My Dent Magnet

[Schrup]

I have never owned a vehicle that attracts dents like my Titan. The first wasn't a dent but more of a mar in the paint caused by some fuktard throwing eggs a few weeks after I bought it. The second was a door ding in the drivers side that isn't that noticable. The third was caused when I let my wife drive it to work & she scraped a 4' x 8" gouge in the drivers side bed on a wall in the parking garage. That one cost $625 to fix.

The latest happened a few weeks ago, I was dropping my nephew (13 years old) off at a parking lot where we had met my sister. I pulled up next to her with plenty of room to get the doors open. He got out, opened my sister's car door, then pulled open my rear door to get out his bag & slammed it into my sister's car door HARD. He's a real nice kid, so I couldn't get mad at him & partially blame myself for not parking 10' away, but it was pouring down rain. I called him later & he volunteered to do some work around my home to payback for the dent. I told him I would forgive him if he promised to NEVER egg a vehicle.

I have got 2 estimates from body shops I trust & the both came in at the same price of $500 to fix the dent plus another $200 to fix the mar from the egg job while they're at it. Both are on the passenger side, the egg mark is on the front edge of the door.

I was going to wait to get it fixed till my finances were a little better, maybe even next year, but after washing it yesterday, it's really eating at me. The truck is less than a year old with only 5K miles on it.

What do you guys think? It is starting to rust a little were the dent is, should I bite the bullet & just get it done now? Some people say " It's just a truck, don't sweat it" , but I treat it like a car & do very little truck stuff with it.

Second question is, I am getting an unpainted 12' x 8' Tuff Shed delivered in a couple of weeks, should I ask my nephew to paint it to teach him a lesson? I'll talk to my sister about it first, but wanted some opinions first, am I being petty? Here's pics of the egg mar, dent, & overall.

[Moneyguy1]

Cars will not be truly practical until they are as impervious to dents as a Nerf ball.

[LeeH]

I go to a wholesale auction that sells 2000-3000 cars every Wednesday. It's rare that any of them are perfect... even the newer more expensive cars. Of the 50 something cars I've owned, my favorite was a '98 Trooper. It had several dings and scratches. Since it wasn't perfect I never worried if it would get another blemish.

There is a certain freedom that comes with accepting it's not going to be perfect. The problem is that if you fix these... it's eventually going to get more. Personally, I'd go the "it's a truck" route and let it go. I would prevent that spot from rusting with some touch up paint.

Keep in mind that painted sections don't age as well as the factory finish. Over time the touched up area may look worse than the original damage.

[bell]

Originally posted by LeeH


There is a certain freedom that comes with accepting it's not going to be perfect.

yep, **** happens, this is one reason i don't buy brand new cars, 30 minutes after i picked up the one and only brand new car i ever had (a 91' tercel) a cinder block hit the headlight/grill on the highway.....three weeks later someone bumped the rear quarter, the 3 months after that i slid on ice and ate a guardrail with the entire right side........

now i drive a 10 year old nissan p/u and a 22 year old 911.....i'm much happier

[911boost]

One of the reasons I love my 01 Tahoe. I side swiped / backed into one of those big yellow cement thingies that surronds a light pole in a parking lot last year. Right behind the front right wheel. I buffed out as much of the yellow as Ic ould, but didn't lose any sleep over it. Its a truck after all.

Bill

[gr8fl4porsche]

I've owned lots of new cars over the years. None has made it more than a few weeks before some kind of dent, scratch, nick, etc showed up. Once I had a vehicle in the body shop before the plates were installed.

[craigster59]

Like Cat Stevens sang 'The First Cut Is The Deepest". Once you're past the first ding, it's now your truck. I saved up for 1 1/2 years for the DOWN PAYMENT and still needed a co-signer (thanks Gretchen) for my first new vehicle, a Dodge Ram 50 pickup.
2nd day with the truck, pouring a concrete driveway on a steep hill, the concrete truck guy is hosing his truck off and it starts s-l-o-w-l-y sliding on the wet pavement towards my new truck.
Wham! Hits it at 2mph and leaves a small dent. 4 days later I'm on the 101 and traffic stops and a guy on a motorcycle rear ends me and flys up in the bed of the truck. I thought it was jinxed, but never had ding after 210k miles.

