what is exterior sheetmetal thickneck- so many dings!
 

Does anyone know the actual sheet metal thickness of the 8, and how it compares with other cars, and older cars?

WHile I am still in the process of getting my car back to Madza and getting the dents my garage put in fixed ( they agreed to pay) I have discovered like 3 dings in a fender and a door panel.

My PGT after 9 years had only this many dings- but much less noticable. I am going to take it to dent wizard before it goes back, but am dreading getting what will happen to my next 8 here in NYC.

As metal is becoming stronger, automakers are using less of it becuase less is needed. The body panels of a modern car, such as the 8, are a lot thinner than an older car, such as a 1966 Ford Mustang. Also, several panels on the 8 are aluminum (hood, rear doors, trunk lid). Be careful with them...

The first week I had the 8 I left it under a large pecan tree for an hour. Apparently one pecan left a ding that a moderate hail stone would be proud of!

Maybe it was a squirrel committing suicide...

My only dings are the 2 that 1 idiot driver (with an old 1985 something car) rear ended me during a stop and go freeway traffic. A small tap caused the 2 little corners within the rear license plate to curved in a little. It's not too noticeable, thanks god.

Else, I got way too many chips. I mean, my company has rental vans, Dodge, Chevy, etc... made in 2003, rented monthly from Enterprise. We abuse the heck out of them, aside from what I would drive in my RX8, we drive fullspeed thru underconstruction roads full of debris, off-road into mud as if we're doing rally race, .... just the typical drive like a rental thing. ANd guess what? After washing our rental cars (once a month when the vans are unbearably filthy), I still realize it gets virtually no chip in paint, a few scratches from some obvious carelessness.

Comparing to my car? I am the only driver, if passing debris-full road, I drive at 5mph, etc... Every week I wash my car, I keep on counting paint chips. As if the paint is made of soft gel, this is driving me nuts.

I've heard a lot of people w/ newer cars complaining about this, from what i've heard it's a reality of the "new, more environmentally friendly" paint

I would love to 3M the whole car- no paint chips yet since 3Ming the front and rear.

Just feel lucky you don't have a 3rd gen RX-7. I have a thumb print on my drivers door!

I've always wondered what I'm going to do if it hails. I park in an open lot...do those hail resistant car covers actually work? I was looking into buying that Evolution Car cover that has 4-layer thickness or some crap. Supposed to be a heavyweight cover designed to repel dings.

I got me a nice little dime-sized door ding with only a month of ownership under my belt. the ding came the same day I got a nail in my tire. When I get another ding, I'm going to look into paintless dent removal.

but seriously...anyone had any luck with the hail resistant car covers?

I used the Evolution cover on my GTI in a busy public garage. Yes, it's nice & thick and helps repel dings. Never tried it in hail, but I imagine it would be your best defense short of finding a garage. It's somewhat bulkier than other covers when folded, but I recommend it. (BTW, paintless dent removal is great. Did it on my Miata every spring and, I swear, those dings came out like magic! There might be some they can't reach near seams and edges, but they can get most of them.)

Hey emailists
 

Hi,

Still lurking around? When are you returning the 8?

Are You still going to replace it with another?

Mine has arrived at the dealer and I should take delivery Friday or Saturday.

Sounds like you are still very pro on the 3M, right?

Regards,

Claude H.