I have a Forester XT and the darn things gets dents (not door dings) often in the front fender above the crease and between the top of the fender. I've taken it to a couple of different paintless dent repair shops and they say that the current Foresters are famous for this. Even the stealer said this. I've had them fix the dents at least 3 times. I can't believe how soft that area is. I can dent it with my thumb or with my butt resting against it (no smart ass comments about that :)
Unfortunately Subies seem famous for weak sheetmetal and weak glass, but thankfully the frames and engines are mighty and seem to go forever. I've just learned to live with the dents in my '95 Outback, and I've come up with some amusing (fictional) stories as to how they got there. ;) Truthfully though, I've gotten dents from things you wouldn't think would dent. I tapped, and I do mean lightly tapped, the plastic hose from a shop vac against my door. Dent. I parked under a tree at school that dropped these nasty green acorn looking things and got several dents from those. And of course, I get all sorts of door dents in parking lots. Last I checked, mom's Forester had 30-something individual dents, mostly in the rear fenders.
It helps to stay away from two-door vehicles like Camaros and Cavaliers. The doors are long and open wide. You can't control who parks next to you, but you CAN control who you park next to. I'm young and able-bodied so I usually park farther out to leave the up front spaces to the moms and elderly, but if I'm in a hurry I'll try to nestle between two minvans - rear sliders and short front doors make less dents.
The costs vary depending on the size of the dent and the depth of the ding and how hard it is to access the dent behind it. Usually, the guy charges me $25-$40 per dent since its not a door ding. Door dings are higher cost since they have to smooth our the point of contact
I've had many makes of cars from both sides of the ocean and I've never seen anything like the way my XT's front fender flexes and dents. It almost feels like the Saturn plastic doors (at least they don't dent). And I park the hell away from everyone.
It's very frustrating to wash & wax the car and see these dents or body flexes.
My god! what do you expect? Subaru's are a cheap car! They suffer from cheap/crappy paint that stains and dissolves from bird poop to glass that cracks in the sun. The thin/soft sheetmetal is barely good enough to cover the car.A collision with a shopping cart will result in $1000's in damage.They have lots of engine problems from bad valve guides to not being able to pass smog tests in less than 5 years. The WRX is now starting to get a reputation of engine compartment fires.
The car is a shitbox, maybe thats acceptable in the UK..but it sure doesnt make any points in the US of A.
I had just signed the papers on my new '02 WRX wagon, and the salesman, a rather portly gentleman, was showing me how the key fob works. When he enabled the security system, the car began beeping, and he said one of the doors must be open. He went around to the back and bumped the rear hatch with his butt to make sure it was closed. You guessed it - he put a huge dent in it! I hadn't even sat in the car yet. They had the "Dent Wizard" pop it out. For some reason, this car is a dent magnet. I park 50 feet away from the nearest car and it still gets dents. I've had cars for 5-10 years with only a single ding, but have had more dents on the WRX in the last two years than in the previous 20.
I bet it's that troll on the newsgroup who's doing it.
Have to agree with you there. Although fiberglass and plastic seem like a great idea, those panels look awfully silly when they've been smashed to bits and are barely hanging on. For whatever reason, (to me at least) a dent might look bad, but doesn't look as bad as the broken-glass appearance of shattered plastic or fiberglass.
Trabbi (or Trabi) stands for Trabant, a two-stroke passenger car with a 100% rust-proof plastic body manufactured in the former German Democratic Rebublic.
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