After 13 months of driving my ES350, and parking in all types of public places....like mall parking areas, restaurant valet parkers......you name it, and not one single ding. Maybe I'm just lucky, but the main reason I never got body side moldings is that I hate them. My '03 ES had them, and the few dings were above or below the strips, so I definitely didn't want them. The money angle was not a factor! There's no guarantee you won't get dings with these strips installed!

 

That's a really good point. Every vehicle I've had - molding or not - has had dings. Also, the $75/ding figure is very misleading. If you bring a PDR guy out to only do one ding, that's probably accurate, but even here in the bay area the economy of scale applies. The most I've ever paid is $200, and that included a generous tip. At that, it was to repair seven dings in notoriously thin Acura sheetmetal.

If we do this, the protection would be secondary to the aesthetic effect of breaking up those slab-like doors. I'm just not sure that effect woud be a positive one.

FYI - I found an even cheaper set on eBay - $120 w/ free shipping, but I haven't confirmed they're true OEM parts. Sewell and one other Lexus dealer offer them for right around $130 plus shipping. No matter what, the expense isn't extravagant.

 

Yep, that's what I do.

 

purchased the BSM'S and they definetly enhance the look of the car, also purchased a 48pc woodgrain kit from wooddash experts and it looks awesome

 

^ T T I U W P!

 

One minor plus w/ not getting BSMs--makes it a bit easier to wax the door panels...otherwise you have to deal w/ the risk of getting wax residue in the small gap between the BSM and the sheet metal...thus requiring a bit more cleanup time to get rid of. Anyone who's into serious detailing knows exactly what I refer to...