[djbrady2]

I was sitting in the parking lot in a grocery store when some girl next to me carelessly opened her door and smashed into my brand new car I've had for 1 month.

She then got in her car and drove away.

The damage is not major, no paint chip, but its all i can see now when I look in my passenger side mirror. Part of me says forget it, its a daily driver and its bound to get beat up. But it kind of ruins the allure of having a brand new car so I think im going to fix it.

Any advice how I should proceed? I did take her plate number but not sure I want to go through insurance- I do not want my carfax showing the car has been in an accident when I go to sell it over something so minor.

I was reading about paintless dent removal- anybody tried this?
Should I just contact my insurance and give them her plate number?

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by djbrady2

...
I was reading about paintless dent removal- anybody tried this?
Should I just contact my insurance and give them her plate number?

No. Probably won't get anywhere with them. PDR is pretty reasonably priced.

[Qsilver7]

If you don’t want to go through insurance claims…then find a good dentless repair shop.

Then, to lessen encountering future door dinger idiots…learn to become a far-parker…plus the exercise will be good for you. I don’t even consider parking near the entrance most of the time, I just simple park at the end (especially if the parking lot is slopped..I always park at or near the top).

But you still have to be careful because some other far-Parker’s are selfish idiots too…and instead of returning their shopping cart to the corral…will leave it out there where all it takes is a wift of wind to send the cart careening toward other’s parked cars.

If I do find parking spaces closer to the door…its usually next to a concrete island where I use the PDC/top-view mirrors to park as close as possible to the concrete curb… which will leave more room on the opposite side for “I-don’t-care” door-dangers to open their door without causing damage. The same can occur if you find an empty space next to a handicap parking space that has a large blue-lined area that allows you to pull close enough to…which can give enough room on the handicap side and the other side, too…which allows door-dingers enough room to swing their doors open to its widest width and not hit your car.

Barring those last two scenarios…I just drive to the other end, park, then get my exercise.

[LogicalApex]

I have PDR coverage in my Wheel & Tire package so I just take it to the dealership and let them repair it.

That said, you can seek out a PDR shop or ask the dealership on pricing. It is around $125 or so in my area.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by djbrady2

I was sitting in the parking lot in a grocery store when some girl next to me carelessly opened her door and smashed into my brand new car I've had for 1 month.

She then got in her car and drove away.

The damage is not major, no paint chip, but its all i can see now when I look in my passenger side mirror. Part of me says forget it, its a daily driver and its bound to get beat up. But it kind of ruins the allure of having a brand new car so I think im going to fix it.

Any advice how I should proceed? I did take her plate number but not sure I want to go through insurance- I do not want my carfax showing the car has been in an accident when I go to sell it over something so minor.

I was reading about paintless dent removal- anybody tried this?
Should I just contact my insurance and give them her plate number?

I had a minor dent in the door when I bought mine. The body shop I used even farms that out to a contracted independent PDR guy. Looks flawless now. It's not terribly expensive. About the same as having a curbed wheel repaired. $100-150 depending on if you go through a dealer or find a guy yourself. If you can figure out who your dealer uses, call them direct and save yourself 20% or so.

[djbrady2]

Ok thank you guys for the responses, feeling better about it after reading this, def gonna go with PDR and hope for good results.

[Mosaud1998]

This is why I park super far. Even at work

[djbrady2]

I actually always try to find a safe spot too. In this instance, I was doing "pick up" of my prescheduled grocery order. I was there for less than 5 min. Next time Im doing delivery

[Warp Ten]

Good thoughts here. I have used paintless dent repair several times on my BMWs. You might check with your local BMW dealer. Our dealership (where I worked for seven years) has a good detail shop and one person is the paintless dent specialist. The prices mentioned here are similar to what I remember (though they may be a bit higher now) and the guy did an excellent job even on tough dents. The toughest one I gave him was on the edge crease of the trunk on my 2010 535xi, sort of the top edge of the "spoiler" lip. The PDR guy was scratching his head wondering how I could have gotten a dent there. Many of you may remember that the trunks on E60s would spring up quickly and with force when the "open" button was pressed. My 535 parked under a lift when my Corvette Z06 was up for the winter. You'd be surprised how often the trunk got opened unintentionally, like when I got out of the car and the button was pushed accidently, so the trunk edge would hit the steel lift. After getting the ding fixed twice I finally glued some sheet rubber on the underside of the lift frame where the trunk would hit which solved the problem. That was a difficult spot for the PDR guy to get to and while the dent didn't disappear entirely it was 95% gone. I recommend PDR.--Bob

[G30 B58]

You must first do everything you can to avoid door dings. Certain spots are wider than others. 4 door cars have shorter doors than coupes. Park uphill when there are shopping carts involved. All kinds of little tricks to help avoid dings in the first place.

[SteveinArizona]

somebody hit and dented both passenger doors when I wasn't around. The body shop (associated with a BMW dealer) tried fixing it because the insurance company told them to try but knew that they had to replace the skins (they are aluminum and don't repair well) which they did.

Hopefully your dent is so minor that it can be repaired.

[Joe-BMW33]

A good PDR guy is worth his weight in gold. They will usually charge $100-$150 for the first one and then much cheaper after that in the same session. I think my PDR guy removed 6 dings from my E39 for $300. It's a form of art and requires the right tools including lighting.

Now you didn't post a picture. Most door dings are PDR-able, but if it is on a crease or an edge (like a wheel well lip), it can't be performed sometimes. Sounds like yours is PDR material, but post a pic.

Yes, people suck sometimes. I think I would have bitched that bitch out like there was no tomorrow and called the cops. Which admittedly would be over the top, but I am being honest (with myself, LOL!)

[LuvMyE92]

The first time I did PDR was on a Porsche 911, 5 body panels, numerous dings, they got them all out almost perfectly.

Most recently the wife's inherited SUV thing got tagged (hit & run) when her Dad was driving it - never fixed it - and it was a $2400 insurance claim. PDR got 98% of it out, for around $450. Natch she pocketed the difference.

Me, personally, I'm a far parker.

[S6F]

Anybody know a good PDR guy in central Jersey? Appreciated.

[LPTyler]

I just had some dents removed from my VW. It was 300 for both and one was on a fender crease. The one on the crease you can just barley see, but the other is like it was never there. I highly recommend it.