EDIT: Fixed the pictures Well, my hatch had an unfortunate meeting with the garage door this Monday morning... [attachmentid=4589] (Please excuse the dirt, I was camping this weekend ) My wife accidentally hit the button to close the garage door when she reached for the switch while the hatch of the car was resting against the padding of the door. Luckily I was close enough to step in teh beam to reverse the door before significant damage set in and got away with three relatively minor scratches. Of course, had I not been close by, it could have been much worse. Here is a reverse angle of what was in store, you can use your imagination of the damage that would cause... :huh: [attachmentid=4590] Anyway, I will get a quote from the body shop on how much it would cost to repair this when I bring my car to quote on the other hit & run damage I experienced about 7 weeks ago. I may just touch it up with a paint pen, haven't decided yet. (This really sucks for a car that is not even 4 months old yet). Anyway, I think this calls for a mod like Darrelldd came up with to limit the opening height of the hatch. Live & learn... <_< Kevin
hmm, if those are just scratches, I figure a touch-up pen will work. $10 from the dealer and it includes the paint side and a clear coat side.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sarge @ Aug 22 2006, 10:37 PM) [snapback]308011[/snapback]</div> I have a single car garage and I am able to close the door with the Prius hatch wide open - without a problem. Since garage doors I think are of a standard size - maybe it is the type of garage door opener and how it is mounted that causes this problem. Just a thought. Springtime
Being a non-expert in minor scratch repair, I'd say it's a job for the touch-up pen. Try that out and let us know how it goes... You couldn't hurt it more anyway, and if it's no good, there's still the shop as a fallback, and next to no extra cost for having tried the DIY approach.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Springtime @ Aug 23 2006, 08:28 AM) [snapback]308142[/snapback]</div> Well, the hatch definitely hits the door itself, so the opener really is not a factor here. I agree in principle that you would think garage door heights would be standard, but they are clearly not as I have seen a few other threads discussing this topic and it is pretty divided between those who have the problem and those who don't... <_< <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Aug 23 2006, 09:08 AM) [snapback]308163[/snapback]</div> That is my thought too. I agree there is really not much to lose...
I back my car into the garage so this isn't an issue. Still, seems like the garage door is awfully low.
I did almost the exact same thing a few weeks ago. The garage door was down and I had the back hatch open...loading up some things before I left for work. I hit the open door button - forgetting that the hatch was up. The metal bar hinge on the garage door managed to catch the back door and carved a pretty deep groove in it....also dinged the spoiler. I was PISSED.....but had no one but myself to be mad at. GRRRRRRR So.......now I am very, very careful to always close the hatch....... I haven't fixed it yet and think that the pen should probably work fine. glad to know I am not the only one that did this!! gailmo
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gailmo @ Aug 23 2006, 10:22 PM) [snapback]308616[/snapback]</div> I always make a point of stepping in the safety beam whenever I have the hatch open to prevent anyone else from accidentally closing the the door. Unfortunately, this time I was a couple feet away (I was not the one who opened the hatch) and as soon as I saw the door coming down I jumped over there as quick as possible break the beam and reverse the door. I was bit late, but at least prevented major damage. Thought: maybe I should manually mount the beam projectors on the wall to project across where the hatch would be when open and use that as my 'safety' instead! Anyway, I plan to pick up the paint pen in the next couple days and address it before risking any rust setting in (not sure if it is deep enough or not). Kevin
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sarge @ Aug 25 2006, 08:27 AM) [snapback]309287[/snapback]</div> The hatch is aluminum. It does not rust.
