| For those who missed last night's post, click here. Anyway, I took all of my ammunition down to the site today to get some answers and look over what I couldn't see in the darkness last night. Sure enough I found the "pit" where they were doing most of the work. It was mostly mud next to some concrete mixing machines. In fact, I almost think a lot of what fell onto my car was mud but indeed some of it was the sand/water/clay/whatever concrete mixture which the foreman verified (he was very cool). It turned out that the job was indeed a CityWorks project but I had to talk to the Project Manager of Traylor Brothers (the lead company on the job). I walked into his office and went right into what happened, all my photos, all of the evidence I had collected and everything else I could blabber out to him. He sat there silently for the 5 minute "lecture" as I explained everything calmly. At the end he simply said "I'm sorry that happened, please get some estimates and get back to me". He then added "we'll take care of it from there" and that was it. Simple and sweet...for now. More to come as I get him the estimates tomorrow. Here's a few pics of the damage and the jobsite in question: Don't let the pics fool you, the ENTIRE hood is covered in the scratches you see in the middle. Something about the lighting and the pearl paint hides them on the sides. The passenger side is the worst and the pic doesn't even show it. Some are brightened to counter this. And no, they do not buff out :(
 
Looks like I missed a spot last night
 
Note the piece I missed in the dark. A prime example of how wiping it off lead to the scratches. I wish I had more options (like a hose) while I was stuck out there :(
 Go Go CityWorks
 Northbound on Mission near the 5 Freeway
 
Note the big ass crane
 A few more shots of Northbound Mission Ave. I was stopped at the light right about where that black car is on the right lane.
 Note the big ass net they have right there. You think they might have had an idea this was a problem? heh.
 And the photo that says it all. Here's one of the pits they were grabbing material from. The same crane/scooper that was used to get the "mud" was also used to dump the finished product afterwards. Hence why I think I got a dosage of both materials. This was taken while I was DRIVING so you can see how close my car was parked to this. Note all the dried mud/conrete mix all over the barricade, fence and ground in the picture. I can't be the first victim.
 So with my investigative work and the meeting with the project manager complete, I went to get the a few early estimates. The first was from a highly recommended body shop and after they went over the entire car they came up with a total of ~$4,100 with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately they worried me a bit by putting me off and treating me like I shouldn't have been there. That's a big turnoff for work this big but at least I had an estimate. The second quote was from the place I chose as I've seen their work and they've been a staple of Pasadena for 55 years. The guy marveled at how clean my paint was for 15 years old (minus the damaged areas) and actually told me he would not repaint the entire car. I asked him for an estimate anyway and he came up with roughly the same figure as the first shop but he recommended that I paint the front half of the car, blend the doors and everything backwards and then buff out the rear damage. Before I could protest any further he told me to hang on and watch for a second. He grabbed a buffing wheel and took out a big section of the scratches on the rear right on the spot. He then followed up by saying that he knew those would come out just from looking at and feeling the paint but the front ones were far too deep. At first I was shocked at this but he made some good points about it. He told me that with the two stage Cherry Red Pearl paint they could match and blend it with complete certainty and he'd guarantee in writing that if I didn't like it, they'd paint the entire car. Had it been a three stage paint like our pearl white, he said there was no way he could make such a guarantee. Something about how the two stage allows test sprays and matching to perfection whereas the three stage is more complex in that it's the # of coats that defines the shade and color moreso than the initial mixed color. This make any sense to those of you "in the know"? As of right now, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do. I really want to use this shop but I'm a little worried about not repainting the entire car. Then again, it's a lot less stuff to tamper with and IF they will guarantee it in writing, what do I have to lose? Regardless, I'm getting this job done RIGHT and NOT on my dime, no matter what. I'll be mulling over this for a few days, that's for sure. Thanks for all the support and any advice offered! It really is appreciated guys =)
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Followup to my Cement Truck mishap last night (long) - 
