Car being deliberately scratched by a neighbour

I have a unique problem. I recently bought a new car and park it in the underground garage in my residence. There's some gad damn son of a bitch who scratches it every night. I ignored the first 2 because the were minor and also because I was not sure ehere it was happening. But the 3rd and 4th scratch was pretty deep which got me completely pissed.

I spoke to the housemaster who offered me sympathies and then I went to the cops. They took down the report but basically said there's nothing they could do as it is a covered and closed garage.

Can anyone suggest what I could do next. I mean how do I catch this psycho or atleast stop him.

Was it scratched by another car or has somebody keyed it?

Destroy something precious of his...his face perhaps

Deliberate scratches e.g. With a key, or are they from a car door being opened?

Did you ask whether there was anyone else who wanted your parking space? It seems like action designed to get you to park elsewhere.

The scratches are all done by some sharp object like a key or a knife

A spy camera then to catch the culprit?

Whatever happened to asking someone nicley, or explaining that this parking space belongs to him, there is no need to scratch his car, what age is he...10?

Good idea, then the place would have to do something, also have you actually confronted him about it, and what did he say about it?

But he doesn't know who's doing it.

I thought he said it was his neighbour, or does he just think all his neigbours are physcho sons of bitches...think i misunerstood, i thought he knew who it was, if not then i think the camera would definately be a good idea

I don't know who is doing it. Have no clue., We moved here a month back and have had cars for the entire period. The only difference is the other cars were rented and this is my own. This activity is only happening to my own car.

We don't know anyone and certainly did not piss anyone off. The parking space is part of the apartment.

ever thought of hiding in the back of the car under a rug with a baseball bat?

What a funny image

Presumably you have managed to piss someone off. How can you be so sure you haven't?

'ever thought of hiding in the back of the car under a rug with a baseball bat? '

I did. The problem is after a while my back hurts. Boy would I have creamed him if I got someone

What kind of car is it? Is it infinitely better than the other cars parked there now? If so, it could be a case of jealousy?

'Presumably you have managed to piss someone off. How can you be so sure you haven't? '

That's easy ...we have not spoken to anyone except our immediate neighbour who we are extremely cordial with.

'What kind of car is it? Is it infinitely better than the other cars parked there now? If so, it could be a case of jealousy? '

It is a Mercedes C class. At first I thought so but there are several such cars, including much better ones in the garage.

What about adding an alarm system? I don't know how sensitive they are, meaning if they would react to a scratch. Conrad.de sells some aftermarket alarms that supposedly will go off if the car is hit. Perhaps an investment of 100 euro or so might stop you having more costly repairs?

Are you by any chance of ethnic origin, and thus maybe a racist attack?

i bet its just wee shits. id set up a cam though and record them. if you can.

Are you sure the scratches are deliberate? Could they possibly be from someone brushing your car with buttons/bags/strollers/toddlers etc as they get in/out of the car parked next to yours?

The scratches are deliberate alright. They could not be an accident...even the cops think so. I am an Indian but have never ever faced racial discrimination of any kind and if this is linked to this, I'd be surprised.

I am thinking of setting up a hidden camera ... any idea where to get one and hw much it costs? I am also considering an alarm but I doubt whether any alarm is sensitive enough to respond to scratches.

Hidden camera and then scratch the shit out of their car then phone the police saying you have evidence.

Instead of scratching the shit out of their car I would prefer his face or their faces ... but that's me. The repair estimate is a staggering € 800.

evidence of him scratching their car?

Hi,
send me a PM, I have developed a digital sureilence system designed for this purpose.
They are several years old now but I still have a few in stock. I also have some newer models which may also be uses for this job. Do you have access to power outside of the car?

Have you never lived in an apartment block before? You don't have to talk to someone in order to piss them off. Maybe you're making too much noise, for example. It's almost quite scary how convinced you are of your own perfection.

If he was making too much noise or some such, wouldn't a rational neighbour complain or bring it to his notice as opposed to wilful damage as the first resort?

I'm not defending the actions of whoever is doing this. It's just that Biswajit's confidence that they "certainly" haven't annoyed anyone that grates a little. Maybe they have kids who scream all day and night – angels in the parent's eyes, the devil in the neighbours'.

