there is really no such thing as the door that will hit ur car will be at all sorts of heights and angles. just park ur GK at a corner or far away hope for da best, or be like me. dont care!

 

Kenchan's right. You can put moldings on but that big Ford truck that's going to squeeze in next to you at the shopping place is guaranteed to miss the molding and scratch your door at a different height. Park further out in the wilderness and get some exercise with a bit of walking.

 

I almost went for the stock moulding with a freebie $200 accessories credit I got as part of my purchase deal but eventually went another way (rear cargo mat). My second or third weekend with the new Fit I went for groceries and chose a spot as far from the other cars as I could. Coming out later and wouldn't ya know it, a bunch of teen girls in an old Mitsu right next to my car were doing something akin to a chinese fire drill. They drove off as I got closer and I find a tiny scratch high up on the pass door. Curious, I checked and realized the moulding probably wouldn't have prevented it. Rubbing did take it out mostly but the cherry was broke and after some depression a bit I stopped obsessing. Since then I've had pretty good luck, first ding at two years and another over the past winter. It still looks pretty good overall. And yeah, I still park on the far end of any lot.

 

yah people suck. ive had my previous new cars dinged & keyed multiple times, hit by shopping cart, kicked by some a-hole drunk twice, hit by UPS truck, hit and run, etc. etc. its not worth putting in da effort for a car dat will be used routinely with da dumb general un-'educationated' public.

so i always recommend keep the GK stock or stock-ish and use it for dd, buy another car you really like for weekend drives.

 

I treat mine like my guitars....yeah, the first few dings, etc, suck, but …...I've been lucky that my only parking lot scratches/gouges on the Fit are on the front or rear bumper pieces.....if it ain't gonna rust or affect driveability (or playability, in a guitar), I don't worry about it. I keep my cars well past their prime, so resale value is a non-factor, really. Of course, most of my guitars are "affordable" guits like the Fit. I have one pricey Fender Tele, the other 7 are quite affordable...and all of them awesome - this is a great time to be a guitarist on a budget, as cheap guitars are much higher in quality than when I was a kid learning to play, and can be upgraded as needed/wanted relatively affordably, depending on what one wants/expects. If it's gonna rust/bust, fix it....if it's purely cosmetic, I let it ride

 

While I think it's true that no side moldings are going to be capable of preventing any and all dings or scratches I think they can be of value.

Personally I cosmetically like the look of the side moldings available for the Fit. And if they prevent even 1 ding or scratch? That's gravy.

If you don't like the look? Then they probably aren't worth purchasing based ONLY on protection possibility. But if you like the look? Well in some percentage of possible door collisions they will offer some protection.
But that's how I would look at whether I wanted to make the investment or not.