ziggyziggy

So I parked my 450h on the street and had dinner on Friday night. I came back two hours later and saw a nasty damaged area right next to the driver's door handle. The area, about the size of a penny, had paint completely removed and I can see the bare silver metal underneath. it was also pushed in slightly. Now this eyesore is looking right at me whenever I open the door to drive.

Now my car is obsidian black so the bare silver metal is easily noticeable. Should I try the OEM touch up paint and cover it up or do I need something better? I know it will not go back to perfection but I just dont want to look at the spot everytime and move on with my life. Again this justtifies my reason for no more black cars in the future. Little scratches from careless car wash shops easily show up, even the free car wash at the local dealership!

I have driven for many years and never had this kind of serious damage caused by another car door opening next to mine. Of course this is all speculation and imagination on my behalf but this seems to be the most obvious explanation. I have had door dings where the metal goes in a little or a straight line of paint scraped off but this time the paint is COMPLETELY gone! And its the size of a penny so i assume the assh*le just kept on pushing with his hulking fists to try to get out.

As for all the muddaassho*les just double parking next to other people's cars and slamming it open without an regards to other's vehicles, I hope you get hit by a freighter truck.


The end.

UCSB

I would go down and have it professionally repaired. Perhaps a combination of paintless dent repair and some paint touch-up at a body shop. Do you have the side moldings?

User 41924

I was curious how you got a door ding while parked on the street? Was it diagonal parking? Also, having a ding by the handle seems higher than expected. I was wondering how it might have been dinged. Not that it matters. It still sucks!

I would have it fixed professionally, too. As you pointed out, it's in a place where you'll see it every time you get in the car. Unless you have it repaired correctly, it’ll drive you crazy!

Cruiter

So sorry your RX was marred in that way. But like Woodrow, I'm curious as to the type of ding. Is it possible that being parked in the street and the location of the damage (by the door handle), that someone may have been trying to break in through the lock and had to leave the scene because they were spotted? It just seems strange enough to ask. Can you post a close up shot of the damage?

MEP7557

Try one of those professional dent repair guys. My dent guy has another guy who does paint touch up in tandem with him. He uses an airbrush to touch up spots, better than a brushed on touch-up. Good Luck.

LeoDLion

I would go to a professional guy to fix. The size (e.g. penny) looks big.

ziggyziggy

It was parked on the street so anybody could have double parked next to me. it is NYC and plenty of people double park all over the place.


You guys do have a point. Maybe somebody was trying to break in. Let me try to get a pic tonight and upload.


Thanks.

Tarheel72

Zig, sorry for your "loss". Have you ever thought of a mobile repair service? We used one for our 2001 RX when we had bumper damage from someone backing into us in a parking lot. They came to our location, popped the dent out of the bumper and painted it with factory match. It was perfect and cost less than half of a full body shop repair. Most dent repair places are paintless which will not help you much. This service will pop out the dent but also paint. They do not paint the entire panel but blend in the paint and clear coat. Worth a shot. Check your area for a service. Good luck.

Momo1410

OMG! I feel your pain! I have the 2012 rx450h in Starlight Black. Two weeks ago I was driving in a residential area in the middle of the night, and some guy shot at my car with a pellet gun! The paint is chipped off and you can see the metal and it's dented. I called the police, and when they showed up I showed them exactly which house it came from. Unfortunately, they weren't much help... All they said was "Well its difficult to find exactly who did it because we can't go knocking on every single door". So now it's coming out of my own pocket to fix

Ps. It better to get it professionally fixed, and fixed soon. With the metal exposed, it'll start to rust, especially if you live in a rainy area

Cruiter

If that were me and I 'knew' which house it came from, I'd say to the cops," then stay here and watch my back, I'm knocking on the door. That's legal". Ask the homeowner if he has a kid with a pellet gun and just see where it goes. But not showing a lot of anger, just like you knew what you were talking about. If he came out to talk, then the cops would talk too.

LexRexBlue

My RX 400h was dinged in NYC while in line for the Holland Tunnel. Guy was trying to make an extra lane between the ropes. My car was stopped. He made a foot long dent high on the door also above the handle. It was his mirror. Lexus had their ding service fix it. You'd never know it happened.