2.3L ('02-'11) Here's a new one for y'all

[Danno1985]

Last night, I was playing a gig. Finished up, walked outside and the entire block was surrounded by police tape. I guess there was an argument at a teenage Airbnb house party and some dips**ts decided it'd be a great idea to have a Wild West shootout in the middle of the street. I couldn't get to my truck through the police line, so I took an uber home with my guitar and amp. Walked to pick up my truck and the rest of the gear from the venue this morning, and noticed a strange-looking ding on the side of my otherwise-mint truck. "What the hell," I'm thinking, "After all this, someone hit me while parking?" I thought it was weird that there was no paint from the other car and it was all the way down to bare metal. Then a couple who lived on the block came out and said "Is that your Ranger? I think you got shot" and pointed out a large hole in the front bumper and a now-muddy pool of coolant on the ground.

Yuupppp.
So now I have a huge logistical nightmare to deal with that is probably going to cost me an arm and a leg out of pocket because none of the dips*ts involved including the person who ghost-rented the airbnb will be held liable. Nice.

Anyways, here's the damage. I haven't had a ton of time to check this out, but I can't for the life of me find the slug or where the bullet actually punctured the radiator.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Well I was gonna move this to the bullet hole repair forum... but we don't have one!

Crazy man... this shit seems to more common everyday.

At least you were safe inside oblivious to the gun fight. This could have had an entirely different outcome.

 

[RonD]

Both ground Ricochets I would say

Side of the truck off the ground and upward at a low angle
Other one up thru the bumper and up into radiator
This one may have hit AC Condenser as well

Might want to get a police report to have
If the ones doing the shooting are caught..................
You could do small claims court for damages, who knows you could end up on Judge Judy

 

[Danno1985]

Well I was gonna move this to the bullet hole repair forum... but we don't have one!

Crazy man... this shit seems to more common everyday.

At least you were safe inside oblivious to the gun fight. This could have had an entirely different outcome.

Yeah, nerve-wracking to say the least.

You're right, even a nice, clean truck is replaceable at the end of the day, but if this had happened while we were loading, the outcome could've been very different. Bandmate got one through her car's trunk as well.

 

[Danno1985]

Both ground Ricochets I would say

Side of the truck off the ground and upward at a low angle
Other one up thru the bumper and up into radiator
This one may have hit AC Condenser as well

Ok, this is helpful. I bet if I go back there in the morning with this in mind I'll be able to figure out where it actually entered the radiator. I expected the hole to be directly behind the one in the bumper and was a bit baffled. Cops said they had .45s. I'm assuming even with that caliber and the fact that the 2.3 is an aluminum block, penetrating the engine block is unlikely, especially if it's a ricochet. Right?

I haven't driven the truck since last night and am planning on towing it to my mechanic who's going to get a kick out of this for sure.

 

[Shran]

A bullet would have to go through quite a few other things before reaching the engine block...and a 45 caliber pistol round will simply run out of energy after it hits a couple things. I'd be shocked if it damaged much past the AC condenser but who knows. Shouldn't be too hard to follow the path of travel past its point of impact... I don't think that one on the bumper was a ricochet, it's a pretty clean hole. On the cab though - that's weird, my first thought is that it was caused by something else running into the truck and not a bullet (just speaking from first hand knowledge, I have used car parts for target practice and seen a couple hoods shot through by hunters.) A glancing blow wouldn't put that long of a dent in the panel and bullets usually will go through if they're moving fast enough to cause damage. Hard to say though. My money is on someone being careless with some unknown item during the incident.

 

[Curious Hound]

Well I was gonna move this to the bullet hole repair forum... but we don't have one!

Hunting and fishing?

 

[Curious Hound]

Bummer of a deal. But glad you're safe.

 

[Danno1985]

Shouldn't be too hard to follow the path of travel past its point of impact... I don't think that one on the bumper was a ricochet, it's a pretty clean hole. On the cab though - that's weird, my first thought is that it was caused by something else running into the truck and not a bullet (just speaking from first hand knowledge, I have used car parts for target practice and seen a couple hoods shot through by hunters.) A glancing blow wouldn't put that long of a dent in the panel and bullets usually will go through if they're moving fast enough to cause damage. Hard to say though. My money is on someone being careless with some unknown item during the incident.

Yeah, I had the same thought about the hole in the bumper - seems like a pretty straight entry to me, but I couldn't for the life of me find anything punctured directly behind it the first time I looked. Didn't get a pic, but the hole in the radiator was up and to the right of the one in the bumper at about a 30º angle, so on that one I'm inclined to believe the ricochet theory. Truck started up ok and was able to drive onto a flatbed. It's at the shop now. What a shitshow. One of my bandmates has a nice bullet hole in the hatchback of her Prius. Doesn't seem fair that her car's battle scar looks more badass than mine.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

That's bad for sure. But the fact that none of you were hurt is a small positive. Sad that's what the world has come to. Hopefully they can catch them and you can recover some money in claims court against them.

 

[Danno1985]

That's bad for sure. But the fact that none of you were hurt is a small positive. Sad that's what the world has come to. Hopefully they can catch them and you can recover some money in claims court against them.

Yeah, not a great situation and all things considered, we’re pretty lucky to be unharmed. Happened at an Airbnb that’s apparently a known underage “party house”. Multiple complaints from neighbors and it finally came to this. The negligent host apparently doesn’t even have a license to operate a short-term rental.

Anyways, I have a little more peace of mind knowing the truck is on its way to being fixed, although with every mechanic in town backlogged way out, it may be a couple weeks before anyone can even look at it.

 

[sgtsandman]

What kind of insurance coverage do you have? I'm wondering if you can get your insurance to cover the cost if you can provide a police report of the incident. I imagine you would have to have comprehensive coverage for them to be willing to cover the damage.

 

[Danno1985]

What kind of insurance coverage do you have? I'm wondering if you can get your insurance to cover the cost if you can provide a police report of the incident. I imagine you would have to have comprehensive coverage for them to be willing to cover the damage.

I actually do have comprehensive coverage, so I agree, but so far Progressive is doing their usual dance. No rental, “oh, we’ll take care of you - once you meet your deductible.” No police report out yet which doesn’t help. I just have a feeling progressive isn’t going to put any effort into chasing down the liable party unless the truck is totaled, which seems unlikely, but yeah, I plan on pushing back on their bs, and if I end up having to eat the cost of this, I’m done with them, and they can keep their “thanks for being a loyal customer for ten years” crap.

 

[RonD]

This is basically like a Vandalism claim because you were not driving the vehicle when the damaged occurred, and where the offender(s) are not known at the time of the claim
If this happened in your driveway car insurance may ask you to contact home owners insurance first

In any case insurance will cover any amount over the deductible
And then they can pursue any recovery of cost if the people are ever caught, that's not up to you once vehicle is repaired and paid for by insurance

 

[cbxer55]

Hunting and fishing?

Urban Warfare?