Door Ding Survey

14128 Views 93 Replies 43 Participants Last post by GG02-Mark, Apr 1, 2002

7plus

Discussion Starter · Apr 24, 2001

I'm just waiting to see my first door ding. The sides of the MDX look sooooo vulnerable. I know there are side moldings that others have "stuck" on, but I am still undecided on the look and location of those posted in the gallery.

No one has really said where their dings are. For those unfortunate souls who do have dings, are the dings high (upper crease at door handles) or low (first crease from the bottom) or in the middle?

I've been looking at side moldings of both cars and suvs and noticed that 95% of the SUV factory moldings are mounted on the lower half of their doors (from Suburbans to RAVs). It would seem that a logical place to mount moldings for the MDX would be along the bottom crease. This would match up to most of the other SUV 's. Any one else notice this? How about those of you who have moldings? Are they high or low and where are the dings you do get?

1 - 20 of 94 Posts

Liberty

· #2 · Apr 24, 2001

Mine was low - about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the back door on the driver side. (thanks to a 2 door beat up civic with no concern for anyone else's property)
As a result, I am seriously considering those $180 self-colored moldings I read about on one of the forums here, and I'm waiting for side steps because I'm hoping that there addition will also provide some protection.

As for the good news, my dealer thinks he can make the ding disappear at no charge so I'm keeping my fingers crossed

DMor

· #3 · Apr 24, 2001

This is a most tender subject for me. Whilst taking my daily trek out to the VERY END of our nation's parking lots...and seeking these outbound spaces next to (hopfully) civilized brethren with new cars...we hunker in false safety...knowing that we are an exclusive club of the YET UNDINGED!!

Big fre'kn problem. We have all noticed the ding potential...WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

My Plan:

Install (currently boxed) fender flares after custom painting Mesa Beige.

I'm not nutso over the flares...but hopefully they will bulk up the sides well enough for me to place a custom colored and thicker strip along the lower portion of the MDX. I will consult with numerous trim places for the right size and type and probably drive them crazy... But whatever goes on will be painted to match and I might be able to tolerate a little silver strip mixed in ... but not sure. Sounds sinfully yuchy right now.

I'm planning on Side Steps...but sorry...they won't offer any protection unless your parked next to a Mini Cooper. It's possible that the steps could be adjusted to stick out a little further from the sides...but doubtful with "stock" steps. Then you potentially create an obstacle course loading and unloading people...so needs some careful thought.

Sorry...I don't think those thin moldings are worth a crapski. They're polite and cute...but not very effective IMO. I'll be running the Chariot up to San Francisco next week and I'm sure hubby and I will have some of our most heated discussions while deciding on parking spaces.

In the meantime...I'm parking in the boonies. Getting LoJack installed tomorrow morning...case MDX heads for boonies...without me

I will keep all posted...but it really kills me to mess up the lines of this vehicle...So I might be hunting for the perfect side molding for a while.

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remery

· #4 · Apr 24, 2001

Liberty,
I agree with DMor that the side steps, which aren't cheap, won't offer much protection because rear car doors are not straight but curved outwards at the top. Thus they will not hit the step first, but rather your door. And we all know kids, the most rabid car door dingers on earth, sit in the back seats. Fortunately, I am dingless in Chicago.

Liberty

· #5 · Apr 24, 2001

The thing I find most appealing about the MDX is it's clean lines. It does seem like such a pity to impede there flow. I just couldn't bear to put on the fender flares as I saw them on several cars at the dealership and they just made the car seem so.... Explorer-like. Perhaps the self-color paint will help.

I've checked out quite a lot of side molding already and I'm rather disappointed. What to do? What to do?

I was actually fantasizing about developing a net that you throw over the top of the whole car (like a captured beast) and along the perimeters having a pocket or sleeve that holds a cylindrical (1 3/4" dia) tube of eva foam. You know - a home made force field of door ding protection! Or do you think this idea is just a little over the top?

Beige_MDX

· #6 · Apr 24, 2001

I found a great alternative on boats.com. I will take about 4 pairs of these, straddling them over the roof of the MDX (each are aout 15" in diameter). (They can easily be stored on the roof while driving and make an excellent "hippity-hop" if necessary).

