# Cars with no side-molding.



## Monocrom (Jun 25, 2008)

After my car was totalled recently, I've been looking at various different models from various brands. For some weird reason, side-molding seems to be being fazed out. I have no idea why. 

Side-molding is great for keeping dents from popping up on your car doors. Especially in a parking lot where some [email protected]$$ decides to slam his car door into your's, just so he can climb into his car a bit faster. 

Perhaps the various car-makers decided that side-molding is not fashionable. Nearly all of them have removed the offending feature from their new models. Case in point, the 2009 Pontiac G6 GT I rented a few days ago. The '08 models have side-molding. The new ones, don't.... I'm not sure when it happened. The dent was small, but still a bit noticeable. Yup, someone slammed their car door into the G6's door; and left a dent. Luckily, I had gotten extra insurance on the car from the rental place. So I wasn't responsible for the damage.

Still, it makes no sense to me why such a pragmatic feature is being removed from so many up-and-coming 2009 models. I mean.... How fashionable is it going to look when a new car has dents all over its doors??


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## climberkid (Jun 25, 2008)

im with you on that. i dont know who decides what the cars look like anymore. it HAS to be about style i guess. nobody wants to buy a car that does things correctly, just a car that looks good and eats up gas. am i right or am i right?:shakehead


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## KC2IXE (Jun 25, 2008)

Costs $$ to make and install side moldings - gotta keep costs down, right? Right?


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## BIGIRON (Jun 25, 2008)

I dislike the looks of side moldings, one reason I park way out in the lot and walk. It's a cheap add on from Auto Zone or Pep Boys if you just have to have it. Clean the area very well with solvent and heat the adhesive before application.


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## Monocrom (Jun 25, 2008)

BIGIRON said:


> I dislike the looks of side moldings, one reason I park way out in the lot and walk. It's a cheap add on from Auto Zone or Pep Boys if you just have to have it. Clean the area very well with solvent and heat the adhesive before application.


 
Even if you park in an isolated spot, you still sometimes get some @$$ who just has to park next to you. Aftermarket side-molding doesn't always work. The doors on the 2009 Pontiac G6 are sculpted. The upper portion of the doors extends out a bit. That's where the dent was on the rental car. 

I agree that side-molding is not the prettiest part of a car, but the alternative is driving around with doors full of dents.


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## Manzerick (Jun 25, 2008)

+1

I'm know as parking in "Guam" whereever I go. Evena t work Ihave the lone car way way way out in left field 



BIGIRON said:


> I dislike the looks of side moldings, one reason I park way out in the lot and walk. It's a cheap add on from Auto Zone or Pep Boys if you just have to have it. Clean the area very well with solvent and heat the adhesive before application.


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## jchoo (Jun 25, 2008)

Amen to that. I always try to park with the left side of my car close in to a curb, island, or shopping car corral, and a large buffer of space on the passenger side (most people in this area tend to pull in nose first). With that said, my car does indeed have side molding. :wave:


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## cdosrun (Jun 25, 2008)

You are forgetting that as well as cars, car manufacturers also sell parts such as plastic trim, doors and paint; anyone like to hazard a guess as to the relative profit margins of the aforementioned items? 

Andrew


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## RA40 (Jun 25, 2008)

It is a conspiracy: Manufacturers, body shops and property owners also design the parking lots in such a way to make parking places narrower.  The plastic side molding has saved me many times. The SUV's...


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## Black Rose (Jun 25, 2008)

I have a 2006 Chevy HHR that has no side mouldings at all.

And I have a nice ding in the rear fender where someone managed to hit it. It had to have been a pickup truck that did it, as the area that has the ding is right where the rear fender starts to slope back in towards the passenger cabin.


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## jzmtl (Jun 25, 2008)

I made my own with 1/4" steel plate. :devil:


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## Black Rose (Jun 25, 2008)

jzmtl said:


> I made my own with 1/4" steel plate. :devil:


Is that to prevent dents or merely survival in Montreal traffic? :laughing:


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## stitch_paradox (Jun 25, 2008)

Side Moldings are Ok as long as they are the same color with the body. I don't like the flat black moldings that stands out from the rest of the car. I adjusted my step bar of my SUV 2 inches farther away from the body to prevent Ash holes from banging their doors to my vehicle. Works great too, I can actually see different colored scratches on my side step bars.


