My first dent

[motormontreal]

Hello everyone,
Well it happened today, or should I say I seen it today, my first dent. It's a heartbreaker to find the first one on a new car. Somebody opened their car door into my door, and not only left me with a dent, but also some of their paint too. I don't know about the rest of you, but I really try to park far away at the lonely end of parking lots whenever I can. Seems most of the time when I come back to my car, there's often a SUV or a pickup truck beside me. lol Oh well such is life I guess. Dealer says they have a guy that can fix it for about $50.00, so I guess it's not that bad. The dealer did offer side mouldings that can be bought for the mirage, however the service manager was honest and told me mouldings wouldn't have done anything to prevent the dent in my case as the damage happened near the top part of the door which happens to stick out further than where the mouldings are placed. I think he's right because my previous car had many small car door dents, but the painted moulding were impeccable!

So to all Mirage and Space Star owners, beware of the parking lot.

[MetroMPG]

Bummer! I hate that.

I have owned both kinds of cars: those I will park out of the way in the hopes of putting off the inevitable as long as possible, and those I just don't worry about. (The second kind really is better.)

I got a new parking lot dent on my nice little Firefly this summer. It's a good sized one. Makes me a little bit sad to see it.

---

But I once heard a story about an older couple who would trade in for a new car every 3 or 4 years, and the very first thing they did when they got home was "THE BRICK CEREMONY":

1) Park car carefully in driveway.

2) Set up step ladder in front of car.

3) Obtain 1 (one) brick.

4) Climb to top of step ladder.

5) Drop brick onto center of hood.

6) Cease worrying about what might happen to the new car for the next 3 or 4 years.

It makes me cringe, but I also see a little bit of beauty in that!

[Charlie]

That sucks! It must churn around furiously in your stomach to know it was some inconsiderate !@#$ who was too absent-minded to pay attention.

I am of the camp that parks as far away as possible so no one parks next to me. At my workplace, everyone tries to get the 'best' spots which are considered the closer ones to the building. My view is radically different. I park as far away as possible where no one parks!

Another thing here in FL, with the sun and heat, the 'best' spots to park are considered those under trees. Not for me! I can rely on my Meguiar's Ultimate Wax (exterior), and Sun Shade (interior) for protection against the Sun..not so much against acorns and sticks, bird droppings, etc that fall from the trees.

Care to take a photo of the dent?

I always thought those side mouldings were next to useless..

-Charlie-

[motormontreal]

I don't think I could do the "BRICK CEREMONY" on my car even if it was off to junk yard! lol but I do understand the idea, nothing worse than worrying about your car when your out. I'm 43 years old and my first car was a 1977 Mercury Cougar. You could sit two people on that hood without any dents, but you'd never get 50 miles to the gallon even downhill.

[motormontreal]

That sucks! It must churn around furiously in your stomach to know it was some inconsiderate !@#$ who was too absent-minded to pay attention.

I am of the camp that parks as far away as possible so no one parks next to me. At my workplace, everyone tries to get the 'best' spots which are considered the closer ones to the building. My view is radically different. I park as far away as possible where no one parks!

Another thing here in FL, with the sun and heat, the 'best' spots to park are considered those under trees. Not for me! I can rely on my Meguiar's Ultimate Wax (exterior), and Sun Shade (interior) for protection against the Sun..not so much against acorns and sticks, bird droppings, etc that fall from the trees.

Care to take a photo of the dent?

I always thought those side mouldings were next to useless..

-Charlie-

Thanks Charlie,
I don't think the dent will show up well in the picture. My dealer tried today to e-mail a picture of it to their guy who removes dings and nicks. Doesn't show up well on my white car, but I will be taking pictures of my car this week-end. It started snowing here in Montreal when I bought it, and since it's white, it's more often than not dirty.

[ThreePot]

Sorry to hear it.
After I discovered my first dent, my wife said "well, at least you got that out of the way"...

I can think of another kind of brick ceremony...

[IchabodCrane]

Whenever I'm forced to park in an overly crowded lot I take pics of both sides of my car and the side of the neighboring vehicle on both sides including license plates before I leave.
Armed with these pics I at least carry the illusion of being able to do something about dents and dings if they occur.

[m4v3r1ck]

Bummer! I hate that.

I have owned both kinds of cars: those I will park out of the way in the hopes of putting off the inevitable as long as possible, and those I just don't worry about. (The second kind really is better.)

I got a new parking lot dent on my old Firefly this summer. It's a good sized one. Makes me a little bit sad to see it.

---

But I once heard a story about an older couple who would trade in for a new car every 3 or 4 years, and the very first thing they did when they got home was "THE BRICK CEREMONY":

1) Park car carefully in driveway.

2) Set up step ladder in front of car.

3) Obtain 1 (one) brick.

4) Climb to top of step ladder.

5) Drop brick onto center of hood.

6) Cease worrying about what might happen to the new car for the next 3 or 4 years.

It makes me cringe, but I also see a little bit of beauty in that!

Ceremony's so stupid, it's like Scarlett Johansson is waiting for u at the bed bare naked to have sex with you and you deliberately cut your *thing* off before you jump on her .....

[MetroMPG]

motormontreal ... I would try the dent removal. The price sounds really reasonable -- probably the "paintless" method where they "massage" the dent out using various tools and heat guns.

I've even tried that myself on my own cars (working a small dent out from the inside) and sometimes it works really well. It all depends on the dent.

Please keep us informed!

[R01k]

Whenever I'm forced to park in an overly crowded lot I take pics of both sides of my car and the side of the neighboring vehicle on both sides including license plates before I leave.
Armed with these pics I at least carry the illusion of being able to do something about dents and dings if they occur.

I do the same. Call me paranoiac, but I this technique has saved me before.