[acura4523]

How far do you go on fixing every din and scratch? I got a 2018 MDX with a few chips / nicks (a few very small ones on the hood which are probably rock chips) and I'm curious how far you go on fixing these when they come up. On one hand you could drive yourself mad trying to take car of every chip / scratch / ding - on the other hand I want the car to stay looking nice and I don't want there to ever be a risk of any sort of rust. Do you get to a point where you don't worry about small nicks the size of a fingernail (or less?)

 

[jefferson88]

It's really just personal preference. I promise you I don't notice subtle dings and scratches on other peoples' cars, and they likely don't notice mine. At the end of the day a car is just an appliance, and a little wear & tear is expected for an appliance that's used every day. When you sell it in 10 years you'll look back and think, "Wow, that was a great car. It was reliable, safe, and my family made some great memories with it." A few dings here and there aren't going to take that away from you. If it will, might as well park the car in a glass case in a museum and never use it.

My dark gray MDX has a handful of blemishes, but in reality they aren't noticeable unless you look closely at the paint. In my opinion, a dirty car is way more noticeable than any of the car's imperfections. For that reason I wash my car every week and wax it every two months.

 

[acura4523]

It's really just personal preference. I promise you I don't notice subtle dings and scratches on other peoples' cars, and they likely don't notice mine. At the end of the day a car is just an appliance, and a little wear & tear is expected for an appliance that's used every day. When you sell it in 10 years you'll look back and think, "Wow, that was a great car. It was reliable, safe, and my family made some great memories with it." A few dings here and there aren't going to take that away from you. If it will, might as well park the car in a glass case in a museum and never use it.

My dark gray MDX has a handful of blemishes, but in reality they aren't noticeable unless you look closely at the paint. In my opinion, a dirty car is way more noticeable than any of the car's imperfections. For that reason I wash my car every week and wax it every two months.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[JTM]

No. I will leave as it until there is a big body repair, then I will work with body shop to repair those noticeable ones.

 

[acura4523]

No. I will leave as it until there is a big body repair, then I will work with body shop to repair those noticeable ones.

👍

 

[Krauthawk]

How far do you go on fixing every din and scratch? I got a 2018 MDX with a few chips / nicks (a few very small ones on the hood which are probably rock chips) and I'm curious how far you go on fixing these when they come up. On one hand you could drive yourself mad trying to take car of every chip / scratch / ding - on the other hand I want the car to stay looking nice and I don't want there to ever be a risk of any sort of rust. Do you get to a point where you don't worry about small nicks the size of a fingernail (or less?)

I inspect the outside of my vehicles every month and touch up EVERY little nick or scratch with OEM touch up paint. It takes a steady hand. I’m very picky about the appearance and maintenance of my vehicles.

 

[acura4523]

I inspect the outside of my vehicles every month and touch up EVERY little nick or scratch with OEM touch up paint. It takes a steady hand. I’m very picky about the appearance and maintenance of my vehicles.

Nice! (But doesn't the touch up paint look not so great?)

 

[K657]

That could get expensive fast.

 

[Krauthawk]

Nice! (But doesn't the touch up paint look not so great?)

As I mentioned, it takes a steady hand. And a sharp pointed screw driver to prep the small nick or scratch. You can’t see them from 5-6 feet away, but closer, yes.
I‘m still on my first touch up bottle for my 15 Accord 2 dr. and I would venture I’ve touched up at least 40-50 nicks and scratches (most from a salt/sand truck in KS that went by). The bottles can go a long way if you’re careful.

Luckily no nicks on my 20 Advance yet, but I’ve got my bottle ready!

 

[acura4523]

As I mentioned, it takes a steady hand. And a sharp pointed screw driver to prep the small nick or scratch. You can’t see them from 5-6 feet away, but closer, yes.
I‘m still on my first touch up bottle for my 15 Accord 2 dr. and I would venture I’ve touched up at least 40-50 nicks and scratches (most from a salt/sand truck in KS that went by). The bottles can go a long way if you’re careful.

