Check this out:

I have had my 2005 TL for 7 months. I am fairly religious about parking my car in a manner that makes it damn near impossible for people to accidentally open their car door into mine. I don't take up two spaces - just try for end spots, etc. My wife gives me endless shit about this.....no dings as of yet. the first time it happens i will probably have an aneurysm and then need the services of Neuronbob........

One of my freinds just bought a 2005 TL - same color...... He has the car exactly one day, parks the car for first time in his (and mine) office parking lot...... DOOR DING on the driver's door.

People are morons.

 

yeah... i hate people.

tell him to check out a paintless dent removal place. in most cases, it'll be repaired to like-new condition for around $50 bucks. my friend had numerous dings/dents on his 5 series, and $170 bucks and 2 hours later, they were fixed. some were still a lil noticeable at some angles, but looked a lot better.

 

No dings or dents on my car after 2 and a half years, because I'm a dick about where my car is parked. If I HAVE TO park between two cars, I park closer to the car on the left. That's how anal I am. It works, though.

But rest assured, if I ever saw anyone in the process of damaging my car, there will be hell to pay.

 

Man, come to california and find out how careless people are. I went to the DMV the other day and i parked next to this pucket ass white van. 20 minutes later, the worst dent i have now, with white paint on it. I cussed, yelled, and threw a temper tantrum for about 5 minutes until I calmed down.

The moral of the story.... only park next to people that look like they take good care of their cars. Be careful and i hope you dont get any.

 

very important checklist whenever you park. try to park...

next to expensive cars
on the end and park to the end as close as possible without scratching your rims
park far far away from where the other cars are, even if its a long walk

did i miss one?

 

Continue to park at the end of the parking lot. My wife gives me shit too but I look at it like this. My downpayment, my monthly car payment, so that adds up to my wifes opinion being literally worthless when it comes to this subject (did I mention that I love my wife?).

 

As much as I agree with all the suggestions in this thread, there's always some asshole who'll park next to you even when you park far away from everyone else.

Unfortunately, people are grossly inconsiderate and that's why I have:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...80&postcount=9

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...&postcount=134

 

Fender Well Protection:

 

I will never put those ugly things on there in fear of getting a dent or a ding.

Besides, those still don't protect your doors.

 

I had a shopping cart almost hit my car once, about 1 1/2 ft from hitting it because some moron was too stinken lazy to put the cart some place so it would not role down the parking lot AND HIT A CAR, DUUUUUUUUUUUUH!

 

Park far away from everyone, I prefer to park at the end of parking lots where there is no car around. My wife gives me shz about it all the time about so I drop her off 1st then make her walk later...

 

I've got some shocking news for you. They already have protected me from more than once from having to have a fender refinished/repainted. Don't judge just by the above picture as it's taken at a wierd angle. 1st dent along the wheel edge, you'll change your tune.

Here's a side view of the car with the fender trims on:



Now define u-g-l-y.

And if you look at the details from both links in my post above, you'll see that my TL are WELL PROTECTED from ding damage all around, and is so better than any other TL on the road. Forum administrator RETS has personally inspected my car and will vouch for what I say.

Obviously, you don't live in a place like NYC.

 

No, but I do live on campus with 44,000 other students, one of the largest university campuses in the country, in a 3-square mile area. Parking is hard to find, and parking spots are small. Yet I don't have a single dent or a ding on my car without the aid of any of those protectors. I'll stick with my method instead of cluttering up the body lines. Thanks. But whatever works for you.

 

Hehe...I just park over 2 spaces a mile from the door...1 year and ding/dent free! There's actually about 5 of us at work that take up the back row in the parking lot by double parking...guess I'm not the only one who doesn't want a dinged car...

 

I had my '97 Accord for 6 years and didn't really have any problems until I started a new job a few years ago. The parking lot was packed and the spaces were so narrow that I ended up with more dents/dings in 1 year than I had all 6 years previously.

Needless to say now that I have my TL I sprung for the $15/month parking garage that is only 60% full so I now have shade and the ability to park away from everyone else. When I'm not at work I park at the back of the lot and probably will for the foreseeable future. I'm pretty lazy and love a close parking space, but a $35k car will make me unlazy in this situation.

 

Glad to see I'm not alone in my neurosis chili dog. But there are creeps out there that know exactly why your out there and will go out of their way to key you. Sad but true. The SUVs with the high doors are the ones that always got my 03 TL. Now I have the same Green & Camel 05 as pictured above and can't stand the thought of seeing that first ding . Oh well, Can't stop living!!!!!!!!

 

just take a BUS if you're afraid that your car will be hit in the parking lot!!!!!!

