mmarshall

One of the things I routinely mention, in the EXTERIOR section of my auto reviews, on the vehicle I am reviewing, is if it has (or lacks) traditional body-side mouldings down the sides of the doors and/or fenders to help ward off parking-lot dings and small dents. I also menton if I think the mouldings, if present, are mounted too low to do a good job of protecting.....which is sometimes the case. I am a firm believer in having them, although, of course, they aren't foolproof, and don't always match the exact point of someone else's door, being opened next to your car, just waiting to ding your paint-job.

I have noticed an increasing number of new vehicles, lately, omitting them. Several of you CL posters have the opinion that this is an inevitable styling change, have called me on this issue, and feel that it is something that is on the way out. I'm simply not convinced that styling is the issue, but, rather, cost-cutting....automakers save maybe a couple of bucks on each car by not providing them. A couple of cars, of course, doesn't make any difference, but, of course, that adds up over a production-run of tens of thousands (sometimes hundereds of thousands) of vehicles at the plant each year.

Unfortunately, Subaru, one of my favorite automakers, which, in general, does AWD so well, has been one of the automakers going (IMO) overboard on cost-cutting in the last few years....not to mention the steering/front-suspension issues in the new Legacy/Outback that I have discussed in other threads. The new 2010-2011 Legacy/Outback, like the 2008 and 2009 Forester/Impreza model redesigns, showed noted cost-cutting in a number of areas. I won't list them all, but three of the annoying omissions on the 2010 Legacy/Outback were the folding side-mirrors (for 2010, they were rigidly-mounted), the loss of the engine coolant-temperature gauge (replaced by blue/red idiot-lights), and, of course, the thread topic.....the loss of body-side mouldings.....I am a firm believer that all three should be standard on all vehicles. But, apparantly, my opinion wasn't alone. The public outcry about the rigidly-mounted mirrors was noted by the Subaru marketers......and, after only one year without them, Subaru quietly added the folding-side mirrors back for 2011, and made a retro-folding-mirror accessory-kit for the 2010s that lacked them. There seems to have also been a public outcry about the lack of side mouldings (besides my own, of course), and Subaru has just announced newly-available, retro-fit, stick-on, factory accessory body-side mouldings for new Legacys and Outbacks that did have them standard from the actory. It still really doesn't address the issue that they should have been standard in the first place, and that Subaru made a mistake (cost-cutting, of course) by not proving them on the cars to start with. And one must, of course, pay extra for the accessory-kit (cheaper ones, of course, are available aftermarket at auto-parts stores). But it at least admits that the public is not going to sit back and watch them completely dissappear without saying something.

Whether other automakers (including Lexus) follow suit with this or not, we'll have to wait and see.................

Now, as for the missing coolant-temperature gauge on new Subarus, I guess we'll just have to keep complaining (maybe we'll see the gauge put back for 2012. JDM Subarus DO get the gauge....it was never dropped in Japan. It's just on the American-market models (except for the WRX/STi) that the bean-counters took it off.

Perhaps, though, in the end, the accessory-policy though, may (?) turn out to be correct. That way, those who don't want them (which, I know, includes some of you CL posters) aren't stuck with them (no pun intended), and those who do want them can at least order them......but I think the ideal situation would be a no-cost option.

RX469

iTrader: (1)

MMarshall,
I like having the mouldings as they do help with the door dings etc. however I like the fact that they give the car some character and definition as many cars the doors are a big flat sheet of metal that's boring or of no character.

And I don't think I would buy a car with no temp. guage. That's just absurd!

I for one vote to keep them!

mmarshall

Agreed.

I can remember, back in the early 1980's, when American car companies built what was (arguably) some of the worst junk in their history. Ford and Chrysler used, on some of their vehicles, a single red "Engine" warning light (NOT to be confused with the later yellow/orange"Check-Engine" light that indicated a computer or emissions malfunction). With the early-80s Ford/Chrysler system, BOTH oil-pressure AND coolant-temperature sensors were wired into the single red-light. When it flashed, the Owners' Manual told you to shut off the engine, have the car towed, and both systems checked to see what the problem was.

