I recently took my 2004 Honda Accord to the dealership in my community for some routine maintenance. When I picked the car up, I noticed two identical four-inch long dents on either side of the car about six inches from the back “vent” windows on the upper body. It almost looks like the car was picked up by some kind of machine (or backed into one) that created these dents. I called the service writer’s attention to it, and he had no explanation, of course. I’m wondering if anyone has an idea of what might have created these dents and what could be done to repair them. Thanks.
Can you post a photo? Are the dents symmetrical? How long have you owned the car? Did it ever have an aftermarket roof rack installed?
Sounds like either a bay door may have closed on top of the car (seen it happen) or it got lifted too high on a two post lift, causing the car to contact the top post of the lift (done it before, but fixed it before the customer arrived to pick their car up). All modern to semi-modern two post lifts have a safety mechanism that will shut off the lift before it can damage a car in this way (cable and pulley system attached to a kill switch is common: cable gets pushed taut, switch opens current path to the motor for the lift). The problem is that these systems can get out of adjustment and need to be tested and adjusted regularly to prevent something like this from happening. After I did this once, I took it upon myself to test and adjust those safety systems on a regular basis.
Edit: these suggestions only apply if by “upper body” you mean the roofline. Do you mean above or below the windows?
It is impossible to say without seeing pictures. Please post some if you can. What do you mean by upper body? Do you mean the roof, sail panels, quarter panels? If these dents are on the left and right and are the same size and location then most likely they were there from the factory. They are a product of metal stamping.
Keep in mind that people do not notice things like this on their vehicles until they are picked up from a repair shop. I am not automatically saying you are wrong, I am simply saying if these are identical then it is a factory thing.
Also, the person checking your vehicle in should have performed a “walk around”. Walk around the vehicle with the vehicle owner noting any prior damage, dents, scratches, etc., and recording them onto paper.
Again, please post pictures.