I thought about this, too, but I don't want to invite vandalism or car theft when it might have walked away instead. Plus, disarming the car (leaving it unlocked) doesn't disable the electronic ignition lock, making theft of the car much simpler.

 

Done. Here's the best news: the Audi body shop actually recommended a dent-repair guy to me, which I was somewhat skeptical about, but he told me I should see if he can repair it, and if not, I could always go to plan B, having the body shop repair it. I wanted the least amount of time involvement to fix this ding, so I entertained the ding-repair by getting an estimate. The guy gave me a good initial impression, and within 30 seconds said he could remove the ding for sure. So I let him do his thing; 40 minutes and about 600 taps on the ding with a hammer and pointed tool, and I absolutely cannot tell there was ever a ding, nor any repair. I actually could not pinpoint the dent/ding at all, to my surprise. I couldn't be happier!! It was $129 vs. $1234, which I'm sure Safelite Autoglass will be happy to hear. I was ready to run them (and USAA Insurance) through the ringer to get my baby back to normal, but took somewhat of a risk using a dent-repairman, and boy am I glad I did! Now I can put this whole thing to rest (as soon as I collect reimbursement from Safelite).

Cool sidenote: the repairman is a former Olympian who competed in five Olympics from the 60's to the 80's!

 

My only comment for leaving the car unlocked is what if they are sneaky and get a hold of all your insurrance info, or your full name, or if you have a garage door opener and they get the code to that and come back when no one is home open the garage, etc.