Parking Habits
Discussion
Ok, so I can’t be the only one that does this, and parks miles away from the entrance to a shop or a mall to avoid the inevitable parking dent. It’s not just the porker either. In fact any car I’ve had, I’ve cherished and given it the same treatment.
I guess it really depends on where you live but here in the UAE there is sometimes a disregard for other peoples cars and it’s not uncommon that you’ll come back to your car and find you’re jammed in with no room to move and some nice dents for good measure!
I drive the Mrs mad parking so far away but it really does grate.
Earlier in the year, I was in a coffee shop and witnessed a guy blatantly open his car door on my F Type and wondered off like it never happened. Not only did it have a dent but also a nice chip to go along with it. It might sound sad but I waited for this guy to return to his car so I could advise him of his error 😂. He returned, claimed he didn’t know but realised it was clearly his doing was decent enough to pass on his detailed for the minor touch up work to be done.
Yes it might be sad but when you’ve got something you’ve cherished and really looked after, you want to keep it that way!
I do stop short are parking between two spaces or anything similar!
I guess it really depends on where you live but here in the UAE there is sometimes a disregard for other peoples cars and it’s not uncommon that you’ll come back to your car and find you’re jammed in with no room to move and some nice dents for good measure!
I drive the Mrs mad parking so far away but it really does grate.
Earlier in the year, I was in a coffee shop and witnessed a guy blatantly open his car door on my F Type and wondered off like it never happened. Not only did it have a dent but also a nice chip to go along with it. It might sound sad but I waited for this guy to return to his car so I could advise him of his error 😂. He returned, claimed he didn’t know but realised it was clearly his doing was decent enough to pass on his detailed for the minor touch up work to be done.
Yes it might be sad but when you’ve got something you’ve cherished and really looked after, you want to keep it that way!
I do stop short are parking between two spaces or anything similar!
I gave up with using a nice car for shopping and keep my Porsche for road trips and weekend driving rather than for shopping. For that usage I bought myself an old BMW 730i to use as a shed. It's automatic and supremely comfy, and it's built like a tank so anyone who bumps into it is likely to come off worse. Plus it has something that modern cars don't. No it doesn't have a reversing camera, but a far more useful feature - rubbing strips. Anyway it's far too nice to be a shed, but it's not worth much and is mostly immune to dings.
I can park in an empty space miles from the shop entrance with no other cars nearby, and without fail, some prat will come and park right next to me, even though there are masses of empty spaces. I can only put this down to its size and mass, which seems to have given it a gravitational field of its own...
I can park in an empty space miles from the shop entrance with no other cars nearby, and without fail, some prat will come and park right next to me, even though there are masses of empty spaces. I can only put this down to its size and mass, which seems to have given it a gravitational field of its own...
Edited by LunarOne on Tuesday 21st December 19:05
Calypso Red? Yum. My E30 also has the rubbing strips, but I don't like them to be rubbed.
LunarOne said:
I can park in an empty space miles from the shop entrance with no other cars nearby, and without fail, some prat will come and park right next to me, even though there are masses of empty spaces. I can only put this down to its size and mass, which seems to have given it a gravitational field of its own...
Amazing how people do that... is it the herding instinct?If I pull into an empty car park in my 992 I can absolutely 100% guarantee that when I come out of the shop someone in an old banger will have decided to park next to it, with the rest of the car park still empty.
You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
Yes, I’ve had the same a few times. Parked as I do and come back to find some scratty car parked right next to me! Infuriating!
To bring it up to date, I’m back at the same mall finishing up on some Xmas shopping. Proceed to the same parking space to find another wise owner with the same idea! Great minds and all.
Lovely car, much nicer than mine……
To bring it up to date, I’m back at the same mall finishing up on some Xmas shopping. Proceed to the same parking space to find another wise owner with the same idea! Great minds and all.
Lovely car, much nicer than mine……
politeperson said:
If I pull into an empty car park in my 992 I can absolutely 100% guarantee that when I come out of the shop someone in an old banger will have decided to park next to it, with the rest of the car park still empty.
You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
Some people find it funny to park next to a car that is obviously trying to park away from everyone else. They openly admit it. I think the psychology goes something like "imagine that rich twonk's face when he sees my beaten up heap almost touching his prized car". For the avoidance of doubt I don't share that view!You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
politeperson said:
If I pull into an empty car park in my 992 I can absolutely 100% guarantee that when I come out of the shop someone in an old banger will have decided to park next to it, with the rest of the car park still empty.
You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
I parked my S5 in the farthest reaches of an already empty car park in Stirling about this time of year 10 or so years back. Came back to find the front quarter panel and door absolutely trashed. There was a note on the window to say to speak to the security guard. Spoke to him and was given the number of the guy who drove into me. Turns out he had been driving for 37 years and never had an accident, decided to park his citreon next to me as it was less likely to be stolen as they would take mine instead haha!. £6k of damage to my car plus the cost of a courtesy car etc.You have to ask why? What is the phycology going on here?
Go and park way from me!
I park in the same car park every Sunday for an event that I attend weekly. One day I found a business card under the wipers of my old 130i. Guy said his son had flung open their car door into my front wing and caused a little ding (no paint loss). He offered to pay, but I got it sucked out by a paintless dent removal stand at a club do; never took the guy's money but was chuffed that he offered. He and I are now friends.
