Car Dings

From: Jim Aiello

Just listened to Marge from Tennessee regarding putting a ding on someone's car, which brought about a discussion of "factory installed dings."

My father taught me - many moons ago - that if you put the first ding in the car yourself, you'd be very relaxed the first time someone dinged your car for you.

So, when he purchased a car, he'd take a key and put a scratch on it so that he could proudly state that he did the first damage to the new automobile.

I've kept up that tradition. Unfortunately, my sons haven't bought into this idea - they're part of the "ding-free" generation.

I guess you and I and my father are part of past generations who were just happy to have a car and didn't need one that was in mint condition.

So...if you patent the "factory ding" idea, do you think the auto manufacturers will give you a percentage of each car sold?

[ As Read on Car Talk ]