Will black side moldings look ugly on a red Forester

[chester]

I've just bought a red Forester and would like to
protect its doors from getting hit by strangers.

I'm thinking about putting black self-adhesive rubber
moldings (about 1-inch wide) on the doors, like the
Style Guard by Cowles Products Inc.

http://www.cowlesproducts.com/html/styleguard_pg02.htm

but I'm wondering how they're going to look since this
car already has several horizontal lines on the sides.

If anybody has done this please let me know if you're
happy with the results.

Also if it turns out that I don't like the results and
want to remove the moldings, will I have to worry about
the paint coming off ?

Thanks,
(e-mail address removed)

 

[BoB]

I've just bought a red Forester and would like to
protect its doors from getting hit by strangers.

I'm thinking about putting black self-adhesive rubber
moldings (about 1-inch wide) on the doors, like the
Style Guard by Cowles Products Inc.

http://www.cowlesproducts.com/html/styleguard_pg02.htm

but I'm wondering how they're going to look since this
car already has several horizontal lines on the sides.

If anybody has done this please let me know if you're
happy with the results.

Also if it turns out that I don't like the results and
want to remove the moldings, will I have to worry about
the paint coming off ?

Thanks,
(e-mail address removed)

I've never tried the add-ons. My first and only door ding in my red
'02 Forester is located just below the rear door handle. Not where
you'd expect.

Look around at vehicles that have door moldings. They are still
dinged up. Don't know how happy you will be with the effectiveness
or the looks. I'm more concerned about my bumpers that are unprotected.
There's too much concern for looks instead of protection IMHO.

BoB

 

[David & Caroline]

The problem with side moldings is that they protect only where they are
put - but car, trucks, and SUV's are a variety of shapes and sizes - so
there is no single "best" location to put them. I had them on my last car
(a corolla) and got more hits above them than on them. It can't hurt to
try, though. (and don't worry about them pulling off the paint - use a hair
dryer to warm them up before you start pulling them off, take your time, and
you won't have any problems with the paint)

If you want to see what it would look like, find a picture of a red
forester, and draw a black line where they would go.

 

[chester]

The problem with side moldings is that they protect only
where they are put - but car, trucks, and SUV's are a
variety of shapes and sizes - so there is no single "best"
location to put them. I had them on my last car (a corolla)
and got more hits above them than on them. It can't hurt to
try, though. (and don't worry about them pulling off the
paint - use a hair dryer to warm them up before you start
pulling them off, take your time, and you won't have any
problems with the paint)

Are you sure the hair dryer won't hurt the paint ? Since
the adhesive is behind a very thick rubber I'll probably
have to heat the car's doors and let the metal transmit
the heat to the adhesive.

If you want to see what it would look like, find a picture
of a red forester, and draw a black line where they would go.

I have already done this but still can't tell. But I can put
the moldings on one side of the car using an easily removable
adhesive first to see how they look.

 

[David & Caroline]

Are you sure the hair dryer won't hurt the paint ? Since
the adhesive is behind a very thick rubber I'll probably
have to heat the car's doors and let the metal transmit
the heat to the adhesive.

A hair dryer won't damage the paint (it won't get it any hotter than it gets
sitting out in the sun) - a heat gun, on the other hand, gets much hotter
and can definitely damage the paint. It's easier to get off than you would
think - once it gets started, you are just heating the adhesive.

Once you get it, I would tape it down with clear packing tape and see how it
looks - if you like it, stick it down - if you don't, just don't apply it.

 

[Del]

I've just bought a red Forester and would like to
protect its doors from getting hit by strangers.

I'm thinking about putting black self-adhesive rubber
moldings (about 1-inch wide) on the doors, like the
Style Guard by Cowles Products Inc.

http://www.cowlesproducts.com/html/styleguard_pg02.htm

but I'm wondering how they're going to look since this
car already has several horizontal lines on the sides.

If anybody has done this please let me know if you're
happy with the results.

Also if it turns out that I don't like the results and
want to remove the moldings, will I have to worry about
the paint coming off ?

Thanks,
(e-mail address removed)

I had red toyota tercel 4wd estate it had a 3 inch wide moulding strip at
bumper level which looked pretty good and gave some real protection against
muppets opening doors in car parks.I would find a picture and use a
graphics program to judge how it will look saves messing about with tape
Derek