You may try your hardest to avoid it, but if you drive your car daily, it will get some form of cosmetic damage eventually. Maybe it’s a ding or a dent, maybe it’s fading paint or heck, maybe you crash your ride into something. How much do you care about cosmetic damage? Does it have you lying awake at night?
My wife’s Scion iQ has become like a pet to her. Sheryl’s given her iQ a name, Ike, and thanks the little car after every successful trip. We think of the little car as an underdog taking on the world. Unfortunately, growing such an attachment to a small car means feeling hurt when the little car takes on damage.
I don’t have pictures of it yet, but Sheryl says she got trapped in a horrible scenario. A semi-trailer ahead of her shredded a tire and she couldn’t react in time to dodge the tire “gator.” The tire shred removed a chunk from the vehicle’s lower left front bumper cover before whipping around and slamming into both right wheels. The vehicle’s right wheels lost their trim rings, which isn’t bad, but the tire also somehow managed to bend one of the steel wheels a little. We were already considering replacing the steelies with alloys, so now we have one more reason to. Thankfully, the overall body escaped damage and the only broken parts under the vehicle appear to be one or two exhaust hanger welds on the pipe. Here’s the sharp little car beforehand, if you’ve never read my pieces on it:
All things considered, it’s all very minor, very repairable damage. Still, Sheryl feels so sad because her Ike got hurt. She also hates looking at that chunk missing from the bumper because it’s a reminder that she couldn’t dodge the tire. Despite that, Sheryl tends to care less about body damage than I do.
I buy crap cars, but trust me, I do care about cosmetics!
I consider myself to be pretty loose when it comes to cosmetics. I don’t care too much about scratches, dents, dings, or other damage so long as it’s not severe. My Volkswagen Phaeton has a little dent near the right rear wheel well (above). I can live with that or have it fixed.
What I can’t deal with is when body parts are entirely wrong colors, when there are giant rust holes, colossal dents, or just general carnage. Yes, those of you who have read my work long enough will point out that I bought the multi-colored Volkswagen Passat W8. Yeah, I thought making it all one color again was going to be easy. It was not.
I won’t even buy a vehicle for the Gambler 500 if it’s been beaten too far for my liking, which some might call insane. I’ll make exceptions for rust for Gambler vehicles, but I’m not going to park a car at my apartment that has three different colors of doors or whatever.
Yet, Sheryl will happily drive around a car that has body damage so long as she didn’t cause it. Her HHR had a messed-up maw and her Oldsmobile LSS shed paint in giant sheets. Yet, she loved those vehicles.
So, what about you? How much do you care about that dent on your car’s door? Did you get good sleep last night?
A lot, it gets fixed immediately as it occurs, don’t want people looking at it and assuming I’m either a drunk or senile.
Would rather they get to know me and learn that first hand
Zero F’s given on a daily driver.
Zero F’s given on a daily driver.
On my daily driver I couldn’t give two shits about cosmetic damage, it’s just a part of life and you have to accept it. On my ‘other’ cars though… oh boy, call in the OCD emergency rescue unit.
On my daily driver I couldn’t give two shits about cosmetic damage, it’s just a part of life and you have to accept it. On my ‘other’ cars though… oh boy, call in the OCD emergency rescue unit.
I bought a Ford Ka that was in perfect shape mechanically but had front and rear damage and it was badly repaired. I didn’t care much because I parked on the street at my home and my 2 jobs, and I knew it was going to be knocked some day. The rest of the car was stupendous.
I got a fender bender and used the trip to the shop to have the rear section squared, and it improved vastly.
It mostly depend on what you have and how you use it.
I bought a Ford Ka that was in perfect shape mechanically but had front and rear damage and it was badly repaired. I didn’t care much because I parked on the street at my home and my 2 jobs, and I knew it was going to be knocked some day. The rest of the car was stupendous.
I got a fender bender and used the trip to the shop to have the rear section squared, and it improved vastly.
It mostly depend on what you have and how you use it.
We have a 2000 Honda CR-V that we’ve owned since 2002..so it’s family. 7 or 8 years ago we were selling at a show and somebody backed a trailer into it leaving a 3 to 4 inch crease in the left rear quarter right where it curves into the tail. It’s the only boo boo on the car. If at some point we have the car resprayed it’ll get repaired but until then it’s a war wound.
We have a 2000 Honda CR-V that we’ve owned since 2002..so it’s family. 7 or 8 years ago we were selling at a show and somebody backed a trailer into it leaving a 3 to 4 inch crease in the left rear quarter right where it curves into the tail. It’s the only boo boo on the car. If at some point we have the car resprayed it’ll get repaired but until then it’s a war wound.
Depends on the type of vehicle and type of damage. Rust, I cannot stand. I will either fix the rust or get rid of the vehicle. Body damage is more subjective. My daughter put a gouge in the bumper of our Touareg when backing up to a horse trailer. I’ve lived with it for a couple years, but I’m planning to fix it this year because it bothers me. On the other hand, I’ve used the step-bumper on our E-350 to connect trailers by ear forever. It must have 50 dents and dents within dents in that bumper all clustered around the hitch. They don’t bother me in the least.
