# pay for door ding?



## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Less than two months old, and I got my first door ding. I usually park next to cars but leave enough space on either side (ie park right in the middle), and it's worked so far. Today I happened to park in the middle of a space that had empty spaces on both sides because the spots were so tight. I come out later to find a PT Cruiser parked next to me. Somehow, before I even looked, I _knew_ there would be a ding. Sure enough, the mini-hearse was parked very close to my passenger side and I was the proud new owner of a roughly 1/2" ding. Small, but it is still noticeable, however. So, I have a few questions.

1) If you know that it was a certain car that did it to you, how do you go about making them pay? Do you wait for the owner to come out? Do you take the license plate down and leave a note? Do you call the cops to come document it, as in an accident? [This question is more of a hypothetical, because I don't know for sure that it was the PT Cruiser's fault. I tried to guess how the door would have swung out, and it actually seemed like it probably wasn't the person's fault. I also figured that since the ding was about a foot above the rubber (?) strip on my door that it was probably from an SUV or other elevated vehicle. Long story short, I accepted that dinging was inevitable and left.]

2) Should I wait for more dings to get this taken care of, or should I fix it now? Do I need a bunch before I can file an insurance claim? Is it ever worth filing with insurance since you'd need to pay deductibles and the resultant increase in monthly premiums?

3) If I should get it taken care of, any suggestions for Baltimore/NoVA area? (I assume the DIY kits like Dent King aren't going to work with such a small ding.)

TIA. 

PS Taking a little trip to NYC this weekend. Any recs on avoiding dents/paint chips/etc on the way up and while in the city? I already know the basics of parking in garages, driving with enough space between me and the car in front, bra (no time to buy one)... Any particular insightful tips out there?


----------



## pcmike (Jan 4, 2003)

I guess it comes with being a MINI owner but I say just drive the car like you mean it. Accept that dents are going to occur as are paint chips. I'll leave you with some parting words from the MINI promotional material if I happen to find it (It's something that must be scanned so await my edit).


----------



## BlackChrome (Nov 16, 2003)

swchang said:


> 2) Should I wait for more dings to get this taken care of, or should I fix it now? Do I need a bunch before I can file an insurance claim? Is it ever worth filing with insurance since you'd need to pay deductibles and the resultant increase in monthly premiums?


File a insurance claim for door dings? Please tell me you were not serious!

Don't get me wrong, I love my cars a lot. I have so many door dings on my Honda Accord, I don't even care anymore. On my e46, I have 2 or 3 and I don't plan to have them fixed because I know once I have that done, I'll get more! 

If you do really care about the ding, then just have it fixed and be happy.


----------



## pcmike (Jan 4, 2003)

Well I can't find the little index card but it said something to the effect of "A Dirty MINI says alot about its owner, it says you've been placed... that you've travelled. Accept this and continue motoring." It was something like that, just a bit wittier. I say leave it, you'll get over it.

Right after I got my MINI I put a good size DENT right in the back rim with my garden hose... giving my MINI a car wash no less (should have listened to the promootional material, eh?). I was pissed, still am when I see it, but oh well... life goes on.


----------



## emPoWaH (Dec 26, 2002)

pcmike said:


> Well I can't find the little index card but it said something to the effect of "A Dirty MINI says alot about its owner, it says you've been placed... that you've travelled. Accept this and continue motoring." It was something like that, just a bit wittier. I say leave it, you'll get over it.
> 
> Right after I got my MINI I put a good size DENT right in the back rim with my garden hose... giving my MINI a car wash no less (should have listened to the promootional material, eh?). I was pissed, still am when I see it, but oh well... life goes on.


I think it said something about dents being a battle scar. Strangely enough, for our loved 528i, I don't especially cringe over the dents (because of the reasons above). For our 7,000 mile Honda Odyssey though, I do, because there goes the resale value.


----------



## LordGop (Feb 10, 2003)

*BMW Dealer coverage type of deal*

During last year I was in for regular service and I forget how it all came up but I was offer by a person in the financial department for this "Touch of Class" thingy for the car (see below). I can't recall the price at the moment but I have the paperwork it was around 500-800 maybe a grand I'll have to look. I can come in with paint damage, dents, dings, scrapes, windshield cracks/chips...etc and they will fix anything wrong for a $100 deductible....so I could have 5 dents or one and it is still $100. For like I think about $300ish extra they treated the paint and the leather to protect the paint from water spots, sap...etc and to keep the leather looking great. I think it was a great deal for the money...the car is not my daily and rarely comes out but I love knowing it's covered. They said most people wait for like a year and come in once a year or twice and pay the $100 to get back to normal&#8230; :thumbup:


----------



## pcmike (Jan 4, 2003)

Is this for the duration of ownership? Is it transferable? Scan the brochure if you've got it.. I'm semi-interested!


