Scratches Good or Bad

To me the bottom line is, it’s your money you’re spending on a vehicle. If you want a pavement princess then that’s fine, if you buy an off road vehicle to go the mall then fine. Personally I think that’s crazy. Buy a car and stay on the road. I buy trucks to be used as trucks. I don’t intentionally get scratches and dents on my rigs but I’m not going to not go where I want to in fear of scratching paint. I spend the money I earn to enjoy life to its fullest and do what I love, my vehicles are tools to do those things. I’m a professional mechanic, I buy expensive tools…I don’t beat them or abuse them to intentionally break them, but it happens. Same thing with my vehicles, I maintain them to be able to do what I wish with them…they serve their purpose. I would never buy an off road truck to just drive around town. That’s just my 2 cents just like you have yours.

 

you are right, they are predictable and preventable. But I’m not willing to stay home and stare at my 4 wheel drive vehicle. I use it, and have fun doing it. It takes me to places that majority of people will never even think about, let alone take the risk to go. And I know folks use theirs a lot more than I do mine.

and yes, this is my daily driver that my wife and I bought to take us to places most folks can’t get to. Scratches are part of the adventure, I’m not driving a Lambo or some shit.

 

My 4Runner Limited is a 2 wheel drive. I do no off road riding, just my every day ride. Love the solid feel, overall quality, the dependability record, & the resale value. Great looking ride, hope to have many trouble free years. Plan on changing the oil every 5,000.

 

You guys are creating a false choice. (I think there’s a logical fallacy describing the phenomenon.) You are making it seem as though the only choices are “pavement Princess” or “Badge of Honor” damage. There’s an ocean of space between the two.

 

On the contrary…I take care of my vehicles and my vehicles last. I use my vehicles for their intended purpose when I purchased them. When I drive the fire roads, I take them down skinny roads and hate the sound of scratches but that’s the cost of business if you wanna play the game. If was was scared to scratch my paint, then I’d stay off those roads. If someone what’s to spend $70k and beat the living shit out of their truck good for them!

It’s your opinion and you can have your opinion and I can have mine. You’re not right and neither am I. Whoever spends the money on their truck is right. I spend my money and am ok with scratches or dents…not like they’re intentional or I go out hoping to get them. So thanks for saying that I shouldn’t use my truck for the purpose I bought it for but honestly, I don’t care what other people think about how I treat my vehicle…I know exactly what I bought it for and how I maintain it.

 

Chad, you are certainly entitled to use your truck however you see fit, but your response doesn’t address the post you quoted at all.

“I take care of my vehicles … ok with scratches or dents…”​

We can agree to disagree with what constitutes taking care of one’s vehicle.

 

Captain, You can buff scratches, you can repaint the vehicle if needed. You can get dents repaired. It’s called maintenance. Scratches and dents to me are the same as getting a nail in my tire. I’m not going to run over a nail purposely but if it happens, I can address the problem…that’s taking care of my vehicle. Maybe you don’t understand that things happen, and when they do, it can be addressed. I’m not driving down roads that aren’t there or totally overgrown, but if a branch scratches my truck, it’s not abuse or the end of the world. It’s wear and tear.

 

Desert Pinstriping is a mark of distinction. One time, we were sitting having lunch and I pointed out that there was actually a DIRTY Hummer in the parking lot! I've rarely bought new, so mine have usually had some scars (like me!!)=gives them character!

Unless you'd rather cruise the Mall!!!!

 

That’s my opinion too but apparently that makes us horrible vehicle owners

 

This bickering is pointless.

 

Hmm

 

It'll buff out.

You're a poet, Spaz.

You've made some strong statements, so you should expect a response, right?

I was in my first year of ownership when the dealer mechanic came out to shake my hand and say, "It's really nice to see a 5th gen being used for its intended purpose!" He also wanted to know if I had been doing deep water crossings, but that's a whole 'nother story.

This is my dream vehicle, and as someone who works in the mountains about once/week, it is both daily driver and work rig. I would love to have a Geo Metro for town, but they seem to be hard to find these days.

I have made a huge effort to keep my paint unscratched, lol, can't you tell? It is common for me to spend an hour of every trip clearing trail so I can make it a little further or even just so I can turn around. I explore, so some times I end up on roads that get narrower and narrower, until they end in a downed tree or gate.

That screetching sound still hurts, though. But despite 7 years of this, when I wash it and put a couple coats of wax on it, it makes me smile. Such a beautiful truck. Scratches really do buff out, at least temporarily.

 

Yes. But it’s pointless to continue if one of us is going to classify paint and bodywork as maintenance, and dents and scratches as wear and tear rather than damage.

 

Keep using yours to go to the mall and keep your paint pristine and beautiful and I’ll continue doing the opposite. Taking care of paint is maintenance. If your radiator gets a hole in it due to something from the road hitting it, the repair (in my opinion) is vehicle maintenance. Was it damaged? Absolutely…but the fix is maintenance and taking care of your vehicle. Or you could neglect the maintenance and harm your vehicle. I still have my 1985 4Runner that’s been used exactly like my current 2020 Tacoma and 2023 4Runner. I must be damaging vehicles the right way then if it’s lasted so long. Have a great day and stay in your box.


