Has anyone added the RDX door trim to prevent dings. I just purchased my 2014 RDX AWD tech pkg and have added a tow hitch, roof rack with rails and the protective package. One other option would be to buy door ding insurance. I usually park in the back 40 when going shopping. The trim is $350 plus.

 

Id buy door ding insurance. Those door moldings look cheap in my opinion.

 

I have them and although I don't think they look cheap they are not particularly effective. Even with them there is still a lot of area above them subject to dings from taller vehicles. I too park in outer or end spaces so have not picked up any dings yet. I don't think much of ding insurance as there are locations where paintless dent repair can't be done. All one can do is try to avoid them and have the repaired when possible.

 

Door dings bug me, but I'm not overly freaky about them. That being said, I got the side trim anyway. I don't think they look bad at all - and they're probably invisible to most others.

But there are better ways to avoid dings:

www.parkingbydesign.com

 

I have them on my 2014, but it was more for the look than for any serious ding protection. If they prevent something great, but I, like you, tend to park as far away from the masses as possible at the end of a row or near an island. Sadly, none of these techniques, nor the body side molding prevented somebody from putting three gouges which were not from a door, in my driver front quarter panel a couple of weeks ago. To say that I was livid is an understatement - I've had it for less than 3 months.

 

i also have them and also purchased them mainly for the looks. i paid $189 installed from the dealer. It was worth it to me. If you don't like the way they look then perhaps they may not be for you. I doubt they will do much protecting from vehicles that are higher than the typical sedan.

 

I had a dent right on the door body line repaired by the local Dent Wizard and it came out perfect.

 

I have them and to me they look good, but they are too low on the panel. I find that with all of the Acura products. They do offer some minimal protection.

 

I think you're better off doing paintless dent removal AFTER getting a few shots a year or two in VS spend the 200-300 and possibly NEVER get touched at all....

 

I have used PDR on a number of vehicles over the years - I'm a big fan. Done correctly, it's a miracle.

That being said, if the paint is damaged, PDR is less than useful.

So IMHO, if dings bother you, the side strips are relatively cheap insurance. If you have the strips and never see a ding, you really don't know if it's because you've "never been touched at all" do you?

 

Or if you find a deep gouge in the strip you know it probably saved the door from a big ding. We had them on our CR-V and I think they saved it from a lot of dings. There were a couple big gouges and several smaller dings in the strips but the doors were unharmed. We have them on our RDX as well...they came as an already installed 'option' but I would have added them anyway. I probably would have ordered them online and installed them myself, tho, as I did with the CR-V.