JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

If I see a shopping cart, I park far away, BUT push it into the store and use it..

You might be saving somebody elses car from dents. Plus the person who has

to collect them... But thats me

undertaker

My wife also has a civic with a 100 dings....that is why she can`t drive my baby...

onsknth

Fuggin shopping carts, UUUGGGHHH!!

Something to keep in mind considering shopping carts.... THE SLOPE OF THE PARKING LOT!

I look for the crests in the parking lot and try to park on them... Shopping carts don't typically roll uphill, but they'll gain a lot of speed real fast going downhill!

And if anyone sees a shopping cart on the roll, they'll probably do the same thing I do.... Watch it nail someone elses car!!!

shooter

LOL ... onsknth ... u r a bada* .... do the right thing & move the cart ....

outlawnappyla213

The way i see it is if the other person isnt willing to pay for the "what if", then I dont listen to them because the money is coming out of my pocket. and frankly no one (not even family members) care about your car as much as you will. this is the difference between a mint condition 60000 mile tl to a 30000 all messed up TL. I say do whatever you feel neccesary to take care of your car.

rksokol

I had to go to Bolling AFB today and was forced to park in the "gravel pit." It's the last place people park their vehicle due to all the... gravel. I parked my TL in the last and farthest SW corner of the lot, and gave the person next to me at least an extra 18 inches on the side. I'll be removing the car at 1330 today, so hopefully there won't be any damage!

Steerpike

My g/f gets a bit annoyed with me for parking 'carefully', but I try to offset that by offering to drop her off and pick her up at the restaurant or whatever. Seems like a good compromise to me! She gets door-to-door treatment, I get a nice bit of exercise going to and from the car!

SaaBaaDoo

I park far away only sometimes. My last car was dent free, AND I lived in Baltimore for 2 years with it! Move down to where I'm at now, parked far away and ended up with dents. So I stopped doing it and started parking with everyone else...no more additional dents! I think the assholes were coming out of the woodwork when my car was parked farther out.

AirForceAC

Somebody hit my 03 in the dorm lot here on base and jacked up my driver side quarter. $1500 damage! So now I park all by myself in the far lot where noone gets close.

Acura Diver

I park further away and could careless what my coworkers think! If they ever decide to repair, wash, wax and generally take car of my auto, then they can decide where I park!

kjsand

Hi FSU Acura: YES, I always park as far away as possible whenever I go to COSTCO, etc.
I even have a special parking spot at work, everybobody knows not to even think about parking within 6 feet either side of my BABY !.
I drop my wife off near a store entrance so that I can find the "right" place to park.
This time next year I'm going to pull the trigger and purchase a 2009 TL-S with AWD.

2005 SSM/Q/Navi/AT with 8,762 miles purchased on 11-24-2004

i am i2

When I absolutely have to park next to a car, I choose to park next to the higher end cars.
They take better care of their cars, which in turn make them more careful about the cars around them.

When I had a pos 96 integra, I wouldn't have cared that much if I swung my door open and hit another car. I woudn't be careful at all.

Now... I park far away from other cars, and from under trees. No dings or bird doo.

Status45

This is why americans are fat as hell, I park my TL really far away to avoid drunks coming out of bars, dizzy soccer moms, clueless old people and grocery store mayhem. It really makes a difference, because most people are too lazy to park that far away so your car is lonelly, and it doesn't give much cover for anyone trying to steal it. Not like it would matter much but they'd be wide open.

cbptls

I'm heading up to Niagara Falls, staying at the Marriott. I hear that it's valet parking only.

The parking is $20 per day. I don't care about the money, but I would prefer to self park my own car.

What would you guys/gals do?

THTL

iTrader: (2)

I never like valet parking.

6MTUA5

iTrader: (2)

Tell them that you are not comfortable with other people driving your car and want to park it yourself. Say you will still pay the $20/day, but would rather PARK the car yourself.

Steerpike

Hey, I'm a member of the National Shopping Cart Association, and I have to say, Shopping Carts don't ding cars, People ding cars. If only people returned their carts safely to the cart racks, there would be no damage.
(signed, Charlton Heston, NSCA)

My nephew got a part time job valet parking for Marriott when he was about 17, and oh, my, the stories he told! Some kids could not drive manual cars, but that didn't stop them trying. The powerful cars, they'd rev 'em up and listen to the engines. Most of the kids were getting high all the time. This confirmed my already negative views of valet parking!

Dave1668

i work in a hospital. that means large numbers of elderly drivers with Buicks. there is no place safe to park if you are lucky enough to find a spot. i was thinking of starting a pool for when i get my first door ding.
any other parking lot, i'll take the further spot over the close one.

coykiam

ugh...grrr!!! after a year and a half of no scratches and swirls on my 06 wdp, some chic (and im sure it was) scraped my front bumper. I parked all the way at the end of a parallel parking in Adelphi Univ. making sure the door of the car next to me wont reach my car even if they fully swung it open. After parking I observe and remembered all the cars around my carm, A CRV infront and a civic next to me. Now when I came back, guess what? new cars around my car...A different colored CRV infront and some other car next to her. But guess what I also noticed? A scrape on the front bumper!!! Needless to say I was pissed off...

But anyway when I got home I broke out all the wax and rubbing compound. Eventually they came off...even tho some scratches look deep before I rubbed them off.

Sorry for the rant guys, but It just pisses me off how some people just dont care about other peoples cars.

