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My first door ding. What do I do now?

3K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  Sublime Scat 
#1 ·
This past Friday was my mother's 80th birthday, and we had a surprise birthday party for her at a restaurant. I had never been to this restaurant before, so I didn't know that it had very little parking. I took the Challenger and then discovered that I couldn't park "far away" (as I normally do), and had to risk parking in a normal spot. I have DoorShox in the trunk, so I put those on and went in. The next day I discovered a door ding on the front quarter panel (obviously an area that was not protected by the DoorShox :() They actually hit the panel twice :mad: Both were hard enough to dent right on the body line.

Finger Hand Thumb


I called a PDR guy out to the office today. He did a good job of getting rid of the dent and buffed it as good as he could, but there's a scratch still remaining :confused:

Finger Hand Water Sky Thumb


It doesn't appear to be down to metal, but it also won't buff out. What's my next step?
 
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#2 ·
Well that really sucks, is there an "edge" to it? Like its chipped? If so just smear some Dr. ColorChip in there to mask it a little bit. Not at all perfect but it does help.

If it's not chipped or scrapped then are you certain it cant be buffed with compound?
 
#3 ·
It doesn't feel chipped to me. The PDR guy tried to buff it out, but said he couldn't. I don't know, I was at work so I wasn't supervising him, so I don't know how much effort he actually put into it. I know nothing about buffing though.
 
#7 ·
Thanks. I'll go with the Mequiars first and see what I can do with it.
 
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#9 ·
Yeah, definitely not comfortable with DA polisher. Maybe it's time to learn though LOL
 
#8 ·
If it is dent but not cracked or chipped, maybe a see a guy who do dent repair without paint. Not always easy to find a good one .
Umm... did you speed read through my post? LOL Yeah, I had the PDR guy out today to get rid of the dent, and attempt to buff out the rest. The dents are gone, there's just a little "something" visible left behind.
 
#11 · (Edited)
This makes me angry. At a car show no less a woman exited a nice 32 Ford roadster and dinged the door on my SRT.

I saw her do it. She did not care to pay attention. I was about to go off but her Husband read her the riot act. He was a bit to harsh. Anyway, after I was done swearing under my breath I did what you did and got the dent repaired at home. Then by hand and NOT using a buffer I went over the small area that appeared scratched gently with a microfiber towel as someone suggested above. I did not press hard and actually used only one finger to confine the area that I was trying to treat. With patience and determination I finally got everything off without damaging the finish. It took awhile and I monitored progress while doing this. If at anytime it looked what I was doing was not going anywhere I would have quit.
Little by little it worked. Hope you can do the same. Oh! I used polishing compound sparingly when doing this.
 
#24 ·
Makes you want to bring traffic cones to the car show.
 
#12 ·
Man. Sorry to hear that. Nothing angers me more than morons who have no respect for other peoples property. I'd definitely try the Meguiars by hand. I bet it will come out with some elbow grease.

As far as a DA. Don't be scared. I was. I wish I had gotten it sooner. Our 2015 looked like someone washed it with a sand mit. Over a period of time I did a panel or two at a time. Still have some stubborn scratches but well worth it. Its therapeutic too (well to me anyways).

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
 
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#16 ·
LOL... No sir! I don't have enough spare time to get into major detailing LOL I just keep her clean and shiny, and that's my limit.
 
#18 ·
I see lots of cars that are detailed with a polisher. Some look great but others have circular smudges all along the side of the car left by using a buffer improperly. I see them when they drive by and I can see them clearly on their sides. Step back and look from a little farther away when you use a buffer. I had an orbital buffer that did very well. 10 inch buffer. I still had to look carefully that I didn't just smear and smudge when I buffed. There is an art to using them.
 
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#25 ·
Yeah, it is directly on the body line. I'm definitely going to try some Scratch X by hand.
 
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#21 ·
Good luck you have a sweet looking car... I have a scratch on the right rear QTR been working on it. I am going to put the DA on it this weekend.
 
#22 ·
If you have a dent, have a paintless dent repair guy get that out. Then if you have remaining paint blemish, use some Meguiars Scratch X and attempt to buff it out with that stuff. That usually works pretty good. Beyond that, try buffing it further with some wax and see how it turns out. If there is any actual paint missing or a chip, order some Dr Colorchip in your specific color and follow the instructions provided. This should help cover up 95% of the problem for relatively little $$$.

I got my first chip on my door about a month ago or so, really pissed me off. Luckily there was no dent, but it looked really bad. I was able to get all the dirt/paint off from the other car with scratch remover and wax. The remaining chip I filled in with Dr Colorchip and now it's not even noticeable unless I look for it or point it out to someone. It's 98% better. Not perfect, but no way am I having a body shop spray the whole door and then "blend" it in when it looks just fine as is.

Good luck with your fix, hope it turns out well for you. It really sucks when it happens, but you should be able to get it fixed up good.
 
#26 ·
If you have a dent, have a paintless dent repair guy get that out. Then if you have remaining paint blemish, use some Meguiars Scratch X and attempt to buff it out with that stuff. That usually works pretty good. Beyond that, try buffing it further with some wax and see how it turns out. If there is any actual paint missing or a chip, order some Dr Colorchip in your specific color and follow the instructions provided. This should help cover up 95% of the problem for relatively little $$$.

I got my first chip on my door about a month ago or so, really pissed me off. Luckily there was no dent, but it looked really bad. I was able to get all the dirt/paint off from the other car with scratch remover and wax. The remaining chip I filled in with Dr Colorchip and now it's not even noticeable unless I look for it or point it out to someone. It's 98% better. Not perfect, but no way am I having a body shop spray the whole door and then "blend" it in when it looks just fine as is.

Good luck with your fix, hope it turns out well for you. It really sucks when it happens, but you should be able to get it fixed up good.
The 2 dents are gone. The PDR came to my office yesterday and took care of them. Definitely going to use some Scratch X by hand. I don't think there is any chips- if there is, they are super tiny.
 
#23 ·
This past Friday was my mother's 80th birthday, and we had a surprise birthday party for her at a restaurant. I had never been to this restaurant before, so I didn't know that it had very little parking. I took the Challenger and then discovered that I couldn't park "far away" (as I normally do), and had to risk parking in a normal spot. I have DoorShox in the trunk, so I put those on and went in. The next day I discovered a door ding on the front quarter panel (obviously an area that was not protected by the DoorShox :() They actually hit the panel twice :mad: Both were hard enough to dent right on the body line.

View attachment 102504

I called a PDR guy out to the office today. He did a good job of getting rid of the dent and buffed it as good as he could, but there's a scratch still remaining :confused:

View attachment 102505

It doesn't appear to be down to metal, but it also won't buff out. What's my next step?
Good grief.
 
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#29 ·
I know exactly how you feel. My wife went to the bank, parked far corner. Came out in time to watch a elderly Echo driver open his door into the side TWICE. Two dents on bodyline ahead of mirror. Dent Wizard up here is amazing. Rubbed mark out by hand with Maguire's polish, takes some time.
 
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