Even though I'm no expert at this, and bad luck always comes into play for anyone, I wanna share my rules of parking to prevent other tsx owners from getting dings and scratches. My car currently has about 2 noticeable dings, one bumper stamp, and 4 or so door scratches all caused by people that are careless and ignorant of other peoples property. So here are some rules and explanations on why I used them. Please feel free to add to the list, maybe there something I should try.

1. Never park in tight spots - even if you can get out, expect the worst from people next to you.

2. Avoid parking in a "double driver" situation - a double driver is when the car on the left is backed in. Since all cars have to have a driver and only sometimes a passenger, you don't want to park in a way where you know two cars next to you will have doors opening towards yours.

3. Never park next to a handicap spot - I'm not discriminating anyone, but they have handicap designation for reasons. Either the passenger or driver has a hard time moving physically - this means that their door exits need more space, they need leverage on something. Don't let your TSX be that leverage.

4. Never park next to a minivan - Minivan = potential of kids. Kids, for the most part, don't realize that they can damage paint by rubbing up onto the car and sometimes fool around. Of course not all kids are, but this is about reducing chances.

5. In a grocery setting, never park next to or in front of a car that is backed into the spot. Backed-into spot cars are those that have the trunk towards the middle of a two lane parking arrangement. Make sure the 5 cars surrounding you (left, left infront, front, right infront, and right) aren't backed in. The reason for this is that groceries are often bought in shopping carts and shopping carts can ding your car, mar your paint, etc, especially if the customer is clumsy. The tight parking situations don't help it either. If the car is backed in, there's a good chance the person is going to push the car in between cars to get to the trunk. Also, people are more inclined to leave the cart in the parking lot if its just "in between" parking spots. Also about grocery stores, never park near a cart. If you do, move it even if its 5 spots away. I've seen people just bump the cart with their car cause they don't care. Randomly rolling cart = Bad.

6. Avoid parking near trucks and pickup trucks if you're shopping in a place that sells huge items such as home depot. Often they brought a truck for a reason.

7. Corner spots are fine. Even though most people fear a car/traffic hitting their car in the corner spot, the chances of this happening are usually less than that of someone hitting your car with a door. Corner spots reduce the number of cars next to you by 1/2!

8. If you can't find any good spots close, park far away. Walking just a bit more might save you the agony of finding a nice dent when you return. This note is especially true when you spend time somewhere longer, it just makes it more worth it.

9. Park near cars similar to the size of the TSX. SUV's have wider door swings and it isn't pretty to have that hit your car. Smaller cars, like the tsx, are usually driven by smaller people. Smaller people need less space to get out and in, hence less chance for them to hit your car.

10. Curb Parking rule - it is better to be closer to the car behind you than in front of you. People judge front bumper distance better than back bumper distance. Of course, take this rule with a grain of salt. If the car in front left 2 feet for himself to exit then by all means don't worry about it, and if the car in the back only has 1/2 a feet of room to the car behind him, then park away from them.

11. Curb Parking rule 2 - Don't leave 3/4 of a parking spot infront or behind you. Some idiot will think he can fit and force himself in there when its obvious that the spot is a foot or two too small. (this was the main reason why i got my bumper stamp)

This is all i can think up of right now, but i'll add to it later! Add to the list as you see fit, and explain your rule!

 

Park next to expensive cars.

 

Great advice, my TSX has been ding, and scratch free since purchase. My daily commute consists of riding a train to school, the main designated parking lot is always and I mean always packed, finding parking there is a real pita, however they made a separate parking lot that’s a good 5 – 8 minutes away on foot, I rather park there and have peace of mind, then parking in the congested lot. I agree practicing common sense in parking lots will go a long way, however there is always that risk.

 

Worst advice ever, I don’t know how many people I can think of that have way too much money, but have absolutely no care or respect for their vehicle or its condition.

 

Agreed.


<story>
Awhile ago I went with my mom to the store and let her go in by herself. As I was relaxing in the car, listening to music and such, the people in the Infiniti M45 next to me came out. I thought, "Hey! They'll be careful, they have a nice car." Oh. How very wrong I was. They swung the door open with glee. Thankfully I was far enough away that nothing happened, and yes, far enough away to comfortably glare at them.
</story>

It doesn't matter what car you park next to, it maters who's driving that car and what they do.




Park out. Park next to curbs and no parking zones (no one can park on that side of you!). Be sure there is enough room all around. Hope for the best, expect the worst.

 

Best post I've read in a while. This ought to be a sticky.

Another tip ... if you don't have a phone with a camera in it, get one. I can count on both hands anecdotes of people seeing a ding happen, or the clear evidence of one, and a camera (or a witness) made the difference of paying for it, or getting a repair paid for by the 'tard.

