Mysterious Dents 2010 Nissan Versa

[pmg0877]

There has been something strange occurring to the driver door on my 2010 Nissan Versa (hatch). During the harsh midwest winter my car became rather dirty and there was a small area on my driver side door that, when looked at it a certain way looked like a small dent, but I thought it was dirt. Eventually at a point I had washed my car and I came upon the door and still noticed it. I ran my hand across it and it was a dent - no scratches or chipped/missing paint or anything. Over time the last few months another small dent would appear, then another. Now there is an entire dented area on the door about the circumference (not perfectly) of a basketball. And of course everybody sees it now and tells asks me if I know about it.

The best I can describe it is that is seems like the car door is "sucking itself in". The only explanation I would figure is that someone would be taking their hand and applying pressure to the door to cause this denting. I don't think this is the cause.

I'm afraid it's going to get worse, as it progressively has been, and eventually most (if not entirely) my car door will be completely dented in.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Is it common for these mysterious dents to show up on cars nowadays? Is there anyway to get this fixed inexpensively or by myself? If I fix it will the mysterious denting return?

[frapjap]

Welcome to NICO!
Thats an odd issue you're having. Is there a chance you have an extended warranty on the car?
I'll pass this along and see if anyone knows anything else.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

You can try taking the door panel off and pushing the metal back out, or using a suction cup/plunger type thing to pull on it from the outside.

[ImStricken06]

question: did you buy the car used?(maybe it has frame damage) do you drive it off-road? do you have a bump on your driveway?

frame flex will cause doors, lift gates, and other large panels to incur the flex, and if the panel is curved enough = it will pop/dent.

[frapjap]

Maybe a dumb question- do you have any meddling children near your house using your door for pitching practice.

[ImStricken06]

fast forward 1:10 into the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMQjm7i2Jw[/youtube]

[pmg0877]

I bought the car brand new 4 years ago. It was only during winter these dents began appearing and "growing" into the larger dent. I wouldn't know the first thing about removing the door panel and pushing them out myself. And no, no extended warranty. Just wanted to know if this is a common occurrence.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Nope.
Definitely not common.

[mrmont]

[bluefin]

Somebody who consistently parks next to you and is careless how he/she opens their door?

[TijgerStrepen]

I bought my '09 used 2 years ago. I noticed small dents in all 4 of my doors after first time washing it. They're small and perfectly aligned. My dad joked to me that it was from being lifted off a ship because it does look like a big claw machine picked it up. I don't believe that tho haha. Mine haven't gotten bigger tho and they're barely noticeable on my car.

[Tacuvito]

This is a very strange situation a photo would do wonders to find out where this dent is located. I wonder if it happened in the parking lot: Someone parked next to you and accidently hit the middle of your door with their knee or with a briefcase of backpack. The door panels are large and the Versa doesn't come with any kind of rubber strips to protect from swinging doors. I have a lot of dings on my door from parking in my garage. Every time the love of life opens the door to her car in the morning, she dings my Versa. I bought some rubber strips that adhere to the edge of the door and the wife has not dinged my Versa since.

[Francesco]

Possible snowball dents if they are occurring in the winter?

Frank 2009 Versa S MT-6 with 60800 miles

[trdmrk86]

DIY dent repair tip I learned on the interweb. I tried it and it does work.

Take a can of "canned air" like the ones for blowing out a keyboard. Hold it upside down as you blow it on the dent. This will make the metal cold. They quickly heat the metal with a heat gun. This will make the metal expand and pop back out, Metal has a memory and will usually go back to it's original form. Look for a video on youtube for more details.

[madmalc200]

My 2008 hatchback had 3 small (1/2" vertical line) dents about 4 inches apart aligned exactly down the passenger door approx 2 inches from the opening edge. It also had an obvious deliberate big dent on the door and one on the top of the hatch in the vestigial spoiler. My local "Paintless dent removal" guy got rid of them for £60 UK (Approx $100 USA)