Dented my dad's car...

[Anduin]

Hello guys! It might not be the place for it, but I really need to share this with someone...

So I got my driver's license 3 weeks ago and I've been driving my dad's car. I've never driven alone (my dad is usually in the seat next to me), but yesterday he said I can take the car, because I had some stuff to take care of. So I did, and everything was fine, but when I was driving home I thought it's a good idea to drive outside town for a while. I drove for a good half an hour and decided to turn around and go home... So I was reversing (the road was quite narrow) and I hit... as dumb as it sounds... a tree. Now there's a little dent in the back of the car, the paint is good tho. I'm pretty sure my father wouldn't get mad, but I feel so small and stupid. I'm actually ashamed to even tell him... I was just getting comfortable with driving, and now I feel like garbage again. Any of you had similar experiences in the begging of your 'driving career'? It might sound stupid, but it really upset me..

 

[Dylanc1500]

Just be upfront with your father and tell him exactly what happened while being as detailed as possible. Express to him how you feel about the situation and show your remorse for the accident. Letting him know what you know you could have done different to prevent the accident will also be reaffirming for him, as it will let him know you learned from the situation.

[NinJake]

Don't sweat it. Mistakes happen (some are just more expensive than others)

 

As @Dylanc1500 said, the biggest takeaway here is to make sure you've learned from the mistake and take note of your surroundings more. If you want to be positive about it, at least it was a tree and not a dog or something. 

[flowalex]

Dents aren't bad everyone gets them at some point, I have a friend that had their car broken into and then a month later t-boned.  There are two methods that I have tested that work for home dent removal, the first (only works if metal) is to heat up the area (a hairdryer works but takes a good amount of time) and then apply dry ice to it, make sure you wear gloves for this, the other is a product called pops-a-dent, which you can get off amazon(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY4S7ZU/ref=twister_B01MG5SXVL?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).  I have tested these up to baseball sized dents, talk to your dad and explore these options.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

You can also try this method of fixing the dent.

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/xVA3BEb

[Zando_]

27 minutes ago, Anduin said:

Any of you had similar experiences in the begging of your 'driving career'? It might sound stupid, but it really upset me..

 

Yep, backed my SUV into my cousin's truck while his wife was sitting inside. Everyone was fine and both cars were miraculously unscathed, but I did almost have a heart attack and felt terrible for a while. But you just learn from your mistake and do better next time. 

[Anduin]

Thank you guys for your supportive words, I really appreciate it! As you said, nobody's hurt, so I guess it's not all black.. I do actually feel better, so a big THANK YOU again! ?

[Kaita]

Could've been worse, but it happens. I was in a similar situation. The road was narrow and I reversed into a truck that appeared out of nowhere and had to replace my car's bumper which was badly damaged (the truck had 0 damage). I depended on my cars' rear sensors (stupid..) and wasn't fully paying attention to the mirrors + I let the brakes go and the car was going a bit fast. The whole situation is just way more stupid compared to yours and it made me feel really terrible for a while but it taught me a lesson. 

[Egg-Roll]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

as dumb as it sounds... a tree.

a concrete lamp post is worst  What happened to you is likely the biggest reason new cars gets dents from their owners, a simple misjudgment in distance.

[dalekphalm]

4 hours ago, Anduin said:

Hello guys! It might not be the place for it, but I really need to share this with someone...

So I got my driver's license 3 weeks ago and I've been driving my dad's car. I've never driven alone (my dad is usually in the seat next to me), but yesterday he said I can take the car, because I had some stuff to take care of. So I did, and everything was fine, but when I was driving home I thought it's a good idea to drive outside town for a while. I drove for a good half an hour and decided to turn around and go home... So I was reversing (the road was quite narrow) and I hit... as dumb as it sounds... a tree. Now there's a little dent in the back of the car, the paint is good tho. I'm pretty sure my father wouldn't get mad, but I feel so small and stupid. I'm actually ashamed to even tell him... I was just getting comfortable with driving, and now I feel like garbage again. Any of you had similar experiences in the begging of your 'driving career'? It might sound stupid, but it really upset me..

 

How about this: Literally 3 weeks after buying my 2014 Jetta brand new (As in, it had 40 KM on the ODO, most likely from people test driving it), I backed into a concrete pillar and scratched the fuck out of the bumper (fortunately no cracks).

 

And I wasn't even a novice driver. I've been driving since like 2002.

 

To my credit, though, this pillar was in a parking lot, and was only about 2 feet high, so it's literally impossible to see in the rear-view Mirror.

 

Anyway, you should definitely tell your father about the accident. You want him to know that you're honest about mistakes. If you hide it from him, he'll eventually find out anyway and won't be very pleased with you (and you will have lost some trust with him).

[PhantomDragon]

I remember when I was backing out of a parking space I rear ended other car who was backing out the same time. Both at fault.

[FlatBrokeRacing]

For sure be upfront about it! let him know tell him what happened, and best of all, know that mistakes happen but LEARN from your mistakes. Try to be as comfortable and unstressed as possible behind the wheel, the more tense you are, the easier it is for mistakes and accidents to happen.

 

Best advice i can give to a new driver is to take a course at a Performance Driving School. Some Autocross/scca associations even offer a weekend driving school, save up and buy a $500 beater and use it at autocross events. Doing most car enthusiast type events will net you quick results in vehicle control, spacial awareness, etc. 

[Skanky Sylveon]

Fender benders happen, don't sweat it.  You should apologize to the tree though...

[RyomaSJibenG]

bumping into a BMW of all cars scares the shit out of me on my first accident, i'm reaaaaaally lucky the owner is a pretty chill guy and just says its just a scratch

 

can you even imagine the horror, it was like a week at my first job after graduate too...

[chiller15]

Mistakes happen. I've reversed into those small potted trees before, because they were so low I couldn't see them in my rear view mirror and it put a little crack in the plastic bumper. I've also been parallel parking and got too close to the Land Rover in front and slowly touched the tow bar. It just dented my number plate a little. More severely, within 6 months of owning my first car, I rear ended someone and it cost my insurance about £9000 for repairs and 'injury' claims. 

 

I've had numerous people crash into my though. I've been rear ended twice (both low speed and no damage), someone too far over and clipping my wing mirror, sending the casing flying and lastly someone changing lanes and turning into me, causing £2000 worth of damage along my passenger door.

 

Driving is great, especially giving young drivers freedom, but it has it's perils! Whether it's the driver or another person on the road,