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ScottyB

· #7 · Apr 24, 2001

Our first ding...

My wife took care of that on our 1st weekend with the MDX. Sadly, it was in our garage as she was accessing the back seat of her A4. She said she barely made contact with the MDX and was quite concerned about the future. It's a nice little ding. She was rather distraught about the incident. I told her it was bound to happen sooner or later, thanks for taking care if it already. (me being funny and supportive)

It's just about the mid-point between the lower crease and the door handle crease... probably at the exact point I would install the color keyed molding, once purchased. I would think that's the best area to protect from cars, but other SUV's would hit the doors higher. It's almost a no win, or just a partial win if installing molding.

DMor

· #8 · Apr 24, 2001

Liberty said:
The thing I find most appealing about the MDX is it's clean lines. It does seem like such a pity to impede there flow. I just couldn't bear to put on the fender flares as I saw them on several cars at the dealership and they just made the car seem so.... Explorer-like. Perhaps the self-color paint will help.

I've checked out quite a lot of side molding already and I'm rather disappointed. What to do? What to do?
I was actually fantasizing about developing a net that you throw over the top of the whole car (like a captured beast) and along the perimeters having a pocket or sleeve that holds a cylindrical (1 3/4" dia) tube of eva foam. You know - a home made force field of door ding protection! Or do you think this idea is just a little over the top?

Liberty...could not agree more about screwing up the lines. This is one reason those grey...soon to be MB fender flares are still in the box. Don't like the Explorer look either. I just got out of a Blazer and it was in perfect shape...not a ding...partly because I took care of it...and also because of the molding design. Too bad they didn't take as much time designing the brakes!

If the luggage racks were turned the other way...we could invest in retractable shades with styrofoam ends that you could just pull down over your car when you parked it and retract back up into a little nook under the luggage rack to store. Like wide window shades...Black of course for obscurity. This would solve the problem and I'm surprised no one has come up with this. (Now someone probably will!!

)

mogur

· #9 · Apr 25, 2001

I have something similiar to that idea. It is black, about 3/4" to 1" high and deep, and magnetic. They ae very robustly made. The idea is that you put it on the sides of your vehicle when you park and then remove it when you leave. It seems to work quite well, in fact. I'll try and find the name and url of the folks I bought it from. It seems to me that it was around $100 for the set.

Tom

DMor said:
Liberty said:

The thing I find most appealing about the MDX is it's clean lines. It does seem like such a pity to impede there flow. I just couldn't bear to put on the fender flares as I saw them on several cars at the dealership and they just made the car seem so.... Explorer-like. Perhaps the self-color paint will help.

I've checked out quite a lot of side molding already and I'm rather disappointed. What to do? What to do?
I was actually fantasizing about developing a net that you throw over the top of the whole car (like a captured beast) and along the perimeters having a pocket or sleeve that holds a cylindrical (1 3/4" dia) tube of eva foam. You know - a home made force field of door ding protection! Or do you think this idea is just a little over the top?

Click to expand...

Liberty...could not agree more about screwing up the lines. This is one reason those grey...soon to be MB fender flares are still in the box. Don't like the Explorer look either. I just got out of a Blazer and it was in perfect shape...not a ding...partly because I took care of it...and also because of the molding design. Too bad they didn't take as much time designing the brakes!

If the luggage racks were turned the other way...we could invest in retractable shades with styrofoam ends that you could just pull down over your car when you parked it and retract back up into a little nook under the luggage rack to store. Like wide window shades...Black of course for obscurity. This would solve the problem and I'm surprised no one has come up with this. (Now someone probably will!! )

hcmdx

· #10 · Apr 25, 2001

7plus said:
I'm just waiting to see my first door ding. The sides of the MDX look sooooo vulnerable. I know there are side moldings that others have "stuck" on, but I am still undecided on the look and location of those posted in the gallery.

No one has really said where their dings are. For those unfortunate souls who do have dings, are the dings high (upper crease at door handles) or low (first crease from the bottom) or in the middle?

I've been looking at side moldings of both cars and suvs and noticed that 95% of the SUV factory moldings are mounted on the lower half of their doors (from Suburbans to RAVs). It would seem that a logical place to mount moldings for the MDX would be along the bottom crease. This would match up to most of the other SUV 's. Any one else notice this? How about those of you who have moldings? Are they high or low and where are the dings you do get?

