If it were me, I wouldn't worry about it (but I'm definitely not like most people in this regard--pardon my tangent here, it's certainly no judgement on the author of the thread). My '04 is becoming the true road warrior. Ran over an impressive retread the other day, knocked out the plastic insert where the fog light would go, left nasty claw marks on the facia . . combine that with the other well earned battle scars, and I'm past the point of letting it bother me.
The way we (Americans) regard our cars strikes me as interesting. We paint them to a beautiful (but relatively fragile) high gloss and chrome, and hurdle them through the most difficult and varied of environments, and consider them "old" when they get the inevitable road scars. I think Delorian might have been on to something with the stainless steel panels. It's really a triumphant marketing achievement, that they've convinced the buying public that they drive a less than desirable car if the finish is less than pristine or it doesn't look like the newly redesigned models.
I think I've resoved to treat the 'Roll as the machine it is. No more, no less. I certainly don't sweat the chips and scratches as much.
Having said all of that, I guess that's just the station in life I've reached. 10 years ago I'd be replacing the Toyota Emblem too.
