Citylights

If there is one option I wish that Lexus offered on the ES 350, it would be dent resistant doors. I would gladly pay an extra $500 (maybe more for this option). If this were offered on a special package like the UL, I would gladly spend the extra money to have it. For me, it would be much more of an enticement to get the UL package more so than the M.L. sound system or panoramic sunroof.

Is there a reason why the company can’t offer this feature?

Any other thoughts on this?

NoiseFree

Good question.

I'm in the market for a 350 and I noticed right away that typical side protector strips were missing from the vehicle.
So either dent resistant doors (do they really exist?) or protector strips would be welcome.

MD350

My dealer offered a 3 year dent repair warranty. Unlimited ding repairs for $300. Good to have, especially if you work in the city and park in tight places.

wanderer99

Does anyone here even have a dent on their car? I know amf was hit by an SUV in a parking lot, but has anyone actually had a dent in the door or sides of their vehicle? I've had one slight paint impression left on my rear door, but it came straight off and left no dent.

psp

I don't even want to respond to this out of fear it might happen. I am parking far away from other cars in places where I sope nobody will park next to me. I also try to park next to nice cars where the person might actually be concerned with their cars appearance too.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Yes, but the doors are usually colored plastic panels (with structural integrity underneath), not painted metal doors (which in itself is stucturally sound sans dents and scrapes).

I would rather get such plastic panels before putting on body moulding strips across a sleek car such as the ES350...

wanderer99

Whenever I park its simple - park as far away to everyone else as possible! At malls I'll park on the edge of the parking lot facing the outside edge, so no one can hit the front. I'll try to park on the edge of a block of parking slots as well, so that is one more place I can't get hit. I figure that if I'm away from other cars - and passing through traffic - then I've reduced my chances of being hit by 90+%. By not being able to hit my front\side of vehicle because of my parking choices I've increased my chances even further of not being hit.

If it comes down to a choice of parking in a busy lot in a space I don't want to park in, I'm just not going to park my car. I'll look for somewhere else.

My last vehicle we always did the same, and it was fine. The one time we parked it "in the wild" middle section of a parking lot. We came back later and I noticed the front end seemed out. No visible damage, but someone hit the side of the front bumper with such force that it knocked the bumper over, the fenders back and the hood out of alignment. Man, that sucked.

Kaius88

After only 3 weeks of ownership, a Bentley put a ding in my rear passenger door. It was the day before my birthday, so i felt kinda bad. I had the dealer remove it for free because they scratched my trunk lid while installing my plates. Now i park on the right-side end of parking spaces to reduce my chances of getting dinged (like wanderer99). It's such a pain looking for the right parking space. Once this year is over, I'm going to start parking in the wild.

wanderer99

No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never park in the wild! LOL.

Nextourer

I do! .

One on the roof (no idea from what.. maybe a nut or an acorn. No hail yet), one of the lower rear door (must've been a stone kicked up), one or two on the front bumper.

toneman

In the case of the ES 350, it's not so much that they are missing...but rather that they're available as an option.

toneman

Funny you should ask...it hadn't even been one month since I bought my ES 350 when I discovered a door ding. Unlike the majority of door ding incidents reported by countless others, I knew who caused this particular ding, and how--my young daughter swung open the door of my SUV a bit forcefully (unintentional, of course), and it hit my ES 350 which was parked right next to the SUV (both vehicles were parked in my garage).

I was concerned that this particular door ding might be near-difficult to remove because it was almost right next to the side edge of the door; lucky for me, there was still enough space behind the panel for the door ding repair guy to stick his tool in there to massage the dent out. $60 for the job, because I had him repair a ding on my SUV at the same time...so he gave me a discount (I paid $120 total for both repairs).

toneman

What inheritance? I dipped into it to buy my ES in the first place!!!

Just kidding about that, of course!

BobBass

Want ding-free doors? Get a Saturn.