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## Aluminous (Jun 26, 2008)

I don't know if all vehicles have OEM body-color-matched side moldings available, but some of them do. However, they are now frequently an extra option instead of standard. And it's an extra option that dealers often choose to not add when ordering cars for their lot stock.

When I bought a new car about a year ago, I insisted on having OEM floor mats and body-color side moldings. For the floor mats, they had to take some out of one of the few other cars on the lot that had come with some (and special-ordered some replacements for that car). For the side moldings, they didn't bother to keep any in stock and so had to special-order them and have me come back a week or two later. (I talked them into including these things at no additional cost to compensate for some screw-ups they'd made, and I don't recall what they would've cost normally.)

I guess people just don't care about keeping their stuff in decent condition for a decent length of time anymore, for floor mats and side moldings to be so unpopular that the dealers don't bother to include them anymore or even stock spares.


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## Lichtschalter (Jun 26, 2008)

For everyone who is mad about door dings, check out this website: Parking by design

Hilarious, but great advice!


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## Aluminous (Jun 26, 2008)

Lichtschalter said:


> For everyone who is mad about door dings, check out this website: Parking by design
> 
> Hilarious, but great advice!



As a very 'defensive' parker, I agree, this looks like a useful article. :twothumbs


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## Flashlight Aficionado (Jun 26, 2008)

Did you see this picture from that website!


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## ABTOMAT (Jun 26, 2008)

I've never been a fan of side molding in general, but I can appreciate it on vehicles that might take a pounding in traffic or offroad. And for that purpose I like molding that is unpainted and won't show scratches or cracks easily.

My '94 Jeep ZJ is a Laredo trim, so it's swathed in vast quantities of gray unpainted plastic. Takes a licking.


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## MarNav1 (Jun 26, 2008)

stitch_paradox said:


> Side Moldings are Ok as long as they are the same color with the body. I don't like the flat black moldings that stands out from the rest of the car. I adjusted my step bar of my SUV 2 inches farther away from the body to prevent Ash holes from banging their doors to my vehicle. Works great too, I can actually see different colored scratches on my side step bars.


What are Ash holes? :thinking:   :shrug:


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## NeonLights (Jun 26, 2008)

I have a strong dislike of side molding on most cars, and have removed it on several cars in the past, where doing so wouldn't leave any bare holes or other marks in the paint/body. Side molding may help some cars some of the time avoid door dings, but that is assuming the the molding lines up with the exact spot the other person's door, bumper, shopping cart, etc is at, and that isn't often the case. 

None of our five cars has factory side molding (thank goodness), although our Subaru has some lower body cladding that comes a fair bit higher than I'd like. None of our cars have any sort of dents, dings, or other body damage, mainly because my wife and I are very careful with how and where we park. My wife sometimes wishes for a beater car that she can park anywhere she wants and not worry about getting damaged, but then she looks at cars owned by friends or family members that have numerous dents, dings, and scrapes from careless parking and careless drivers, and is kinda glad all of our cars are in excellent shape. Besides the benefit of nicer looking cars, you get the added health benefit of the exercise of walking 1/4 mile farther by parking in the farthest corners of the parking lot


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## Probedude (Jun 26, 2008)

I had useless side door molding on my 1982 Datsun 200sx (too low) , no side door molding on my 1991 Nissan 240SX. Back when they were new I added my own. With the 240SX I went to the body shop and bought a quart of automotive paint matched to my body color and painted the black molding - came out great - looked factory.

I'm sure it's still available by the roll and isn't hard to apply yourself. The important thing is to remove any silicone waxes from the paint and to apply the strip when the weather is warm.

I'm sure it's cost cutting but also to give 'cleaner' lines to the vehicle.


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## Monocrom (Jun 27, 2008)

I'm currently driving a 1992 Mercury Sable for the time-being. Just out of curiosity, I parked it in the back of the company parking lot. (Normally, I park it in the front row).