And we wonder why the public, in the 1980's, defected to Japanese cars by the millions

bnizzle87

aside from my car, we've always asked the dealer to include the color coded side moldings just because they are very useful. the shopping carts, people opening their doors extremely wide, and any other sort of door impact- these moldings do the job well. daily drivers are a must for those things, and i can see how dealers can make it an add-on, but it's a necessary one IMO. i've noticed none of the toyota/lexus vehicles havent had them pre-installed for some time, which is clearly a cost cutting technique as well as a change in perception; there are some who want it, but a vast majority, from whom i've talked to at dealerships, don't really like it. i guess many are willing to do without just so their rides looks "better," even if it'll be at the mercy of the rampaging shopping carts.

IS-SV

I think they are helpful (for protection) only when located at mid-height and at the wide point of car. Since most newer body designs don't accommodate them well (because of the body designs and where character lines are located on the body) they tend to be left off for a cleaner look. It is not a cost-cutting move, in fact the more expensive the car the more likely the car will not have the moldings.

I am very aware of these moldings and door dings. I personally use a SUV when I know I will be parking in crappy locations and have far fewer problems (rarely getting dings) as a result mainly due to the ride height. Another trick many SUVs have are plastic wheel lip fender moldings painted to match metal areas, which are very difficult to ding with a normal car door and these wide fender areas do take a lot of hits in parking lots.

Good topic and observations on the trends. I too am well aware of this trend and understand why the moldings are disappearing.

btw, I am with most here and find a lack of a temperature gauge to be simply unacceptable.

spwolf

you can get mouldings for any toyota as accessory...

dunnojack

i'd rather have a sculpted door than side moldings.

on today's cars, side moldings ruin the flow of the design.

i've never found side mouldings to be of any help either, esp against shopping carts and SUV's.

but if you wanted one, pepboys probably sells them, and you can get them painted at the body shop.


if side moldings were put on the outermost contour of the door, as they should be placed, you would see these-
see what i mean........ ugly.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

True.
I have side moldings on both my vehicles.

C. McHale

Keep in mind there are some newer paint technologies out there being developed too, which are resistant to minor dings and scrapes, which would eliminate the need for mouldings. As with all technology, as it becomes more commonplace it'll migrate to more cars and will probably become a standard feature, even on lower-end models.

GiantsFan

iTrader: (9)

I hope those are photoshopped! Ugly doesn't even begin to describe what that is...

chikoo

No. They are not a thing of the past, and neither are they cost cutting exercise.

The pertinent question to be asked is does the side molding actually help? If not, what is the purpose of tacking that on to the car? It does not make the car look beautiful and actually increases cost.

In all these years of ownership, the body side moldings have never ever been useful to me. All it does is provide a false sense of protection.

I say, good riddance!

chikoo

Is it like Plasti-dip? Rubberized paint? Sounds good to me!

mikez

Trust me, if you want side moldings your local Lexus dealerships will offer you them for every model at a highly inflated costs

caddyowner

While some are useful, BSMs tend to look ugly on many cars. They were a hot topic in the C5 vette world. I made sure my vette did not have them.

mmarshall

Exactly. Spot-on. I've commented about that a number of times. I can't count the number of cars I've seen with too-low mouldings and a nice row of door dings six or seven inches above the mouldings.

I'd say that's more of a case with sports cars than with more utilitarian types of vehicles. But I agree there's probably no way to 100% prove that it either is or isn't specifically a cost-cutting issue (that's why I stated it as my opinion rather than a fact). A clean-looking design is, in fact, as you note, a priority for some car designers, but it is also a fact that eliminating moulding does lower costs, no matter what the selling price of the car....though the money saved on each car probably isn't much. Still, it can add up.


A traditional temp gauge, rather than an idiot light, can be very useful for detecting thermostat, water-pump, or other cooling-system problems BEFORE the engine overheats to the red-light stage and has to be shut down.