On my way to the dealer yesterday morning for a few things (fix tiny hole in leather in back seat; balance the tires to see if it takes care of those vibes at 60-80 mph; pick up my tag & reg). As I'm changing lanes to get over to the exit off I-95*, I glance over to the right to make sure the lane is clear, as turn my head forward again I see a giant piece of debris (kinda looked like ripped up roofing material) staring me in the face! I didn't even have time to react! It slammed into the front driver side of my bumper and tumbled under the car. Needless to say, I was ticked off! I pulled into the first gas station to take a quick look at the damage: a significantly scuffed bumper (even chipped a small piece of plastic off the bottom edge) and a missing foglight grill. It hurt a little more since I had just washed the car!

They cleaned it up for me at the dealer, and the service mgr ordered the grill for me. He said I could have it painted for a couple hundred dollars. I may just live with the scuff or now. At least I got the first one out of the way. I just didn't think it would be so soon!

* Note to anyone who may have to travel on I-95 in South Florida: Be EXTREMELY careful! There is ALWAYS debris on that highway. Last week I had to maneuver around the remains of a mattress that someone had just lost. Funny how in 5 years of driving my previous car (91 Nissan Stanza) nothing EVER jumped out at it!

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There will always be dings and scratches... some have better luck than others, though. It's good to get the first one out of the way, then future damage isn't as painful. My car was 4 1/2 years old and didn't have a single flaw on it, until somebody carelessly attacked the rear bumper while it was parked, helpless and alone, in a parking lot. That one was tough to take but just recently when another genius trying to parallel park behind my car swiped the front end (bumper, fender, trim, mirror), it just gave me an excuse to have everything fixed, and be thankful it was only paint damage.

You might want to wait for a few hundred paint chips on the bumper before you have it repainted. Get your money's worth!

 

I also live in South Florida, and try at all cost to avoid I-95. You are absolutely correct. Everytime I get on it, you will always find at least one piece of debris on the highway.

BTW, which dealer do you use for service? I live in the Gables, bought my car at Prestige, but have gotten it serviced at the Collection (close to home), and am pretty indifferent to their service. They are building a new showroom, and now have the Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, etc. all in one service department. Appointments are a bitch to get. Have you used Prestige or Champion? Any recommendations?