 

Not afraid pal! Just know those assholes are out there.....

 

RBallman - The one that kills me is when I park out that far at a retail center and some idiot parks next to me! There are 50 other spots between me and the closest car and plenty of other ones out there, but they park right beside me. No damage done, but still, right beside me.

noychris - Public transportation? That's funny...I guess we do have a few buses around here, but they only run to certain neighborhoods...this is Charlotte we're talking about here...we're not big time, we just like to think we are.

 

I always park next to a curb or landscape island. If possible, park to the right of a car, since most drivers exit from the left.

And yeah, drop the wife and kids off first so they won't get piss off.

A lot of time I actually parallel-park on the street rather than park in the parking lot. In USA the marked spaces for parallel parking are actually longer.

 

hey melly, i thought your post was gonna lead to something like, he parked next to me and gave me my first ding . look at it this way, your car is ding less. it's his car, he paid for it, let him do what he wants with it.

i get the same crap from friends when we go places. i always remind them why they told me to drive. it's coz i have the nicest car out of them. if they don't like me parking away from people, we can always take their car, no worries for me as my car is safe in the garage. but they never agree.

besides i'm out of shape, i could use the extra walk. anyways, not many respect others' property nowadays. it's ridiculous!

 

Our TL has been street parked since we got it, and I have also been parking over at University of Chicago once in a while. I've got 2 dings to take one, one big, one almost invisibile, and two scratches. I live in one of the biggest cities in America.

We are moving on June20 so the TL will start sleeping inside. Then I will get the exterior fixed up. No biggie.

 

My two favorite tricks to minimize door dings...

1) park next to Saturns whenever possible. Those plastic doors can't really leave door dings (unless someone opens the door with their foot!).

2) avoid parking next to coupes whenever possible. Long doors means the doors are opened wider to get in and out.

It is inevitable though because people are morons.

 

Well put, but I am surprised you just realized. Whenever possible park next to other luxery cars(dont start the TL is not luxery car argument), those people know respect, and they dont want to scatch there car.

This is what I like about our taurus, I can open it into my stone wall and not care.

 

That is not a guarantee. Plus, by the time you come back there may be an old junk next to you. Cars move, you know

The other two suggestions are good.

 

As I was getting in too my Armada, I lost the grip of the door and dinged my TL. I was mad!!! After searching around I found a guy that repaired it for 45 bucks. I did it and it came out flawless. To make sure it looks fine I tell people "Do you notice anything weird on this door?" They look and say no. Then I tell them there was a ding, then they compliment on how well it was repaired......

 

I always do my best to keep my cars scratch and ding free. I have tried everything mentioned in this thread with no avail. What I do now is in the begining of every year I take my scratched/dinged up car to my local body shop and for about $ 300.00/car they come out scratch/ding free!!! I repeat that cycle every year. So when my car gets a ding or a scratch...it does get to me, but in the back of my head im thinking...no sweat...come January you shal look new again. It's kind of like an "anual physical" or "make-over" per-say...not performed on a human but rather a car.

 

The coupe thing is a good idea, never thought about it, but makes sense!

I'll tell you what, I never experienced the door dings like I do here in the States, people just don't care. In Germany even with the tighter spots, people take more care, maybe that's because there are less shitty cars around.

I see the SUV mom just throw open the door all time before looking ... it pisses me off, just as the lazy people who can't return their carts - especially when they could use a little movement! aarrrgghhhh :silvermad

But I do the same, park far away and walk ... it has saved me so far ...but you sometimes do get that schmuck that has to park next to you after you parked a mile away and there are plenty of spots all around ..WHY must they park next to you?!?

As far as the door guards go, I almost bought them, but they take away from the overall look of the car ...so we just have to be careful!

I saw one guy pull up in a piece of shit, whatever it was, many years ago as I was eating burger at a Hardees ... he got out and bamm! Opened the door right into my car, I confronted the fat Fu#$ and he just didn't care and kept on walking as I was bitchin' ... so I gave his piece of shit a nice kick ... it was already so banged up it really didn't matter and he didn't care ...oh the days of the Wild West when everyone was packing, I bet people showed a little more respect for the fear of the 6 shooter!

 

i am glad to see that this neurosis about door dings is shared....

some more thoughts:

jeep (wranglers) have no springs on the hinges. they will catch wind and fly open.
why cant people space out - you got the whole lot!
you can count on laziness - park far away.
avoid Walmart
avoid sloping parking garages
in fact, always avoid slopes
avoid 70's coupes
check the car door edge (that you just parked your TL next to) - if it looks like the same color as a calico cat (because of all the residue/paint from other peolpes car doors that they have smacked) move your car before they add your AM/WDP/NBP/RRP... to their door edge.
SUV 4x4's old PU trucks - all demons
911= pretty safe bet to park next to
parallel park

best bet - park next to another TL!!!!!

by the way we are all probably a little nuts......... but people are MORONS.

