First Ding

[ATLalien]

Dammit!
Took delivery in Feb of 15, and still have only 9K miles. Managed to avoid any real paint damage until a few days ago. I'm pretty sure it happened at work, though I can't be certain. Was running late to a meeting and broke my own parking rules by parking between two cars (1 of which was a beater and suspect #1).
It's on the top of the driver's side door, just above the crease. The dent is small and only noticeable in the right light, there are also a few, small scratches.

It's small enough that I think I might be able to pop it out myself. I have one of these dent repair kits at home. Anyone have any experience with these and/or tips for applying touch up paint to tiny areas?

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[benni302]

I feel your pain; took a tire chunk to the front fascia this past weekend leaving 3 chips in the paint....comprehensive would cover it but it's less than the deductible to repair, probably just use touch up paint. As far as the repairing the ding, i have a ding king and used it once on my old Bronco- left residue on the paint but did the trick. Just find one of those mobile ding/dent repair guys, they usually don't cost too terrible much.

 

[ATLalien]

Thanks, I too have the ding king set. My wife bought it years ago and we never used it. I had hoped to avoid filing a claim for something so small. if I can pop the ding out without causing any additional damage, just using touch up paint on the scratches would be acceptable. Might check into the mobile repair though, could make sense if the price is right.

 

[Fenix]

I DD mine for 25 highway miles one way to work. So I have a few rock chips on the hood and front bumper. Kinda annoying but nothing major. I have used touch up paint pretty successfully over the years by layering the paint with a very small tip brush. If you happen to "blob" the touch up paint there is a product called "Blob Eliminator" to reverse the damage or flatten the blob out.

check out youtube videos for this product, a little goes a very long way!
https://www.amazon.com/Langka-LANGKA-The-Blob-Eliminator/dp/B000BAT622

I have not used Dr Color Chip but I've heard good things about it
https://www.drcolorchip.com/

 

[Litfury]

I used doctor color chip on my black mustang gt. The color is spot on and it's super easy to use. I got two scratches after owning my car for two weeks where I had parallel parked and some moron backed into the front and drove off without leaving a note or anything. Can still see the areas because It ate down to the metal but it's harder to notice now that the paint is there

 

[ATLalien]

Thanks for the comments all. Dent isn't very big at all, scratches are smaller, but it's sickening. I
checked out the ding king set last night, didn't realize there was glue involved! Not sure if I want to put that on the car.

 

[Rich of So Cal]

Thanks for the comments all. Dent isn't very big at all, scratches are smaller, but it's sickening. I
checked out the ding king set last night, didn't realize there was glue involved! Not sure if I want to put that on the car.

Most of the glue pops off when you pull the dent. What's left can be peeled off with your hand. Not a big deal, at least with the pops a dent that I have used.

 

[TURTL3]

If the dent isn't too big, I'd just write it off as a battle scar. I try my best to keep my car mint, but sometimes life happens. I've learned to let the little rock chips and micro dents go. After a two bucket wash and some wax, no one will be able to tell but you probably. I know it bugs you, but sometimes it just boils down to another daily driver badge of honor.

 

[goldengooner]

If the dent isn't too big, I'd just write it off as a battle scar. I try my best to keep my car mint, but sometimes life happens. I've learned to let the little rock chips and micro dents go. After a two bucket wash and some wax, no one will be able to tell but you probably. I know it bugs you, but sometimes it just boils down to another daily driver badge of honor.

took mine in the other day, not 3 months old, and my detailer said to me "you have a dent" lucky its only small, and not on the wheel arch which is a right pain, so when i have the scratches taken out of my hood the dent bloke will be at the garage also
£50 to get it done, lucky no marks, just the little dent

 

[Agent_S550]

A good real detailer can air brush/fix the front of a car. I have two very bad multi spot rock chips that I'm having fixed. They were bad enough walking by the car you could see them. Getting him to color sand and buff them out so they match or at the very least look like slightly offshade grey spots. Cars going in the garage after the last one. I bought a beater when I saw the front of my car.

 

[Brando]

I used a PDR tech to pull a really bad dent in my quarter panel. He came to my house, worked in my garage with me watching. He even bought the Ford touch up paint in advance. You can not even tell where it was. Your dent being on a crease might change the prognosis but it's worth having someone look at it as well. Right around $100 with the cost of the touch up paint that he left with me. I would use him again 100%.

 

[Given To Fly]

I've had one of these for about 15 years and I bet I've used it on 50 dings, on other people's cars.

Works good and has a small learning curve.

http://www.hsautoshot.com/GluePuller.html

 

[soldier989]

On my 99 Cougar, I had decent luck making dents less noticeable by using a dry ice method. Basically, heat the area up with a blow dryer (no hot enough to screw up the paint) and lay dry ice on the spot. It didn't pull any big dents, but helped flatten the smaller ones out a bit.

 

[ATLalien]

If the dent isn't too big, I'd just write it off as a battle scar. I try my best to keep my car mint, but sometimes life happens. I've learned to let the little rock chips and micro dents go. After a two bucket wash and some wax, no one will be able to tell but you probably. I know it bugs you, but sometimes it just boils down to another daily driver badge of honor.

Valid points for sure. The casual observer won't notice it but anyone who's a car guy like us will.

Very true though, even the most carefully conserved car will eventually get some dents and scratches if driven at all. Mine isn't quite a daily driver but close enough, split the commutes with a 96 Bronco.

 

[ATLalien]

I've had one of these for about 15 years and I bet I've used it on 50 dings, on other people's cars.

Works good and has a small learning curve.

http://www.hsautoshot.com/GluePuller.html

This is very similar to the "Ding King" set I have. if the glue will come off pretty easily, I'll probably try it. Figure worst case, I could buff/clay bar any residue.

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