Car vandalism and damage by an unknown third party is on the increase according to a new survey carried out by leading smart repairer Revive!

Revive! specialises in repairing minor scuffs and scrapes to vehicle bodywork and alloy wheels. It has the largest network of smart repairers in the UK and is one of the few IMI accredited training centres in the country carrying out work for private motorists and the trade. As the preferred supplier of SMART repairs major car dealerships and fleet operators its customers include Alfa Romeo Fiat, Lex Autolease and Mercedes.

The company questioned over 100 technicians for the Revive! 2012 UK Smart Repair Survey. Of those surveyed the number one repair was bumper scuffs with alloy wheel repairs coming second. The next most common reason for call out was vehicle vandalism or third party damage reported by 19% of technicians. A large proportion of the damage had been done by an unknown person.

Said Mark Llewellyn, managing director of Revive! “Maybe it is because people are feeling the pinch financially and they fear that by leaving their details after an accidental scuff or scrape they will face high costs or lose their own no claims bonus.

“Whatever the reason it is a real shame, as what people don’t realise is that it costs far less than they think to do the right thing and a have a clear conscience. Most minor paintwork or alloy wheel repairs can be fixed for less than the cost of the average insurance policy excess.”

However the damage is caused, car parks are often to blame. Motorists cite low walls, high kerbs, tight turns and narrow parking bays as reasons for scuffing their bumpers or damaging their alloy wheels, whilst cars fitted with parking sensors seem to get scraped more than those without.

Revive! also reports a rise in the number of customers paying for damage themselves rather than going through the insurance company, as well as more people having paintwork or alloy damage fixed before returning hire or leased vehicles.

Added Mark “We are seeing people holding onto cars longer than they might have done previously and taking more care of them by tidying them up and to protect residual values.”

And when it comes to whether men or women cause the most damage the jury is still out. Almost a third of the technicians report an equal 50/50 split, with 27% saying they see more scuffs and scrapes caused by men and 20% say it’s women drivers.

“But,” said Mark, “It was hard to get a definitive answer as most of our technicians report that men don’t tend to want to ‘fess up to causing damage. Women are more conscientious and book in their cars almost straight after an incident and seem to have no problems admitting they have had an incident!”

Throughout the country over half of all cars repaired were silver in colour, closely followed by black with blue and grey coming in at third and fourth place. In Reading and Southampton technicians carried out the most repairs on blue cars whilst in Manchester and Newbury white cars were reported to be the second most common.

Red vehicles, once the most popular colour on the road failed to top the list in any area coming third in just 13% of the regions.

It’s not uncommon for technicians to have regular customers. One motorist in Crawley has had his car repaired six times after scraping the same corner on his garage door.

Here are some other responses taken from the Revive! 2012 UK Smart Repair Survey:

• One customer called us after the family dog chased their cat across the bonnet of her husband’s Ferrari
• A customer told me: “I slowed down but the traffic was more stationery than I thought”
• In moving her car out of the way for me after I had finished working on her boyfriend’s car, she reversed straight into the repaired bumper
• A man came in with a car that had been chewed by a dog
• As I finished the repair the customer joked that she’d better not do it again putting the car back in the garage. Half an hour later she called me to come back – she had hit it again!
• A customer called to ask if we were the bodyshop. When we said yes she asked if she could order some body lotion.
• To hide the fact that he had several scuffs and scrapes in quick succession the gentleman kept blaming the damage on the car wash
• Whilst painting a bumper corner a bird left me ‘a present’ on the repair