Besides closing the front door first (I'm now always on my guard for that), what I HATE is when someone is too lazy to fully open the door with their arm, and try to push it open with their FOOT ON THE SPEAKER GRILLE!

IDIOTS!

No harm done yet, but I wonder how easy it would be to replace the grille if someone put a dent in it? Seems like sooner or later it's going to happen.

 

My kids do that all the time!! It really pisses me off.

 

my gf does it. well, she doesn't PUSH the door open with her foot. Rather, she pushes it open with her arm, then as it tries to come back at her, she sticks her foot out and catches it. Not really hard enough to do any damage, but it does get dirty from time to time. I aim my foot for the metal under all the plastic.

-Steakboy

 

I pretty much have mine trained . Back......door ......first ....... front door...........last.

It took awhile but well worth it.

 

It's happened to me a few times. But most people are so used to getting in a coupe that they just stand outside while the person at the back gets in. So the rear doors usually get closed first.

The funniest though are people who wait for me to recline my seat forward so they can get in behind me. Then I point at the handle.

 

What aggravates me is people who slam the doors. It takes very little force to shut the door , but people push it so hard that it shakes the whole side of the car! I have to constantly remind my friends and family to watch their feet when they get in and out of the car, and don't slam the door ! Once you get scratches on the plastic panels they are there forever . Little things things that people do or don't do will go along way in keeping your car look nice..

 

ok guys i have the cure for door fools and gools!take the time to open that door and close it yourself even for the ones who get in the back on the passenger side as well.by doing this a few times it lets the people who ride with you without a second thought know that you care about your car and them as well.plus it's a good thing to do for the ladies(being nice ain't so old and out of time)i have found that i get a lot less foot dirt on the panels,nobody will close the front door first,they feel better knowing you care and have taught them to respect your ride.damages don't care where they come from but they can be prevented!i really don't have that many riders to speak of but if you take that little bit of time to let the guys and girls see how t do it right might save you a buck or two!

 

A good stop f____ with my car helps to.

 

I usually flip the hell out if someone puts their foot on my door! I flip out to the point where if someone forgets and does it out of reaction, they immediately respond with "Im so sorry, my bad dude". THats right, train your friends!

 

What would be nice is if we could come up with a list of most-commonly replaced cosmetic parts. Panels, grilles, etc., with part numbers. Might be worthwhile to just have a few replacements on-hand. For those of us planning on keeping the car for a very long time, it would be insurance against the day when Mazda stops supporting those parts.

 

I use to do that too. I neever really though of it, but now I just don't even do it, not because I saw the damage I was doing, I just stopped doing it for some reason. I don't imagine replacing the part would be very exspensive or very hard. My friend broke that on his camaro when he got pissed off and kicked it in while he was in a fit of rage.

The little plastic thing was the easy thing for us to replace (It was a cheap part too). The hard part and most exspensive thing was replacing the Bose speaker that sat behind that grille gaurd.

So unless your kids/friends/family are round-house kicking the door open like Chuck Norris, then I think you'll be okay. They're pretty durable, I doubt it will put a dent in it, and if it does then just have them give you 10 bucks and about 15 minutes or your time to replace it.

 

that's why I love my vertical doors- it's physically impossible to use your foot to open the door, and you have gas struts that lift it for you

 

How much do those cost?

 

and undiscloed amount of drugs and cash

I got mine for $1k, but that's just the hinges. Unless you are handy with a welder and grinder, it will cost you another $1.5-$2k for install.

 

Wow.... you should also watch out that nobody inserts the front seatbealt in the rear buckle.... You will be crying then.....