First body ding

[mwr]

I discovered the first body ding on my 2015 FFH today as I was polishing the car. It's low on the right front corner and you really can't see it unless you bend down. Actually, I see two scrapes in the photo, one long and the other much smaller. If I took it to a body shop, they would want to repaint the whole fender, and (1) it would cost me the $250 deductible on my comprehensive insurance and (2) I would be losing the factory finish on that fender, which I assume is better that than from even a good body shop.

 

Any other good ideas?

Edited March 1, 2015 by mwr

[Texasota]

If that scrape was on a steel body panel I would get it repainted to prevent it from rusting. But it looks like it is on a plastic panel? Those first dings and scrapes on a new car are frustrating and I feel your pain. Sorry it happened so soon.

[GrySql]

Bad scrape....

I wouldn't be able to ignore that big a ding.

Personally, I'd get it fixed.

[mwr]

I'll take it to my favorite body shop and see what they say. As I said, you really don't see it unless you bend over and look, or at least look at that low place specifically. I hadn't seen it until I was polishing the car today. Don't now how long it's been there.

[TonyHzNV]

Bad scrape....

I wouldn't be able to ignore that big a ding.

Personally, I'd get it fixed.

I'm with GrySql. It would bug the heck out of me just knowing it was there. I'd have to get it fixed or I wouldn't sleep! Just sayin'...... :)

[mwr]

I'll sleep fine :)

[SteveB_TX]

I would hate to think what you consider a major scrape/ding!!! OMG! I would have a heart attack if I found something like that on my Z. Well, I did have a little heart attack when I ran up over a huge curb and gouged the underside of the front bumper. :drop:

[Hybrider]

Yeah, I would call that a fender bender, actually a hit-and-run. But no way would I call it a "ding".

[Gregory Thomas Harnish]

I bought a whole new bumper cover because people in dc actually use them to parallel park. On mine it was "scabbing" or cracking of the paint. when the sun hit it right it was obvious.

[acdii]

That will take a bit of work to do, but aftermarket paint is pretty good, on bumpers they use a flex additive so the paint wont crack when it flexes. If you want to find a good body shop, find a high dollar dealership, like BMW or Mercedes, and ask them(provided they dont have their own) where they have their body work done, and take it there. Body shops follow a standard guide line for labor, so even if the shop does work for a high end dealer, doesnt mean they will charge more for the work. My wife's dad owns a body shop, actually the building, and his former manager owns the business, and they do work for Mercedes, and other high end dealers, but dont cost any more than any other body shop and do excellent work. They use high quality paint too. Dupont Standox.

 

For that damage, they will remove the bumper, grind out that area and fill it in with flexible putty, then sand it smooth, prime it, then wet sand the entire bumper and paint it to match the car, and reinstall it. Whn done right, you would never know it was there. I have even seen bumpers that were split be repaired and you could not tell that it had a split in it.

[Cobra348]

That's more than a ding for sure! There is a well-known and highly reputable body shop only a mile from my house. They've done all the work when I've needed repairs on the Fiestas. You could not tell that any of the parts had been replaced/repaired/repainted or whatever had to be done.

 

Follow what acdii recommends and you shouldn't have any problems. It costs more but in the long run,it stays nice longer!

[Phil3]

I see you are in the San Francisco bay area. So am I, and I have the solution for you. Contact Luis at http://lmcartouchup.com/. This man is a magician. Check the photos. I know a Ferrari owner and Luis handles work on his car and other Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, etc. He comes to you. Believe me, his work is impeccable. Tell Luis that Phil with the Porsche Cayman referred you. I just contacted Luis about a tiny rock ding in the hood (even I can't always find it and may ignore), so I expect he will remember me.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Phil

[mwr]

I see you are in the San Francisco bay area. So am I, and I have the solution for you. Contact Luis at http://lmcartouchup.com/. This man is a magician. Check the photos. I know a Ferrari owner and Luis handles work on his car and other Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, etc. He comes to you. Believe me, his work is impeccable. Tell Luis that Phil with the Porsche Cayman referred you. I just contacted Luis about a tiny rock ding in the hood (even I can't always find it and may ignore), so I expect he will remember me.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Phil

Thanks Phil. I'll contact him and see what he says.

[GrySql]

Well, I got my first dent, had to happen.

While driving on the highway the piece of metal that came flying out of nowhere that struck my hood dead center left a small dent and two small paint chips.

That made me mad! My first ding. With the Tri-white paint it's not easy to fix chips to the paint.

I sent pictures to the best local mobile dent repair shop and the guy told me there are two ways to fix it.

A. Remove the hood and paint the whole thing, $475.

B. They would remove the dent and use the Ford Tri-White touch-up paint kit I would buy at Ford - $100.

I cheaped out and choose B and went and bought the 2-part Ford touch-up kit.

