SELF-INFLICTED!!! I am such a dummy. I was loading groceries in the trunk and my foot slipped off the cart...1/8 inch of paint peeled off the top of the bumper. The cart only travelled 6 inches. I was shocked at how easily the paint peeled off. It is tiny, and I touched it up, but it still shows...to me at least. That plastic doesn't take to touch up paint as well as the metal. Like I said, it is 1/8 by 1/16 of an inch, but I can see it. Now more than ever I am convinced (because of my own stupidity) that I need to find a daily driver. I have been looking for a used Jeep Cherokee for a month, but I can't find one that is worth a crap in the 1996-1999 range. Anyway, I know it's my fault, but I can still look for a wee bit of sympathy....right?

 

Absolutely.
I know how you feel.
It seems the more you don't want something to happen, the more likey that it will. So far I have been lucky, but I know my day is coming.

 

I know how you feel.... And mine is NOT a daily driver... I feel for ya!!

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index....opic=30005&hl=

 

Ugh. I've put 3 wounds on mine in the past week, all stupid.

1. Backed into a metal wire sidewalk garbage can parallel parking - someone had left it partially in the street, which I couldn't tell from looking through my rearview. Took a half-dime sized nick out of the rear bumper, on the passenger side, and left a few small scratches.

2. After reading a thread here about parking in gear - either first or reverse - rather than just parking break alone, I did - parked in first gear about a half foot from a concrete wall. I park in a garage and barely ever drive during the week, so I left it for a week, went back, pushed the clutch in, started it up, and let the clutch go per my usual routine (b/c I was parking in neutral), and... you can guess the rest. Bucked into the wall. I'm sorta lucky, I guess. If I was parked an inch back, I wouldn't have hit it at all. So didn't even dent the front bumper, but it did make contact and took some paint off and made a few small scratches.

3. Was parallel parking yesterday, and had to squeeze over real tight as I waited for some cabs to pass. I got too close to the car I was parking behind, apparently, because my back wheel well scraped along the car as I backed up to park. I check that car for any damage - none, which I'm thankful for. Was a couple-year old bmw 3 series. It had a plastic bumper that I guess I scraped along. Anyway, it held up better than my car. I got a couple small scratches, but one scratch/dent in particular - about a 3" long scratch that is also a small dent along the top of the passenger rear wheel well. Doesn't look as bad as it sounds.

Wow.. now that I'm writing this out, I feel really stupid. I realized, though - its really just a fact of life - I can do my best, but living and driving in new york city, with the crappy roads, tons of cars, difficult parking, etc. - I'm never going to keep it mint.

Anyone have any idea of these types of things can be (relatively) easily fixed by a good body shop? Or am I looking at thousands of dollars even though all the damage is all really pretty small?

 

I put the first wound in mine as well.

I was at one of those self-wash car washes, to get the salt off the car in the winter. I was using the power sprayer, and had the nozzle pretty close to the car... getting the salt out of the wheel wells.

Well... I got the nozzle a little too close, and banged it against the side of the car, right over the right rear wheel well. Left a nice scratch and a little gouge.

Buffed it out, and it's pretty tough to see now... but I know it's there. I wasn't too thrilled with myself...

 

Well, mine is really small, and the only real way to fix it properly would either require the whole bumper to be painted, which would not be feasible since aftermarket is never as good the factory. The other way would be to have it sanded and patched, which probably won't match as well. It is really a judgment call as to how much you can live with it and how much you want to spend. Mine is far to small to do anything other than touch it up. For dents, I would have it worked out with paintless dent removal and then buff out the scratch as well as I could....as with any scratches. For the dime size chunk, I would have to try to touch it up myself, and if that didn't satisfy me, I would have it painted.

 

I've got a few scratches from loading and unloading things from the trunk. I was real bummed at first but life's imperfect and I like to look at things in a positive way-- Now it really IS mine and unique from every other Mustang on the road! Adds character

 

Whoo!! Take it easy Jack. j/p ...........................










no but seriously.

 

I was turning around in a residential, and instead of doing a 3 point, I just pulled it into someones rather steep drive way, didn't notice the gutter at the bottom and scraped backing out. Can't see it unless you look but, you know how that is. Debating if it's worth the expense of fixing it, since it will most likely happen again.

 

I pulled an idiot move myself. I was making a right turn out of a parking lot and got too close to the curb with my right rear wheel. Sure enough, put a small scuff on the lip of the wheel rim. What's worse is I'm in that parking lot all the time which makes me feel even more stupid. I'm hoping I can just reposition the wheel weight over it Where's my sign?

 

I've order some touch up kits from paintscratch.com... I'm going to try it myself (spraying it). I know alot of folks said it won't look good but for 50 bucks it's worth a shot. I also ordered some of their touch up pens for those minor scratches and I'll see how that works also... I got a quote for 500 bucks to get my bumper fixed... I'll try the cheap route... If I mess it up, oh well... I'll have to take it in...

I'll let you all know how it goes...

 

Sympathy well deserved! Sorry!!! Been there, done that, know what you're feeling. Things happen ---
:bang:

 

Darn Tim, take it easy on that beauty!
Michael

 

I took a small nick out of the paint in the lip around the fuel door on the fender. I twiched my hand real quick with the fuel pump end hit the top. When i saw the chip I got pretty pissed. Nobody else knows unless I tell them. I see it though and of course get pissed everytime.

 

One minor wound on the rear bumper was done by me ( like yours about an 1/8th of an inch). Your right the touch up paint does not adhere well to the bumper. It would also help if the touch up paint was exactly the same color as that of your car but for some reason Fod cannot match up touch up to the same clarity as the factory paint job. What I have done to protect the damaged spot any further is to apply several coats of polymer sealant after the touch up paint dried. There is a green colored masking tape you can get for vehicles you should apply it around the spot that requires touch up paint thereby preventing any touch up paint from going beyond the area that needs repair. I only found this out later but its good to pass on to others so they do not make the same mistake. I have two rock chips from other vehicles on the highway but they are not immediately noticeable to the human eye but mind ( now covered by the touch up paint). Then there is also the area where some scum bucket keyed the right wheel well about 2 inches. This area I had polished out by a bodyshop with a high speed buffer and as such it is barely noticeable unless I direct you to the spot. Sometimes I think General Custer had the right idea.

P.S. If you go to the PaintScratch Website they have some very good advise on how to repair paint chip wounds.

 

Nynvolt, I understand your dilema, I did the exact same thing truning around in a steep driveway. Like your car, the scar doesn't show unless you get down on all fours. But I know it's there and it drives me nuts every time I wash and wax the car. I keep wondering should I take her to a body shop and get some plastic surgery done? But my GT is lowered, and living in the Smokie Mountains this is probably going to happen again. What to do?

 

Not a scratch on mine yet!