WHERE DID MY MYSTERY CAR DENT COME FROM?

Did you ever take a look at your vehicle and see a dent and wonder, “Where did that come from?” You’re scratching your head thinking, “I didn’t see that there before. How long has it been there? What did that?”

So where do mystery dents come from, anyway?

Maybe an animal did it! Even though you’re not that used to seeing animals around, once in a while animals like deer, moose and bears travel through residential neighborhoods. They tend to do this at night when no humans are around. What if they accidentally bump your car or truck? They could leave a dent and you’re none the wiser. Meanwhile, dents can come from run-ins with animals while driving along the road. If it’s dark out and something goes “whack” on the side of your vehicle and you’re not sure what it was, chances are an animal bumped into you… and probably left their mark in the form of an awkward dent.

Now many dents come from parking lot problems. Your vehicle is sitting there, minding its own business while you’re in the grocery store or Wal-Mart, and the wind picks up. It causes a shopping cart to move on its own, hitting your vehicle. There you go– you have a dent. Or perhaps someone parks next to you, and the wind grabs their door. It swings open so fast and in a split second it accidentally hits your vehicle. If they’re an honest person, they’ll try and leave a note about the dent they helped cause– but most people are not that nice or swift, and you’re left wondering, “How did that get there?”

Finally, do you park your vehicle near trees? If so, it’s very likely that a fallen branch could/can/will dent your vehicle someday. Even if it’s not a branch, other stuff can fall from the tree (or the sky) hitting your car or truck and leaving a dent.