Isolated spot.... Ended up with an SUV on one side, and a Lincoln sedan on the other. Large open spaces all around, and still had two "Ash holes" who simply had to park on either side. :ironic:


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## climberkid (Jun 27, 2008)

monocrom, why are you still awake? lol


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## Monocrom (Jun 27, 2008)

climberkid said:


> monocrom, why are you still awake? lol


 
I work 2nd shift, so I got home from work nearly two hours ago.... And I'm horribly addicted to CPF.

What's your excuse?


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## climberkid (Jun 27, 2008)

i have classes at all times of the day so im constantly awake at strange hours....and yes, i have a serious addiction. i havent told my therapist about CPF yet though. i dont know if i should. :shakehead i just cant sleep until i have hours and hours on cpf.


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## h_nu (Jun 27, 2008)

My first car had no side moulding but a body shop recommended a thin chrome strip with a white vinyl mid-section on the widest part of the body. It looked great and I received lots of comments from strangers. No door dings.

My second car had moulding low on the body from the factory. Lots of door dings within weeks since the moulding was below the wide part.

My current car is 10 years old and has no door dings. I will not ever buy a car that doesn't have functional moulding on the widest part of the door. Lack of it indicates a manufacturers lack of thought. I hope Toyota continues to think of the consumer's desire to keep a car looking good.


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## o0o (Jun 27, 2008)

Side molding is only moderately effective, I find that vehicles either lower to the ground (sports cars) or higher to the ground (SUVs/trucks) than mine will still smack my doors with side molding or not.

What the auto industry really needs to do is use some high tech material that resists dings, dents, and paint chipping.


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## o0o (Jun 27, 2008)

Side molding is only moderately effective, I find that vehicles either lower to the ground (sports cars) or higher to the ground (SUVs/trucks) than mine will still smack my doors with side molding or not.

What the auto industry really needs to do is use some high tech material that resists dings, dents, and paint chipping.


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## Lunal_Tic (Jun 27, 2008)

o0o said:


> What the auto industry really needs to do is use some high tech material that resists dings, dents, and paint chipping.



They did, with the Pontiac Fiero. Anybody remember the bowling ball ad for them? 

-LT


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## jzmtl (Jun 28, 2008)

And the plastic saturns.


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## o0o (Jun 28, 2008)

jzmtl said:


> And the plastic saturns.



I'm referring to higher end material. Something metal, that could be put on a Lexus/Benz/Beemer, Cad etc. without making the car feel like a cheap flimsy Saturn.


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## gadget_lover (Jun 28, 2008)

So far, I've never heard a Saturn owner complain about it feeling flimsy, but your experience may be broader than mine.

During the oil embargo of the 1970's a lot of decorative trim was removed from cars to decrease drag and thus make them more aerodynamic. Hood ornaments and protruding door handles gave way to emblems in the grill and flush pull type handles in the name of gaining a little more MPG.

I suspect that may be what's happening now.

Daniel


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## o0o (Jun 28, 2008)

gadget_lover said:


> So far, I've never heard a Saturn owner complain about ot feeling flimsy, but your experience may be broader than mine.
> 
> 
> Daniel



Don't get me wrong, I like Saturns for what they are. They're solid commuters, with a little sporty side to them. I'm just saying I wouldn't want the older style plastic panels on a higher end vehicle. There should be some kind of advanced metal that could pop back into shape after some jerk bangs one's doors?


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## gadget_lover (Jun 28, 2008)

There are metals that spring back, but they are hard to work with so they would not be preferrred for a car panel.

Since we are talking about door dings, I'd recommend a simple technique to minimize the problem. Wax your car.

Wax helps to minimize damage by letting the other guy's door slide along yours with less chance of digging in. Dry, unwaxed paint is more likely to chip too.

I find that a well wxed finish also helps flying pebbles bounce off instead of creating chips. It helps the mileage too, or so I recall.

Daniel


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## goldenlight (Jun 28, 2008)

If a car I'm interested in doesn't come with body side molding, I pay a body shop to install it.

They can get it straight as a laser beam. And they often can get molding that I would have a hard time finding. So you can get some that looks good on your car, too.

When you are paying $20K+ for a car, paying to have body side molding installed is a small expense to avoid dents.

That being said, I have a 3 year old car that doesn't have a scratch or nick on it anywhere.

It has side molding, but I always park it WAY out in the parking lot.

At work, I park at the end of a row so there's no other car on my passenger side.


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