Is it irrational to be obsessive over scratches and dents on your car?
 

I'm having issues trying to get over scratches/dents on my car that I daily drive and still has relatively low miles (around 5k~). Every day I can't stop thinking about the scratch and obsess over these small things.

Do you think it's irrational to expect that a car can remain perfect? Is there anyone on this forum that have been able to keep their car perfectly pristine and remain this way since day 1?

i take really good care of my car and i'm OCD. i ended up scraping the bottom of the lip once and was pissed. but oh well.

it's not good for your health to care so much over such small things. People don't have clean drinking water in some places. I bet if you were in their position you wish you would have a car with scratches to worry about.

So, yes it sucks, but don't worry about it.

I think it's irrational, I have pretty bad OCD so dings, dents and scratches are annoying to see...especially when you first notice it (thats the worst).

But over time I begin to gradually care less & less. Just noticed another door ding today lol... still debating if I want to get it fixed or not.

The reality of the matter is people suck and over time you'll get scratches and dings from the environment and other people, its a daily.

I used to be like you. While it is nice to wish for your brand new car to remain perfect forever, at the end of the day it is a car that is constantly exposed to the elements. I find solace in the idea that at any moment when money allows and if it really bugs me, I can submit my car for paint correction and have everything shined up to better-than-new.

It is a car. And while a beautiful paint job makes these cars look that much better, drive the piss out of it and don't worry about small imperfections that will happen over time.

How many people who call themselves OCD or claim they have it have a clinical diagnosis?

No, it's not irrational to want your possessions to be in good condition.

Personally my car is to be used and out in the elements, it will never be perfect, I'd like it to look good sure, but it will always be at risk of door dings or bird shit or a falling branch. Someday, like above, when funds allow I'll do my best to clean it up, find a good PDR guy and make it look minty fresh.

But even then, the bigger priority will be shredding tires and putting a smile on my face, sculptures are easier to protect and use less gas for scratching that OCD itch.

0.01%

It's a travesty that a disease has become so misunderstood.

Im. Atelophobia and OCD. I called to my local bodyshop to get a quote for a complete vinyl wrap. If scratch or something , it can be replaced that part in specific

Is it irrational? Probably not, if you care about it you care.

Is it a losing battle? Absolutely. Even you shrink wrap your car and park it in a climate controlled environment, it will eventually have some cosmetic issues just from aging.

i can guarantee that i have/had it.

some examples:

- i would use to collect tv guides and pile them up. once in awhile i would have to flip to a certain page, read a description, close the tv guide, put it back on top, sit back, and repeat that process 5 times.

- i would have to turn taps off and have the handle face a certain direction. if i screwed up, i'd have to leave the tap and redo it again 5 times or until it feels right.

- doing assignments or tests, if i write something and it doesn't feel right, i'd have to erase it and write it again 5 times.

- i fear contamination and germs. too many examples to list here.

everything in my life seemed to be run by numbers and i was seriously going crazy cause it was controlling me. eventually i just had to control it myself. i still have a bit of it but it's not as bad as it was 15 years ago.

Keeping paint perfect is too much work (for me) but I think it's completely appropriate to take steps to address dents and door dings. I kept my last two cars free of door dings through lots of careful parking and some luck. It's worth a few bucks at resale time.

I am not OCD but have some issues when it comes to dings on my car. Thankfully I have none currently but I am always checking. Whenever I get into the car I check the doors for dings. I park in a parking garage for work and my last car had dings all over the doors. People just dont give a shet. I am friends with security in the parking garage and always park in a space that is recorded by a camera so if someone hits my car I am able to view the video and get a license plate number if needed. Someone actually hit my wife's car while trying to park a few years back and just drove off. She was parked in a space where we weren't able to read the license plate of the car that hit her. We learned our lesson after that.

I can guarantee my cat less header gave my car 100hp and ft-lbs over stock because I can feel it.

I used to worry but then I read about how good "patina" looks on older cars.

lol ok. i get it. you're one of those people. that's fine.

Do I really need to explain the difference between OCD and OPD? Again?

Most people that claim they have "OCD" are not even close.

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things repeatedly, perform certain routines repeatedly (called "rituals"), or have certain thoughts repeatedly. People are unable to control either the thoughts or the activities for more than a short period of time. Common activities include hand washing, counting of things, and checking to see if a door is locked. Some may have difficulty throwing things out. These activities occur to such a degree that the person's daily life is negatively affected.[1] Often they take up more than an hour a day.[2] Most adults realize that the behaviors do not make sense.[1] The condition is associated with tics, anxiety disorder, and an increased risk of suicide

In the case of the car condition it would be OCD if you kept repainting it even though there was not a single chip or scratch.

