Garage Parking Columns and Cars Don’t Mix

It feels so good to finally have underground garage parking after thirteen years of street parking when we lived on Capitol Hill. Our assigned parking space in our new condo in northern Virginia is next to a column. So we are very careful every time we park and every time we leave. Whenever we park in most parking lots we always drive in head first to the second space so we can drive right out without having to back up. We rarely pull in backwards in confined spaces. This afternoon we went to a local Greek restaurant for lunch. We ended up parking next to a column - head first - in an unusually busy and tight parking garage. Unfortunately when we were pulling out, the front right bumper scraped along the column, not only denting the bumper, but taking the car paint off along with it. Luckily our Subaru isn’t “new,” but it’s only four years old. And also luckily, we happen to have a Subaru paint pen because the rear bumper once took a mild hit when I was backing up a couple of years ago. When we got home we cleaned off the mess and applied the paint to the obvious spots. Later today we’ll go back and seal the same areas. The next time we bring the car in for a routine check we will get an estimate on a bumper replacement - but I think the damage extends to the wheel as well. At least no one was injured and we can still drive the car. Just when you think you have your expenses under control something like this happens. At least the car will be inside rather than outside so the damage may be contained. We just need to stay away from all the columns. It’s just not worth it. 

Subaru Ice Silver Paint Repair

When you live in the city, you can't expect your car to remain unscratched - especially if you have to park in the street. That is the case for us and one of the biggest things I miss about living in the Midwest. We had a two car garage and a long driveway. So we found ourselves with a back bumper that got a bit scratched. That's not so bad because it was the rubber part. But the section above the rubber also got dinged and took the paint off in three tiny spots. What makes it even worse it that it's on our one year old Subaru. Of course, this never happened with our eleven year old Subaru. So I ordered a Subaru Ice Silver paint stick to see if we could mitigate the damage. The stick comes in four parts - a scratcher to smooth out the damaged surface, a thin application pointer for small scratches, a tiny brush for larger scrapes, and a rubber brush to clear coat and finish it off. We wanted to keep it from rusting or getting worse, but the end result isn't that hot. I don't think we smoothed out the edges well enough. I know it would cost a bundle to have this repaired at the dealer, and I suppose we will ask them to give us an estimate the next time we go there. So in the mean time we will just live with it. So it took about a year for us to have the first ding to our new car. I wish it would have been a little longer.