LiveToRev

Does anybody else think the metal that Mazda uses for the front fenders a bit on the soft side? I was leaning over the left front fender to check the oil level today and had my left elbow resting on top of the fender, above the wheel and near the headlight. As I stood back up, I noticed that I made a very small dent where my elbow was. Yea, it was foolish on my part, but I didn't expect the metal to be this soft. At 130 lbs., i'm not a heavy guy and my elbow wasn't pressing that hard on the fender.

wedge357

thanks for telling me... I'll be careful next time! LOL

Seriously, that sucks, man. Get the paintless dent removal service done. I had my fiancee's Murano cleaned up and now it's looking like new. Costs about $60-$75 per dent.

robertdot

I did the same thing just before the fuel door by leaning on it while filling my car up.

LiveToRev

Thanks wedge. I'm so pissed at myself. Do you know if the tools that they use for paintless dent removal, scratches the paint inside the body? I don't know if I should just remove the black plastic lining inside the wheel well and press the dent out myself or have the experts do PDR on it.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

take it to a professional dentless shop, you will never know it was there, they do great work

whatever you do, don't press down on the hood either

LiveToRev

That really sucks. Guess it is not only the front fenders.

wedge357

BTW, some idiot dinged the passenger-side freestyle door while parked. I'll take mine next to PDR, I decided to check out their work first using the Murano as the guinea pig... hehe

It was a real good job though. The guy said that if he cannot access the dent through the window slot (a la lockpicking) then he drills a quarter inch hole on the lock mechanism side (door jamb)and then use a rubber grommet to cover it. Sounds horrible to do on your beloved 8 but it is really not a bad deal, plus he's got a hole already for the next time it happens...

ferragame

When I bought my 8 it was a Saturday so the dealer's reconditioning dept wasn't open. I bought my car back a few days later for the full recon - wash, wax, interior, etc. Anyway later that night after picking up the car, I noticed a small dent in the driver's side free style door. It had to happen at the dealer since I'm one of the most **** retentive people in the world when it comes to my vehicles and I know it wasn't there when I brought it in.

The serice manager was very very apologetic and sent the guy that does their dent removal to my house to fix it. The "Dent Guy" verified there was no access hole (he fixed a dent on my X5 by going up through the bottom of the door through a dainage hole. The problem with the free style doors is that the rear doors are sealed and have no drain holes.

I didn't want a dent drilled in my new door so to access the inside of the free style door, I pulled off the door handle. The instructions for this is on the TSB to fix the squeaking rear windows. Basically, I removed the rear door pull and handle and then I just pulled off the door trim (carefully to not break any of the plastic push pins used). Not hard at all and no holes in my doors.

Racer X-8

I heard this works well... haven't tried it myself - yet...

http://www.seenontvmall.com/automotive/ding-king.htm
or
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...querycounter=1

khtm

Yeah, it's gonna be soft because it's a crumple zone. Safety first!

Dark8

If you think about it..... Say you had 40 lbs on that elbow with say .5 square inches (if your elbows are as bony as mine) of contact area with the fender. That would equate to 160 lbs per square inch of presure on that spot where your elbow contacted the fender. I think it held up fairly well.

beachdog

All cars use thin guage sheet metal these days. Keeps the cost and weight down.

As long as we're on the subject of self-inflicted dings, others have reported that they have dented their trunk lids with their fingers by pushing down from the top of the lid. Use the inside handle to close most of the way and then use your thumb on the Mazda badge to close the rest of the way.

I have done detailing for a lot of friends and they are always amazed when I point out to them that they have minor dings on their doors, trunks and hoods. Pretty much wherever anyone presses on the sheet metal there will be a slight ding if you look hard enough.

bmcc49er

Would be real interested if someone has had success with this product. I have an almost quarter size dent in my wife's 6 rear passenger door and would give it a shot. Anyone tried it?

missinmahseven

At the risk of getting ridiculed for even having the thing, I've used the Ding King on the miata. It's utterly worthless for the most part.

BUT...

it does work with really shallow, light dents. Like oh, someone resting an elbow on the fender, or like me, someone who lightly thumped the driver and passenger door with the brush wand at the carwash.. :o

I've yet to do it to the 8, but I will one of these weekends. Got a ding on each door (the brush thing) and one on a fender (WTF? Wasn't there when I bought it, and I didn't put it there..)

The dents I'm talking about are really shallow, more a wave than a dent.. a ripple if you will.

And yah, it seems the entire Rx-8 dents easy. Not just the fenders. (then again, mine stood up to 1/2 inch hail with no issues.... o.O )