How expensive is it to fix intentional key damage to paint on a tailgate?

49.99 for a vinyl decal for your Taco. Just black it out bro and get some black tacoma lettering for the tail gate stamped letters too if you really want to get fancy.



Another consideration: file a police report and call your insurance company to make a claim. You'll be out a deductible but the difference will be covered. I'm sorry someone did this to your rig. Believe me, one day they will have to account for this.

 

this ^^^

 

DASHCAM! (at least a two way)

 

best suggestion yet!
cover the other 99% of your nearly new truck and worry about cosmetics when you get back at it.

 

I’m sorry for your troubles, I hope you find an affordable remedy and that the worm responsible finds his karma sooner than later. Best of luck.

 

Thank you to everyone who replied for your suggestions and well wishes, I really appreciate you guys.

Would it have picked something like this up in parking mode though? I thought parking mode only detected impacts like if a car hits you while parked or something?

 

It would. Mine is always on until a certain duration in low bitrate mode. For example, 4 hours. Some people set it to longer. You can also invest in battery packs from BlackBoxMyCar.com to avoid battery drainage. But the key thing is a good dashcam and good wiring kit with a voltage cutoff set properly. It's SUPER easy (even though it sounds complicated). Some dashcams do still have the option for IR sensors to turn them on (usually only certain camera's - like the front or interior) as well as impact detection and such. Some even have cloud notifications during an event.

There are tons of options! All of them safer than not having a dashcam at all.

But for now, I do think Insurance comprehensive should cover this - pending what your deductible is set at.

 

it's a truck, drive it

 

You are so helpful on this forum.

 

He's not wrong.

The OP has made some really odd financial choices that leave me boggled as to why a scratch on the tailgate would even matter. OP has even scoffed at the idea of buffing it out and they couldn't move on knowing there is unrepaired damage hiding there.

 

That response has nothing to do with OP's decisions or history. It's just 2pei being a grumpy old fart.

 

Grumpy or not, I agree with him. It's a truck, move on with life and just go drive it.

That scratch can most likely be buffed out, or at least greatly reduced. It didn't even look like it went through to the primer or metal.

 

It's been one day. It happened, yesterday! and you have no idea how much this truck means to them and or if they want to keep the paint decent. It's a big deal to some people. Saying "rub some dirt in it and drive on" is ZERO help! You haven't even asked them how deep it was - nobody has! Zooming in on the pics? These are not close up shots. How about ask before you insinuate. Let's hope it can be easily fixed. Give them time to try it! But if not, and most likely if you've ever seen how the layers of paint on a vehicle don't hold up well to the sharp angles on a key - an act done on purpose, it ain't good. He wants it fixed - entirely removed and repainted etc etc. Maybe drive on with your grumpy ol friend. Two grumpier old men.

 

I had similar scratches that were caused by a person parked next to me unloading luggage. The metal parts on the luggage scraped the hell out of my truck as they were taking the luggage out of their backseat. Mother In Law, grumble.

 

Happened to my 15 f150 just after I got it. Took the tailgate off and had it entirely repainted. Was right around 500 bucks so I didn't bother with insurance. Couldn't tell after.

 

easy to buff out yourself dude. get yourself some griots conditioner, correcting cream, and a claybar. I buff scratches like this out of my taco from desert pin stripes all the time. make it look like mirror new condition.

 

Buff or no buff is easy to determine. Run your fingernail across the scratch. If you can feel the indent then it is beyond the clear coat and not a candidate for buffing.

My local Maaco has buffed out many scratches for me for under $50. I only do this after several scratches have accumulated as it is a truck and I haul branches and stuff all the time.

 

I would go this route first. From the pics, it doesn't look like the scratches are all the way to the bare metal. If not, most if not all will likely buff out. It's worth asking a detailer.

 

Did you piss off someone at work? The scratch doesn’t look like a deep scratch. It doesn’t look like it went past the clear coat. Did you try to buff it out? Or call those skillful mobile dent/scratch fixers. They do it for you for $50-$100.

 

We clearly know how much this truck means to this person, (and you for that matter).

You sound like the over protective mom that eventually turns into a Karen.

Relax, its a truck.

Or, bring your issue to the court of social acceptance and then shoot down everything suggested because it doesn't fit your style.