50% of German court cases involve parties that haven't communicated in person, I.E. you get dragged off to court and the silly sod didn't have the courtesy to have a word in your shell like first. You chose to live here ,... there are other benefits.

The owner of the garage, who rented you the parking spot, is responsible for what happens in there, he is the one who gave other people access to the garage and therefore the chance to do something to your car.
And the police, they HAVE to do something, "Anzeige gegen Unbekannt", and once you'd know who it is, they have to consider the Anzeige that was made previously.

Man this sucks, I hope you'll soon know who that weirdo is...

Once again, this is forbidden in Germany, based on each individual's right to his own image and protection against its being made available to third parties (par 201a Penal Code / Strafgesetzbuch). In this case, the garage is a protected personal area, and showing any recorded images to the police counts as providing them to third parties.
Complain to your house management (Hausverwaltung) or landlord with a copy of the police report, put a leaflet in everyone's mailbox informing them of the damage and requesting them to check their cars for similar scratches.

If you confronted the person with his/her own image that might be enough, no third party involved. He/She may not be familiar with the legal requirements.

or her face... could equally be a female culprit

And with a new C class? - hate to say this but I think you may have your motive... racially motivated jealousy

yes, let's all jump to conclusions. Cruiser, I hope you see the irony of your two previous posts.

Just a few random guesses... Are you producing cooking smells, by any chance? My sister had a neighbor ages ago who apparently cooked with ghee regularly, and she was always complaining to me that the smell of it made her quite ill. (I never noticed, but maybe it never happened when I was there).

Do you take off your shoes in the house? If not, that sound carries to downstairs neighbors and drives people insane. Listen to TV late at night? And are you positive it happens in the buidling, not at work?

But my money is on the racial thing. I'd set up a camera, too.

...rather, a regrettable but realistic possibility, which may help the victim identify the perpetrator

My one previous post identified the assumption that the perpetrator was male, which itself was a case of 'jumping to conclusions'... no irony on my part

I take Small Town Boy's point. It could be posible that I may have offended someone b mking too much noise in the house or something like that. I do have a 10 month old son and he crawls around the house all the time which might be inconveniencing the people below. We generally do not listen to loud music or turn up the tv volume.

However if someone is offended or disturbed, if I was in their place, I would speak to them politely telling them of our problems and requesting cooperation or I would even accept the housemaster telling me this. But nothing could ever justify this act.

Our biggest handicap is our inability to speak German (although we are taking classes), which is why we are not able to engage in conversations with our neighbours, who unfortunately do not speak English.

At the end of the day, even if they have what they assume to be a good reason for doing this, it's just really childish and hopefully will get them in alot of trouble and shame them, but no matter what, they should have the fucking decency to come and speak to you about it instead of resorting to this type of behaviour, i also have an 11 month old daughter who crawls about, and she makes noise

(not excessive) as babies/children do, but that is not a reason to destroy someones property, it's just sad, they could come and say oh your child is being a little loud would you mind keep the noise

down a little?...No problem for most rational people...i have a neighbour who lives above me, and i get on very well with her, she has a son of 18 months, whose bedroom is just above mine, and sometimes he wakes up at night screaming(sometimes wakes me up) but he is just a baby and doesn't know any better, so i am not going to go and scratch her car or cause problems with perfectly nice people because they have kids who make a bit of noise,...Sorry for the rant, i just hate it when people use kids as an excuse to cause trouble with neighbours, i am not going to lock my daughter up and force silence upon her just cause some bitter old fart has no life, and wants an excuse to hate the wrold, and thinks children should be seen and not heard.

Just keep annoying the police, the will probably get annyoed into actually doing something, might get them away from dishing out parking tickets to everyone.

Faintly amusing to see these words side-by-side in the same sentence

Thanks Maria ... for your support.

I think it goes without saying that people should not be keying other people's cars, with or without a 10 month old, and especially after just a month of sharing a roof. Doesn't it? Obviously people without no fucking decency or rational thought also exist in this world and they, too, have to be dealt with somehow or other.

Anyway, Biswajit, I hope you catch them and really nail them. And if the building pays for your repairs without trying to find out who did it, then I hope you at least won't have continued problems.