Door dings are the enemy of every car owner. They are especially upsetting when you’ve been extremely careful to protect your car’s finish from even the slightest of blemishes. Unfortunately, door dings can’t be avoided forever. Eventually every car suffers at least one.

How much do you know about door dings? Here are the top three things every car owner should know about them:

1. Dings Are Not Dents

Believe it or not, the terms ‘ding’ and ‘dent’ have specific meanings in the auto body shop. You may use the terms interchangeably, but repair technicians do not. A ding is generally no bigger than a half-inch in diameter. It also does not involve chipped paint or bare metal. A ding is simply a very small indentation.

Anything larger than a half-inch is more likely a dent. If it involves bare metal or chipped paint, it might also be called a scrape, crunch, or something entirely different. But it’s certainly not a ding.

2. How They Occur

The vast majority of door dings occur in parking lots. You park in a spot and walk away. Then someone else parks a little bit too closely to your car. When he opens his door, it makes contact with your car and leaves a ding in its wake. It’s all pretty simple.

How do you reduce your risks? Change where you park your car.

3. How to Fix Them

Given the nature of door dings, it’s still best to have a professional like Ron’s Complete Auto Body repair them. But if you want to do it yourself, you can with a minor financial investment, luck, elbow grease, and little bit of time. Go online and read up before you get started to avoid any costly mistakes.

If you realize fixing door dings isn’t for you, we’ll still be here!