----------



## FenPhen (Jan 13, 2004)

LordGop said:


> I was offer by a person in the financial department for this "Touch of Class" thingy for the car (see below)... They said most people wait for like a year and come in once a year or twice and pay the $100 to get back to normal&#8230; :thumbup:


Man, I think with all that paint mottling and those unsharp edges, you can stop holding out and take it in already. :rofl:


----------



## LordGop (Feb 10, 2003)

FenPhen said:


> Man, I think with all that paint mottling and those unsharp edges, you can stop holding out and take it in already. :rofl:


Tell me about it me=Photoshop noob so hehe that might just give me the will to try lol

EDIT: Now look what you made me do :rofl: yea the only reason for th effects is the cut off front  , but hey I did take that pic


----------



## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Personally, I would wait until you get a couple, then pay the paintless dent guy to fix it.

Our Roadster has a better deal, go to HomeComing, get free paintless dent repair and paint touch up.

SOMETIMES BMW does things right.


----------



## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

Some f-ing moron put a huge ding, or should I say dent (1" x 1.75") just above the wheel well crease on my driver's front fender. I can only imagine it was a truck or SUV due to the height. I noticed it this past weekend when I washed my car. Unfortunately, that's life. I have to live with it. I talked with my SA about getting the paintless dent removal done, and because of the location just above the crease, he doesn't think it can be done perfectly. And I may not be able to leave it due to the size and the lease turn-in guidelines.

Even with this dent, I doubt I would file an insurance claim. Small dings get lived with. Big dents must be dealt with... whether that means fixing it or ignoring it.


----------



## ///MDex (Dec 11, 2003)

Sorry to hear about your ding. Anyone remember that Jetta commercial from a while back, where to guy parks way the hell out in the parking lot in the middle of nowhere? That's me. My friends, all give me grief because I park so far out all the time. I laugh too, but dents in sheet metal bug me. Weird, I know. 

I don't understand see how a ding should be considered a 'battle scar'; there is no honor in some schmuck denting your door, but whatever  The dent wizard that I've used a couple times for a previous E46 did wonders. I'd go ahead and get it fixed since I rarely get dings [finding wood to knock on], but that's just me.


----------



## pcmike (Jan 4, 2003)

///MDex said:


> Sorry to hear about your ding. Anyone remember that Jetta commercial from a while back, where to guy parks way the hell out in the parking lot in the middle of nowhere? That's me. My friends, all give me grief because I park so far out all the time. I laugh too, but dents in sheet metal bug me. Weird, I know.
> 
> I don't understand see how a ding should be considered a 'battle scar'; there is no honor in some schmuck denting your door, but whatever  The dent wizard that I've used a couple times for a previous E46 did wonders. I'd go ahead and get it fixed since I rarely get dings [finding wood to knock on], but that's just me.


 :bustingup They're not really battle scars, but hey.. if it makes the pain that much easier to deal with I'll call them gifts from God. :angel2:


----------



## VANF (Oct 2, 2003)

I am also a nut about dings on my BMW's or anyother car I own. I hate them.

First, do not file an insurance claim. You will pay for it many times over in insurance premium increases in future years. A friend of mine actually got cancelled in Texas as a result ot too many small claims like this.

Paintless dent removal is the best option. It depends on the amount of damage and how easily the technition can access it with all the special tools they use. Some guys can reach a ding that others cannot. And rememeber, paintless dent repair is an art. Some provide great service, so don't. This is not a place to go with the cheapest paintless dent repair. Get references and a guarantee that the work will meet your expectations.

If it cannot be repaired by the paintless dent removal process, then, obviously, it will require a bodyshop. Depending on the color, be prepared to pay a lot, it probably will also require blending the paint into the adjacent panels and reclear coating several adjacent panels.

Bottomline, if you get it fixed, get it fixed right or it will hurt the value of your car more than the ding itself.

Prevention is best by parking far away from the congested parking areas. I could have a "hiking merit badge" if I was a boy scout because I park so far away. Don't ever take up two spaces, as it is very rude and invites vandalism. I own a third car beater, just to take where I don't want to park my BMW.

No matter how careful you are, it can happen. Budget so much annually for ding repair if they bother you like they do me. Then if you don't spend it on ding repair, spend half of it foolishly and the other half on some good scotch whiskey.

As far as getting someone to pay, it is as close to impossible as you can get. The legal cost to force them to pay would be more than the damage. And the police won't get involved unless you assualt them, and then you would be the one to go to jail.


