unless they realized what they had done, and tried to cover up evidence. Did you notice the area was clean?, compared to the rest of the car?

I'm thinking something metal, and of the trash variety.

[Maximilium]

Tiny meteorite......

[REDGLI2012]

i say a honey badger nabbed his prey there.

[mannys28]

pop out the dent then black out the roof with vinyl. cheaper but looks great

[vadimr]

looks like some good old high speed rock chips to me. I would say about 90-110mph, 2 inch rock in diameter followed by a few <1 inch rocks.

[DasJunk]

^ This. The same exact thing happened to me on the highway. Rock kicked up and put a sweet first dent/scratch in the roof.

[MadJerry]

My bet is that someone was throwing something around and it landed there. Vandalism usually is more obvious and expressive in my experience.

About a year ago, I came back to my car with a the pattern of Football laces and pigskin on my deck lid. Its a pretty good abrasion that cannot be buffed out. As it was a college town I imagine some dudes just being careless and throwing the ball around when drunk...

[vadimr]

My bet is that someone was throwing something around and it landed there. Vandalism usually is more obvious and expressive in my experience.

About a year ago, I came back to my car with a the pattern of Football laces and pigskin on my deck lid. Its a pretty good abrasion that cannot be buffed out. As it was a college town I imagine some dudes just being careless and throwing the ball around when drunk...

Sounds like you live in Morgantown west Virginia. Had a friend go to school there years ago for his masters. I drove up there for a football game in my then 2001 Mitsubishi montero. Parked it for less than an hour to come back to a huge indent in my hood as if someone got tackled onto my car from the 6th floor.

[kDubya_SE]

Sounds like you live in Morgantown west Virginia. Had a friend go to school there years ago for his masters. I drove up there for a football game in my then 2001 Mitsubishi montero. Parked it for less than an hour to come back to a huge indent in my hood as if someone got tackled onto my car from the 6th floor.

It's because of things like this that I don't think I'll ever take the new VW to a college campus. I had some of the dumbest things done to my Saturn when I was at school (wing mirror broken off, doors keyed, air drained from tires...).

[SimpleStaple]

A c0ck-fighting chicken with his leg machete still on. A large group of Mexican Drug Cartel members gathered around your car and threw the birds on your roof for a battle to the death....

[Maximilium]