Given a number of recent posts illustrating the desires of Porsche owners to protect their cars, I thought that it was time to share my usage experiences with Doordefender Magnetic Car Door Protectors (see http://www.doordefender.com/).

Doordefenders are most easily described as magnet-backed, rubber bumpers, covered primarily in an all-weather fabric, with felt material covering the magnet side. Two of these bumpers are linked by a plastic-covered metal cable, providing protection for one side of a vehicle. Each Doordefender includes a security tether to aid in theft prevention (I removed these as I am not concerned with theft in the areas where I park my car). Multiple colors are available.

As you can see in the first photograph, Doordefenders provide excellent coverage on the Porsche 911, extending just beyond the length of its doors. I find that twisting the metal cable that connects the two pieces, as illustrated in the second photograph, ensures that the cable keeps its distance from the paint and it also provides a clean look.

The padding of Doordefenders is robust, providing a high degree of protection from typical parking lot impacts. The magnets are powerful, requiring a bit of heft to remove mounted Doordefenders; however, placement is easy. The felt material that covers the magnet side seems to prevent abrasions effectively.

When I’m placing or removing Doordefenders, passersby will often stop to inquire. It seems that many are desirous of better vehicle door protection. From a distance, I’ve had the opportunity to observe those parking next to my Porsche when equipped with Doordefenders and, interestingly, they seem to be more attentive to careful entry and exit from their vehicles.

As I am very selective with where I park my Porsche, I do not have the need to use Doordefenders on a daily basis. Instead, I carry these in the luggage compartment and deploy them when I have no choice other than to park in areas that are not as Porsche-friendly as I would prefer.

As for storage, Doordefenders fit nicely across the bottom of the luggage compartment, as illustrated in the third photograph. If you use a SCHILD liner, as I do, be advised that a similar fit is not possible due to space restrictions. Users of SCHILD liners perhaps will best be served by first placing the Doordefenders across the bottom of the luggage compartment and then placing the liner on top.

I am impressed with the performance of Doordefenders and believe that the product represents a useful solution for cars that are not equipped with body side moldings. I hope this helps my fellow Rennlist members who are looking for ways to better protect their Porsches.

 

Looks like a good item. Do you know of any discounts or group buys?

 

No idea, but I will contact the company and make an inquiry.

 

My C2S is my DD, I usually park with enough lateral spacing but sometimes it's unavoidable as you alluded to above. Would be interested. I assume you apply it within seconds using the magnets?

 

Somebody is going to sue you when they sustain damage when their door makes contact with it....

 

Seconds, indeed. Open the luggage compartment, pull them out, and place them. Very quick and very easy.

 

How do you secure them or are they simply available for taking by the driver of the car next to you upon their return?

Never mind regarding security... I went back and re-read the orginal post...

 

My only concern is that every car has a different height in which the impact point would be. What percentage of cars is this device not going to protect you against?

I don't think this would provide any value for an SUV parking next to you

 

I thought the same thing until I put them into use. Doordefenders are fairly thick and this enhances their protective qualities. Since they stick out quite a bit, they are able to "catch" impacts from many different types of vehicles. Doordefenders certainly won't protect against all parking lot threats, but when combined with careful parking, I believe they greatly reduce the likelihood of damage.

 

The only thing that I think is a negative is that if you put those on your Porsche you are telling the world that protecting the Porsche is the most important thing to you--and that the car is important to you. Unfortunately, that can result in quite the opposite reaction--someone keying the car.

 

I never park my Porsche where it is likely to be damaged but these would be useful for my other cars - especially my Mercedes and Golf. Are they available worldwide?

 

I agree completely. Choose your parking area very carefully.

 

Looks to be the case, as indicated here: http://www.doordefender.com/distributors.html

Online ordering is possible, too, as indicated here: http://www.doordefender.com/contact.html

 

It might be good for really tight spots such as in your own garage or in situations were the car needs to be parked/stored in garages in the city. Not sure if i would use it at the mall.

 

I think that you should drive around with it all the time. You never know when you might be sideswiped and anyway it's a hassle to apply and remove it everytime you park.