Ding!

[Jonnie]

2 weeks of ownership, not even the first payment has been made and I have a ding. And, yes, I have been really carefull where I park. Its on the leading edge of the hood, the size of penny or nickel. Paint's not damaged, but a little depression. It was not there before. Now I want a new umarred hood.

This will drive me crazy.

Jonathan

[RalphDog]

The same thing happened to me after about a week or two of ownership. I took it to a paintless dent repair place and $50 later you couldn't tell the dent was ever there. I would recommend you try one of those places, I've used them for three different cars and never been disappointed.

[Jonnie]

Its over the hood re-enforcement where the latch is, so I don't know how they would get to it from behind.

But maybe they have a better way, I'll check it out. Thanks!

[johnnyapollo]

I got a bad door ding shortly after buying mine as well. To make it worse, there was black paint embedded in the finish... looked really bad.

I took a claybar to it and was able to remove the paint (It wouldn't simply scrub out). Afterwards, the ding was and still is hardly noticable.

Because of the cladding, I thought the doors of other vehicles would just bounce off the plastic. Whatever dinged me must have been riding high for the door edge to get past it. That's what I get for being overconfident!


-- John

[Jonnie]

:nog:

[Hotsauce]

my VX brand new had a ding right in front of drivers face, on hood. I was over the hood reinforcement bar. The dent roller guy made a hole in the other side of the reinforcement and pushed it out.

John C.

[RalphDog]

"RalphDog, where was your ding?"

I actually had three small dings along the driver's side of my hood (looked like hail dings). It doesn't sound like mine were as difficult to get to as your's is, but those dent places have a lot of tools designed for hard to reach places.

It's worth a try. They will probably be able to look right at it and tell you if they can do it or not within a minute or two.

Just make sure it's a reputable repair place, and not one of those guys that work out of their cars (had a very bad experience)

Good luck! If all else fails you can buy a bra for just the hood section.

[Y33TREKker]

Paintless dent repair is the way to go.

Jonnie: The repairs are usually made by using special tools that apply leverage to the depression from the back of the metal, and you'd be surprised at the areas that can be worked on. It might mean having to drill a small access hole in the reinforcement metal on the underside of the hood, but the hole itself is usually relatively small (~1/4"). I had a few door dings repaired on my previous truck, and they were accessed from a hole of that size which was drilled into the door jam area of the door. The dings themselves were about a foot away from the door jam (near the center of the door skin), but the guy got to them no problem.

A good DPR guy will then coat the edges of the hole with paint or rust-proofing sealer, and finish the job with a rubber grommet that will look like a factory seal.

I have been known to be very anal about the appearance of my vehicles, and even I was very happy with the results on my truck. I think you would be too. Money well spent in my opinion.

[Jonnie]

Thanks everyone for the input, I'll check it out. I feel much better now.

Jonathan

[Heraclid]

We have a couple of new auto repair places here in town called Carsmetics. I think it is a national chain. I'm thinking of letting them have a go at my passenger-side dent, right underneath the handle and extending into the first ridge on the door. Anyone dealt with them before?

[Jonnie]

They have had a few in tampa for awhile, but I have not heard any feedback. They advertise a lot.

Jonathan