Depends on the type of vehicle and type of damage. Rust, I cannot stand. I will either fix the rust or get rid of the vehicle. Body damage is more subjective. My daughter put a gouge in the bumper of our Touareg when backing up to a horse trailer. I’ve lived with it for a couple years, but I’m planning to fix it this year because it bothers me. On the other hand, I’ve used the step-bumper on our E-350 to connect trailers by ear forever. It must have 50 dents and dents within dents in that bumper all clustered around the hitch. They don’t bother me in the least.
It depends on the car for me. I try to keep my good one looking decent but accept that stuff happens. I’m not overly worried about the small ding on the front fender or the minor stone chips. If something more major happened I’d likely shell out for a proper repair. My daily/kid hauler/used as a cargo van Soul I’m far more forgiving of. I bought it used with a small dent in the hood that I could probably have popped out at the time. The hatch/bumper area has some scrapes that I don’t worry about. Also have some weird rust patches above the windshield that I probably should do something about.
In my past I had some winter beaters that I didn’t care about. Smacked a truck and had a blue hood and front bumper on my silver Impreza. Bought an accord where the front fenders were a different (and flat) blue compared to the rest of the car. Also they were mostly made out of body filler. Painted the hood with chalkboard and let kids draw all over it.
It depends on the car for me. I try to keep my good one looking decent but accept that stuff happens. I’m not overly worried about the small ding on the front fender or the minor stone chips. If something more major happened I’d likely shell out for a proper repair. My daily/kid hauler/used as a cargo van Soul I’m far more forgiving of. I bought it used with a small dent in the hood that I could probably have popped out at the time. The hatch/bumper area has some scrapes that I don’t worry about. Also have some weird rust patches above the windshield that I probably should do something about.
In my past I had some winter beaters that I didn’t care about. Smacked a truck and had a blue hood and front bumper on my silver Impreza. Bought an accord where the front fenders were a different (and flat) blue compared to the rest of the car. Also they were mostly made out of body filler. Painted the hood with chalkboard and let kids draw all over it.
I get livid if I have even a scuff on anything fairly new.
I get livid if I have even a scuff on anything fairly new.
Here me out: There is cool cosmetic damage and there is uncool cosmetic damage.
Missing front bumper on a 2022 Mazda CX-5? Looks like ass
Missing front bumper on a Nissan S13 drift car? looks cool, or at least okay
Missing bumper on a 32 Ford? Should have come that way.
Rust on a 2020 Camry? Piece of shit
Rust on 1980’s truck? It’s an honest work truck
Rust on a 1960’s truck? That’s patina
Here me out: There is cool cosmetic damage and there is uncool cosmetic damage.
Missing front bumper on a 2022 Mazda CX-5? Looks like ass
Missing front bumper on a Nissan S13 drift car? looks cool, or at least okay
Missing bumper on a 32 Ford? Should have come that way.
Rust on a 2020 Camry? Piece of shit
Rust on 1980’s truck? It’s an honest work truck
Rust on a 1960’s truck? That’s patina
My CX-5 is like 3 months old, we splashed for the soul red (because why wouldn’t you), and already someone’s bumped into it in a parking lot (right there is why a darker muted colour might’ve been better). Bumper only, so at least it’s not going to rust, but now one of the front corners is scraped up and just annoys the hell out of me. If it were like ten years old, I’d probably be okay with it, but right now I’m still in the stage where I want to track the culprit down and wreak some kind of mild vengance.
Do it. They deserve it.
Mazda red is the best red that ever redded. There’s one near me and I always stare because it’s so pretty.
My CX-5 is like 3 months old, we splashed for the soul red (because why wouldn’t you), and already someone’s bumped into it in a parking lot (right there is why a darker muted colour might’ve been better). Bumper only, so at least it’s not going to rust, but now one of the front corners is scraped up and just annoys the hell out of me. If it were like ten years old, I’d probably be okay with it, but right now I’m still in the stage where I want to track the culprit down and wreak some kind of mild vengance.
Do it. They deserve it.
Mazda red is the best red that ever redded. There’s one near me and I always stare because it’s so pretty.
The only one of my cars that’s reasonable to have any dents, scratches, or other cosmetic damage is the Gambler Cougar. All other damage makes me really angry and stressed, but I can’t do much about a lot of it, so I don’t.
The only one of my cars that’s reasonable to have any dents, scratches, or other cosmetic damage is the Gambler Cougar. All other damage makes me really angry and stressed, but I can’t do much about a lot of it, so I don’t.
I find that I can remove melted lipstick with vinegar and gentle heating.
I find that I can remove melted lipstick with vinegar and gentle heating.
Oh I’ve got 2 cars and the both are currently irritating me with some damage. The hatch on my expedition got stuck so I went to push it closed and got it just right to put 2 palm sized dents in the hatch.
And I have a windshield width crack in my model 3 (Tesla windshields apparently are hard to get ahold of) and someone on a parking lot put a good crease in my rear wheel arch with a door
Oh I’ve got 2 cars and the both are currently irritating me with some damage. The hatch on my expedition got stuck so I went to push it closed and got it just right to put 2 palm sized dents in the hatch.
And I have a windshield width crack in my model 3 (Tesla windshields apparently are hard to get ahold of) and someone on a parking lot put a good crease in my rear wheel arch with a door