If it helps any, I just got my first ding in a parking lot. Probably some SUV owner saw my license plate...

I suspect its an SUV or truck owner because the ding was so high up.

 

Yes I have scuffed my front bumper on my camry. I went to Bumper Doc in San Diego and they fixed it perfect! They also do paintless dent repair and auto body repairs. Great people I highly recomend. http://bumperdoc.com/

 

On an accident like that, I just take the money, replace the tail light, and pocket the rest

 

I got you ALL beat. Back in November, my wife and I were leaving karate practice; me and two kids in the HCHII, my wife and two kids in the Ody. It had snowed a few days earlier, but most of the roads were pretty good. We're leaving the parking lot down a steep hill to the street and I start sliding (parking lot is on the north side of the lot) even though I had approached the hill at a very slow speed. Didn't matter. I was sliding slow enough that the Anti-Lock was no longer working. As I look to my left, I see nothing but cars coming. Luckily, I stopped at the bottom, just shy of the right turn lane.

Just as I was about to tell my son that that was close, I look in my side mirror just in time to see the Ody sliding towards me. WHAM!!! Ody rode up over the bumper and smashed into the trunk and left quarter panel. Luckily, she pushed me into the turn lane and the cars coming down saw it coming (she, too, was sliding slowly) so they moved over. Ody's bumper was unclipped and the center grill was loose. We went around the block into the dojo to assess the damage. Ody...not too bad. Civic...not too good.

At home, I removed the bumper of the Ody and reattached it. No metal damage. Grill popped back in place and, thanks to the front mask, no paint damage was apparent. I told my wife we were lucky that the Ody wouldn't have to go in for repairs...

The Civic was another story. $5500 later, the Civic is as good as new. Luckily, since she rode up over the bumper, there was no frame damage.

Now, HERE's the kicker...a couple weeks later (I still don't have the Civic back), I get a text message from my wife that basically said "CRAP!!!" She was in a parking lot and hit a wooden pole at the end of the island and put a scrape and two dents on the right side of the Ody. I told her she just wasn't happy with the Ody not having damage. Seven months later...Civic looks great...Ody still has the dent.

 

I think we have a winner

 

Might have that one beat... Our third car is a 1986 Isuzu Impulse which is in showroom condition. I keep it under a cover in the garage. For the past ten years, I've only put about 4,000 miles on it.

About two years ago, while completely stopped, someone rear-ended me. The other driver's insurance covered that one, and it was as good as new.

A few weeks ago, my son accidentally tipped over a baseball pitching machine and it put a dent in the left rear quarterpanel. $400 later, repaired... good as new. Here's the kicker... On the way home from the body shop, my wife gets rear ended while stopped at a light!!!

The car has been hit three times within maybe 2,000 miles of driving... all while completely stationary. Luckily, the last hit caused no damage whatsoever.

Car is fun to drive, but my wife suggested we change the personalized plate to read
"HIT ME"

 

Oh man Jeff, I think it's "jinxed". I would sell it and start over.

 

In 2003, my HCH was less than a week old. When a coyote tries to run across the highway in front of me, doing 60 mph. He almost made it, did $1600 damage to the front end. Insurance company covered it under comprehensive, so I wasn't charged for an accident and had no effect on my insurance rates.

 

Got sideswiped twice in a parking lot, on scuffed the front passenger side, the other put tire transfer and a deep scratch in the fuel filler area. My aife got caught in a hailstorm, and a big 'ol Chevy truck driven by a UAW guy from MI missed his exit on the toll road, cut across the stone median at 60+ mph and covered my not-quite-new HCH II with paint and windshield chips from large stones. Some people...

 

Ugh! I just got THE CALL...

Wife backed into a phantom post. It was painted green. She says the plastic of the bumber is split. Body shop says the part painted and installed is around $630 new $570 refurbed.

Thanks for all your horror stories... I feel a teensy bit better...

Also, int rying to decide whether to fix this or not (my deduc is $500, so it will likely be all out of pocket) has anyone considered the Environmental cost of the repair? It seems like such a waste to replace and paint the entire rear bumper cover for one gash.

Isn't there some sort of eco-band-aide?