I'm a little over two weeks into my conversion to driving an NB as a daily, and it seems like every day, I notice a new ding or dent.
I drive about 50 miles a day, 70% highway. And the dents are showing up mostly on the hood (and one on the rear quarter). I never had this issue when I drove my Mazda 6 (for 7 years). Is it just the car? The driving technique? Bad luck?
Are there any products out that help? Bra? Clear bra? Brush guard? Bourbon?
Put a dent on it yourself. A small one, near the driver's door. This will deplete your "give an f" account balance to zero.
etifosi wrote: Put a dent on it yourself. A small one, near the driver's door. This will deplete your "give an f" account balance to zero.
This is a flat lie. The first ding will make you more paranoid than ever.
Shotgun
It's got enough on it now that I'm not heart broken.
I bought it to drive, and it's going to get some wear on it from being used.
But it's only at 55k miles right now, and I would like to slow the rate of wear of possible.
At the current rate, it'll look like a golf ball in a few years.
Cooper_Tired wrote: It's got enough on it now that I'm not heart broken. I bought it to drive, and it's going to get some wear on it from being used. But it's only at 55k miles right now, and I would like to slow the rate of wear of possible. At the current rate, it'll look like a golf ball in a few years.
Upside: I believe the Mythbusters found that a golfball-exterior car got better gas milage. So you've got that to look forward to!
What kind of roadway debris are you dealing with?
For me, most of the dents appear in the form of parking lot door dings.
I try to prevent those by not parking next to Camrys, Avalons, SUVs with stick figure family decals, full size trucks, luxury cars, beaters, minivans, shopping carts, delivery trucks, anything with long doors, Hyundai, sports cars, rental cars, and motorcycles. 
There are the films and sprays the circle track racers use to protect their nose and paint. Though I would suspect long term problems with rain water getting under it and destroying the paint.
I have nothing good to say about the likes of car bras and such.
2 weeks? They were already there and you're just noticing them. Wax it in a garage or on an overcast day and you'll find all the dings. Then treat yourself to a PBR and some PDR.
I always park in the slot that has the most sides protected.
Please, for the love of the flying spaghetti monster, do not put a bra on the car! They ruin paint faster than anything else!
The only acceptable way to protect body panels are brush guards, exocages, or maybe a thin, adhesive layer of material.
After that? Buy up some clean hood and fenders and crate them up and stash them for later! 
Dents are definitely new.
I have pics from day of pic up that do not have them
I have not noticed any specific instances of debris hitting the car. I'll try a few things with technique over the next few weeks
They are definitely not door dings, as I park away from others religiously
The buying spares and storing is a great idea. May go that approach.
Keep a lookout for gravel trucks on the road in front of you. Even if their loads are covered, stray rocks can fly out the back and hit your car.
In Response to Stanger:
My buddy showed me his Accord's front fenders and asked me to guess what had happened.
"Shotgun?"
His large dogs had chased something into the wheelwells and chewed the fenders through trying to get to it.
That's probably not OP's situation.
stuart in mn wrote: Keep a lookout for gravel trucks on the road in front of you. Even if their loads are covered, stray rocks can fly out the back and hit your car.
I’m always miffed by the signs on gravel trucks that read “Not Responsible for Rock Damage” like somehow a crappy sign usurps all laws and statutes.
I think I’ll get a T-Shirt made up that reads “Not Responsible for Taking a Dump on Your Easy Chair” and start following these guys home.
The black fabric car bras are stupid. I've heard that the stick-on vinyl clear bras are useful, but never owned one.
Something about my NB attracts rock chips in the hood and bumper paint. I dunno if it's the shape, the paint, or the fact that mine has done a tone of track days and auto crosses, but there are way more chips in the paint than a 90K mile car should have.
Some e36m3 bag hit my wife's matrix in a parking lot today and took off. Pretty minor but wtf. Man people suck.
The only way I have found to reliably prevent parking lot dings and scratches is to park next to a cart corral. weird.
Park as far away from store as possible and walk. Good exercise and less stress. Win, Win
PS: Stay out of meteor showers
You'll need to log in to post.