----------



## e46shift (Oct 12, 2002)

if you are paying it yourself obviously you can wait since they repair the dings by the panel. something like 70bucks per panel up to 3 dings. 

i heard you can give the license plate of the other guy to your insurance and they can go after the money but im not entirely sure. probably have to check with your insurance.


----------



## gerg (Dec 28, 2003)

I look for slots that says "BMW Only". Normal people can't see the writing but I can. They are usally wider/longer/on the ends of rows, single slots etc. I have been known to reject eating at resturants for not seeing a space with my special invitation.


----------



## FenPhen (Jan 13, 2004)

LordGop said:


> Tell me about it me=Photoshop noob so hehe that might just give me the will to try lol
> 
> EDIT: Now look what you made me do :rofl: yea the only reason for th effects is the cut off front  , but hey I did take that pic


Aww, I was just kidding, but the original looks great.


----------



## rruiter (Feb 10, 2004)

See if you can find a paintless dentremover place. I found a great place in Phoenix (dentbusters) who I used years ago for another car. They removed two or 3 small to medium dents and did a PERFECT job. Only one of the three dents I could tell where it had been because the paint wasn't perfect anymore, but the other two spots were completely gone. I was so impressed. And it only cost me around 80 bucks.
no insurance claimed.



swchang said:


> Less than two months old, and I got my first door ding. I usually park next to cars but leave enough space on either side (ie park right in the middle), and it's worked so far. Today I happened to park in the middle of a space that had empty spaces on both sides because the spots were so tight. I come out later to find a PT Cruiser parked next to me. Somehow, before I even looked, I _knew_ there would be a ding. Sure enough, the mini-hearse was parked very close to my passenger side and I was the proud new owner of a roughly 1/2" ding. Small, but it is still noticeable, however. So, I have a few questions.
> 
> 1) If you know that it was a certain car that did it to you, how do you go about making them pay? Do you wait for the owner to come out? Do you take the license plate down and leave a note? Do you call the cops to come document it, as in an accident? [This question is more of a hypothetical, because I don't know for sure that it was the PT Cruiser's fault. I tried to guess how the door would have swung out, and it actually seemed like it probably wasn't the person's fault. I also figured that since the ding was about a foot above the rubber (?) strip on my door that it was probably from an SUV or other elevated vehicle. Long story short, I accepted that dinging was inevitable and left.]
> 
> ...


----------



## pac (Jul 30, 2003)

Just to bring an other story this thread:

Some months ago while seating in the car in the US Ppost Office parking lot and properly parked and old man in a real hurry pulled in next to my car. As he opened his car door ina real rush, he dinged our car. I jumped out of our car and asked him to be careful and just about that time he did it again. I asked him politely for his driver's licence and insurance. He started cursing and said that he lives on a boat offshore and therefore does not need a license nor does he have an address or phone. Then he said he is in real hurry, does not have time to deal with such bull****, and walked off.
I called the Police and they said since this was not on public highway there is nothing thet could do.
So we waited for the guy and when he returned, he screamed with foul language, but eventually wrote on a a piece of paper his name and the name of his insurance company.
We went to get estimate from nearby BMW and sent it to his insurance company. They acknowledged claim saying that their insured acknowledged causing small dings and started file, but said we need to take car to one their authorized body shop. We did and sent that estimate to insurance company also. 
then insurance company said that their body shop did not take photos( although we asked them and they declined) and now we need to take car back to an other of their authorized body shop and leave it there for one or two days to check it. The insurance company would not give the address or phone of the causing the damge.
Do you feel:
1-That we need taking car back to insurance company's approved shop and now leave it there for photos or more inspections?
2-Do we have agree to have their body shop do repairs, which told us that they give a big discount to this insurance company and seemed to be flight by night operation?
3-Should the insurance company tell us their insured's address so we could serve him if necessary?
4-Is this anything like leaving scene "hit and run"?


----------



## Bart001 (Apr 9, 2005)

I always scout out the spaces on the end, or the spaces next to a handicapped spot that is really wide, etc. Heh, I too have been known to drive off if there are no suitable parking spaces!

Parking way out beyond the other cars in a lot, unfortunately, also is an invitation for vandalism. I never do it. There is something about a really nice BMW parked all by its lonesome way out in the middle of a lot that cries out to these low-lifes, "That owner thinks his car is really special, so I'll key it." So I just find a spot on an end...or a wide spot and hope for the best.

Don't fix door dings one-at-a-time unless you really want to drive yourself crazy. Take a deep breath...and live with them...and get the paintless dent remover to visit you once a year.