Everyone! Check this site out. They are not attractive, but they offer good protection when your MDX is parked in a vulnerable spot. They are also very inexpensive. http://www.no-ding.com/

DMor

· #11 · Apr 25, 2001

hcmdx said:
Everyone! Check this site out. They are not attractive, but they offer good protection when your MDX is parked in a vulnerable spot. They are also very inexpensive. http://www.no-ding.com/

[/B]

OK...ADDING DOOR PROTECTION LINKS FOUND ON LINE...I'LL KEEP ADDING AS I FIND THEM:

http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page1.html You can even have these custom painted! Could probably purchase from ProStripe and magnetize that also??
http://www.auto-care.com/hangingdg.html Good for garage or carport

BTW...get a ding

and use Dent pro..show AAA card and get 20% savings!
http://www.DentPro.com/

remery

· #12 · Apr 25, 2001

hcmdx said:
Everyone! Check this site out. They are not attractive, but they offer good protection when your MDX is parked in a vulnerable spot. They are also very inexpensive. http://www.no-ding.com/
[/B]

hcmdx is on to something here. Since these ding guards have a place to put a banner, how about considering these for acuramdx.org and get some real functionality out of it instead of just decoration. I like the idea of removable guards any how and it might be good to get two sets, one for the front doors and one for the back doors.

ScottyB

· #13 · Apr 25, 2001

remery said:
hcmdx is on to something here. Since these ding guards have a place to put a banner, how about considering these for acuramdx.org and get some real functionality out of it instead of just decoration. I like the idea of removable guards any how and it might be good to get two sets, one for the front doors and one for the back doors.

Click to expand...

I took the liberty of submitting a question to the website requesting tier pricing for a group purchase, referencing the acuramdx.org. I also asked about security, as they look as though they may easily grow legs... and immediate concern I had upon seeing the link.

Nice find hcmdx.

DMor

· #14 · Apr 25, 2001

Here's another...in my own backyard! Sounds like a road trip....

http://www.auto-care.com/magnetic.html

Just phoned them...doesn't know about group discounts (wrong guy) but I'm heading over there to look later today. Product is frosty clear...

ajlee7

· #15 · Apr 25, 2001

Tooo much work for me to put four of these magnetic protector everytime I go in and out of the store. Still thinking about moldings but probably leaning towards none and fix dings at my local auto shop accordingly.

DMor

· #16 · Apr 25, 2001

AJ

I don't see them as necessary EVERYTIME you park...just when you don't have great choices...like movie theaters ...airports...and other single lined parking. IMO it's a temp fix til Acura comes out with a suitable product. Otherwise...end of lot should avoid most issues.

msu79gt82

· #17 · Apr 25, 2001

Re: Clean Lines

See the link for an older discussion regarding opinions over the clean (or "naked") look of the MDX.

http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=919

Just don't confuse the discussion of the "naked" car with that infamous discussion of getting "naked" IN the car

DMor

· #18 · Apr 25, 2001

Well...for me Naked while parking requires Ding Protection...permanent or removeable. Otherwise...naked on the fly is fine. Let it all hang out in those wide open lanes...just don't snuggle too close while we're parked...baby.

remery

· #19 · Apr 25, 2001

DMor said:
Well...for me Naked while parking requires Ding Protection...

Hmmmm, I had better keep quiet this time!

DMor

· #20 · Apr 26, 2001

Just visited http://www.auto-care.com/magnetic.html and picked up 4 at $15.95 ea.

Dimensions are (carlike):

25" long 6 5/8" wide 1/2" thick at thickest point...then tapers down on each side. Magnetic...EZ on EZ off and EZ store because they're flexible and "could walk". Color is simple plastic...no color.

I tried them out in the second space at Costco, living dangerously for 45 whole minutes. Normally, I'd park in the boonies anyway and wouldn't use them...but they will be great for times of "no choice" parking.

Do the side steps come out enough to clear the flare at the bottom of the door...or not? I think this is where many dents might occur even after installing rub strip... or other protection.

1 - 20 of 94 Posts

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