Door Dings
 

Hey guys,

Is it just me or is the FRS doors/panels pretty soft. Since i got the car 800 km now, i have had 2 door dings. I dont park badly and i make an effort to park a bit away from heavy traffic areas. Aholes just dont give a crap or what. Annoys me like crazy. So far no paint chips, probably will have to get PDR when these pile up. What experiences have you guys had?

Sounds like bad luck. The panels are no less durable than any other car.

I had a situation where I leaned on the car...not anything too crazy was just squeezed by another person at the grocery store..door popped in and out very easily. Surprised me has never happened before on another car. Maybe my 190lbs is too much? I do believe that the door metal is pretty soft...it has now left a ripple in the door dead centre.

I have to agree as well. 10k kms and have what looks like a divot from a stone or something, definitely doesn't look like a door ding, and not scratch! It's on the upper rear fender near the rear quarter window so you would think at that point it might be sturdier.

Windshield glass also took 2 minor chips on the first week of driving... do these (or all?) windshields have like a clearcoat on them?

I just chalk it up to this being the lowest thing I've ever driven and everything seems to come up off the road and hit me even when I'm religious at keeping away from anything that might fling rocks at me.

Yea... everytime I wash the car I see another stone chip. I mean its gonna happen, but annoying how I need to apply a little bit of touch up so it doesnt rust.

Most newer cars have very thin paint that chips easily. It's a car, it's going to get scratched, dinged, chipped, etc. My advice is to try to enjoy it before there is nothing left of it, or lose your sanity trying to keep it perfectly shiny new.

Google for paintless dent removal there are even some mobile companies that come to you and fix the dings.

From what I heard from out PDR guy, Subarus and in fact most Japanese cars including Lexus tend to have softer metal and as a result bend easier. Its a double edged sword where its easy to dent/ding but also easy to repair to near 95-100% condition. The German cars(he cites BMW) with tougher metal on the other hand don't ding or dent as badly...but sometimes are impossible to do PDR to near perfect condition.

I got a nasty door dent on the passenger door side. One of my colleagues with a Chevrolet Cruze has an even nastier dent than mine. When our PDR guy finishes with all the company cars he'll get to mine.

+1 for the paintless dent removal.... I am finding tons of little dents all from stones all over the car... have to get it done every season

They have to cut weight somewhere. Panel material and thickness, and glass thickness probably adds up more than you think.

Someone threw a glass bottle at my honda accord and it bounced off the windshield didn't leave any marks. I image that would have spider webbed the windshield on our cars.

Thanks for the info man. I got a lot of "told you so" from my American muscle loving fam. Lol they need to relax. Good to know its easier to repair...kind of a pain when you attempt to protect your car and stuff happens. Makes me want to trade my whiteout. Matching the pearl white can be a challenge and costly for a lot of shops.

Does anyone know if something like opti-coat would help protect the paint? Stone chips, bird crap, etc...?

Bird crap etching, yes it will. Stone chips, no it won't.

Bird etchings can be completely removed with Meguair's Ultimate Compound. I have one chip on driver side door. I have had better luck with my Raven FRS then I had with my silver tC. It's a car out in the real world. Murphy's Law.

Does anyone recommend any paintless dent removals in the GTA that has experience with the 86?

and roughly how much will it cost for a small quarter sized one??