----------



## Am(o)using (May 19, 2010)

Hello. I was searching for sites regarding vehicle-door-hit-&-runs in a parking lot and, wow, double bonus.

A bit of a twist here, the paint scrape to my silver VW, just this past Monday, happened in the staff parking lot...yes, at work! Walking to my vehicle after work I noticed that the big white Ford F150, 4X4, ext cab, which was parked on my passenger side, was gone leaving a very noticeable vertical white scrape above the molding on my passenger door.

Work security was immediately notified; they took my statement, photos and said they would 'watch out for' and 'speak with the truck owner' and that I should or security will 'leave a note'.

Have the truck owner's plate number, too. Why have I jotted down all this info? A few months ago, another employee had his vehicle scraped by a truck mirror - unfortunately he didn't take any info down and his incident is still unresolved. This is why I have been practicing vigilante awareness - but I shouldn't have to, this is at work, right?!

These past few days, however, the Ford F150 truck is nowhere to be seen in the staff parking lot; possibly the truck owner is using another vehicle. Thankfully, though, I have a daily reminder (of car door damage) from someone else's carelessness and surreptitiousness.


----------



## Bremen Ben (Sep 1, 2008)

Just get paintless dent removal. 

I was in the dealership for service recently and the SA asked me if I would like to have the two dents on my passenger side door removed, I said "why not." By the time I got my car back the door is smooooooooth...! :thumbup:


----------



## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

The dealers pay a monthly fee around here and have a day every week or so when the dent guy shows up to do whatever they have for him. Bremen Bob apparently got them to volunteer but it seems like it could easily be a bartering point when your car needs warranty work done. Why not try and have the work done on a day the dent guy is there and get the dealer to have him do the work for free? Seems at least worth a try.

I have no dings yet - maybe because I don't mind walking a little extra (doesn't hurt most of us). I got a rock chip and used Dr. ColorChip on that. I also park in one specific spot at work where there will be nobody on one side of me and on the other side the drivers door will be away from me. With most cars having only one person in them, this seems the lowest risk.

Even if you see the person that did it unless they are honest enough to admit it or you have other witnesses, it comes down to what you say versus what they say. Years ago I damaged a boat trailer in the parking lot at the ramp and left my name and number. The guy was super surprised. It cost me a couple hundred dollars but it was still the right thing to do. But I may have been in a hurry some time and dinged somebody without leaving a note - I can't remember doing it but if I had something else on my mind.... 

Jim


----------



## Frips_Girl (Feb 19, 2009)

I had a ding on my car when it was delivered to me. The dealer was aware of it, and just shrugged. After a bit of anger, he agreed to pay for the dent removal. Absurd!


----------



## WHATEVVA (Jun 9, 2005)

I got a ding in my hood and couldn't STAND it! (He made a house call!)


----------



## Am(o)using (May 19, 2010)

May 25, 2010


----------



## Am(o)using (May 19, 2010)

Kind words, thank you...

For a bit over an hour, I tried using two different car waxes to gently coax the scrape (only, no dent) from my car door. Result: was able to diminish and fade the scrape to about half size. Scratch is still visible, though.

Still haven't seen the F150, (who usually parks in the third row) in the staff parking lot...!

Wonder what Judge Judy would do!


----------



## Force (Jul 17, 2010)

I got to the metro late today and my usual amazing parking spot was taken. I had to park between two cars and now im worried they'll give me a ding


----------



## yamato (Feb 11, 2003)

Force said:


> I got to the metro late today and my usual amazing parking spot was taken. I had to park between two cars and now im worried they'll give me a ding


I see your concern. I never park between two cars.if there is no good parking available in my destination, i simply go home.


----------



## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

I have a ding, now, but it is on the top of the fender where the convertible top goes into the body. It looks like somebody slamed a fist down on the top of the fender - perhaps because I was parked out away from everybody and jealously of my nice car. I will either find a way to get to the back side myself or, more likely, get a dent removal place deal with it.

Jim


----------



## Force (Jul 17, 2010)

okay im home, the car is okay. I can stop worrying.


----------



## BestCS (Jun 30, 2009)

I park in the handicapped space!

Yuk yuk!


----------



## mark_m5 (Sep 16, 2006)

> Check out our patented removable panels for public parking...


Reported. Advertizing is not allowed.:tsk:

I'm amazed you can patent something like that.

I think most people would prefer dings to looking like a dork pulling that out and spending the time it takes to cook a microwave dinner applying it to their car and then again when they have to take it off. Unless you're leaving the car for a month, it makes no sense.

For about $20, you can get a bulk roll of Clear Bra paint protection film from Amazon. Much classier, and you don't have to take it off and put it back on every time you go someplace.


----------

