how upset do you get over car dings/scratches?

[pyramidsloth]

I guess it depends on how old the car is. We had the WORST luck with our very first car we bought as a married couple (a brand new Volvo S60). We were living in Germany at the time, and DH and I were leaving a parking garage. Parking spaces, lanes, etc in Germany are notoriously small, and I was a little worried about getting through the lane after we paid for parking. As soon as the lever was raised, I said to DH, "Am I good on the passenger side?" He gave me the go ahead, and I stepped on the gas. SMASH. Guess what, dingbat DH, I WASN'T good on the passenger side; I was too close to a cement barrier. It didn't take off the passenger mirror, but it left a huge gash on the right side of the car. I cried and yelled at him all the way home. We had had the car for about six weeks at that point. I brought it in to the Volvo dealership later that week, and they buffed off the scratches and re adjusted the side view mirror, for 130 euro. 

A year later, we were back in the States and our son was born. I was at a mall in the Milwaukee area with my mom and my son, and before we walked in, I took his umbrella stroller out of the trunk. Car looked just fine. An hour later, we returned to the car, and I was about to lift up the trunk lid when I noticed some asshole had massively keyed the trunk of my car. I was stunned, and I had to fight back tears. I mean, WTF? My car never did anything to you! 

I didn't bother fixing that last one...it wasn't worth it to me. We had a kid and other expenses at that point, and while I still get pissed off every now and then when I look at the trunk, I let it go. The car is six years old at this point, and I guess DH and I figure a few scratches and dings are to be expected. 

[les]

I park my car on the street in Boston every night. I don't pay much attention to dings and scratches. It's just not worth the energy.

[wanderlustmom]

I remember dings on my new car the first month. No, it didn't bother me after the first time.

[livinitup]

I don't mind.

I did enjoy the lady who FREAKED THE F OUT LAST WEEKEND when her car got tapped in front of the bar.

She lost it because her car "moved". Lunatics are funny.

[thumper55]

I don't care about dings and scratches unless they stand out. Blue on white would be noticeable to me, but given that it's 8 years old, I'd shrug it off or fix it myself, rather than throwing money at it by taking it to a professional.

[v]

S/o this... our car just got its first scratch. We've had it for 5 weeks. Damn you people who go years before the first scratch! You grow up fast in the city.

I'll say, whoever scratched it did a good job, because it is in an area that seems nearly impossible to scratch (the scratch is inside the logo area, so it is inside raised metal that I would think would protect from scratches). It had to be a pedestrian who did it.

Oh well.

[sillygoosegirl]

It doesn't bother me. But our one car is 16 years old, and our other was only $8,500 when it was new.