You'd think I could park in my own garage...

[yelo333]

So, anyway, I have a few month old 2007 black civic lx. I got pretty good at pulling in the garage & lining up with a mark on the wall, so I got lazy about checking to make sure my rear end is all the way in the garage. Apparently, I was leaning forward a bit in my seat when lining up today, so I *shudder* was back too far by about 1/4 inch.

There is now a 1-1/2 to 2 inch long vertical scratch in my bumper from a metal hinge on the back of the garage door. I'll update tomorrow with low quality cell phone pics. (no digital camera, sorry)

On the bright side, I just applied a coat of wax to the car a couple days ago, so I think that made it a little better.

What are my options? The scratch is easy to see/feelable with my fingernail, so I don't think Scratch-X or anything is going to work. If I want to go the DIY route, is it OK to follow normal paint repair instructions, and use sandpaper on a plastic bumper? I'm thinking of this howto.

At any rate, I want to do it right. I'll make sure to get a quote/advice from my dealer before I do anything hasty.

I also have a hairline scratch further up on the trunk lid (once again, I can feel it with my finger), and a couple rock pits near the front of the car. Any advice about those?

Cliffs:
* Didn't pull in enough to make it in the garage
* Got scratch on plastic bumper from garage door
* How to fix?

UPDATE...Pictures:

bumperscratch1.jpg
bumperscratch2.jpg
bumperscratch3.jpg
bumperscratch4.jpg

The matte look around the scratch is not because anything around it is damaged, just that the smudged area is contrasting with the waxed paint around it.

Sorry about the quality of the pics...

 

[spidey07]

Tip - hang a tennis ball from the ceiling. When it touches your windshield you stop.

 

[nateholtrop]

Tip - double check before you close the door.

 

[Aimster]

I hung a string with a ball on the ceiling. So whenever the ball hits my windshield I know I am in far enough.

 

[mrblotto]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Tip - hang a tennis ball from the ceiling. When it touches your windshield you stop.

So THAT's why I see tennis balls hanging in garages! Good idea!

 

[ProfJohn]

Reminds me of that commercial:

"Honey, what does this light switch do?"

 

[Toastedlightly]

use a thick filler paint?

 

[Sluggo]

I was just thiking the other day that I see that all the time, and its almost always EXACTLY centered on the bumper.

Its like I have never seen a car that hit a pole that didnt hit dead center.

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Tip - hang a tennis ball from the ceiling. When it touches your windshield you stop.

Yup, I thought about doing that, but then decided that since I was so good at pulling in to the garage just the right amount anyway, that I had no need for such an unsightly device.

I'll definitely be installing one of these tennis balls you speak of this weekend.

Originally posted by: nateholtrop
Tip - double check before you close the door.

Heh. I always did this up to a couple weeks ago & still always do it with our other vehicle. So simple, so obvious. Yet some people (raises hand!) decide they don't need to. Thanks for the friendly reminder.

Originally posted by: Sluggo
I was just thiking the other day that I see that all the time, and its almost always EXACTLY centered on the bumper.

Yeah, and it's always a WOMAN driver. Well, until now.

As I mentioned, I'll get pics up once the sun decides to shine.

 

[Aikouka]

I always pull in far enough and it's especially easy for me when pulling in with my lights on. If I pull in with my lights on, I just go forward until the lights begin to "split" from being one blob of incandescence to two separate beams. Also, the fact that when I put it into reverse, I can just look at my back-up camera to see how far in I am .

 

[PingSpike]

I don't have an automatic door opener so I'd have to be pretty dumb to do this move. But that tennis ball thing would save me from having to check and I think my wife will like it better then my "Drive until I hear the cardboard boxes crunching, then stop" method.

 

[herm0016]

we have always had 2 large cars in our normal size 2 car garage, usually a suburban and a full size sedan or station wagon, or an envoy xl and suburban. neither car has ever been hit by the garage door, the front bumper is not too far from the front wall. about 3 feet between them, about 2 feet from the car to the outside wall. i do not see how it is even remotely hard to pull a small car into even a small garage the correct amount.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Not sure which is worse, scraping your bumper with the door or bending the aluminum fascia around the door all up with your side mirror. My dad did that, somehow it didn't do a thing to the mirror itself (it wasn't a flip-in mirror). Or he once backed the van through the side of the garage and knocked the edge of the wall next to the door and the door track out (at least this was before we got the aluminum fascia put in). So far he hasn't dropped the door on the cars yet though

Mmmm I guess causing damage to the car and the house is worse.

 

[Squisher]

The wife does this all the time. I installed laser beams that work off the garage door opener so she could get it just right. She still caused $250 worth of damage to the bumper, so I put a piece of 1/4" rubber over that hinge.

About a week ago I went out into the garage and it didn't look like the door was all the way down and what do I see? The door hinge is laying right on the bumper, lucky for me, because of the rubber, it only put a couple dimples in the bumper which came out when I parked it in the sun.

 

[yelo333]

Updated OP with pics.

Any suggestions on fixing it? As I wondered aloud before, would the usual sand/paint/polish/etc method work on plastic bumpers?

 

[Sluggo]

pics dont work for me

 

[SparkyJJO]

"404 not found"

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Sluggo
pics dont work for me

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: Sluggo
pics dont work for me

 

[Kromis]

Originally posted by: Dudewithoutapet

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: Sluggo
pics dont work for me

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: Sluggo
pics dont work for me

Thanks for letting me know....

Try now?

 

[Thump553]

The tennis ball trick (I actually use a light weight wiffle-ball type golf ball) is a time honored method. Better still, if you have a really tight garage (or very bad driver) is to use two strings. One is nearly the entrance of the garage, in line with the terminal string (ie, parallel with the garage long side wall). The terminal string/tennis ball should just touch the windshield when the car is properly parked.

With two strings you line them up as you come in, thus avoiding side scraps/parking too close to one side or the other. I've used it to make it easy when there is maybe an inch or two clearance on each side.