This is due to about 75% of my own stupidity, but to make a long story short, I managed to have a run in with a random fencepost and construction rubble while trying to get out of my tight parking spot in the back of my house. Yeah, sucks. Got out of my car and was like “Oh @%$#%@!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s worth a plane ticket to China!” As you can see from the pic, a good chunk of paint was scraped off clear down to the steel. I am not too worried about the dent. Just look at the cars around this god-forsaken city and you’ll find that every other one has got some sort of body damage. I’ll probably get it fixed after I move away from this fetid swamp (hopefully in a year). My only concern is the effed up paint. With all the precipitation we get, the last thing I want is for rust to develop on this open spot. Nissan sells bottles of touch up paint. Can I just apply that to the metal section so that it will at least seal it and prevent rust until I can get this properly fixed?
Oh, and if anyone asks, I hit a boulder or something while offroading, OK?
From Ryan:
It’s pretty much expected that if you park in the city, your car gets gradually messed up. Every now and then I notice a new scratch that someone’s mirror left on my car while they squeezed through traffic on the narrow street or a bump from someone who can’t parallel park. My dad was like, “Why’s your car getting all messed up?” It was foreign to him that regular body damage was pretty much par for the course if you park in the city.
However, I have been lucky enough to avoid all the tumbling boulders on Pennsylvania Ave. Tough break for you.
From Rian Chung:
Ouch. Not as bad as http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3105304 but close.
From Lindsay:
Rian fly out here and fix my car!!
From Rian Chung:
I now have my own car to worry about, I bought my Audi.
From CIncysundevil:
Hey … what are you doing to my ride up there? Well, at least you got some off-road cred; you can always say that you hit a boulder or something while off-roading.
From El Capitan:
Nope, you gotta sand and paint it right. You can always sand and primer it, but you really need to cover the metal well enough to keep it from rusting. Nissans are famous for rusting.
Instead of a boulder, you can always say you came across an anti-California rally and broke it up with your SUV.
From Angela:
Ouch! If you don’t want to fix the dent until you leave DC, at the very least, sand and prime that so you don’t get all the rust damage you’re worried about.
If you are planning on leaving the area in about a year, you may be leaving as I am moving back. Of course, that is if I get assigned to one of the posts in the metro area. We shall see though. For all I know, my first post could be Chievres (Belgium), Okinawa, Uijionghu (South Korea), Pohakuloa (Hawaii) or one of the many other Army posts worldwide. I have been told that they try to assign people to one of their top few choices (especially officers), but as usual it is all about the needs of the Army.