Or ... care a disposable one in your trunk as a contingency.

 

agreed about not parking next to nice cars. I've seen people here at Cornell (who come from very wealthy backgrounds) and they don't really care that they're driving a 50,000 car. If you are going to park next to a nice car - make sure its really really really nice. Which brings me to another rule.

Park next to REALLLY REALLY nice cars. No, not your mercedes or bmws. Park next to "enthusiasts cars." These are your remodeled classics, your clean s2000's, audi r8's, BMW M5's etc. Chances are, these drivers love their cars, and if they love their car, they'll avoid hitting you with them.

Park next to clean and dent free cars, and for the love of god avoid the scratched up ones. If a car looks like the owner takes car of it, no scratches, no bumpber dents, detailed, then chances are they take care of their car and are aware of its value. Avoid people will "cracking bumpers." the ones that look like they "bump park" every time they go in. If they're careless when they're parallel parking, they are probably careless about side parking as well.

 

Avoid BARS. People drinking alcohol and getting into cars, recipe for disaster.

Thank god this was a couple years ago, unfortunetly I was at bar once, and nobody on either side of me. I had flat out left, just looked over to the right, and saw my passenger side view mirror was almost knocked off. I went back and looked and my jaw dropped. Huge 3 foot long gash through the door and into the rear quarterpanel. Some jerkoff who was probably drunk definetly ran his bumper right down the side of my car and destroyed the side view mirror, while turning to back out of the spot next to me. It must have been a pickup or large SUV to take out the side mirror.

Of course he was nowhere to be found, and it was night. Did all I could do, told the owner, got the police, and they filled out a police report for me, and I was out my $500 deductable. $2000 total damage. Insurance didn't go up.

Do anything you can to not have to drive to a bar parking lot. If you do park way out in the corner. This might not even be good enough if it gets crowded later on. If this had happened to my new TSX I would have totally lost it.

 

This is wat i always do. hahaha find the most expensive car and park right next to it...

 

I would like to add that corner spots are the best way to prevent dings. also if you can find a corner spot where you are parking next to the passenger side of a car, even better. Hugging the curb is good too, if you remember to back out straight.

 

An addition to Tip #9 - Park next to a sedan versus a coupe. Sedans have shorter doors.

 

Make sure you hold your door on windy days at the gas station to prevent your door from swinging into the pump...trust me I learned the hard way

 

Fixed!

 

Wow, that's like the Bible that I've always lived by, but never found a hard copy of.
Except for #8, which I'm with surf4fun0418 on - I ALWAYS park far away, and also #9 - I NEVER park near ANYONE!

 

Stay away from coupes that normally have wider doors....

 

another one:

don't drive anywhere on halloween, you will get paintballed.

 

I do two things:

park far away.
park over two spaces.

yes, I know.

but I don't care what anyone thinks.

this way there's plenty of room on each side, every time.

I drive/park right over the line, taking up two spaces.
so far no problems with parking officials or whatever.

I've actually gotten several compliments from passing people.

"ahhhh.... smart."

so if you have the fortitude to do it, I'd suggest it.

 

At work, I actually take up two parking spaces, but usually at the end of the lot where there's no one. That way I can guarantee that no one hits me and that I don't get all the people who hate others for taking up two spaces. I only do this at work and not when shopping or at restaurants because I know how people hate that and will key your car or something.

 

good general rules of thumb from all.

but honestly, i've been in several situations where i've parked away from cars, away from the store, away from shopping carts, and some random shopping cart still finds its way right next to my TSX when i come out.

in fact, this happened to me this week when i went to a staples. it's just a mess in lots.

here are some things i try to do:

-it's ok to park next to cars that are of equal or greater value than yours, and maintained well: logic dictates that if someone has an expensive car, they don't want to ding you or their car. also, keep in mind the condition they keep their car. if you see a bunch of dings/scratches on their bumpers or doors, it's more likely they don't care about their ride, so beware.

-avoid heavily traffic'ed soccer mom stores (target, babies r' us, etc..). b/c soccer moms are horrible drivers, and they happen to drive SUVs/CUVs. i'm pretty sure some mom in a pathfinder scraped my TSX at a babies r' us lot when i went to get some stuff for my son.

-if you have to go to these stores, go on a weeknight or time when it's not crowded. weekends are killer in these lots. go on a week night.

 

my rule - NEVER park on the ramp/sloping portion of any parking garage.

