I got my first door ding just this afternoon.... She got a dent and paint damage. Well what can you do about it, it's just a car and it could happen always.

 

first time is alwasy the hardest...

after 1st ding, i ALWAYS park furthest away from evyeone...i dun mind walking cos its good exercise.. btw, i can show off my car too cos no other car is blocking it.

 

1 year and no dings!

http://www.doordefender.com/car_and_...rotectors.html

 

So sorry to hear that... I try to keep it in perspective too but also put a little money aside to get those fixed once a year. It's much cheaper if done all at once and they can do a great job removing little dents as long as the dent isn't on a crease or crown line - and Mini's don't have many of those . For me, it's worth the money because the little marks are all that I see when I walk up to or wash the car. It's a sickness...

Some things I've learned in my many years of persuing perfection in parking:

• End spots are prime parking as you can hug the curb and widen the gap to the next car - watch the rim distance in the side mirror though;
• End spots with diaginal curbs are the best because you can really get your car out of the way;
• Unless you snag an end spot, be wary of parking in open areas. If you park in an open area, someone will inevitably park right next to you because many drivers would rather line up to another car than try to park in a spot without a reference point;

Park next the the following vehicles (in order by preference)

• Jeeps with canvas doors;
• Minivans with sliding doors - their front doors are usually fairly short too;
• Small upright four door sedans - swoopy rear pillers usually mean ominiously pointy rear doors;
• Nice pickup trucks - most guys love their trucks and wouldn't want to risk loosing any of their precious door paint on your car;
• If on a quick errand, park next to someone that's just parking, as you'll probably get back to your car first.

I suppose I should add parking next to other Minis too, although I confess I don't drive a Mini yet (delivery coming next week!) All bets are off in food store and Home Depot parking lots though - those are very scary places to park.

 

I have a couple of small dings on the passenger's door, none on the driver's side, and a few dings on the bonnet. It's something that's going to happen, eventually I'll touch them up.

But the first ding is the worst because the car is no longer pristine.

CROC 411

 

+1 for parking next to minivans with sliding doors.
The only downside is if there are several kids getting out, you might find some finger artwork on you vehicle.

 

When I had my Venture Shield clear bra installed I also them put the material on my doors. My doors are now safe from minor dings and scratches. Now, if someone ran into the door, that would be a completely different story...

 

How much did that cost you?

 

Here's my trick - find a spot between two cars, where the one on the left is pulled in straight and the one of the right is backed in. That way, you've got passenger side doors on either side of you. Most people travel alone, so you're less likely to get a ding. I don't seem to have trouble finding this situation at my work parking lot. I find one maybe every other day.

 

The first time we had it done on my wife's R53 on 3/23/06 the doors cost $175 and the total clear bra package was $675 (including the doors). I had the same thing installed on my R56 on 8/7/07 with a total cost of $715. The bill was not itemized on mine so I do not know exactly how much extra the doors cost. The areas covered were bonnet, bumper, mirrrors, lights (including fog lights) and on mine it included rear bumper step and her's included coverage on the upper grille.

The coverage comes up to just below the door handles using a 24" wide strip of the material. It would probably run at least $200 for both doors given the probably increases in pricing.

 

I was lucky...

The dealer dented my driver door before I picked the car up...

They more-or-less fixed it, but you can tell it's there...

 

I do park far away from every one. The funny thing is that people like to park next to you and so they peek inside. The other funny thing is that my Mini is like a shopping cart magnet. When I parked there, there was nothing, when I came out, shopping carts rolling in like a foot away :-( Can't win them all.

 

Thanks for the reply and information

 

I always park far away and look for good spots. I had my mini about a month and someone dented the rear quarter panel. It's small and didn't break the paint. I think it's a easy fix, just need to find someone.

 

I didn't think of it when I originally posted the price I'd paid for the door coverage but I did receive a 10% discount on the 8/7/07 purchase so the current cost would probably be around $225 to $250 for the doors.

 

that is diffcult to do in a mall as ppl leave and come quicky..

 

The wife wanted to go to the mall today so I found an end spot next to a truck. This lot had narrow spaces so I put on the magnetic Door Defenders and walked away.

 

Im gonna clearbra my entire car so I need not stress about a ding or 5 Just park well away from the clumsy masses and get some excercise, grasshoppers

 

I thought about it one point in time. No matter where you park someone will almost always park next to you so while parking away from the masses can help, it isn't a foolproof solution. For that matter, neither is the clear bra material on my doors. I have a slight dent that was pointed out to me yesterday just behind the passenger side door. Oh well, I'll get it pulled out sooner or later.

 

How much does pulling out dents go for, about? Let's say when my MINI gets here in a few weeks (can't wait!), how much would I be running for if I do it once a year?

 

clearbra'ing doors to avoid dings, to me, is just plain excessive. Now, I could understand clearbra'ing the rear bumper cover or entire front nose including the clip, but doors? GMAB this money could be put to better uses, and I just think it'd look real craptacular--it'd have to be a perfect app job.

Then what about detailing and waxing? It'll always look weird, and if it yellows or peels well then there's another issue to address.

BTW my only door ding was not from a parking lot-- it came from driving too close to jersey barriers in the freeway left lane, where all kinds of crap sits waiting to be blown about.

 

I don't know how things are in Portland but around here (Roanoke VA) there is an element of our population (low mentality) that would destroy a car trying to steal these or damage the car just to prove they "win".

 

Actually you can barely tell it is there on both her Jet Black and my Sparkling Silver paint unless you are up close and looking for it. The material is guaranteed not to yellow or have any orange peel (it isn't the 3M product which is prone to that). Detailing and waxing is no different than the other parts of the vehicle. I detail and polish them at least 3 times a year using the Prima product line. I clean the seem just like I do with the other sections. And yes, the installations were perfect, that's why I went to a professional installer.

My wife parks her MINI in a mall parking lot 5 days a week for work which is why we had it put on her doors. Her previous vehicle was always getting little paint chips in it on the doors while she was parked at work. You may feel it is excessive but it has certainly paid off for us. But then everyone will have their own opinion and ideas as to what is worth it for their situation. I'm going to let this rest, obviously we have two different opinions.

Cheers!

 

I'm sure I can find it cheaper but my dealer gave me a quote of $225 to have the small dent pulled out. If I remember correctly I've heard it can be done for $50 - $75 depending on the dent. Needless to say I'm would shop around (I haven't yet) and find a reputable company to perform the repair (sometimes cheaper isn't always better).