Impossible to keep the car looking nice

I feel you. The only reason i'm being very anal with my car is i lost my job before christmas so i may need to sell it if i can't find a job soon. So i want it to be as close to new as possable!!!

But say i paid cash for it or knew for sure that i would never have to sell it i wouldn't worry much. It would be cool to have a beat down banged up prius thats over ten years old with 200k on it

 

Yeah, Then there's the parking lots!! the lady with 6 kids as shes putting the baby in the car seat shes got her door banging against your car and her cart is rolling into another car...grrr!

You can't park far enough away!!:mmph:

 

Since this was my first new car (second ever) I wanted to really take care of it. Maybe 3 mos into owning it, I got a half-inch-deep blue ding from someone's pickup. This is a car that went from Seattle to Chicago and back without any incidents. All it took was 3 minutes at a 7-11 that was 2 minutes away from my house......

 

That's why I find myself parking in the next county when going to the store .

 

I hate pickups. And I'm from Texas. Every pickup driver I have ever seen thinks they own the rode. Sorry for the rant.

 

I have experienced the obsession with preserving the newness of my car enough times to understand your dilemma. After I get a few dings in a new car, I stop obsessing and start thinking of my car more reasonably. After all is said and done, my car is primarily for transportation. It might be helpful to remind yourself, when your Prius gets some scratches and dings, it is still a pleasure to drive and will continue to efficiently carry you where you need to go.

 

The first cut is the deepest.

 

+1 on parking in the next county. My 1999 Ranger pickup (bought new) is nearly dingless. I had the dealer put on a clear bra and body side moulding on the Prius. And I park it in the next county away from other cars whenever I can.

 

This Prius is only my 6th new car in nearly 50yrs. of driving. I've always obsessed about my vehicles, whether bought new, or used. And the used ones were just like new.... or I wouldn't have bought them. So I understand everyones and anyones concern for their car. I stressed about having the clear "bra" put on the front of mine when it was new. Only problem there isn't anyone here locally who I trust to do a flawless job of it. And it was soooo expensive to have done, that I got to thinking maybe it would be cheaper to just have any dingy's taken care of by my bodyshop in a couple of years..... and maybe by then I wouldn't be so concerned about it either, which usually is the case.
I got my Prius around Thanksgiving last year. I've taken three trips in it to date. A couple of 500 mile, and one 1300 mile. As the weather warms here bugs will inflict their "ounce of flesh" from the car,... especially with any afterdark travel. I have several defiencies in mine in the short few months I've owned it. One is a very short and small dingy under the drivers door, clear to the metal. It looks like a small sharp stone clipped the body right there at an angle. It must have been from the "sand & salt" mix that some vehicle sent flying....???
I think this may be the best new car I've ever owned, and wish I could keep it like new. I feel the same as the individual from Texas about pickups! I own one myself, but a week ago a near new Dodge double cab purposely nearly ran me off the road as we were both entering one expressway from another.... he literally cut me off! And I was in the Prius! My drivers outside mirror was less than an inch from the side of his bed when I realized and swerved to the right nearly taking to the ditch! This is Oklahoma and it's much like Texas.... pickup owners have no respect for anything that's not bigger than themselves! Sorry, .. I said I own one too! Doesn't give me the right to run a car off the road! I guess all we can do is enjoy the car, while it's new, and just try to take care of it for the "duration", but most of all enjoy it.

 

That's everything I said, using only 6 words, and yours is more poetic. A+ for efficiency

 

This is only the second brand new car that I've ever owned. The first being my '05 Prius. I only obsessed over keeping the '05 pristine for a few weeks. Parking was so limited where I worked at the time that I couldn't stay away from other cars so got some door dings fairly quickly. The '05 seemed to be jinxed too. Within the first three years I owned it, I ran over debris on the highway that tore up the front spoiler, grill and one wheel well, I hit a deer and was rear-ended twice (once so bad the entire rear bumper and hatch had to be replaced). The final insult was just about the time I had decided to trade it in on a new Prius, someone backed into me in the parking lot leaving a foot long scrape down to the plastic on my rear bumper.

I'm hoping I can keep my 2010 in better shape longer, but as someone else already noted, it is for transportation and sooner or later the "shiny" is going to wear off.

 

I share all the desires expressed to protect my G3 (large investment) to the greatest extent possible. I am very fussy about where I park and etc. My car was less than a month old and I ran over road debris (steel I think) and it damaged the air dam on the passenger side. I was "sick."

That said, some years ago I owned an absolutely flawless RX-7. I rarely drove it; washed it after every outing and on and on .... then someone asked me "what are you saving it for ... for the guy that buys it from you? And that is exactly what occurred. I sold it and the buyer acquired an absolutely prestine car.

Now, I still make every effort to protect my investment, but I drive it, I wash it when it gets dirty, I follow a preventive maintenance schedule ... but I know the day will come when it will re replaced.

 

I simply cannot stand a dent or scratch in any of my cars. And to make sure that they remain that way I do the following:

1- I always park my car at the farthest spot available at a mall parking lot. That is my rule, and it works. Period.
2- This is one area where my $300 DVR investment per car pays off. Both cars I have now (2010 Prius and 2006 HCH) have a dual camera recording system that activates whenever any person or object approaches the car. They ignore the buzzer and hit the car, and the camera nabs them in the act with license plate/face and all. It is just so sweet to know who did it, how and when - especially when filing a claim with one's insurance company.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

In Japanese aesthetics, the "patina" of use (wear) is considered more beautiful than "new". I try to console myself by repeating this. It helps that it is a Japanese car, too.

 

Have only had it a week and there are ~10-15 chipped paint areas on the front due to flying pebbles/rocks on the highway no doubt (am just hoping those weren't there before I purchased it as it was already at 32 miles...the inclement weather at the time of purchase made it difficult to fully inspect). And just yesterday, after washing and waxing, a bird decided to drop what looked like 10 loads on the hood!