Its clear he didn't even know who Vincent was (looks like its the first time they've met), and so he wouldn't know which was Vincent's car.
sharedon't think there was ever an implication that Butch keyed Vincent's car?
shareActually Tarantino more or less confirmed that Butch was the culprit. After their confrontation at the bar, we don’t know how Butch found out, but the timeline fits and he had motive. For sake of argument, after his meeting with Wallace, he might have seen Vincent getting into his car and returned on another day to key it in the bar parking lot. That’s just one possibility.
https://altdriver.com/general/pulp-fiction-vincent-vega-quentin-tarantino-keyed-car-mystery/
Yeah I read about that from Tarantino as well. I always wondered who did that to Vincent's car and what he would do to that person if he ever found out.
shareWell I suppose it doesn't really matter since he ends up getting back at him by blowing him away with a machine gun.
shareI think he keyed it just fine, punchy!
shareI love the idea, but I don't think Butch would which car belonged to Vincent.
shareButch COULDN'T have keyed Vincent's car because Vincent didn't drive there. They took a cab there because the car they had driven to the job and been crushed along with Marvin's body.
shareHe could have taken the cab back home first and picked up his car there.
shareThat was Jules’ car that had the brains in it, so it’s quite feasible that Vincent’s car was parked at the bar when Butch left mad.
shareMarcellus might have keyed it just to get his boy all mean mode.
shareI always assumed it was Butch who did it.
It looks like Butch is about to escalate the confrontation in the bar, but Marcellus calls Vince away, leaving Butch fuming; so unable to do anything to Vince, he opts for the next ‘best’ thing.
As for how Butch knew which car was Vince’s - there didn’t seem to be anyone else at the bar, so presumably Butch just keyed the car that hadn’t been outside when he arrived earlier, deducing that must be Vince’s.
Also, a classic car like Vince's stands out, and it's probably common knowledge to everyone that it belongs to him. And, when Butch got there, there were probably just two cars there-- the bartender's and Marsellus', so the new car would have to be Vince's.
shareI don’t think Butch had ever seen Vince before that encounter.
I think Butch knew which car it was just because the bartender’s car would presumably already have been there when Butch arrived, but Vince’s wouldn’t, so Butch could tell which was Vince’s.
That's what I wrote. By new car I meant new in the parking lot since Butch got there, not that it was a new car. It was a classic car. But it's also unclear whether or not the two have met. Vince clearly recognizes Butch as a boxer, and it's very possible that this isn't his first time meeting with Marsellus about the fight.
shareAgreed.
I don’t think they’d met before, as Butch doesn’t seem to recognise Vince. Vince recognised Butch presumably because Butch is a well-known boxer.
As for why Vince disliked Butch, I’ve asked about that in another thread.
This is exactly what I was thinking too.
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Funny because I still don't buy it
The way Tarantino says it on Opie & Anthony, it sounded to me like it only just occurred to him or else wasn't a fully developed idea
The reason I don't buy it is Vincent doesn't seem to know who did it when he's at Lance's house
But why wouldn't he know, if he just saw his car in the lot, then insulted Butch, then saw the scratches ... who else could've done it
I think Vince doesn’t tell Lance specifically who (he suspects) did it because that’s not really important to Vince’s story.
shareDo you think Butch did it in the bar lot? That wouldn't be very smart, as it would, as you said, be obvious who did it. More likely he either waited and followed Vince and did it, or happened upon his car on other occasion.
The clear implication in the film is that Butch did it. When and how is up to the viewer, but even upon my first viewing I wondered if it wasn't the boxer who keyed the car.
I think he did it outside the bar when he left, as he was angry. And he probably wanted Vince to know it was him as Vince had insulted him. He presumably didn’t expect to see Vince ever again to confront him personally, so went ahead and keyed the car instead.
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