 

I used to get f*&#$d over daily when I was living in my old apartment complex in Houston. I used to come out to my civic every morning and find new dings and mark on my doors. I happened to stay up late one night and found that this Van would regularly park right beside me. This guy had three kids had and they would just fling the door open with brute strength! Lo and behold, there would be a new mark/ding on my door. By the time I finally found out that they were the culprits it was useless to confront them for my doors were littered in dings/marks. I just started parking my car in another area and that killed all that noise.

Now I despise parking in apartment complexes and do so only when there is no other real alternative.....

 

i hate to break it to ya, but nothing is a guarantee slick

 

When I park, I park a mile away if I have to, when I had my 2002 TL Type S I once had to park next to a brand new volvo, thinking I would be ok, but I ended up with a real nice car ding, ever since then I dont care what it takes, I will even walk a mile if I have to. I have only had my 2005 TL less then 3 months, but I will make sure I dont get any door dings. you know I dont know what it is either, but sometimes I will park a mile away and there will be hundreds of parking spots, and some moron still HAS to park next to me, what the f*ck is up with that?

 

I find it funny today EVERYONE thinks their car is too good to be parked next too. Its one thing to take pride in your car, its another to need a REALITy check.

In 10 years I've seen how only Porsche/Ferrari/Benz S-class etc (very expensive cars) owners were the only ones to do this parking style.

Today, any numbnut in an Altima, Kia, etc thinks their car is too damn good to be parked next too. Its RIDICULOUS and you look like a damn idiot, parking a common car like its a Porsche 356.

Get a grip.

 

I understand your point.

However, its not that my car is too good to be parked next to - it is too good to have some disrepectful fool open his/her door into, putting a dent that is going to take 2 hrs turnaround time and $50 to get rid of.

it is about disrespect, or at the very least disregard.

I agree that it can get overboard - example - taking up the last two parking spots with a diagonally parked avocado green Mustang II.

 

This is not always the case. There have been countless times where I have seen some rich shmuck open their $50,000+ Mercedes/BMW door into another person's car. Some of these people could care less about their "expensive luxury" car. To them, it's just that... a car, nothing more nothing less.

 

I once was sitting in a parking lot on my break when a big ass suburban pulls into the spot next to me. First off, the woman driving the thing could just about pull into the spot right. Then when the fat ass tries to get out of the truck, she can't open the door enough to get herself out and hits my car with her door. This is with me sitting in my car and it running. She then walks away as fast as she can. By the time i got out of my car, trying not to hit the car next to me with my door, she was already in the store. No damage to my car, but waited for her to return to see if she did it again. Needless to say, she got in on the passenger side. I'm convinced that half the people on the road went to the Hellen Keller school of driving.

 

Death and taxes are.... I hate both even more than door dings

 

The "rich people" who get their $50K+ car every 2 years will NOT care about their cars or yours. They have $$ to burn and either it's a ding or dang, they pay to get those things taken care of.

I don't know about other TL owners, to me, the TL is the first "nice" car I own (my wife owns all the previous new cars we had). I just hate to see it get dinged, bird-shitted, rained on, etc. I was not born rich so I value what I own.

If that means park a mile away and spend the extra 5 minutes to put the cover on, so be it.

 

That's exactly what it's about! People these days weren't raised right so they don't respect other people's things (or their own most of the time). Look at all of the POS's on the road...would you let your car get like that? I bet not. Look at some of your neighbors yards...the ones with the weeds, dirt patches, etc...would you let your place look like that? I bet not. Why? Because you care; 90% of the people out there don't. Therefore, you have to take extra measures to ensure that your stuff is safe from their indifference, lest you become like them.

 

A long time ago, I went to Expo (subsidiary of Home Depot) with my mom because she wanted to look at some new dishwashers. When we came out, I saw this Buick Roadmaster parked in front of my car (from the next aisle) and as soon as I saw while walking out, I noticed that it seemed a little too close to my car.

I started running and once I got there, the nightmare was ture. The Roadmaster's bumper was pushed up against my bumper. How stupid do you have to be to hit a 4,000-pound car and not notice it? So I backed up my car, checked my front bumper and noticed marks where it was hit. In a furious rage, I started kicking the shit out of the Buick's front bumper while my mom was standing next to my car all freaking out at what I am doing. After about 10 kicks, I didn't feel much better since my car was still damaged, but I did feel satisfied. Fucking idiots.