Now, I park my near mint speed yellow 987 boxster in the same car park. What do I do? I get there a little earlier than others, always pick the space on the end parking hard up against the end, allowing acres of room for another door to be completely flung open without contact. I've had no issues.
Regarding the rubbing strips on the above tasty 7 series beemer. I used to have a clio 182. At the time I lived on a street of town houses, with cars bumped up on kerb both sides. Very tight and scary parking. Twice, people hit my front wing when swinging their cars round to get into a space on the other side of the (very narrow) road. Never saw it happen; just found the tell tale evidence on my car. Amazingly, no lasting damage on either occasion. How? 182 had flexible, self coloured front wings made of plastic. So, both times that people hit me, wing did not deform at all. There was just a white mark left by the friction of their front bumpers. This literally just wiped off leaving no damage whatsoever. Makes me think more cars should be built this way.
I remember once hearing a little child reasoning that cars should be made of rubber.
On a slightly different issue, I've been unlucky enough to have had one of my old cars keyed deliberately. I kind of asked for it as I parked it right outside a dodgy pub. And it was a 9 year old Seat that I sold a year later for £1450! This (keying) is the bigger issue, IMO, than parking door dings, as the cost/insurance claims and resultant premium rises can really add up. I've heard of some people fitting cameras and catching the people that did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxWxY5TLXQY
Now, I park my near mint speed yellow 987 boxster in the same car park. What do I do? I get there a little earlier than others, always pick the space on the end parking hard up against the end, allowing acres of room for another door to be completely flung open without contact. I've had no issues.
Regarding the rubbing strips on the above tasty 7 series beemer. I used to have a clio 182. At the time I lived on a street of town houses, with cars bumped up on kerb both sides. Very tight and scary parking. Twice, people hit my front wing when swinging their cars round to get into a space on the other side of the (very narrow) road. Never saw it happen; just found the tell tale evidence on my car. Amazingly, no lasting damage on either occasion. How? 182 had flexible, self coloured front wings made of plastic. So, both times that people hit me, wing did not deform at all. There was just a white mark left by the friction of their front bumpers. This literally just wiped off leaving no damage whatsoever. Makes me think more cars should be built this way.
I remember once hearing a little child reasoning that cars should be made of rubber.
On a slightly different issue, I've been unlucky enough to have had one of my old cars keyed deliberately. I kind of asked for it as I parked it right outside a dodgy pub. And it was a 9 year old Seat that I sold a year later for £1450! This (keying) is the bigger issue, IMO, than parking door dings, as the cost/insurance claims and resultant premium rises can really add up. I've heard of some people fitting cameras and catching the people that did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxWxY5TLXQY
I always park furthest away from the door - the exercise is good for you! I always look for end spaces, spaces next to disabled or parent/child bays, as they are usually much wider and I can bias the car to give more clearance the other side too. In underground or multi-storey car parks, support pillars give an extra gap width one side.
I’ve also experienced the appearance of cars next to mine in mostly empty car parks. I thought it was an inability to park and the drivers needed something physical to line up against.
I think the main problem is cars have got a lot bigger but town planners still use the same space dimensions to maximise the capacity.
I drive a VW Transporter now and have fitted side bars in the hope of stopping dings. I’ve found our local Wickes DYI has extra extra large parking bays just for vans :-)
I’ve also experienced the appearance of cars next to mine in mostly empty car parks. I thought it was an inability to park and the drivers needed something physical to line up against.
I think the main problem is cars have got a lot bigger but town planners still use the same space dimensions to maximise the capacity.
I drive a VW Transporter now and have fitted side bars in the hope of stopping dings. I’ve found our local Wickes DYI has extra extra large parking bays just for vans :-)
Edited by Paynewright on Sunday 26th December 16:02
Johnny5hoods said:
Regarding the rubbing strips on the above tasty 7 series beemer.
Thanks - I've spent quite a few hours trying to restore it to the point where it might look only a couple of years old. I need to replace the chrome trims around the windows, touch up a few small scratches, find out why the radio reception is terrible, and fix the circuit that controls the blower motor speed as it died last week. Then I might re-dye the leather seats at the front (they're not bad at all but could be better) and then I need to fix the headlining, which is sagging. And that's it. Mechanically and bodywork-wise, she's superb!Johnny5hoods said:
I've heard of some people fitting cameras and catching the people that did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxWxY5TLXQY
Have you seen this one? So brazen!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxWxY5TLXQY
I have an old xc 90 that is dented on every panel including the roof ( I bought it like that ) and it is great to just park it anywhere and forget about it. When me and the Missus went to Cheltenham for a weekend away we were amazed At the multi storey car park there - it had the biggest parking bays I’ve ever seen in the Uk - like being in the states !
Tony33 said:
ome people find it funny to park next to a car that is obviously trying to park away from everyone else. They openly admit it. I think the psychology goes something like "imagine that rich twonk's face when he sees my beaten up heap almost touching his prized car". For the avoidance of doubt I don't share that view!
I know some clowns like this. I don’t really park my nice cars anywhere. I did go to my mates wedding in the summer and found a good spot though! Got speaking to another petrol head because of it. But had some sarky comments from the some of the other wedding guests![pic] https://i.postimg.cc/NM0FpvSP/5-C8-CF0-C9-250-F-4-...
Edited by keo on Tuesday 28th December 10:07
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