I honestly don't know if i'm getting paranoid or just being unlucky.
SWMBO has just come back from a shopping trip really fuming because we've picked up yet another massive car park ding, the 4th in less than a year.
These aren't little polish-outable ones - all four are significant dents like someone has really slammed their door into ours as hard as they can.
My car is not 'that' flash, a facelifted Leon Cupra, but it's the first decent car I've had and I do keep it well polished and I know some people percieve it as flash.
I've been driving over 20 years and never had this problem with any other cars, we're careful where we park, leave plenty of room etc and it really annoys me that people can do this.
Am I just unlucky, or is it possible people do this on purpose out of jealousy or because they assume the owner of such a car is a (swear word)...?
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People are carp smallfish. Quite a lot do deliberate or half-accidental malicious damage to cars they envy or imagine they despise.
I doubt if anyone here has never been keyed or kicked when they have a nice shiny motor.
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Its because your carefull where you park!, I hate car parks & careless people! its lack of respect for property these days & its anoying & expensive. I parked my new Jag in a supermarket car park & delibrately parked as far away as possible in amongst 50-60 empty spaces & youv'e guessed it! when I came back some moron had parked so close to the drivers side I had to use the passenger door & fold my mirrors back before I could reverse back! I cant mention what I felt like doing to the piece of junk but then it wasn't worth £50 & I thought If I wait till the owner comes back it would probably be 90 pence short of a pound & wasn't woth wasting my breath or time!. I shall remember the car & one day.
Its times like that when I wish I was in my old landy & then I get my own back
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This thread has in a strange way made me fell a bit better as I was starting to think in 'victim' mode. The amount of 'car park' damage suffered has increased markedly in the last few years and to sort out all the issues on my car would cost around £1000! I don't regard most as accidental as many people seem so careless it becomes malicious!
Some people's behaviour falls into the bizarre. I used to regularly take a severely disabled person to a local supermarket. Because of the awkward car to wheelchair transfer I really needed the wider disabled bays but often found them occupied by morons because 'I am only going to be five minutes!'. The only supermarket chain where this was not a problem was Waitrose - the others mumbled and did nothing about my verbal and written complaints! Because of this I often parked in distant areas of the car park well away from anyone but would often come back to find someone parked close to the passenger door. This also happened in motorway service areas. Their thought processes are obscure to say the least - that's if they are capable of them!
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Its both inbred and learned - no care for others or the property of others.
Applies to litter, graffitti, car driving, attitude at work / whether to work / live off the state............the list is endless.
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Some damage is also just down to useless drivers.My wife's polo picked up two scrapes and around a dozen dents from where she parks at work in the hospital staff car park.I doubt whether the damage was deliberate,just people who are not good drivers.Especially when tired after a week of nights etc. I dread the day when she returns to work after her maternity leave with her new car!.
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I think very little damage of this sort is overtly deliberate. However supermarket car parks are absolutely notorious for this. MY wife seems to pick up at least twice the number of dings on her car than I do, doing 4 x her mileage and using the car for business.
I put it down to being mainly women who are not realy interested in cars or the state of their car, as long as it starts stops and goes.
The second thing is kids getting out of the same cars carelessly. I have trained my 10 year old to be careful with the car door, not every parent has done this.
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Initially replied to the other identically named thread... mods will probably delete that soon {Yep - DD}. Here's what I said:
My Mondeo has lots of such dings. The previous Passat did not have any after four years. My thoughts on this:
- Mondeo quite a bit wider
- Doors are probably now stiffer and so might not have any flex in them at all. Open a door against it and you get the dent.
- Maybe due to crash protection in the doors themselves means the metal skins are actually slightly thinner?
and will now add:
- Parking bays are too narrow for a lot of larger cars these days.
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The outer skin may be thinner, but doors as a whole are getting heavier, due to side impact protection systems.
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Further to my last, some tips :-
1) Dont park next to mobile junk yards or huge 4x4's if you can help it.
2) Dont be lazy, park away from the crowd a bit even if it means a little walk to the store.
3) Try and park on the end of a row so there is 50% less chance of being dinged.
Chrrs
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Some dings can also be due to runaway trolleys. I've seen people let go of a trolley and watch it hit cars before now! And then drive off after being seen doing it.
I have also seen the trolley collectors at one of our local stores pushing very long lines of trolleys and occasionally lose control and nearly hit a car with the force 20 trolleys would generate. I'm sure they sometimes do accidentally hit cars.
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Cheers folks ? made me feel a bit better and thankfully (should I risk saying this? oh what the heck I?m a rationalist!) I?ve never been keyed which would be way worse. Does bug me that each time I look at the car all I can see is the dents, but I?ll live and looking on the bright side, soon my car will be so battered and bashed that it will be the kind of car that people avoid parking next to..!
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car will be so battered and bashed that it will be the kind of car that people avoid parking next to..!
That's a technique that has always stood me in good stead... :o)
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Or do as I do now and park in the middle of two spaces. I'm absolutely sick off people bashing my car with their doors or trolleys. My old car was littered with dings caused by idiots being careless and my current one's going the same way. I've always been one to park in a quiet area of the car park but it doesn't seem to stop damage being done so I think I'm justified taking up two spots even though I know others see it as being arrogant
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Or do as I do now and park in the middle of two spaces. I'm absolutely sick off people bashing my car with their doors or trolleys. My old car was littered with dings caused by idiots being careless and my current one's going the same way. I've always been one to park in a quiet area of the car park but it doesn't seem to stop damage being done so I think I'm justified taking up two spots even though I know others see it as being arrogant
Parking in the middle of 2 spaces gives the shopper with the trolley room to push the trolley down the side of the car and load their stuff through the side door, how considerate of you. The only problem is that they are more likely to gouge the side of your car with the trolley if you leave them space to go there.
