No longer maiden
 

My new P5 (had it two weeks) got its first ding in the door while parked in a lot last night. I came out this morning and nothing was next to it, but a nice little ding was right there in the door.

Paint isn't hurt, but there is definitely a small dent. Any ideas about what I can do here? I know that this is the hazard of buying a new car--dings are to be expected, right? Insurance deductible is probably $500, which is probably $5 less than what the body shop would charge to fix it. :)

Any ideas about how to get this little baby taken care of? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

slank

I guess I'm super anal about door dings... my Protege is about 10 months old with 26K kms and not one ding yet! :D

try paintless dent repairs they are usually cheap and wont need any major body work on your car.

I also recommend paintless dent repair(PDR). Just make sure you find an experienced person to do it. Most body shops won't do it so you'll have to find a PDR shop or technician. It's about 1/3 the price of a conventional repair.

I KNOW you knocked on wood when you said that. PLEASE tell me you did! LoL just when you say something, it's gonna backfire. ;)

My Experience
 

I got my first ding less than two months of owning the car. Anyway, I called the dealer and asked for a recommendation for paintless dent repair. It turned out that they have a guy on contract that comes around every week and takes out dings on all the cars on the lot that need it. So I went down to meet him. He charges $65/panel. Regardless of how many dings you have. Not a bad deal! I only had one ding so it was $45. You can't even notice there was a ding there. It was in the right rear door. Behind the door handle. This was a more difficult job but it was done to perfection. He said he can remove a ding the size of a basketball! Try calling your dealer for a referral.

Slank,

My best freind is a PDR guy. He works for dent wizard. He has repaired many a door ding for me on my 98 protege and my freinds and let me tell you I have a very sharp eye and I can't tell were the ding was. Have dent wizard do the repair for you. Their techs go through 30,000 dollars worth of schooling before they are allowed in the field. Their methods were developed in Germany by BMW. I have seen other PDR guys and their work is horrible sometimes. However I am constantly amazed by the quality of work my friend does. I hang out at his shop at least once a week for 2 hrs or more and I cannot believe the magic these guys work on sheetmetal.

Yep - as long as the paint is intact, use PDR. I've fixed 4 dings total on two separate occasions (3 the first time, 1 the second) and you would never know they were there.

Why can't people just be considerate of other ppl's shit? I think I know who gve me my "whisky knocks", but I can't prove it. Damn inconsiderate BASTARDS!

Oh well, I get mine done for $75 per panel. Worh every penny for the work these guys can do.