a j riley

What extremes do you go too to avoid careless or malicious car park dents?

I try to park as far away from the shop as possible in an end bay or prefferably a side on bay, but sure enough, 9 times out of 10, theres normally some to**er wedged next to me when i come back, however mny empty spaces there are , WHY?
I also try to not park next to people carriers & off roaders.

Whilst im on the subject, do you think people would actually park their car in the shop if they could, what is it with walking 50 yards these days?

DT

Agreed. Why do they make spaces so small that if everyone parked dead centre in every space (I wish) doors would still bang the adjacent car.

It's all a conspiracy to increase the revenues of CarParks, Dentmaster and Halfords, mefinks.

farmer joe

.........by parking in fields

GAZZ SCOOBY

i fitted some bump strips and it seems to work ok no more dents but i am carefull where i park


Thanks
Gazza

navigator

blimey those bump strips look good.
where did you get them?
did you fit them yourself?
wouldn't mind some on mine.
can you advise please
cheers

Chris L

Pain in the **** aren't they? Just got hold of one the 'dent improver' kits from Halfords - cost £15. I'm going to give it a go this week and see if I can pull out one or two of the small parking dents - I'll let you know how I get on.

Chris

kenny.c

NAVIGATOR:
you can get bump strips as an option at the dealers. I'm due to get mines painted and fitted soon.

me

Easy. park over two spaces!

sport special

I agree over two spaces

or parent and child spaces

Dr Nick

Hi Everybody!

When you go to the supermarket:

1. Take the micra. If you dont have another car...

2. Park in and end bay thus reducing your chances of a dent by 50%

3. Never park next to a car with no door bumpers

4. Never park next to a car that smells of children. Sweet wrappers, baby seats, pokemon cards, vomit etc....

5. If you have no choice not down ajacent cars number plates model and colour and poistion of their doors relative to yours. If they damage your car track them down for a claim. I did this to a guy at work. It was a westfield like kit car. You't think a guy who can build a kit car would have the nouse to fit door bumpers. Grrr

In reality the second car option is best. I always take the micra to tesco and anywhere with a high concentration of baseball caps.

Mad Max

I dont !!!

Basically, it's a car, not a crown jewel !!!

I hate people that buy £2000 rugs, just to protect them with plastic so they don't get dirty !!! What's the logic in that ?

See it as a disposible good, because 5 or 6 dents on a door won't make it worth much less when the time comes to sell it, and you avoid the nervous breakdown (and the 10 min search for dents) every time you come back to your pride and joy.

Just enjoy the damn thing !!! It's a car, right ? You can't keep it under the kitchen table to avoid it getting dented, right ? Or do you drive slow, to avoid stonechips ? I know a guy that never gets over 3rd gear (Ok, he's got a Renault 5) because it damages the engine...

I'm not saying you should trash it, but don't be so paranoid... I wax it one (if it's lucky, twice) a year, and wash it ocasuinally, but I mainly have fun everytime I get behind the wheel, and from there I cant see the dents on the door

(Flame suit ON !!! )

Max

a j riley

No flame suit required MAX basically i agree with you.I was totally paranoid about this when i first got my car , managed to avoid dents by careful parking for 13 months, then my dear wife fell off our garden wall and used the pasenger door to break her fall, all that hard work undone.
Once youve got the first dent all the others dont hurt so much

Tiger_Aust

I had a couple of those door dents on our WRX and i was thinking of getting them removed. They were only very small but when the light/angle was right they looked like someone had kicked the door in. Then while at Maca's a few weeks ago someone opened there door onto the back door and what a mess. I nearly cried. Looked like the corner of their door had been rammed into our door. I thought nobody was going to get it out with painting etc. This all happened in Townsville while we were up there for the weekend and i asked around and was told about this bloke who removed dents. Well this guy was like a magician. This huge 1cm dent just vanished completely. Could not beleive it. This guy was a legend. This dent totally vanished. Looked like nothing had happened. He said that Subi metal panels r the best to work with. He has massaged huge dents out of Subi panels with no trouble at all. He said also that the metal has good memory and goes back to the way it was pressed very easlily. I thought i would share that with u all

TiGeR

Jerome

I must be lucky, 'cos I've never had a dent in any car from car parks.

I do remember reading an article about human nature and car parks. Humans will gravitate towards another car in an empty car park, even if it's not close to the exit they want. Some people may gravitate to a nice car as well (ie Scoobs etc).

I once was the cause of a scratch in someone else's car once. Just as I opened the door, a strong gust of wind snatched the door out of my grasp and it hit the other car. There was a defintite chunk of paintwork missing. The car was so scruffy though, I doubt the owner would have noticed (or cared). Nevertheless I waited for about 10 minutes, then left a note with my phone number on it. I heard nothing more about it.

I reckon the old bump strips are the way to go. Backed up with defensive parking as described here.

Also, be careful about parking over 2 bays. Some car parks levy a fine, or even a clamp, for inconsiderate parking - which using 2 bays may be considered to be...

GAZZ SCOOBY

Bump strips are available from dealers they are £49 and are really easy to fit i just levelled it with groove halfway down the door and then warmed them up with hairdryer and pressed firmly
Really easy job

Regards
Gazza

Dr Nick

Hi a j and Max,

I agree that this is just a car we are talking about and once you've suffered your first scratch the rest cause less concern.

However, I strongly believe that only I have the right to damage my property. If I dent my motor that's OK. If someone else does it, they must pay.

If you think it's OK for a complete stranger to damage your property either deliberately of through negligence then I think that is a bit strange.

