Question: How many owners still worry about door dings?

[tmeyer3]

I haven't seen a door ding transfer paint onto the Cybertruck yet (oh, the horrors, paint on my bare metal Cybertruck) but I'm pretty sure it would easy to rub off.

I'm getting more impressed with the way the Cybertruck shrugs off body damage every week I own it.

I got some white paint from someone, unsure and don't care. I thumb nailed it off, nothing left behind. I'd be a lot more upset if I had wrapped it ?

Sponsored

 

[rhinoc]

Even though door dings are impossible on the Cybertruck, at least in any normal sense of the word "door ding", how many are having trouble coming to terms with the fact that other drivers will not be damaging your doors in tight parking areas?

I find it liberating to not have to worry and I kick my door panels regularly, to revel in this new reality, especially when I have my boots on (because then it doesn't hurt my toes).

Never has any consumer vehicle been this resistant to damage, and it is fascinating how this has progressed. Through the decades truck doors became increasingly prone to impact damage. With the release of a single new truck model, the Cybertruck, the trend didn't just reverse, the Cybertruck is more damage resistant than the toughest trucks of my youth. And the difference is not a small incremental one, it's like 10X or more.

There was another worry free finish before the CT. Unfortunately it wasn't much of a car and it turned to dust, almost literally, after some number of years.

Saturn Cars

 

[HaulingAss]

There was another worry free finish before the CT. Unfortunately it wasn't much of a car and it turned to dust, almost literally, after some number of years.

Saturn Cars

They went the cheap route with plastic with predictable results.

 

[jerhenderson]

It is liberating but I’m still skeptical. Plenty of videos of panels being shot at, kicked, etc, but are there any real world tests showing heavy doors with concentrated, vertical force being slammed against the panel or trim, or, deep key scratches?

On one hand it feels invincible but on another, here we are obsessing over fingerprints.

It is nice not having to even think twice about curbing the rims.

Maybe you missed the sledgehammer test.

 

[rhinoc]

They went the cheap route with plastic with predictable results.

Yes, but I think a case could be made that a plastic body could be awesome. No load bearing panels, easy to replace, even an owner could do it, change the color of your car at will, even mix panel colors. Even with UV degradation having to change panels every 10 years seems no big deal. I think modern plastics could be much more UV resistant as well. The problem is there’d have to be an adequate supply of panels that would last for decades. Unlikely but not impossible. Rover used to make a car with metal skins that were swappable. The 1960s ad showed a multi-color Rover. Anyway, sorry for the thread diversion.

 

[HaulingAss]

Yes, but I think a case could be made that a plastic body could be awesome. No load bearing panels, easy to replace, even an owner could do it, change the color of your car at will, even mix panel colors. Even with UV degradation having to change panels every 10 years seems no big deal. I think modern plastics could be much more UV resistant as well. The problem is there’d have to be an adequate supply of panels that would last for decades. Unlikely but not impossible. Rover used to make a car with metal skins that were swappable. The 1960s ad showed a multi-color Rover. Anyway, sorry for the thread diversion.

I suppose a car company could design a vehicle with tough, impact resistant plastic panels with a wrap applied to each panel before assembly. Then, in 5 years when the wrap started looking ratty, it could be peeled off and the owner could get another 5 or 8 years out of it.

But I'm more of a fan of the tough stainless steel that will last the life of the underlying mechanicals and then simply recycled into new panels (or sold on the secondary market to auto repair shops). Once they polished a few microns off the surface of the old, used panels, they would be as good as new.

 

[Mini2nut]

The Smart car used this idea.

 

[ideaXfactory]

Not worried about door dings, but more worried around flying rocks, or any bird poop that is unusually acidic or otherwise sorta toxic. I also clean off the bug splats.

It's amazing to me that the front window almost never gets bug splats. That bit of window cleaning and door dings are not a issue.

 

[Mini2nut]

I think the extreme angle of the windshield and airflow around the front end have a lot to do with it.

 

[RickJ19Zeta8]

The Smart car used this idea.

Had one of those. Used it for long distance commuting. First car I've owned that I truly didn't care what happened to it. And it took a ton of abuse, but kept running well and looking good. The panels were actually injection molded with that color, so scratches didn't matter. Couldn't door ding it.

140,000 miles and it paid for itself between the maintenance costs, insurance, being extremely cheap and fuel savings.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

The other day, I parked my truck in the garage and saw a huge key mark that looked to be rusting on my door. I was super pissed. I looked over at my BKF bottle and thought “looks like I will be doing a job on that later today”. I then went into the truck looking at my sentry video. Nothing. I was then thinking “WTF! This sentry doesn’t work!”

I went back to the key mark and rubbed it with my finger. It came off. Hahaha it was a bug splatter mark. I cleaned it all off. My entire family thought it was a key as well.

Let’s just say I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

[MilliVanilli]

I'm surprised that I still can't find any YouTube videos where they test the Cybertruck against typical parking-lot door dings, especially when there are so many torture-test and carrot-pinching videos. This seems like it could be a really popular video.

 

[mstatkus]

I actually switched from a middle of nowhere person; to as close as I want, wherever I want. I even had someone grab my flaps! Sometimes I wish there was a mic so I could listen to that convo. Parking lots are kinda this MadMax wasteland of lawless private property far as insurance goes.

 

[CyberGus]

I'm surprised that I still can't find any YouTube videos where they test the Cybertruck against typical parking-lot door dings, especially when there are so many torture-test and carrot-pinching videos. This seems like it could be a really popular video.

When I'm approached departing the supermarket, I sometimes shove my cart right into the truck to watch their expression

 

[HaulingAss]

I'm surprised that I still can't find any YouTube videos where they test the Cybertruck against typical parking-lot door dings, especially when there are so many torture-test and carrot-pinching videos. This seems like it could be a really popular video.

True. But the other car would get paint chips, at a minimum.

I can say with a straight face, the Cybertruck is 100% impervious to accidental door dings. I suppose it's possible if a strong enough gust of wind, with the other door at the perfect angle, to create a small scratch or dent, but this is the kind of impact that would leave major panel damage to a traditional truck door. Most door dings are of the regular garden variety, a little gust of wind or carelessness causes a normal impact that leaves a nice ding/dent on the other door. It doesn't even leave a mark on the Cybertruck.

Sponsored