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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Parking Lot Door Ding Avoidance: What's your strategy?

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Jan. 9, 2011 5:39 p.m. plance1 Dork

During the course of any given day, I suspect that I'm being punked and that Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out and yell something at me.

Stopping at the store today...as I parked my truck at the far end of the parking lot, I knew when I came out there was going to be somebody who saw the need to park right next to me. It never fails, even when the lot is empty. Did you ever notice this?

Is my truck valuable? No. Should it attract the least bit of attention? No. Would it even matter if it got a door ding or two? No. But...no matter what I drive, I usually try to park out of the way, especially when I'm in the Turbobrick.

When I was younger, I used to take up two spots but only if the lot wasn't crowded. Sometimes I parked diagonally, other times I did not. Either way, this identifies you to the world as D-Bag and luckily after awhile I stopped doing this before anyone came along and keyed me.

Now I just try to park as far away from the door of any place I'm going, I try to find an island so that there would only be one car besides me instead of two. And I try to make sure that I'm not at the bottom of a hill where the misc. shopping cart won't magically glide down the lot and give me a little love tap.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas for keeping people away from me.

What do you do that's different?
Jan. 9, 2011 5:43 p.m. mistanfo SuperDork

Trunk monkey?
Jan. 9, 2011 5:58 p.m. vazbmw Reader

end spots and park as far over to the non-parking spot side as possible...the wife doesn't do that so I have a fair amount of dings now anyway
Jan. 9, 2011 5:59 p.m. JThw8 SuperDork

Plastic body panels. Otherwise, I just dont stress it too much.
Jan. 9, 2011 6:03 p.m. irish44j Dork

my strategy was to put a small paint nick in the car when I first bought it (new), and then thereafter to never sweat scrapes, scratches, or dings again. I have matching dings on both doors (subaru steel is thin) and several nicks and scratches (subaru paint is thin). I don't worry about them at all (and this is on a 2-year-old WRX). Because worrying about the car, parking at the far end of the lot, sweating each time my daughter bumps her trike into it......all of these are fruitless wastes of time. I park in a crowded garage every day, I'm gonna get dings. Worrying about it is pointless.

The only way to keep people away from your car is to drive some total POS that already has lots of door dings (especially on the edge of your door, as if you hit OTHER peoples' cars). Then nobody will park near you.

That, or put some beefy rubber rub strips along the doors. But those will look worse than the dents themselves!

Also, the more you worry about it and try to prevent it, the more often it will happen. Once you stop caring about it, you'll hardly notice when you do have a new dent or ding....
Jan. 9, 2011 6:06 p.m. Auto ADD Dork

Take the rusted out POS and not care.
Jan. 9, 2011 6:38 p.m. Tom Suddard SonDork

Pick a spot with an island or something on one side so you only have to deal with one idiot. Then park about an inch from the island, leaving about 20 feet (if you drive an E30 or E36 M3fire) between you and the next guy.
Jan. 9, 2011 6:55 p.m. pigeon Dork

Paintless dent repair takes all the worries out of parking. I had picked up a few dusies on the wide flanks of the 750 and the dealer's PDR guy took them all completely out while they had the car hostage for a month not to too long ago.
Jan. 9, 2011 8:20 p.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

I've long given up. Humans are social animals and want to hang out where others are, so they invariably park right beside you.

I love the ones that follow you around the lot to park beside you. You know, the one that pulls up right when you do. You move, and so do they.
Jan. 9, 2011 8:25 p.m. aussiesmg SuperDork

My DD can give better than it gets, they leave me alone....I never take a nice car to a shopping center
Jan. 9, 2011 9:56 p.m. Maroon92 SuperDork

My strategy: I lower the number of craps I give to 0, and everything else just falls into place.
Jan. 9, 2011 10:05 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

I compare it to going into a public washroom... choose the furthest cubicle away, and the next person invariably picks the one right beside you. I'm usually driving someone else's car, so I try and park as far the berkeley away from everyone else as I possibly can... and of course when I come out there's always someone right beside me. In the middle of an otherwise empty lot. Sigh.
Jan. 9, 2011 11:25 p.m. Osterkraut Dork

