Definetyl do not let her talk on her cell phone or anything while driving. The only wreck Ive ever been in could hav ebeen avoided if I wasnt changing CDs in my radio. Now I set my music before I start driving and leave it the same the whole way. If someone calls me while Im driving I either have someone else in the car answer it or if I am by myself I wait till a red light and call them back. She probably wont like it at first but trust me once she realizes how much safer it makes her she will have no problem with it.

As for the sideswiping thing she probably did just come close something. Also like forty said with the wind, I know we get some pretty nasty gusts out on the highway around here and some of them sound like someone could be throwin sandbags at the side of your car.

 

What color would a scratch be on magnesium metallic paint? Would it show up good?

 

Trust me, in a civic... you would KNOW if you hit something. It would definetly show too. The paint on these cars are actually of a good quality. Also, they have thin sheet metal designed to eat anything that hits them to save them from getting bad internal damage. Ask me, my civic is a wrreck magnet and everytime it was only body panels.

 

So even a small hit would DEFINITELY leave a mark? Is that true? I always get afraid that minor damage won't show until some random day that I decide to wash it thoroughly. Scares the crap out of me. It's my worst fear. I at least want to SEE the damage so I can know what would happen. I hate finding little scratches on my car!!

I didn't know that the Civic had good quality paint!

 

Dude, my civic is a champ! I was on ice trying to make a turn into my college apartment when I started to skid into another car in the same predicament sliding towards me. I hit her head on into the front left tire of her car going about 5 mph and I shoved us to the curb. We got out to look and my car was PERFECT! And I really smacked her too. In the end, I asked for her insurance info and phone number, I took her out that night, 1 year later I married her! I love my civic!

 

I'm not sure why you're making such a big deal out of this. If the car was damaged, then she hit something, if it's not... then she didn't. If it wasn't much of an impact and she wasn't paying attention then yeah, she might not have noticed it...

You're puting WAY to much thought into this. Have a beer, man.

 

The two most important things to teach young drivers is to pay attention and use their mirrors correctly. Everybody around me seems to like using their side mirrors as extra rear-view-mirrors. I've noticed that when I get into someone elses car they usually have them aimed so you can see straight back. If you can see the side of your own car in your side mirror, you aren't going to see that car in your blind spot.

 

im thinking she may have rubbed a tire on a curb. look for a spot on the sidewalls that looks freshly scuffed, it will be dark black. I do that coming into my complex in my work truck sometimes, and I could see how she might think she hit something else.

 

Exactly!

 

I agree, you're worrying far too much about this. If you have found no visible damage on the car, then chances are she didn't hit anything. If she would have hit something, she would know for sure if she hit it or not. I know from teaching my ex gf how to drive, she CLOSES HER EYES when she thinks she's gonna hit something.

Unfortunately if you're daughter doesn't know whether or not she hit someone else, I'm afraid you're not going to know either. A simple fix to your problem would be to buy her a $500 beater if you're so worried about little scratches on your car. She's a new driver, she WILL scratch it.