Bugman

I also have a mysterious 'ding' in the hood of my 2004 Forester. I noticed it the day after I had it in for an oil change. The real mystery is that the dust on the hood was not disturbed meaning that nothing had come into contact with the outside of the hood. I inspected under the hood. In the spot under the ding was a black sticky substance between the hood sheet metal and the internal brace for the hood. My theory is that the oil change technician closed the hood with too much force and the internal brace, being 'glued' to the hood sheet metal by the black substance, 'sucked' the ding into the sheet metal from below. The hood is aluminum, which is a much softer metal and not thoroughly tested over years of use as the previous steel sheet metal has been. I'm wondering if this is a design defect that may start showing up in other cars. Of course, when I explained my theory to the service department, they looked at me like I was nuts, but it is the only cause that I can think of. Any thoughts from anyone?