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I had lots on my previous car but none on my current Focus (6 months old, 15k miles). And I'm not at all careful about where I park it. In fact at the moment it lives on the road outside the house with hoards of people walking past, and still doesn't seem to suffer. My flatmate's car however has lost two wing mirrors (one pavement side one road side) parked in exactly the same spot in the last year! Once we even saw a young hoodied lad on a skateboard almost crash into his car - looked to be accidental though and no harm done.
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I put it down to 3 things :
1 - people are carless and sometimes accidents do happen
2 - some people are jealous of a nice car
3 - cars have got bigger and sometimes the spaces marked out are too small
As for the jealousy element - I don't understand it myself, if I see someone in a nice a car I just think "nice car, maybe one day I'll have one those".
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If you draw the Venn diagram of lazy good for nothings and people who ding other cars there's going to a big overlap so the answer is park far away from exits.
Parking at the end of rows tight up against kerb/white line also helps.
I've seen people here say they park across two bays but that doesn't seem right and doesn't stop the bonehead who follows suit and ignores the bay.
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The answer
HONDA ELEMENT
As seen on BBC Top Gear. The 'mini Hummer' from Japan. The 4 x 4 with fold-away rear seats to create a flat floor and sealed flooring for hose through cleaning, spill proof seating
and tough lower body panels for dent free parking.
Automatic transmission with 2.4 petrol V6 for lively performance and 35 mpg. 2003. Red Metallic in stock for immediate delivery £12,950.
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I have at least 12 dings in my car (2.5 years old). Almost all have come at a client site where I work and the spaces are just very slightly narrower than normal.
This Mondeo is slightly wider than the previous ones, and the new one is a couple of inches wider still so I don't think the problem is going to go away.
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I put it down to parental control of irresponsible kids, they'll no doubt get their payback.
I suggest anyone visits 'Classics On The Common to see sticky fingers, handbag scratches, and other accidental, and not-so accidental damage.
I recently visited a 'motor museum' (more of a farm shed) on Anglesey. I listened to the owners stories of theft and damage in amazement.
tinyurl.com/2lafu4
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I don't know if maybe cars have got wider and spaces have stayed the same or cars have got wider and spaces narrower but I'm finding more and more often that when I'm in a car park that there isn't a huge amount of space either side of me (I drive a 10-yr old Primera)
It'll only take someone a little clumsy to open their door a bit quick or to brush down the side of my car with the studs on the back of their jeans to leave a nice scratch.................
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I want all future car parking spaces to be the same size as mother and child spaces. We have recently has an addition to the family and it is amazing how having a large parking space can reduce the stress of shopping. But I with they could lay the concrete flat to the trolleys don't roll away!
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I don't think car parking spaces need to change as such- It's car manufacturers building flimsy cars. You'd think that in this day and age, for say £15k of your hard earned cash they build a car with a bit more scratch or dent resistance?
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I'm quite impressed with the 5 Series - just over 5 years old now and it has just a single, tiny carpark dink in the drivers door which is only visible when the light catches it.
The previous owner was as careful with it as I was. I always park at the opposite end of the carpark and often park over two spaces in empty carparks (Far away from the door as possible so as to avoid looking selfish) becuase you'll often find even when parking in the middle of nowhere you'll return to find people beside you..
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I never ever park alongside another car and if there are plenty of spaces in the supermarket carpark I take up two. I am careful to check first that the carpark has not been handed to an agency to operate. I always look for an end space on a roadside to park....if I have to.
I have only ever parked alongside another car once when I had to rush my dog to the vets, and yes you guessed it there was the ding from the old Vauxhall Cavalier that was there!!!.
I have had my car 6 years.
Actually the worst offenders are kids getting out of cars.
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I spent a few weeks in Japan where they have a lot of respect for each other and their property and In the time I was there I never noticed any cars with parking dings.
Unrelated to the post but you can actually lose your wallet and be assured that it will be handed in to the local police station for you to collect.
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I'm always surprised by how narrow the parking spaces are in the car parks at british supermarkets. I once drove my car back to the UK and went to a supermarket somewhere in Devon, a Sainsbury or Waitrose or something. When I reversed into a parking space I realised that the wheels on each side of the car were simultaneously touching the respective white lines separating the parking spaces, i.e. the car was exactly as wide as the parking space. If I'd had something marginally bigger, like a 5 Series, I would have had to occupy 2 parking spaces, which seems a bit daft.
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I'm always surprised by how narrow the parking spaces are in the car parks at british supermarkets.
OK, it's not quite a normal supermarket, but I almost find it a joy to go to Costco - they have *huge* parking spaces - the Manchester one even has gaps marked out between each space!!
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OK it's not quite a normal supermarket but I almost find it a joy to go to Costco - they have *huge* parking spaces - the Manchester one even has
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The trouble is that large spaces between cars can mean that opening doors can reach a higher velocity just before impact with the adjacent car i.e. mine!
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