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Fig 24. Scuffs on wing mirror require repair. Stone chips are also common on wing mirrors and often need attention.

Advice
The most common damage to exterior trim and fitting is to the wing mirrors and front/rear bumpers. This can often be avoided by taking more care and becoming more aware of the size of your vehicle. If you park your car in your garage, ask somebody to see you in the first few times to make sure you do not scrape your wing mirrors, on some cars it is possible to fold back the mirrors to give you extra room to maneuver.
Be sure to keep your garage clear and tidy, make sure the lawnmower is put away, bikes and lawnmowers are the cause of damage on many cars! Check your kids have not dumped their bikes behind your car before you reverse out.

Be aware that the fronts of modern cars are very low and kerbs can be very high. When parking, do not keep pulling forward until you feel the bump because the bump may be the front valance and not the tyres.

Fig 25. A wing mirror masked out ready for repainting.

However careful you are, accidents do happen. Modern S.M.A.R.T. repair techniques mean that much of this damage can be easily fixed without the need of expensive bodyshop repairs. Because S.M.A.R.T. is a repair system, it can also help to avoid the need for replacement parts such as wing mirrors. As seen in Figure 25, we are able to repaint plastic trims which have a painted finish which matches the bodywork, but we can also match bare plastic finishes by using paints with special texturizers. [example]

Fig 26. Damaged plastic trim on a ford KA. This is a common fault on the KA so you could ask your Ford dealer if it is covered by the Warranty. See Manufacturer's Faults.

 

Since Dec 2003

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