I constantly check for door dings by looking down the sides of my '08 Fit. It's a bit tougher to see dings with white. So far in 13 months, no dings! I look for end spots or park along curbs to avoid dings.

However, I notice that there is a 'ripple' above the front door handles...around the middle part of the handle. I just look at the reflection in the metal to see the ripple. I can also see them in my mirrors when driving. I first thought it was a ding...but then I saw it on the front passenger door too. I dont see any other 'ripples' on the car...so to me, this just looks out of place.

Don't mind my obsession with keeping my cars as perfect as possible...haha. I just want to know if other GD3's are like this as well.

Thanks FF!

 

Yep, me too... Both sides... and I take well care of that car...
It's not that bad but I can actualy see it, like you...


Philippe

 

Durring hot and cold weather the metal expands and contracts, you can sorta call this stretch marks. Parts that stretch out too big to expand to normal size. I hate to say but you'll be seeing more of these down the line

 

Good to hear it's normal.

 

Its verry common, most cars have them. THe worst Ive seen so far from a newer car is from the Scion tC quarter panels above the body line but below the quarter glass. On average a 2 year old tc in the mid west will have 2 - 3 waves one each side.

But the most cars to have body warp is honda civics (the older generations).

As simple as it may sound. The worst thing to do is pull your car out of the sun and wash it with cold water, or wash it and then put it in the sun, thats fast hot to cold or cold to hot. Thats what gives you body warp. Not so much climate but the climate does do body warp over time.

 

The ripple above the leading edge of the door handle occurs as the opening is punched out of the skin at the stamping plant. The problem can get worse during assembly if the torque gun that runs down the handle hardware is set even slightly too high. I saw this firsthand when I worked on the door line at Baltimore Assembly where they used to assemble Chevy Astro/GMC Safari vans.

 

Noice! I thought it was body warp. ^ Very good!

 

That's some good info which seems to make sense! Never thought of that. Both ripples are pretty well in the exact same position.