20vtguy

Looking for the consensus from owners on truly if the sheetmetal dents that easily. Seems from what I've read it really does. Has anyone had acorn or even small hail damage on the roof and hood of their HHR while their other cars under the same conditions sustained no damage. I know pressing on the hood when closing can cause dents and I never do that on any of my cars. On my GTI I lower it to about 10 inches from its closed position and let gravity do the rest. Same goes for the hatch door. On my GTI I always pull it from the inside grab handle and then push it the rest of the way with the big VW emblem. I've had to scream at my friends when they try to close it because they use the palm of their hand right on the nice flat painted metal part. And I always close my doors by giving them an appropriate swing to avoid touching them or having them slam to hard. On hills where gravity is on my side I sometimes simply let them go and gravity alone closes them nice and easy. In nearly 7 years I no dings or dents on my GTI except a slight wave on the quarter where some idiot rubbed me with their bumper cover 6 months ago. Sadly it also rubbed through the clear in a couple of spots Can see it only at certain angles but it actually annoys me and due to its position cannot be taken out by a PDR person and the rubbed off clear cannot be fixed without painting the panel. Once its repainted the panel will never be the same. Actually thats partly why I want to get rid of it. :-)

oneton

Is a 06-07 GTI still as thick as your 00-01 GTI. What did you pay for your GTI $17,000-$20,000 I don,t think so My 99 sub was not a thin as the HHR That was over $30,000 so My HHR is doing fine For under $17,000 just as it is thank you

Kingfrog

Just look at some of the crash damage. You will see the metal looks a lo like crumpled foil. This is much thinner metal then my Explorer was. I already have shopping cart dings in mine. LOL I can press a dent in easily if I wanted to,

But yes it's a cheap car and that goes with the territory.

PanelMan

the metal is thin but that is because it is a car sheet metal on any other small car is about the same thickness,workin in a bodyshop i am sometimes amazed at how thin some of the metal is on many of our cars. But you can not compare the metal to a truck or suv they are built to be heavier and stronger so of course they get thicker steel. Also the crumpled foil look in the sheet metal after an accident is part of the crush zones and accident absortion built into our cars making them safer for the passengers by channeling the energy from the collision away from the passneger.
the thin metal also make the car light and with less weight we get better fuel ecoomy. just my 2cents

itschaboykenny

AGREED

sunburstchris

dude i have this problem too. i have dents in the front quater panels just because i put my hand on it.

maggie

I had several walnuts drop from a tree onto the roof of mine, while sitting at a stop light. Couldn't get away till the light changed. No dents.

20vtguy

I can't be sure but I looked at a new GTI and I can say it had same heavy solid feeling doors and hood that my 2001 GTI has. My car was priced starting at about $20k new but the base Golf and Jetta at the time were priced starting in the $16-17k range and built exactly the same way. My doors weigh a ton. Even the new base Rabbit priced at about $16k feels this way. So its safe to assume that the same durability is built into the sheetmetal panels of the newer body as my last gen body. So cheap price does not have to equal cheap materials.

Daverb

I would have to agree with ya PanelMan.

Old Lar

I have several small dents on the top of the front fender. I have no idea where they came from. It seems that just by leaning on the fender would put a dent in the car. Real light guage metal.