TLType-s12

iTrader: (2)

WOW WHEN I READ THIS THREAD I WAS LAUGHING THINKING TO MYSELF OH THANK GOD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE..........I will go up and down the parking structure and find the perfect spot( somewhere where shes all by herself) and another thing before with my old car when i would park id just park and almost never scrap my rims but with the TL-S ohhh no ive noticed that i park a safe distance from the curb and then i back up into it.

jeowen

EVERYDAY

whashburn

I always park as far away as possible. Besides, the exercise is good for you <me>

cbptls

Okay, that's it, I'll tell them they can have the $20 per day, but they're not driving my car.

My brother used to valet at the Lexus dealership, and he's told me stories about how they've driven the cars. They are fun stories as long as you know it's not YOUR car they're abusing.

onsknth

That about sums up my experience as a valet at a couple country clubs... It was great money at the time, all cash. I would carry double for 36 holes during the day, valet the front door till midnight, drink and party till 3-4AM and be there for the draw by 6:30AM... I could make almost $1K in a weekend.

We drag raced, burned out and recklessly drove some of the hottest cars at the time... It was great fun, got high all the time and we never wrecked anything, except this one dude missed a turn at the back of the lot and drove a celica onto the driving range... Since these were members only country clubs, we got to know some cars real well because they were there all the time, nothing like trying to get your drift down pat in the same car over and over.

KeithL

I do every chance I get, even though in 1999 it resulted in this:




I was parked and security guard had a siezure driving through the parking lot and blasted my car almost 90 degrees out of the spot, $8K in damages, but I traded it when it got fixed. Nothing to stop the run away truck except my lonley car out int he middle of nowhere in the lot.

Steerpike

I do get pissed off, though, with those people who intentionally occupy two (or even four!) spots to protect their car. If they do it at the very far extreme of the lot, I don't really mind but some arrogant ass*oles will take up two spots in a prime parking area. I just hope the parking guys put one of those impossible-to-remove stickers on their window or something to discourage them!

twigglius

iTrader: (6)

A lot of times I do park farther away. Especially at places like Target and the grocery store but it seems no matter how far away I park, when I come back out to my car there is a car parked on either side of me. I fucking hate it. It's like my car is a magnet for other cars to park next to.

ChicagoBurbs

TOO FUNNY

TL JOE

I also park as far as possible from cars.

ChicagoBurbs

Is that a joke? There's actually an association of car-door-dingers?

disney.babies

i hate it when people don't watch out for other peoples' car.. i had a lexus rx 300 and i think some one just squeezed through the side of my car with a shopping cart (or something big) and it left a flippin huge dent on the side.. cost 800 to fix it... irresponisible people....

Steerpike

hey, when I was buying my car, the sales guy showed me an option to have those rubber 'protection' strips along the sides of the doors (mid-way down). My last car (Legend) had those 'built-in', as do most cars ever made; I declined the option, but I wonder if I should have got them. How many of you have them on your cars? On my Legend, that rubber strip took a beating over the years, but the doors were pristine!

McKulit

Yep .. I'm one of those too. Of course I drop of my wife and kids at the door before looking for a spot then I pick them up also later going home. This way I won't hear anyone complain that I park too far away.

Several years ago I parked in a multi level garage to have fun at a nearby mall. Of course as usual I dropped my wife and kids at the mall entrance before I parked. After shopping I went back to pick up the car and there's this beat up car right next to mine. Walking towards my car I know I have a ding .... I'm pissed and almost running towards my car. Sure enough I have a big scrape on the passenger side. I was libid and lost it hahaha for real (I think I need anger management therapy) .. I punched the other car's side mirror and broke it then my knuckles were bleeding. I proceeded and opened my car then took my extendable baton and broke his two tailights and headlights. I think that's when I realized I had to get out of there and sped out of the garage.

My son saw my knuckles when they entered the vehicle and asked me what happened. I lied of course

ranger

My wife and I always park our cars far away from the crowd or in an odd space, even our pickup truck.

I agree with all the comments made so far and have an additional one. Do not park downhill or near drains. A loose shopping cart will always gravitate to your car if you do.

Ranger

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Hope you had the right car!! Maybe the car that hit yours went to another spot after the contact, and the poor clunker pulled into the vacant spot.

McKulit

I hope not. My car at the time was silver and the paint left on the door was red which was the color of the car that I went bezerk on.

steve9207

Man, I totally know what you mean...I can't stand when people do that at high traffic areas right in the front of a store. Even though, myself I park far far away, haha. When walking up the aisles and you see a car over the line you almost hope that someone tries to park really close to that person, haha.

1995hoo

The only time I have ever done this is in the permit lot at the football stadium in Charlottesville. A friend of mine has the space next to mine and he wasn't going to use it one week, so I took his permit as well as mine, stuck both of them on the dashboard (each on the side closer to our respective spaces) and parked straddling the line. Nobody can really complain about that one given that I had the passes.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my RX-7 and I parked somewhat far away, but reasonably close to a cart return corral. I came out of the store, loaded up the trunk, and went to return the cart....came back and some asshole had left a cart next to my car. (Did not touch the car, though; I checked.) So I get in the car to leave and someone yells at me for "not returning my cart," to which my reply is, "Hey, dumbarse, look at the cart—it's a little kiddie cart with the two steering wheels for kids to play in. I'm here by myself! Why the hell would I use that thing?"

Some people are just morons.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Good detective work

cky03

regardless if i park far away. my car still manages to get ding'd from another car. ppl are just careless with opening their car doors. n tha sad thing is i work @ a dealership U'd think theyd be cautious with other cars..but nooooooooo.... they jus dun caarrreee...

still debatn wuts worse.. getn ur car ding'd orr havn tree sap on tha car..