Avoiding door dings [Archive]

Robotnik123

12-03-2008, 05:00 AM

What strategies do you guys employ to avoid getting dings and scratches when you park your cars in parking lots?

You can always park far away, maybe in a corner and distance yourself from other cars I guess. Lately, I've started parking next to cars which the owner obviously looks after - cars that you assume the owner will try and avoid dinging your car with, lest their car is damaged too. I especially look for cars that are very clean - not necessarily Mercs or BMWs either - an older Galant will do too. Sometimes these cars are parked away from others, presumably to avoid getting dings, so I bet they are annoyed when they come out and find another car in the next park over, when there are many other free parks, but hey!

KHK

12-03-2008, 06:32 AM

i always park far away, besides that can't figure out any effective solution

beware of kids too, their father / mother may be nice to other cars but their kids usually don't

bradc

12-03-2008, 06:47 AM

the VR-4 doesn't go to shopping centres. The ST-R or the company car does.

MarkSanne

12-03-2008, 01:23 PM

I happen to live in an appartment above a supermarket, plenty of parking space.

Also plenty of (sorry ladies on this forum, you're excluded here) housewives that just BANG their doors open (onto other / my cars) to get kids and groceries in/out their cars. It gets me furious nowadays as I have spent a small fortune on removal of dents, dings, scratches, small area paintjobs and now only 5 or 6 months later all three cars have new dings and even a hard deep scratchs!

And that after double-parking!! I don't know if there a specific english term for it (parking the car onto two parking places). I get some angry looks sometimes, but I look back just as angry!

Nick VR4

12-03-2008, 01:29 PM

I just tend to park away from the main parking areas

Wodjno

12-03-2008, 01:41 PM

Also Keep away from Coupes... Any car with kid seats in...

pitslayer

12-03-2008, 02:35 PM

this is easy problem to solve...dont go shopping, order online and get it delivered, what i do.
if i have to go the shops, i park in 2 spaces slightly wonky

ANTHONY

12-03-2008, 06:18 PM

if i have to go the shops, i park in 2 spaces slightly wonkyPark like a woman,:scholar: i like it

Dan_G

12-03-2008, 08:03 PM

park diagonally across 2 disabled spaces

Subaru ETA

13-03-2008, 07:49 AM

we went to a bar last night and when we walked out a merc had parked so close the mirrors were touching and the rear were about 5cm apart. wehen i had a look there was a dent on the car (luck it was the mrs car or i would have been REAL pissed!)

so i decided that hey i had to get into car so i swung the door open a few times and tried to get in...o darn i couldnt fit... so i climb thru the passengers side and swung the door open..whoops few big dents on the big merc

so tehn when i backed out, my drunk mate decided to put his key out the window and put a big scratch up the side...

o well they shouldnt have been such arogant tossers and shouldnt have dented the mrs car

bradc

13-03-2008, 07:58 AM

lol Dave, nice one :)

I saw one women once who had reverse parked into a space and was over the white line, I waited until she had got out and disappeared, then parked about 5cm away from her car, even had to fold the mirrors in. I was parked perfectly centrally in my parking spot! Obviously I could get out just fine because I had parked normally and she had reversed back in.

I wasn't coming back to the car until the end of the day, when I got back her car wasn't there, she must have climbed in from the other side :)

Subaru ETA

13-03-2008, 08:39 AM

bradc

13-03-2008, 09:07 AM

lol, rep points to your mum

pitslayer

13-03-2008, 10:09 AM

haha good work.

when i was younger (well alot younger) my parents had a 6G galant. it was a couple of years old at this stage and my mum and i came out of the shops and some woman had herbaby seat, wallet and keys on my mum boot, push chair leaning against it and her kids were swinging there doors into it.

my mum blew her stack at this woman and the woman said "o its just a car calm down". mum said just because you drive a piece of **** doesnt mean everyone else has to. she then picked this woman stuff up threw it on the ground and kicked her keys into the drain! it was brilliant!!

maybe this is why im such an angry person...
its all coming out now /lol
ive done in it when i were young. some woman swang her door into my old vw, whilst i was sat in it. i sort gave her that look of "arent you going to at least say sorry and try and pay for the damage on my car" she just looked at me, shrugged and said "im far to busy to worry about an old car like yours"..... now old vw, doors there heavy and you can get some force behind them when you kick them..and they dont get damaged, when they hit a soft landing pad. fair play one swift kick of my door, caved hers in.

DanG- I really really hope you dont actually do that :(

White Lightning

13-03-2008, 01:25 PM

haha good work.

when i was younger (well alot younger) my parents had a 6G galant. it was a couple of years old at this stage and my mum and i came out of the shops and some woman had herbaby seat, wallet and keys on my mum boot, push chair leaning against it and her kids were swinging there doors into it.

my mum blew her stack at this woman and the woman said "o its just a car calm down". mum said just because you drive a piece of **** doesnt mean everyone else has to. she then picked this woman stuff up threw it on the ground and kicked her keys into the drain! it was brilliant!!

maybe this is why im such an angry person...

Love it /haz

I must admit if I do have to park in a shopping centre (which I try to avoid). I either park far away from the other cars or more often I park in a corner and park as far over in the space as I can (even if that means climbing out the passenger side).

