Posts Tagged ‘Car Door Guards’

How do I remove a car door ding and dents – Any good car door protectors out there?

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Car door dings and dents can be a real pain to remove. Do not try and remove the dings yourself, since you may cause more damage. Many body shops are equipped to remove car door dings and dents. Also, some specialty businesses have emerged that only do car paint protection and car door ding and dent removal. Car door dings and dents are removed by placing pressure behind the dent. This is no easy task and may require removing your door panels. Lots of companies that do car door ding and dent removal. I called my local dealer for some names. I am sick of having to fix my door dings every month and need some advice on car door protectors.

Car door protection in the Parking Garage?

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Parking in New York City is like parking in a war zone. There are road hazards, bad drivers and rude people. I used to be one of those people who always parked in the street to save money. After getting my car dinged by taxi cab doors once, twice, three times….I decided to try a parking lot. How bad could a parking garage be? After all You pay money to park, so you expect that they will care for your car. Needless to say, after two weeks of parking at the garage I noticed my first door ding, the size of a quarter. I brought this to the attendant’s attention only to be told that I drove in with the door ding. I was really pissed by the attendant’s arrogance. I had a word with the parking garage manger the next day and he told me they would pay for the dent removal, but future incidents would be my problem. He explained that car dings were unavoidable since the cars are constantly being moved about and he did not know when the ding occurred or who was driving the car. The manager told me about door shox and recommended the product. He actually showed me a vehicle that was parked there with the product attached. I was A bit skeptical at first, but I purchased a set of valet door shox to try. Nicely engineered product!

What are some of the various car door protectors available?

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Ever since experiencing my first door ding, I have always been something of a car door ding guru. Back in the 1980’s when I was in high school there were not many options available. There were a few magnetic car door protectors on the market, but none of them were any good. These door guards had magnetic strips glued to the backside and they were rough on the paint finish. I have tried every other car door protector since, and in this blog I will give you my thoughts and opinions.

There are various kinds of car door guards and car door protectors available. Some door guards are the stick-on type, which may include car door moldings or car door guards, both OEM and aftermarket. The stick-on car door guards are the most popular because you attach them only once and then forget they are there. These color matched rubber car door protectors are usually the color of the vehicle, so they blend nicely and look like part of the vehicle. This is my favorite car door guard and my best pick overall. You can also get matching car door edge guards. These car door protectors are sold for $4 per foot, plus installation. Another car door guard I tried was a suction cup car door protector. This car door protector had a three suction cups attached to a rubber mat body. Looked great, but it would not stay on for long– whatever I tried it would fall off after a few minutes. Additionally, there was no security feature, so it could be easily stolen off the vehicle. After turning my back for 5 minutes the car door guard was on the floor. The last category of car door protection I tested included several magnetic style car door protectors. Magnetic car door protectors are great because they will easily grab onto the vehicle’s steel panels. The problem with magnetic car door guards is that exposed magnets can scratch the delicate finish of your car. Even nylon magnets can scratch, especially if they accidentally slide or move on the surface. Some companies have realized the problems with exposed magnets and wrapped the magnets with fabric or a nylon covering. Good idea in theory, but the problem is that these materials often make the product more slippery and more prone to slide or move. I thought magnetic door guards were totally out of the picture, until I tried door shox. The door shox magnets are covered with an anti slip silicone/rubber with circular ribs to reduce the contact surface area. The magnets are cleverly located at three points so the product is flexible. Overall, I am happy with this car door protector…Cheers.

Importance of Car Door Protection

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Parking nowadays is just as dangerous as driving.   Whether you park in the shopping mall or the street, dings and dents to your car door is a big problem. Each year thousands of cars are damaged in parking garages and parking lots, resulting in millions of dollars in damages.    This problem is so prevalent that businesses were started to specifically remove car door dings and dents.    Body shops and ding repair shop businesses are booming, as more people are repairing their car doors from the unsightly car dings.   To the rescue are a slew of car door protection products such as car door guards and car door protectors that can help save your car door.   As cars become sleeker and more sculpted, many car manufacturers are foregoing the bulky car door guards altogether.   Without car door protection, the car door is a sitting target and can be easily damaged when an adjacent door makes contact with the metal surface.   Sometimes this contact results in a ding and even worse a deep scratch.   A ding can usually be repaired at a body shop.   However, a deep scratch or scrape will be more permanent, and difficult to cover up.   Some car manufacturers offer OEM car door guards as an option or an aftermarket accessory.   While these products help reduce the incidence of car door dings and dents they are usually mounted to low for maximum effectiveness or are to skinny to offer much protection.