Luckily no nicks on my 20 Advance yet, but I’ve got my bottle ready!

👍👍👍

 

[Krauthawk]

That could get expensive fast.

Not really. As indicated in my previous post, I’m still on my first bottle for my 15 Accord that I purchased in Feb./15.

 

[andysinnh]

I tend to address nicks/scratches when they'll expose underlying metal to corrosion. And if I get a surface scratch that doesn't go thru the clearcoat I tend to take some Scratch-X and rub it out. But I also tend to not sweat all of the little imperfections - although when I was younger I certainly did. Guess age gave me perspective on what details to sweat Also shows me why I'd never get a PMC-built Acura since I'd be constantly worrying about how to keep that custom finish looking like new. Not here in NH if you're driving it in the winter.....

 

[acura4523]

I tend to address nicks/scratches when they'll expose underlying metal to corrosion. And if I get a surface scratch that doesn't go thru the clearcoat I tend to take some Scratch-X and rub it out. But I also tend to not sweat all of the little imperfections - although when I was younger I certainly did. Guess age gave me perspective on what details to sweat Also shows me why I'd never get a PMC-built Acura since I'd be constantly worrying about how to keep that custom finish looking like new. Not here in NH if you're driving it in the winter.....

I hear ya!

 

[MDXpression]

I waited about 5 years and paid a single value price to have all dings popped out and paint touched up.

I also follow a funny set of rules when it comes to parking.. I do this without even thinking at this point with my Porsche. The MDX I did as often as it was practical without angering the family

1. Park on corner spots so that at most only one car is next to you and there is a sizeable gap in place
2. Park such that the passenger door of the other car is next to you. Most people travel by themselves so that door doesn't get opened as often
3. Park next to nicer cars that look ding free. (the narrower the other car is the better)

 

[NanoNano]

Years ago, I was much more concerned about dings because of rust worries. Now, with most hoods being aluminum or engineered plastics, not so much. Beyond the vaild personal preference, it might also depend some on the color of your vehicle. For example, even when dings get through the clear coat and paint, they aren't that noticeable with a silver paint job. Not so, with black or other dark paint coatings.

 

[mdxstang]

I have a 2014 MDX with the nice color, Fathom Blue, that has 72K miles and has been on multiple coast to coast road trips. I'm diligent about parking out in the boonies, on an end, etc. (but I don't take up multiple spaces), my wife careful but not as careful as me, and fortunately have no door dings as a result, but it does have plenty of hood hits from debris and a couple of side hits from debris - all surface hits without any denting. I've used the Acura touch-up paint on a couple of the spots but most of them I leave as-is because the touch-up itself can be noticeable and sometimes makes it worse than the original ding, but other times it makes it better. Although I reserve my garage space for other cars so the MDX sits in the driveway (in southern California), the vehicle still looks great - practically brand new inside and out, but a close inspection of the hood will reveal dings.

A side note - my last couple of SUVs had hood deflectors which helped tremendously in protecting the hood from the unavoidable road debris but one isn't made for the 3rd gen MDX - at least not that I could find. Some people wrap the hood, the front end, or the entire car in plastic wrap to help guard against dings. I chose not to do that even though I tend to keep my vehicles a long time but again, this one still looks and feels great after having it for 7.5 years but I know at some point I'll sell it and buy another vehicle then all of these imperfections will go to a new owner and I'll start accumulating new imperfections on the newer vehicle.

The good thing about a vehicle with some road experience on it is that one doesn't get quite as worked up on the next debris hit since the vehicle's already been initiated in that regard.

 

[b1980mask]

Whatever the scratch is on my car, I let my trusty mechanic fix it whenever I'm not busy. Some scrape here and there are fine, but Imake sure to maintain the condition of my car.

 

[K657]

Not really. As indicated in my previous post, I’m still on my first bottle for my 15 Accord that I purchased in Feb./15.

Fixing it correctly as in undetectable would.