2 weeks after i got my car, some idiot must've slammed their door open cuz not only was there a horizontal 2 inch gash down to the metal on my rear right passenger door, but a huge dent as well. my friend was able to take out the dent but i haven't had time to fix the gash yet...

i also take up "2" stalls in the lot i park at work. i'm like right on the right line. BUT, i found out that does not work. case in point, just yesterday, i had to leave in the middle of the day and as i get into my car, some IDIOT MIDDLE AGE LADY tried backing into the stall to the right of me. she was crammed in and couldn't get out of her car. i just sat there in my car in disbelief. mind you, there were HUGE stalls every else. why she chose to park in the stall next to me is beyond my comprehension.

 

I use these when I HAVE TO. Door dings are no longer an issue.


http://www.doordefender.com/home.html

 

I have to disagree with parking far away, more so in a shopping lot/supermarket setting. Parking far away usually means you're isolated. It also means you're far away. If you're isolated, the chances of a stray cart hitting your car are much greater, and it'll be faster too since it has such a nice long run way. Additionally, if you're far away, sometimes other people are far away too but doesn't mean they necesarily care. Which brings me to my other point about people not putting shopping carts back. Those that park far away sometimes feel less obligated to put a cart back. In essence, its not always a great idea to park far away and isolated.

 

That's why you have to couple parking far away with parking at the peak of a hill, preferably next to a curb, with the curb on the higher side of you.

 

You must be cute.

Agreed, don't park on ramps. At work, our ramp slots are miniaturized, but not marked that way. Someone even with a bit of due concern might open a door and whoops! it slips and hits the car below. End of story.

I don't go to malls if I have to on the weekend. It's like asking for a ding.

For some of the stores I frequent, I've identified spaces by the side, or near the rear, that people don't look for usually. "Oh, there's the store honey, park anywhere." No one thinks,"There's the store honey, now let's figure out where people AREN'T parking so we are secluded." Except us, natch.

 

my daughter works at a mall in Freehold, NJ. she has received parking tickets for taken up two spaces. she fought it-there was snow on the ground when she parked but had melted when the ticket was issued. she did win but they are very strict-I guess limited parking. I have seen cars parked like yours with other cars parked even closer to them.

 

[QUOTE=MMsTSX]I do two things:


I drive/park right over the line, taking up two spaces.
so far no problems with parking officials or whatever.

I've actually gotten several compliments from passing people.

QUOTE]

Someone actually had an entire "Asshole parking ticket" they fully completed and left on my windshield many years ago. I laughed so hard I just couldn't possibly feel bad. How much of a tight-ass do you have to be to carry around these photocopies?!?

Sure never got any compliments though.

 

Tip #12 (or whatever)

for the love of god, if there's a chance your local collegiate basketball team will win a particularly important game and go on to the national championship, don't park where a drunk (even if happy) mob might later climb all over it.

fortunately, I got away with this one relatively unscathed...

 

i know i am, but, c'mon! we're talking about our cars here! any ding or bump on our cars is like getting it done to our person!

 

Sort of been mentioned, but I've found that alot of big-box type stores have parking lots next to the store, probably where employees park, but people don't seem to think to park there. I try to go for those spots.

And for stores with shopping carts, definitely pay attention to the slope of the lot and park at the crest. Couple years ago on a particularly windy day I stood in a big parking lot watching a cart start to roll, picked up momentum, man this thing was flying, lot not too crowded so it went the length of several stores, missing sparsely populated cars, I just marveled at the possibility of what I might see, finally, this car comes down an aisle just as this cart comes across, the cart completely t-bones the car, it was pretty amazing. The car that got hit was like 2 long storefronts over from me so I could not see the damage but I'm sure it was significant. It was sort of a beater driven by what appeared to be a pretty clueless person, so they stopped when they got hit, but then just drove off. The buildup of watching it unfold was an incredible rush.

I go for end spots and will cheat up on/over the line on an end spot but you guys that take 2 spots, I think you're just begging for some a$$hole to exact some revenge, and I'm not entirely sure that it's unjustified. If it's a large lot and you do it far away I guess it's no harm no foul but I still think it's an invitation to some jerk to do something, as he can easily tell you're the kind of person who would be most annoyed by it.

 

Good tips but for the guy with two spots, you are going to get keyed some day. I mean I understand you dont want dings and neither do i but to take two spots is annoying. I personally would just curse you as I drove by but i know other people get pissed and will just run a key along your trunk or something when they are walking past your car from the far spot they got stuck with. I have also seen lambos and such down here that will park angled across two spots and some beater will squeeze in there or even a smart car. If i didnt care about my car and some douche was in two spots I would be tempted to squeeze because why not? I dont care about my car and I would be bitter about your parking so if i dinged well....Again i wouldnt do this but i know for a fact others do

 

Yeah, I saw a Gallardo parallel park across two parking spaces next to a Blockbuster. I thought it was a bit lame until I heard the engine.

... All was forgiven