 

The guy came to my garage and within 30 minutes had the dent out and the base coat and top coat of paint on. I didn't like it and told him so.

He said the Tri-White is near impossible to patch but explained that he wasn't done.

In two weeks, after the paints harden I'll call him and he'll come back, use #2000 sandpaper, some light rubbing compound and his buffer.

He doesn't live far from me and has a real honest business so I'll finish this in two weeks.

 

[Texasota]

Bummer, that is like having a giant pimple right on the end of your nose. I feel your pain. That first dent/ding is always heart breaking.

[GrySql]

Bummer, that is like having a giant pimple right on the end of your nose.

Nice visual... LOL! At least without the dent I can squint my eyes and hardly see it. Sigh.

[djminfll]

Ouch! I got a small ding on my front left fender when a careless landscaper was blowing leaves as I drove by and I got hit with a stone. I used Ford touch-up paint, and then gently and C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y scraped it when it was dry so that it is flush with the surface of the fender. It's not 100% perfect, but I didn't want to spend money on body work.

Edited May 22, 2015 by djminfll

[hybridbear]

Ouch!! That would hurt!!

[Hybrider]

Well, I got my first dent, had to happen.

While driving on the highway the piece of metal that came flying out of nowhere that struck my hood dead center left a small dent and two small paint chips.

That made me mad! My first ding. With the Tri-white paint it's not easy to fix chips to the paint.

...

 

Sorry to hear you got a ding. And it is in a most unusual way and location too.

 

But at least you aren't kicking yourself for causing the ding yourself, like I am after I turned my wheels into a curb while parking just to try to get as close as possible to the curb in order to be parked as far from the car next to me so there was less possibility of that car dinging my doors.

 

These low-profile 18" tires on these FFH have so very little bulge in the sidewalls, especially when compared to the older normal-profile tires. And that lack of sidewall bulge makes it so incredibly easy to really scrape up the wheel badly when bumping a curb, where with the older normal-profile tires, it would have just been a tire bruise.

 

I now have a 6" relatively deep scrape along the outer edge of my beautiful 5-spoke wheels. Oh well, I know from experience that the painted aluminum wheels used nowadays get really ratty looking after 10 years or more of use. So I knew I would most likely want to replace all of my wheels eventually. But I didn't think I would be living with such a big scrape for most of the 10 years I plan on keeping my FFH. At least it is mostly only noticeable to me, but still...Dings suck, no matter where on your car they happen or how they happen. :doh:

[GrySql]

I now have a 6" relatively deep scrape along the outer edge of my beautiful 5-spoke wheels.

Take a look at this Alloy/Painted wheel repair shop in PHX.

http://www.awrswheelrepair.com/phoenix/services.php

[GrySql]

Well, I got my first dent, had to happen.

The guy came to my garage and within 30 minutes had the dent out and the base coat and top coat of paint on. I didn't like it and told him so.

He said the Tri-White is near impossible to patch but explained that he wasn't done.

In two weeks, after the paints harden I'll call him and he'll come back, use #2000 sandpaper, some light rubbing compound and his buffer.

He doesn't live far from me and has a real honest business so I'll finish this in two weeks.

The Simply Dent guy came back today, gently sanded it with #2000 sandpaper, buffed that out.

It still didn't look right color-wise although it was nice and flush.

Then he took the two-part Tri-white touchup (base and clearcoat) paints and mixed them together on a piece of masking tape. Using a fine pointed toothpick he added just a tiny bit of the blended paints and by golly, it matched pretty good. I called it done.

Then just for kicks he buffed out a few spots on my other cars hood! :)

The trick with this Tri-White is to mix the base and clear, that gives you the right color and it blends. He also said not to use the brushes that come in the paint bottles, they lay on way too much paint, makes blobs. Instead, get a good, tiny bristle brush or use a pin or toothpick, less paint is better.

 

Here's the cheapo fix for my chipped/dented hood. If you get down close and look sideways it's still visible but good enough for now.

 

Edited June 4, 2015 by GrySql

[md13ffhguy]

Looks good to me! By the way, I really, really like that color, but I don't know if I could live with it. Silver hides road grime a little better.

[GrySql]

Looks good to me! By the way, I really, really like that color, but I don't know if I could live with it. Silver hides road grime a little better.

Actually, after I installed the mud flaps (splash guards) the sides stay clean and less dust collects on the rear end.

From 20 feet it's hard to tell if it's dirty or not if you're not used to seeing it clean.

We've had enough silver cars so the wife told me to try another color when I ordered it on 10/12 and I'm happy she did.

After adding a couple of mods it still looks almost as modern as any sedan on the road.

 

Edited June 4, 2015 by GrySql

[Texasota]

Looks great. Most likely noone will notice except you, GrySql.