Does your Model S have any dings or dents from parking lots yet?

[bareyb]

How prone is the Model S to dings in parking lots? So far, none for me, but it's required a fair amount of proactive parking... I think it would probably kill me as my car is still fairly new... How about you? Got any dings in your Model S yet? If you did, did you take it to a "paintless dent removal" place, a body shop, or are you going to just live with it?

 

[NonChaotic]

Curious here as well, I've owned aluminum body vehicles in the past and haven't had any issues, mostly due to my tendency to park in the back of the lot, but I have had severe issues with hail in Texas, and I watch the weather like a hawk to avoid turning the car into a golf ball.

 

[bkenchan]

Rear bumper here and I've only had my car for a little over a month. Going to have to get the bumper replaced. Should I claim insurance?

 

[bareyb]

Rear bumper here and I've only had my car for a little over a month. Going to have to get the bumper replaced. Should I claim insurance?

I would. That's what it's for, and since it wasn't your fault they can't raise your rates because of it.

 

[Al Sherman]

I had a shopping cart hit me in the left rear fender. It just scraped the Paint Armor and it buffed out perfectly. I would probably get any dent/scratch fixed at this point. I love the car and want it to look good.

 

[Mnlevin]

within 5 weeks of owning the car (my wife and I share it depending on who is driving the farthest that day) she got hit on the nosecone with something falling off a truck in front of her. 3 weeks later she got hit by a bicyclist in the front again, small scratch. Both remain on the nosecone as a reminder she needs to be more careful. Costs over $500 to replace the nosecone and they are minor so I will just wait until she has the next little incident to fix them.

 

[JohnQ]

Right passenger door ding in parking lot, front left bumper pole scrape by valet. Their insurance covered the bumper replacement, I covered the ding (which I just had pressed out).

Rear bumper tap that resulted in a small indentation from the license plate screw I presume (that one was my fault). Will wait to repair until the inevitable next rear ender.

 

[caddieo]

None so far after almost 5000 miles. But then, I park in almost empty rows and rationalize this as a means of getting some exercise. Or else, I'll park at the extreme right end of a row (if available) so that there are no driver's doors opening into me (most cars have no passengers).

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I have 2 separate small dents on my rear passenger 1/4 panel right above my wheel well. Not fixed yet but pretty small. And they don't look like door dings, more like someone bumped into the car firmly...2 separate times. First one happened ~ 1 week after I got the car.

I park away from people whenever I can, I have watched too many people use the car next to them as a 'brace' for their own car door! :scared:

 

[MarkR]

No dents thus far. I park in remote areas of parking lots and view my walking as a form of exercise.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I would. That's what it's for, and since it wasn't your fault they can't raise your rates because of it.

I'd be careful with "can't." Probably depends on the state and the wording of your policy. My wife got hit, the other party was at fault, and our rates skyrocketed at renewal because she was in a "major" accident that followed a "minor" accident (also not her fault).

Different state, different insurance company, my rates went up 20% after my car was broken into and vandalized. The stated reasoning was that I had a $1000+ claim in the past 12 months.

So, it does happen.


Back on topic, I was dismayed to find my neighbor scratched up the rear quarter panel, probably exiting the car one day. It just swirled up the clear coat, but it was instantly noticeable since I just had it detailed. Our parking spots are giant, and she can barely manage to get her Honda Fit inside the lines. I always end up folding my mirrors and putting it within 2-3" of the pillar on the other side of my spot to give her plenty of space. Obviously wasn't enough. :cursing:

 

[Plug Me In]

Yes, I have a little scuff on the left front quarter panel above the wheel last summer. Broke my heart. I haven't gotten it fixed yet as I'm thinking about getting somebody to do an OptiCoat.

 

[jerry33]

No dings or dents, but there is a place where the paint armour is damaged from road debris. There are also a couple of red marks in the paint armour from when the signs blew over.

 

[Doug_G]

I've got a door ding on the edge of the rear right wheel well. Happened a few months after I got the car - not quite sure when because it is (fortunately) not terribly obvious.

 

[jcaspar]

None so far but I never park next to another car if at all possible and like to park about 10 spaces beyond the furtherest car.

 

[Vip]

No dings yet with 6000 miles on the meter. Like everyone else I park far away. But Christmas parking was stressful!!:tongue:

 

[Apoclyps]

Curious here as well, I've owned aluminum body vehicles in the past and haven't had any issues, mostly due to my tendency to park in the back of the lot, but I have had severe issues with hail in Texas, and I watch the weather like a hawk to avoid turning the car into a golf ball.

Didn't Mythbusters show that divots in the car's exterior made it more efficient (at least for ICEs).

 

[jwtseng]

Keeping my fingers crossed... no dings yet. Chalk it up to very careful parking habits which generally include providing valet service for my wife and kids...35k miles and counting!

 

[Mayhemm]

I park in remote areas of parking lots and view my walking as a form of exercise.

LOL! This was my New Years' Resolution. Too bad I picked one of the coldest winters on record to start.:crying:

 

[howardc64]

S85 is wife's daily driver running errands. Shifted her parking style from least walking to empty parking areas with no other cars. Still picked up a couple of parking lot damages in just a few thousand miles.

A foot long line with a couple of 3-4 inch creases in the rear quarter panel. Paintless dent removal guy says likely from shopping cart. $300 to remove.

Worse is a softball sized scrap and indentation in the lower rear corner of the passenger side rear door Paintless dent removal guy was wonder what could have caused damage that low. Most bumpers are higher than that. Can't do paint less dent removal because harder door edge structures are involved

Model S is really wide. About the width of a minivan. But I don't recall any parking lot damage in our minivan after 45k miles where as Model S picked up all this within a few thousand miles while practicing much safer parking practices.

Rather infuriating seeing people are so careless with other people's cars and taking no responsibility after scraping other cars in the parking lot.