twister

My bizarro-bro, are you sure your wife was talking about your car ding? Can you ding that Bentley back, would that make you feel better?

OK, on a serious side. Its life. I felt terrible after finding out that windshield wiper scratch cause it was facing the driver side from the edge of the hood, staring right in my face. So, I got over it and applied touch-up paint. This will happen, you are not alone my friend!!!!

Kaius88

those coupes with the extra long doors....yeah thats the Bentley that did this to me. I dont have proof, but what goes around comes around. After noticing my ding, i went around the parking lot and basically most cars have at least one in that same area. Guess it's inevitable to some extent. Since i'll keep this car for the next 10 years, I'm hopeful that technology will improve to get these dings out.... As I said, I'll accumulate a few before i get it all taken out. The positive side to this is that no paint got chipped, very small and shallow ding, and you cant really see it since the car is dark color (no ding shadow). Ok im done griping....onward with life.

Kaius88

Bizzaro bro, notice how the events are happening. We are in a way mirroring each other's experiences! You get a small thingy on your hood edge, and I get a dingy right after.

From now on, wrap your car in bubble wrap every time you park. I dont want you parking anywhere near other cars! Make sure you park at least 1' away from the curb cus I dont want any scratches on the wheels. Also, dont drive over 30 mph cus i dont want any pebble impacts! Hopefully my car will be safe then....

lexuslover

paintless dent removal (PDR) works wonders. it's not cheap, but totally worth it. but i would say rack up a few more on the same panel before calling to get them all done at once (cheaper price per dent that way). PDR does not involve any drilling - never heard of that!!

i think i used Dent Pro in san diego. they are mobile and do a fantastic job. i had a ding in the metal part of my front fender (not bumper) where there is a body crease in the RX's shape. i didnt' think PDR could fix it, since creases are hard to deal with and get perfect, but it looks like new. every day i would walk out of my garage and see that dent, after a year or so i finally called dent pro and took care of that and another one on our SC. highly recommended

p.s. try meguiars scratch X to get out paint scratches left behind by other cars. if that doesn't work, sometimes i use a very diluted nail polish remover to get out the marks. never fails. and if the paint is chipped, try Auto visuals paint pen for touch up.

jeffofla

I bought my ES on the first day that arrived in the showrooms. I drove maybe 300 miles the first month... once up to the San Joaquin Valley, and theo other times to LAX (I live in Toluca Lake). Anyway, I went to Palm Springs for Memorial Day weekend and while I was there I had parked away from other cars - intentionally. Someone still drove up and hit my bumber as I noticed it the next morning. I was livid. It's not super bad or really noticeable unless you look close. But it is noticeable. Luckily, the paint didn't break so until it does, I'm not going to worry about it. But to say I was crushed was an understatement. The small dents are there.

Kaius88

Right before i traded in the MSM, it has a pretty deep nick on the rear pumper. That was a "1st ding experience" so essentially I suffered two 1st dings within 30 days! Rats! But the bumper ding didnt bug me as much cus i always thought of the bumper as an expendable part, kinda like the tires. Argh.... i'm gonna get used to this new ding eventually.....it may take a while tho.

Nextourer

Why can't they remove the interior door panel instead? Is it hard on some cars?

ckon

You don't mean the two in the middle of the front bumper, do you? They're just license plate mounting guides. I hope this is all you "discovered".

Lyn06

My black ES is parked in our carport. Last month the when the gardener was blowing down the driveway he scratched the rear panel on the driver's side. Now every time I look at my car I see this white scratch on the side. It's about 2 inches long but to me it seems like 2 feet.

Kaius88

Well with my delusional self-hypnosis self-convincing, i am pretty much over my ding now. I figure it can be fixed if I want to, and cant really see it from more than 2 ft away. The 1st ding/scratch hurts the most especially on a brand new car, but i come to realize when i see a nice shiny car driving around it has dings scratches and all sorts of nicks also. The person who notices it the most is the owner. Everyone else just says, "wow thats a cool car!" thats it.

Swobro

This is truly one of life's least enjoyable experiences.

A couple of weeks ago I parked in a big, mildly crowded lot for breakfast. After I finished and returned to my car, I noticed an old, beater/work pick up parked about a foot from my driver's side. Of course, there was a small ding. I went into the restaurant, asked if anyone knew the owner of the truck, and went back outside when nobody owned up. I was reaching into the bed of the pickup for a hammer to do some damage to the truck when a squirrelly guy finally came out. He apologized profusely for his wife's lack of awareness and I let him off with a "hey, I'm happy that you came out to talk with me but in the future please be aware that you or your wife could damage someone's hard-earned property if you park too close like that." He was an OK sport and since the mark is so small I'm not losing sleep.

I wish he hadn't come out....I was hot and could have done some damage with his hammer.

twister

easy fix - touch up paint!

Kaius88

hey bizzaro bro, how well does touchup paint work? I know it works well on edge of a panel, but would it show on a panel? My little ding got some finish scruffs, and i dont quite know how to blend it back in.

twister

Like you said, on the edge of the panel such as my case with windshield wiper scratch, its perfect. Just have to be careful to take all the extra paint off the little brush to apply a very light layer. On a flat surface, I'm not sure. I had to apply touch up on my 98 Altima before I sold it, and you could really see where the paint was applied. In this case, spray paint would be more appropriate. Also, touch up bottle comes with a pen-tip, just like a regular ball pen. I never used it, but thinking it could be for a more subtle application?

Lyn06

This scratch is too deep. Down to the metal. When I took my car to the dealer last week to have Sirius installed, I showed it to them to see if they could buff it out when they washed it. They said it was too deep to buff and that the touch up wouldn't work either. It would be too obvious. Unless I want to take it to a body shop and have them do it, I'll have to live with it.