“If a friend of yours borrowed your truck and brought it back with dents and scratches, would you call it wear and tear? Or damage?”

Depends on what my friend said he was going to use it for. I wouldn’t let a friend borrow my trucks if I didn’t trust them. Also, what I do to my vehicle and what others do to it are different

 

The ad hominem attack is the refuge of the insecure.

 

I attacked you, ok. I unlike you can see where you’re coming from but don’t agree. You started in on the people who accept scratches…so I guess you’re the insecure one? I don’t get people who spend $50-70k on an off road vehicle and use it as a commuter and going to malls, but it’s their money and car so I don’t care. I also see people who’s $50-70k trucks are chopped up and cut up and dents and scratches everywhere and I don’t understand that either, once again their money and their vehicles. Myself, I accept my vehicle will be scratched and get dented and I move on with life. That was my original point when I chimed in on this conversation. Someone asked a question and I answered it, I didn’t sling shit and not expect to hear any feedback.

 

If depreciation was a primary consideration yes, it would be dumb (although these seem to hold value with rotten frames, so who knows).

It’s a little different when you dont want to own more vehicles than you can frequently use. Storage space, registration, insurance…that all adds up, especially for a “toy” vehicle. I’d rather use one vehicle to do as many things as possible. I think most people prefer that as well, which explains why people often have “more car than they can use.” Having multiple vehicles to suit specific functions is not necessarily, maybe rarely, more efficient than having one that serves multiple roles.

Regarding “badge of honor,” I think most people use that to comfort themselves at seeing damage. I was not happy with my first few scratches, especially since I like shiny paint, but I got over it. Now it hurts less, but it still hurts when it happens…like make you want to cry hurt. But then you look around at where you are, and pinch yourself that you are playing around in the woods like when you were a little kid, far away from anything or anyone.

The paint still shines like a new car, it’s just got those little stripes. Almost all will buff, but as long as I’m not selling, I see zero need to do so. I still get enjoyment at seeing it shine after a nice wash and wax, and the new stuff makes most pinstripes dissapear for a few months.

 

To each is their own.

 

I had a lab jump up to the window when I got to the dove field. I was not upset at all. The scratches came right out with some wax.

 

That ocean depends on where you can off road. Out west, lots of open space, here in the north east it’s woods we get.

 

Well said, this is exactly what I was trying to say you’re perhaps just a better wordsmith than I. It’s never “fun” to scratch or dent a vehicle.

 

I do a lot of mountain roads that are fairly tight at times living out west.

 

I am sure there are some places that are tight, but there are lots more open areas on that side of the continent. Can’t wait till I can get back out there and explore.

 

Yeah there’s a lot of dunes in eastern Wa for sure. I need to get out of the state more and explore the SW a bit

 

Don’t talk to me about dents…too soon lol

 

Yeah mine wasn’t fun either. Had to take a ditch due to someone coming the opposite direction too fast…in the ditch was a large branch that broke and slapped my passenger door.

 

And listing perceived logical fallacies and debating terms, parsing syntax even, while ignoring the subject at hand is the refuge of those who can't defend their own statements. Are you that guy coyly posting III'er stickers in the background of his photos?

 

Evidently I’ve made a mistake. I thought that taking a new $50,000 vehicle out and subjecting it to scratches and dents was a bad idea, but the consensus, I see, is that doing so is perfectly sensible. I stand corrected. I apologize for my attitude and to anyone I have offended.

 

Both.

I am never happy about a new scratch, but I accept it as part of this hobby. I don't go out of my way to scratch it, but the trails in my area aren't wide enough to avoid the occasional branch.

Mine looked like junk after the first season, and a friend buffed it all away. Now I have plenty of new scratches, but it's not worth buffing until I decide to stop playing in the woods.

I can also understand why this doesn't make any sense to some people. You should see the looks I get from family members and friends sometimes.

 

How long is it considered new? Until it gets its first scratch?

when I got my 09 taco, the first week I ended up with pinstripes, not cause I wanted to, but because I screwed up. I knew of this road that I wouldn’t go on in a 2 wheel drive vehicle, and now I had a 4x4, I gave it a shot. Well miles in and thinking we were almost at the end, the road began getting narrower. Knowing that it was miles of backing up, I felt best to continue, well it got narrower and final came to an end, but not at the main road I expected, but at the woods. Thankfully there was a place to turn around and as I pulled in, I heard the scratch.

then when I got my 17, first day driving on the way to work, I took a corner a little wider than normal due to a vehicle at the stop sign and my nice new truck. Well, they had been working on the curbs and one sharp edge of the rock slap ledge didn’t accept my tire hitting very well. Granted it wasn’t a scratch, but still sucked and needed to buy a new tire. But the there was the big ass dent I put into when I backed into a telephone pole, not once but twice.

My wife, probably with in a month of getting our new 2011 Subaru Outback wagon, backed into our neighbors mail box and broken out a corner of the tail light. We still have the car and the tail light is still broken.


I think new vehicles bring a lot of stress when we are worried about keeping them in pristine condition. That is stress that I have decided to do my best and not have. Although it’s still there, it doesn’t eat away at me now that I have more of a fuck it, use this beast for what it can do and deal with the scratches and what not that will happen when using the 4Runner for off the beaten path fun.