AncientOfMu

13-03-2008, 01:32 PM

When I occasionally HAD to take the Vr to a supermarket I would always park a long way away and park perfectly straddling two spaces.

The V6 however is riddled with dings as The wife uses it and isnt as anal as I am ;p

pitslayer

13-03-2008, 02:51 PM

Ghost_2008

13-03-2008, 03:26 PM

I have to park in a multi-story car park for work daily!!!!! In the last three cars I have owned I have never (touch wood) come back to find door dings etc. So the other day I left the multi-story to go to an estate I manage........ I park up and take a walk around and return to the car about 40mins later.......... when I get back I find a nice crack in my rear bumper and load of paint missing where some complete to***r has driven into possibly the most visible car in the car park.......... If I find the tenant that done I'm gunna evict them!!!!!!

To make make it worse I've only owned the car a month or so! Needless to say i was gutted!

AncientOfMu

13-03-2008, 03:59 PM

i have noticed how many little dings there on the VR Don, by that i mean lack off dings. all though that one on the rear driverside arch im going to have to get taken out, it bugs me everytime i see it

That one was already there when it got to the country :scholar: Not inflicted while in my ownership :). Oh and you have PM btw

pitslayer

13-03-2008, 04:42 PM

replied, yeh i know, you told me every little mark on the car. which was brilliant when my mate nosed around it going. ding there, dent there, etc and im going yeh i know lol

dickytim

13-03-2008, 07:01 PM

haha good work.

when i was younger (well alot younger) my parents had a 6G galant. it was a couple of years old at this stage and my mum and i came out of the shops and some woman had herbaby seat, wallet and keys on my mum boot, push chair leaning against it and her kids were swinging there doors into it.

my mum blew her stack at this woman and the woman said "o its just a car calm down". mum said just because you drive a piece of **** doesnt mean everyone else has to. she then picked this woman stuff up threw it on the ground and kicked her keys into the drain! it was brilliant!!

maybe this is why im such an angry person...

Go your mum !!!

I tend to write a note or wait for some one to come back to their car if I see an ignorant **** scratch or ding their car, it is usually appreciated and I would like to think that karma will eventually come my way and some one will return the favour if my car was dinged or scratched. All it takes is a scrap of paper and a few seconds to write down a number plate. If we all did it then people would stop getting away with it and have to start respecting other peoples cars.

MikeKey

14-03-2008, 12:39 AM

When I occasionally HAD to take the Vr to a supermarket I would always park a long way away and park perfectly straddling two spaces.

Like AncientOfMu I found parking as far away from the entrance as possible and right on the white line between two spaces is the way to go.

Judging by the number of little dings and dents I've seen appear down my doors over the years, it seems to me I'm performing a public service by giving people the extra space they so obviously need to get in and out of their cars... :happy:

VR4 MAD

14-03-2008, 09:37 AM

Well I find parking any car to be one of the scariest driving exercises these days. 90% of drivers haven't a clue about the size of their vehicle or how to park and are totally ignorant of those around them and what effect their actions have on others.

I've a new strategy when choosing who to park next to now. Once, like others on here have mentioned, I would look for a nice flashy (read expensive) BMW or Merc or similar, but bitter experience has taught me that most owners of that type of car have more money than sense and couldn't careless about their cars. They don't tend to keep cars for long and are always trading one in for the next new model released............/Grrr /pan

So now I look for the nice, well maintained, clean and tidy average car.

These people haven't the money to go changing cars every 6 months and need to keep and look after what they have got............exceptions are SUVs and people carriers as well as cars with any evidence of children, ie child booster or baby seats, toys, school bags etc etc.

Seems to work for me but still doesn't help when they leave and some git, who is the spawn of the devil, takes their place causing unimaginable damage and destruction in the wake of their ill conceived parking maneuvers.

Also try parking next to columns in parking buildings.............. this halves the chances of being hit too.........:pimp2:

A similar strategy applies to parallel parking situations, park at the end of the parking zone or by traffic islands or pedestrian walk-offs. these have the same effect of reducing the chances of being hit by half.

AVOID being anywhere near disabled parking spaces. They are a sure way to get scratched.

Bottom line, wherever possible park away from all other cars to be safe.

Just my 2 cents worth.

/toycar

Robotnik123

14-03-2008, 09:48 AM

Only problem with parking far away is that you run a greater risk of someone breaking into your car, or worse you could be mugged as you walk to your car. Problems, problems! :(

d i c k i e s

16-03-2008, 10:56 PM

dixon8

19-03-2008, 09:14 PM

Bottom line, wherever possible park away from all other cars to be safe./toycar

far better to leave your VR4 at home when you go grocery shopping :scholar:

dickytim

20-03-2008, 12:01 AM

Hmmmm.. hard to say!
I know at pac n save, i try to park where the cameras are. So if i ever did come across a ding or scratch. I can always aks for footage.

Last time i went to my car (my old VR4), i had returned with damn norts and crosses on my damn car. on the side of the boot.
this was before i didnt know about thier cameras

Sometimes, i stay in the car... which is awlays good.

Nice thought, but they won't give the footage to you, my brother had his boot caved in and they refused to give the footage to him or his insurance company
$10,000 worth of damage too....Apparently the footage shows the person get out of their car and leave a note on the windscreen, unfortunately nothing was written on it...