Is your paranoia ruining your enjoyment of your car?

[pops and bangs]

Really odd thread but I figured I can't be alone.

I'm currently at the stage now where I literally can't enjoy my car. When I park it I'm constantly paranoid about it getting damaged, vandalised etc

It's gotten to the point where I will not go to certain places if the parking is a nightmare, or the road looks dodgy, and if I'm going somewhere with the Mrs and the car parks don't have a "good space" I end up waiting in the car. The times when I do park up and say go shopping, all I can think about is how I can't wait to return to the car

To be honest I can't even enjoy my car as I'm so paranoid whenever I leave the car parked somewhere. This behaviour has probably been made worse by recent car park damage and the fact that I have had 2 cars vandalised previously, one of which was treated to some nitromoors, and the other where someone had literally crashed into my parked car and driven off.

While I love cars, and enjoy driving nice cars, the ownership experience is definitely being soured, mainly by other inconsiderate owners. I enjoy the actual driving of cars I own I just hate all the rest of it.

The thought of parking in a supermarket car park inbetween two cars makes me cringe (yes first world problems...cool story bro etc)

Anyway is anyone else similar?

Do you ever wait in the car rather than leave it unattended if you can't get a good parking spot?

Do you find yourself constantly thinking about your car when you've parked it up?

Or do you just not give a st and park the car wherever and just accept cars for what they are, material pieces of metal that can be replaced and who cares if they get damaged?

Edited by pops and bangs on Saturday 31st January 00:28

[DUMBO100]

I always wait in car when I'm with the Mrs, not for security but I can't stand the fking shops she goes into

[Salty89]

I feel your pain fella! To the point of i stopped buying cars worth anything and kinda play posh bangernomics these days instead

[f1nn]

OP, what do you drive?

But, no, company cars get dumped wherever they need to be dumped without a care in the world.

[GravelBen]

Nah, it doesn't worry me much - its a 12 year old car which already has a few dings and scrapes.

Sometimes paranoia about speeding tickets reduces my enjoyment of driving it though!

[whoami]

No.

[BritishRacinGrin]

Sheds to the rescue.

I don't think it's possible to have one car which ticks all my boxes, so when I have one car it'll be my faithful old shed, and when I want to buy a nice sportier or newer car the shed will remain to fulfil the usual shed duties.

[PapaJohns]

Children come with perks these days..............parent n child parking lol

[pops and bangs]

f1nn said:

OP, what do you drive?

But, no, company cars get dumped wherever they need to be dumped without a care in the world.

It's nothing flash compared to some of the people on here, it's a 6 year old Lotus Elise, but for me personally it's the best car I've owned (I've previously owned hot hatches and mx-5s) I'm pretty sad and whenever I get out of the car I always turn round to look at it

If I'm honest I'm sick of trying to keep it in good condition and other people damaging it, I'd rather shove it into a hedge myself, at least then it's self inflicted, rather than have it parked and some idiot damage it where it's out my control.

I was sitting in the car just over a week ago and a car pulled up alongside me and literally banged their door into my car with some force a couple of times to give me a nice dent, earlier today a young guy in a fiesta ST threw a bottle of drink out his window and hit my car, and some idiot in a merc C class scraped my car. He parked extremely close to my car that I had to get in through the passenger door, and only just noticed earlier that he scraped across my drivers side wing, that's what has really pissed me off and hence caused me to start the thread

Edited by pops and bangs on Saturday 31st January 00:41

[itcaptainslow]

OP-you need to discover the joy of shedding/barging. A cheap workhorse to compliment your fun car. Makes your P&J even better as you only then take it out when you want to, rather than need to.

[Riley Blue]

Bargain barging is the way to go. Nothing above a figure you can't afford to scrap. My limit's £5K per car giving me a Fiesta diesel for collecting car park dings and an A8 for long distance stuff.

Admittedly I've a couple of Rileys worth more than that but they never go on dangerous missions like the Sainsburys run and are the only ones garaged.

[Roger Irrelevant]

This is the Joy of Sheds - you have none of this worry. I'd happily park my old banger outside White Hart Lane on derby day. Shed for the boring stuff, something special for the weekend. Where this falls down for me at present is I don't have something special for the weekend, but I'm working on it.

[SkinnyPete]

OP I am similar to you but sometimes I do just crack on and take the risk.

Its great when I have the company car for a few days and I can do all my errands which have been building up.

[w00tman]

I did when I had a PCP-car, simply because I didn't want to get dinged for the cost of fixing it.

Now, I drive a seriously cool* Skoda, and don't give a damn. And you know what? It is incredibly liberating. No anxiousness about parking, scratches, war-wounds..

• Actual cool-levels may vary.

[Pints]

I don't drive the MX-5 in winter because of all the nasty salt on the road. Does that count?

[pherlopolus]

I am paranoid about where the next big bill is coming from, that's starting to seriously dent the ownership experience of my s type jag. I am going to be leasing a new white goods vehicle next just so I don't hemorage cash.

The dents thing bothers me to, but it's just one of those things

[EK993]

No I don't care in the slightest - have parked all my cars in multi storey, supermarket, parking meters etc etc. I enjoy my cars rather than worry about dings which can be repaired

[Timfy]

Since getting a convertible I am a little bit more careful, as some scummer with a Stanley knife or similar could cause a lot of expense In no time or effort at all. I do worry about car park dings but not to the point that it's likely to stop me taking it out-the car is 17 years old and has plenty of them already.

Dings and marks are just part of owning a car, they're annoying but unavoidable. It's one reason why leasimg would worry me, I'd not want to be forced to become one of the plonkers that infest the back roads around here- driving down the Middle of all the lanes for fear that their new/shiney/leased car might come within three foot of a twig, usually at twice the sensible speed and often where there's be space for two cars to pass comfortably without risking damage anyway!

Edited by Timfy on Saturday 31st January 09:17

[The Turbonator]

I'm the same to some degree, I'll park in the kiddy bays, if have the kids with me but if they're full or I don't have the kids, I'll park right up against the white line on an end space or park on the other side of the car park where it's quiet.

4 years of ownership and the car doesn't have a single parking dent or mark on it.

The place I hate leaving it the most, is the hospital multi-storey. The spaces are ridiculously small, and if I have no choice but to park it in between two cars, I take a picture and constantly worry about it.

The picture probably wouldn't prove a thing but I hate just leaving it like that and the possibility of coming back to it damaged.

[V8Ford]

I can sympathise OP, and agree with others that you need a shed! My weekend car is not particularly flash or expensive but it never, ever gets parked in public car parks. I have a 22 year old Lexus which came
'Pre-dinged' for that.