OCPD is this:
Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a general pattern of concern with orderliness, perfectionism, excessive attention to details, mental and interpersonal control, and a need for control over one's environment, at the expense of flexibility, openness to experience, and efficiency. Workaholism and miserliness are also seen often in those with this personality disorder.[2] Rituals are performed to the point of excluding leisure activities and friendships. Persons affected with this disorder may find it hard to relax, always feeling that time is running out for their activities, and that more effort is needed to achieve their goals.

So in the same example you want the car to stay perfect even though it is not an even remotely realistic.

Not the same thing

Now we could go a little further into the autism spectrum where another large group of people that say they have OCD actually fall but we will keep that for Advanced Forum Psychological Condition Diagnosis For Dummies.

becareful. Cole wants a doctors note.

Nope. Still not OCD. We will use you for a case study when we get into the levels/types of autism though.

lol
how does it not make any sense. i pretty much matched that you posted

Pretty much but the wrong pattern. You said you would do it wrong and then have to keep doing it until you fixed it. OCD would just keep going back at random times and for no reason too make sure it was right. I was too lazy to type the symptoms out so just copied Wiki and the descriptions are very general. If you have about 8 weeks I can break down all the different disorders and we can narrow it down. What you described falls directly into the autism realm. You would be amazed at what you need to learn in my line of work.

More people should consider OCD as something that legitimately hinders normal life and requires medication to manage.

Everybodies a little fucked up, kudos to anyone reading this who goes on to get help, I know I need it but it will always be 'tomorrow'.

not do it wrong, but it didn't feel right. it would feel like something bad would happen unless it was done right.

there are a ton of different little things that i had to do, and i could only do it a certain number of times, and if it didn't feel right when it came to that number, i'd have to start over. and if i didn't do it, i would think something bad would happen.

i would seriously losing my mind over this stuff. it would actually control me. and the germs thing too.

Back to the original question, I think it depends on why you bought your car. If you bought it to be a weekend cruiser/show car, then it makes sense to be irate over every physical detail. If you bought it to drive it on crappy back roads or plow through cones with, then who cares?

I have COD and I end up doing the same thing over and over. I start the level and get shot.



I worry about my paint... And curbs. When my wife drives...

Hard to see those scratches and dings at 40+mph.

When younger I would wash and wax so much my neighbor once commented that I was going to rub the paint right off of the car.

Today I wash and wax when I can and park at the far end of the lot or take my wife's 15yo Avalon.

I've gotten PDR done on my car 3x so far this month...Sigh.

I hate scratches, and dents. I can live with them if they are a result of driving, and enjoying the car, like scraping the front lip, I'm low, I expect that. When an idiot door dings it, that angers me.

This.

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2 years of ownership and my passenger side xxr rims are curb rashed to hell, a few light scratches on the front bumper, and my license plate holder is bent half to hell because of crappy drivers who end up tapping my front bumper when pulling out.......so I'll say no. (thank god for the license plate holder though taking the damage)

lol it would if it was patina, these are small dents that look bad on a new car.

It is a car. Just a car. Someday you will get bored of it and throw it away. Years later you will look back at it with nostalgic memories but the fact remains that it is just a pile of steel and plastic that will wear out.
If wear and tear bother you then park the thing in a padded, climate controlled, dehumidified, non uv lit storage unit and enjoy knowing you have a pristine car. My beat to crap highway warrior and I will wave to it as we drive by on the way to our next adventure.

In 1996, I bought a '91 MR2 turbo, from the original (adult) owner, with 8900 hundred miles on the clock. Right...8900. Never seen snow, hadn't seen rain.

In the 7 years I owned it, it lived in the garage, with a custom plush cover. Anytime I went more that a few miles, the cover went. I covered it anytime we stayed overnight, I covered it if I parked on the street/parking lot for more than an hour or so.

It had every option, including leather. When I got out of the car, I pushed the seat full back, reclined the seat back, and raised the tilt wheel, to minimize abrading the seat bolster.

I installed a boost controller and a fuel cut defeat, but I saved every hose, screw, clamp, etc. that was original. I sold it 7 years and 50K later, and it was still near factory new. Not a scratch, not a stone chip.

Thats a bit much. lol

I got a lil scratch near my gas cap a few days after pulling mine off the lot just a few weeks back, i was obsessed at first but im over it, I'll get it fixed and it'll be okay. Sometimes it's just bound to happen, especially if you daily drive the car

It's like virginity, once it's gone, you're fucked

Do sheep count ......... :popcorn:


humfrz

No. I hear they suck at their ABCs as well though.

No, you're supposed to count sheep instead :D


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yes