[CHGOZoomin1]

Anyone else think the sheet metal on the Mazda 3 is kind of thin? Only asking because I just noticed this weekend that I already have 2 door dings on my car (darn it!) :x . One is kind of minor and doesn't look too bad, but the 2nd one is quite deep and right near the edge of the door, which would be hard to fix.

The last 2 cars I had never had a single door ding in them, a VW Passat which I had for 4 years and an Infiniti G35 which I had for 2 years. I know we're talking different classes of cars here, but I just wondered if maybe the sheetmetal on this car was thinner which would result in it getting dents/dings easier? I've heard a lot of talk about Honda's having the same problem.

On a separate note, does anyone know of or have experience with any of those dent removal places in Chicago? If so, I'd like some recommendations and cost ideas for getting my 6 week old baby fixed. Thanks!

 

[holeydonut]

man, i hate finding door dings... As my sig attests, I'm pretty happy (so far)

With more expensive cars - people actually take a bit more care when they're parked next to them. For some reason, "rich and expensive" also equates to "pain in the butt owner reaction if i get any where near their precious car."

In my opinion - most door dings come from the apathy of other motorists instead of the quality of the door.

 

[Vormund]

1) don't park next to an old piece of junk.

2) don't park next to a 4WD/SUV/People mover

3) park next to other nice expensive new cars.

 

[sweetdeath]

I do exactly as Vormund and also if i go to a commercial center or something like that I always park my car far from the entrance and I park the last one on the line at the limit as I can. So there is only one car across me and I give more space to open his door... I do that since 11 years of driving and I never got a ding on any of my doors.

 

[CHGOZoomin1]

I do all of those things, which is why my last 2 cars didn't have a single ding in them in the last 6 years. I'm just totally amazed that in owning this car for 6 weeks, that I already have 2 dings.

And, just because you park next to another nice car, doesn't mean they won't ding you. Rich people can be just as inconsiderate, and maybe more so because they can afford to be. My brother was just telling me how he parked his brand new F250 truck next to another brand new F250 truck in a parking lot thinking that the person who was driving it would be super careful with their new toy. He came back out of the store and found a big ole black mark (the other truck was black) and a door ding in his car after only a few minutes.

I guess door dings are a fact of life and we can't avoid them forever!

Again, anyone have any experience in Chicago with any of the dent removal places that they would recommend. I do want to get these dents fixed or made as invisible as possible. Thanks!