Would it be OK with you if opening their car door smashed a headlamp rather than just scratched the paintwork. Its just a car after all.

How about of someone sprayed graffiti all over your front door. A quick coat of paint will fix that and its only a house after all. No harm done

Are you serious???? or just having a laff?

a j riley

Hi Nick
No I certainly wasnt having a laugh,I agree if i saw someone damages my motor I wouldnt hesitate to try and make them pay.

But short of staking out the car when you leave it, what can you do. When I first got my car I spent ages cruising round to select an end bay, much to the wifes anoyance,but sometimes its just not possible .

A busy bank holiday in the Lakes for example, you cant use the 2 bay theory,because unless you get there at the crack of dawn , then there wont be 2 spaces together (anyway its an offence in most pay car parks I know).

You just have to get on with life and if theres a dent in your car when you get back and it matches the door of a car still parked there , give the fu**er a kick ! Might not make you dent better but it would certainly go part way to make up for it!!

jonno

Jackonory here's a story.... after a long delay on a flight back to the uk from the US last year and feeling very very tired, had a couple of hundred mile trip to get home, decided to stop off at super store car park for a snooze at about 9am, parked right out of the way other side of the area.Approx 2 hrs later get woken up, some big old boiler in a Astra parked right next to me dented and chiped the paint right down to the metal (i aint a light sleeper either) i get out i call out to her, she looks round and briskly keeps walking, check the paint work, i call out to her again and she is gone!.I waited till gone four o'clock for her to return (bitch) She knew exactly what she had done......let both her front tyres down and left my phone # on her windscreen and aint herd anything since!!

[This message has been edited by jonno (edited 31 May 2001).]

logix651

Ok all

I've bought the protection strips 3months ago but still hav'nt put them on yet cause I'm still thinking whether to paint them or not.

They are a bit flexible so if they are painted would'nt they crack? if some idiot bangs against them? or is there special paint they can put on to stop this?

Neil Barnes

I used to park the nearest to the door when I went to the local supermarket before I bought a car made of tin foil and when I spotted an old git in his morris minor pottering along to the back of the car park when no other cars were to be seen, I labelled him a pratt!, now, I'm afraid I do the same unless I can find 3 places to park diagonally across!

darms

iTrader: (5)

Guys

I've been advised that the compound of the official Subaru protection trips are very soft. Therefore you the paint will chip off.

SOLUTION.....USE ANOTHER CAR MANUFACTURES STRIPS AND WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF MODIFICATION THEY WILL FIT.

FORD MONDEO ONES FIT WITHOUT TOO MUCH TROUBLE AND YOU CAN PAINT THEM AS WELL.

I JUST DONT LIKE THE FORD STRIPS - SO IM GONNA TRY THE VW ONES....WILL POST SOME PICS

DARMS

WREXY

I don't like dents and take our second car, (which unfortunately now sports plenty of car park dents), for those chores that require parking in a carpark. When you buy a nice immaculate car you want it to stay that way. That's how most of us were in Australia and I have brought that habit with me to Greece. Now the amount of people who have that habit here are a lot less than in OZ. They are brought up differently, they have different ideas when it comes to cars. They haven't got car clubs organising show 'n shine days like they do in OZ (not having a go at them). Most are like Max said, enjoy the car its just a car. They don't take care of their cars, apart from a few people and they're not careful in car parks towards other cars either. It's true you shouldn't be paranoid but I can't help it, I am. I paid for my car and want it looking its best. I wouldn't buy a car with dents. One without dents might be worth the same as one with dents but I'd buy the one without, leaving the one with dents unsold and waiting longer for a buyer. The funny thing is that when this subject comes up most say they wouldn't buy a dented one either. But they don't think about how difficult it would be to sell their cars.
Logically Max is right enjoy the car, and those that think like that enjoy themselves most, but unfortunately I worry and as Dr Nick said, I hate the idea of someone else damaging my car when they don't have a right to and if we didn't have a 2nd car I probably wouldn't have bought Scooby.

WREXY.

bren simpson

sasman,

You kicked the hell out of a car without checking the dent on yours??? And anyway, it might have been a car parked next to your earlier that had done the damage, you have no way of knowing if it was the car thats there when you arrive back!! Hope you dont live any where near me!

I take great care about where I park and usually put it at the far side of a car park and walk. Even so, 9 times out of 10 someone (uaually some old duffer or car full of kids) has parked next to it when I get back .

Chris L,

I got one of Halfords dent improver kits and found that it left glue all over the paintwork. They do work though. A little tip, after heating the panel (and make sure it very warm, bordering on hot) and pressing the stick on leave it for a while before pouring on the cold water as this gives the glue time to stick to the paint properly.

Bren

[This message has been edited by bren simpson (edited 02 June 2001).]

sasman

Fit strips are you joking? that women in the service station was probably hiding in the kitchen eating all the pies, hence needs wide door opening. How can you try to not be paranoid when just reading about all these dents is making me MAD. I've always made a mental note of cars next to me (like the 3 spaces routine, I thought 2 was greedy} gave an old fiesta a hefty kick or 5 once for a chip down to the metal, unfortunately when I blew on it later it fell off, ooooooooooops sorry old fiesta. It's part of liking your car and the difference between civilized people and the third world Wrexy. I NEVER PARK IN A DENT ALERT SPACE FULL STOP..... and some more...........

salsa-king

i have fitted these bumper strips in the last week!! dead easy top fit, Logiclee has a pic of my car with them on, he will post it asa he can.

cost £44.95 (trade)
makes the car look so much better too.

Phil

ps
e-mail me i can show u pic there!!!