Vehicle damage without hitting anything

[Poppernox]

Does anyone know if vehicles get scratched and dinged over time automatically, even if you don't hit a single thing? I traveled from garage to race yesterday, taking care not to hit a single sign, post, car, or insect... and when I showed up, the vehicle appeared to have scratches on the side and back.... is this normal? It's driving me mad! Pun intended.

[Poppernox]

Nobody has any info on this? I love that NFS: Heat does a showcase of photos of your ride when you enter a race. But when your ride is scratched and beat up (not actually damaged, mind you), the photos look terrible. I found that you can choose to change your car before entering the race, then change back to the one you had prior to changing and this will reset the appearance of the vehicle. That works, but it seems almost cheaty. Really, I just don't understand why the vehicles appear to have scratches when you haven't hit anything... not even the smallest of road cones or those white road markers... whatever you call them.