So...I get up this morning and walked to my parking spot to find a door ding on the right back panel!!!! I have a corner spot and park as close to the corner as possible, but my neighbor who parks next to me has kids and an SUV and I guess they opened up the back door as hard and as wide as they possibly could. This gets me in such a bad mood b/c the car is not even a week old!!!

Sorry about the rant, but do you guys know how I could get this fixed and possibly how much it would cost????

I know I will look at it as soon as I walk towards the car every time now.

 

ACK! Sorry about your ding. No matter how careful YOU are, seems not everyone thinks like we do. Hope you find some inexpensive solution to fixing it.

 

Don't know if you have these guys where you are but, Dent Wizard a international company, can work wonders. They fixed a hood on my Acura when a 2x4 slammed into it, in a great southwest dust storm. Cost $100 and they do very good work.
Here is a link:

http://www.dentwiz.com/

 

#1 Dent Wizard..If it's not scratched, they can get out without painting!

 

I'm sorry about the first ding. Remember when you had other new cars in your past, and after the first ding it became a less painful and traumatic experience when others happened? Well, that never happens with a MINI. It never hurts any less to see a bruise on your baby.

+1 on Dent Wizard. If you don't have one in your area, look around for a paintless dent removal professional. I wouldn't just pick any Schmoe out of the phone book (do people still use phone books?) though. Ask for a referral from friends, car club members, others who've used their services, etc.

Good luck, hun - and wishes for a speedy recovery to your MINI

 

Check this out:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/501379...ith_airduster/

 

Like everyone out there I feel your pain. I picked up my MINI from the dealer on a rainy day and did not notice the small dimple in my right front quarter panel until the car was dry the next day.

The dealer brought in a guy that pulls out the dent using some patented magic process that took 15 minutes...AMAZING! They paid for the first ding. The cost would have been about $75. Good luck!

 

Thanks guys for the support!!! I'm doing better now that I got over the outrage

I will definitely take it to Dent Wizard and see what they say. It's a minor dent, but it has a very small paint chip. I realize dents are inevitable, but the worst is to get them at home.

I will try the technique shown in the youtube video on a different car...maybe on a friend's if they agree, but I don't want to test anything on the MINI just in case.

I must say NAM is great...I love this little corner of the internet.

 

Car dealers have people they use to remove dents and fix paint blemishes. You may just want to ask your MA. When I did this with my last car the cost to me was much less than i was finding out there on my own.

 

I wonder where you get a can of CO2 as in the film clip? Any ideas?

 

Sorry to hear about this.

Same thing happened to me. Car was 2-3 days old. First parking space I parked in at a shopping mall lot. Small old truck next to me. Just did quick shopping at grocery store then came out and truck was gone and my only ding/scrape on the passenger door in 4.5 years was made. More of a paint scrape than ding.

Sometimes I park backing in if I can get my wheel arch plastic aligned just right to act as door edge protectors or maybe I can get my mirror to block doors from hitting. Our MINIs are so small you can choose to adjust your parking position a little to set it in the space for best advantage.

Getting a garage is the best. However some errant bikes do fall over in the garage and scrape MINI fenders or doors now and then.

Bottom line is use Dent Doctor or similar, it can look great. Cover your car in bubblewrap or hire a guard dog. :impatient

 

Tried it but the dog couldn't keep up with the mini on the highway (i'm kidding)

 

Look on the internet for " Magnetic door protectors" they are cheap, If your in a parking lot like Home Depot, walmart , just slap them on and your protected. Peel them off and you are away.

 

That is just an "air duster" can - used for cleaning your keyboard or other small hard to reach places. Just turn it upside down and you're good to go!!

 

Staples, CompUSA, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Fry's. It is what people use to clean computer parts and keyboards. If you don't hold the can upside down it blows air.

 

Did you talk to the neighbors and let them know about the damage they caused?

If nothing else, maybe they will volunteer to pay for it. At the very least, maybe the kids will get yelled at!

I always park now at points in public lots at the end of a row or someplace where no one will park on one side of me, and then the I park as far from the danger side of the space as possible. So far so good.

Of course, this weekend my car sat at the dealership, so I know it's safe there.

 

Oh, this is totally rant-worthy!!! Consider this your chance to locate the best PDR shop you can find...a worthy quest. You'll probably have a mishap now and again over the years and finding a good shop is invaluable. Ask around among other MINI owners/car buffs in your area. I had some minor hail damage in '03 (car only a few months old) and found a great local shop. I've had to go back "a few times" since then.

 

Update...

Just talked to the neighbors as I just got home. They said it was one of the kids, apologized and offered to pay for it. I'll just bring them the bill whenever I get it fixed. It's really not about them paying though, I just wanted to let them know so they'd be careful in the future.

Anyway, happy ending to the day somehow...

I will take the car to Dent Wizard this week and get it taken care of...

Thanks everyone!

 

good news, man. sorry 'bout the ding, but it's good that your neighbors stepped up!

 

So I was in the office supply store today and I looked at a can of this stuff. It was not powered by CO2 like the video suggested - it uses an ozone "safe" propellant, but not CO2. I wonder if it would get cold enough to work, or must it be CO2?

 

Damn neighbors are at least honest neighbors. I give them credit for fessing up. Most people today, I'm sorry to say, would just deny they caused it. And even though you would be 99 percent certain they dinged your MINI, it would have been impossible to prove it (until we get DNA testing on cars).

So, kudos to them and good luck to you and your Paintless Dent Repair.

 

Thanks for the update.

Dent wizard: Do your magic.

I spoke to my local Dent Doctor and he said that results vary with the ability of the technician. Kinda like a barista for coffee.

The basics are easy enough to learn but the art of dent repair is well, an art. Takes quite a bit of patience and knowhow to get it just right plus a very good eye and plenty of light at the right angle to see how to proceed.

Take some before and after pictures.

 

They are honest neighbors; I agree. Then again, I'm always super careful with their car so I wouldn't expect less from them when it comes down to mine. All in all, we've had a good relationship in the 3 years I've lived in my condo so I'm happy to see things will stay the same way. I think it works out best for both sides.

I'm very happy it's been resolved. I just gotta take care of the fix now...not a big deal though

P.S. - I will take some before and after pics and post once it's done.

 

Very true.

I just attended Auto Physical Damages training at our corporate office. The class included a demonstration on Paintless Dent Repair. It really is an art. There are a limited number of specialists throughout the country. The truly good ones have been doing it for ten years or so (PDR was in its infancy in the mid 90s).

Be encouraged though. I had it done on my own car several years ago. You would never have known my car was in a hail storm. And the demo I witnessed at the training class was quite impressive. Those who are well trained and experienced are truly amazing at what they can do.

 

BTW
Similar to the CO2 technique, there's a video on how to remove a dent using dry ice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rIKo6241vg

It scares me, though. I could see how you might crack the paint.