[Schrup]

Thanks for putting it into perspective for me guys. I'm going to get some touch up paint to keep it from rusting for now. My OT has dried up over the last couple of months at work & I've got better things to spend money on. Maybe I'll get it fixed after the OT starts to roll in again, but I need to let it go for now.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by Schrup
I have never owned a vehicle that attracts dents like my Titan. ........

I almost wonder if this isn't a phenomena. I once had a brand new Honda Accord I called, "The Blue Magnet". I swear it attracted all things metal.

[89911]

I feel your pain, but you got to let it go. That is the problem when you but a brand new car. It can only fall victim to dents and nicks, causing the frustration you have. Being that you already have these issues going on, your either going to be paying a monthly car payment to a body shop if you keep chasing all problems. I've managed to keep my Porsche dent free because I don't drive anywhere other then work when I leave it in a lot. I just bought a used 2002 Sequoia that was in good shape but had the typical fender dings from parking. The other day I backed into a hidden stop sign pole and pushed in the bumper and inch or two leaving a small scratch. Checked out the damage, shrugged it off, and pulled away. It's liberating owning a car that you don't care about sometimes.

[David]

My truck's the same way. I rarely ever get dents, but my truck has several. I suspect part of it is that they're bigger than most cars so there's less buffer space around it. Well that and my wife drives it sometimes .

[HardDrive]

Nuthin to say about dents, but thats a fine looking truck. Nice wheels. Gives the truck a great look, and not to over the top.

[BlueSideUp]

Paul we also have a Titan. Ours is an '05 Crew Cab 4x4 in white. Unfortunately it has picked up a few marks here and there over the past two years. It was even sideswiped one night which resulted in a similar dent to yours. Luckily for us ours isn't on the corner of the panel but just behind the rear door. Since the truck is white and my wife uses it for her work we haven't worried about it, someday I'll get them taken out.

Personally I have had great luck with paintless dent removal people. I had two dents in my Passat that would have run at least $1000 to repair at a body shop. The car was parked in a garage and a door fell across the hood of the car, denting the corner of the hood and fender (very similar to your dent. The paintless dent removal guy did such a great job only I was able to tell where the dents had been. My car did not have paint damage because it was under a cover but you should be able to get that touched up and buffed out even though it is a metallic color.

The total for the PDR guy was something like $150 because he charged $75 a panel, he also took out every other dent in the hood.

Oh and I'd suggest adding a power lock to your tailgate, it's really easy to do and makes your gate secure.

[scottmandue]

If it would make you feel better I could post pics of my beat up 944

I have often thought of taking it to a shop and getting it fixed and repainted but then I would loose the freedom of not worrying about the paint job. When I go out for pizza I park it where I can see it while I eat and leave it unlocked with the windows open (in summer)... freaks my friends out!

[teenerted1]

touch up the paint. a truck really isn't a truck until it has some dirt and dents on it anyway

since he volunteered to help out...now it the perfect time to let him pay off his debt. make him keep his word and will make a man out of him.

[Az911]

Tell the people in your family to get some respect for other peoples belongings.

[aigel]

I am in the "its just a truck dude!" camp. In 5 years it will be worth less than half of what you paid and it will keep attracting imperfections, that's just life.

If you repaint whole body panels, you risk that they fade at a different rate than the rest of the truck. In 5 years it will possibly look worse than the dents and nicks ever will. At least that's my excuse.

Leave the kid (and your wife) alone. Nobody in your family damages your stuff on purpose. Life is too short to have harsh feelings over possessions, especially if it is obvious that your family is remorseful and promises to be more careful.

So, here is your chance to save many hundred dollars and show that you are nice guy to your family! Take it.

Just my two cents.

[jyl]

I agree, don't sweat the ding too much. It is a truck and "holster wear" is manly . . .

Of course, it is nice to keep your things in good shape, if possible at reasonable cost. So, in order of increasing cost and trouble, I would:
1. Touch up the spot to avoid rusting.
2. Polish, wax, buff.
3. Check w/ a detail/paintless dent removal guy, we got a couple of dents removed from the new Prius for about $200.

I wouldn't spend more than $200 or so.

That is the nicest-looking truck I've seen in a long time.