People just don't park next to me...
Jan. 9, 2011 11:49 p.m. mtn SuperDork

Park all the way on the edge next to an island, and I try to get it so that if the person next to me pulls in straight then their passenger door is next to my car in the hope that it is only the driver in the car. Otherwise I just don't sweat it too much.
Jan. 10, 2011 3:24 a.m. thatsnowinnebago Dork

Two words: rock sliders. Seen in action here:

I've got em and have yet to notice any dings on my doors. Because that's the only reason to get them.
Jan. 10, 2011 5:50 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

plance1 wrote:

Stopping at the store today...as I parked my truck at the far end of the parking lot, I knew when I came out there was going to be somebody who saw the need to park right next to me. It never fails, even when the lot is empty. Did you ever notice this?

Cars are pack animals.
Jan. 10, 2011 5:57 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

1) Buy car with dings and scratches already present.

2) Cease stressing over dings and scratches.
Jan. 10, 2011 8:00 a.m. dj06482 Reader

I use the same techniques (park far away, avoid parking next to other cars, use islands to "defend" your car), but I've given up to a large extent. People are careless. My personal favorite is when you're sitting in the car, they crash their door into your car, notice you're there and say "Sorry."
Jan. 10, 2011 10:02 a.m. psychic_mechanic Dork

I park pretty far out, and view the walk as good exercise. I don't mind door dings in any of my beaters, but I just got in the habit from seeing what happened to my parents' cars as a kid. My Dad spent a week or so adjusting the body gaps on his '67 S code (390 and 4 speed) Mustang prior to repainting. Less than 2 weeks after he finished it some moron did a hit and run in the Post Office parking lot, mashing one of the quarter panels up pretty good. Same thing happen to my Mom's Trans Am in another parking lot a couple years later.
Jan. 10, 2011 10:17 a.m. Joe Gearin Associate Publisher

In reply to psychic_mechanic:

When I was a kid my Dad picked me up from Baseball practice at the Jr. High School. We got out to his car, and some jackass had parked too close and dinged the door on his new 83 Supra. He had me wait while he let the air out of TWO of the guy's tires. (didn't slash, just pressed the valve) He then left a note on the guy's windshield letting him know why his tires were flat. I love my Dad!

I've always parked far away when in a car I care about. The M3 has 140K miles, is 14 years old and has one door ding. (drives me crazy!)

Now when I'm in the Eagle, or Van......I park where ever I like!
Jan. 10, 2011 10:34 a.m. Tyler H Dork

If I drive a car I care about, it doesn't matter how I park - it still gets dinged. If I don't give a crap, it never gets dinged. I don't get it.
Jan. 10, 2011 10:47 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

My last door ding was caused by a kid in a car seat opening his door and banging my car. I was about to be cool about it (hey, kids are kids) and just exchange info with Dad. However, Dad started yelling at this poor 3 year old like he was a private who just let his platoon get ambushed. I figured that if I pushed the issue, the kid would probably catch a beating over it! I just said "no problem" and drove away. I am not happy about the ding, but I may have saved a kids life.
Jan. 10, 2011 11:35 a.m. pete240z SuperDork

I was at work when a dude when off and went into the parking lot and started key striping everyone's car. Some guy had a one month old brand new Pontiac that got striped on both sides.

My $100 beater Cutlass never got touched and I wasn't worried or upset. However I have had nicer cars and just park further out than others do.
Jan. 10, 2011 11:36 a.m. benzbaron HalfDork

18ga german steel seems to ward off dents pretty good.

Also consider runaway shopping carts, I have parked out of the way to have a cart runaway and ding my door. Oh the joy of using a classic.
Jan. 10, 2011 11:39 a.m. rogerbvonceg Reader

I don't stress about dings, but I do take reasonable precautions when able. There seems to be an unwritten code at work that if you're in the "no ding row" people don't crowd you. Still, it's happened a couple times. My favorite was the Rusted-out Pickup with trailer. He had many places he could go.

I'd say my car help up pretty well by the simple fact of me taking care of it and also taking basic precautions. I don't like driving POS's (even if they "are" POSs). Sadly, the worst damage to my previous car came from my Wife (from backing it into things or backing into it) or from my kids. Garages are terrible on cars.

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