I have just recently purchased an '06 TL w/ nav about a month and a half ago. I love this car and I show it by taking the best possible care of it. Everyday, I have this dilemma that drives my wife nuts. Instead of looking for a parking spot closest to the building, I start looking from the back of the parking lot. I hate driving into a parking lot and parking near a high traffic spot because of my fear of someone parking next to me and denting/scratching/anything to my car. In my mind....I can park in that perfect spot that is only 5 feet from the store, with 2 beat up cars on each side. But why? So I can stress out and constantly worry about someone swinging their door open and making contact with my car? I choose to park in a spot where I don't worry about another car parking next to me. Am I the only one that's like this?

 

I tried doing that once, but it's literally unavoidable. There's people with junked up cars, that notice nice cars parked far away to avoid other cars. Then they park next to your car anyways to get on your nerves when you come back. The car is gonna get scratches eventually, no matter what. Its just like that brand new pair of sneakers that you let everyone know not to step on them. And of course every damn person walks all over them. So don't stress it that much.

 

Use your brain. Drop your wife off at the front door of any shopping center and let her go in first. Proceed to park where-ever you want and meet her inside the store.

When done shopping, tell her to wait at the door and proceed to your car and drive up to the front door. (You'll look like a gentleman )

problem solved

 

haha ya that happened to me once b4 i got my 06 tl i had a 00 accord some fag dented my door when i was in the mall it;s soo pissing ya do what acuradriver2006 told u that;s the best way

 

[QUOTE=alexkcha]I have just recently purchased an '06 TL w/ nav about a month and a half ago. I love this car and I show it by taking the best possible care of it. Everyday, I have this dilemma that drives my wife nuts. Instead of looking for a parking spot closest to the building, I start looking from the back of the parking lot.

I go through this and still go through this. How far away to park, to avoid getting dents, but not too far away to look like your an employee and wont be using your car all day(aka- stolen while your not around)
I have met so many people to talk shop to, because of this. You will find people of various makes parking(and lot park, and let the wife shop, and dont go in themselves to watch their car), its like a whole underground networking thing. You will see a lot of honda owners, and other japanese makers that I notice, but the people with the german cars seem to want to park as close to the front day and be seen. Just an observation, from a person who does a lot of trained observation. LOL

Thanks

 

Agree! That what I do....
Now let me tell you my SAAB story. Brand new 79' SAAB EMS. Thats the sport model. Parked it with one side (drivers side) to a parking island. The other was open. BUT there was no one even close..... Well, three or four rows back, and up hill. Some bonehead didn't set the parking brake, and of course left it in netral...... Creamed the passenger rear 1/4panel. Man I WAS PISSED!!!!

 

I tend to park farther than most. I too love my TL and take special care of it. Unfortunately the world is littered with idiots that take delight in ruining the finer things in life. I had a guy in an old beat up truck swerve out of his lane right into mine. We missed each other by inches and he looked at me and just laughed.

Great comment re: dropping the wife off first. I do the same with the kids as well. And this has the added benefit of not having the little ones walk through fresh oil in the parking lot and then innocently track it into your TL.

 

BFE is the place to be. Parked anyway.

 

take up two parking spots

 

Don't park in the lot at my apartment complex. My RSX Type-S got a huge divot in the drivers fender, and my stupid neighbor just hit the front passenger side of my TL scraping the bumper cover, headlight, and fender. At least he left a note and his insurance is taking care of it.

 

I don't advise that. You'll just invide some maggot to deliberately violate you baby.

 

Yes, I'm the same way only I suspect considerably worse.. as in more anal. But I don't give a damn what people think. It's my property and deserves to be treated with respect.

I'm so anal (and my wife is starting to get this way to with her '05 TL), that last year when we went to a wedding in God-foresaken Alexandria, I rented a car rather than take either one of out TLs.

 

If you HAVE to park amongst cars (like if you're in a garage that will fill up), park in an end spot to the far right of a row. That way the guy that parks next to you will get out on the side away from your car. There will only be a swinging door next to your car if he has a passenger. It lowers the odds of dings.

 

x2

Double parking your car irritates the piss out of some people and to the point that they'll mess up your car on purpose.

Just park the damn thing between the lines.

 

 

Welcome to the club!

I do that too, and it drives my gf nuts some times. Even worse, I've shifted my work schedule and I now come earlier to work so I can find a good spot in the parking garage.

So, no.. you are not alone. I take pride in my ride.

 

Right - while I'm not going to try to get my car beat it, I know sooner or later it will happen, and I'm not going to stress over it. I consider them to be beauty marks.

 

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X <-- Scribesoft's car

 

Ditto.

 

I completely agree here, drop the wife off first so you don't have to deal with all the complaining about (1) Parking so far (2) Walking so far.

That's one sure way to get your car effed up.

 

Far, far away. My wife just accepts it as one of my vices since my car is pretty much the only material item I, admittedly, place way too much value on.

We are both able-bodied so the walk isn't gonna kill us.

Oh, and don't forget those friggin shopping carts. Judge the wind and park in a far away spot where the curbs/islands are on the up-wind side of the car. This way they "block" for you and protect 1/2 the car from other cars as well. I know, it is an illness

 

No shame in being materialistic.. part of being an American as I see it. My wife also knows and accepts my quirks when it comes to my cars. While not nearly as anal as I am, she's more anal with her TL than most people are with there cars. She knows an appreciates nice things.

And as you stated, the walk ain't gonna kill ya'.

 

One thing I don't understand is, I see BMW 5/7 series, MB E/S class, Lexus LS, etc... cars that are double/triple the cost of the TL parked in spaces that are made for motorcycles. I drive by with my mouth open because I can't believe how someone can park a car worth that much money so close to other cars. Funny thing I've noticed (not to offend the female drivers out there), I've noticed a lot of the wives (the ones you know who have their husbands making the money (going into department stores with their tennis/golf clothes on)) who drive these nice cars that don't seem to care.

 

To those who have lived life with a silver spoon up their ass, don't appreciate things as much as those who have done without for so long and money solves everything for those silver spooners.

With me, I've had to work for everything I've ever had and I didn't come from much growing up. So, I can appreciate the finer things in life more, IMO.

 

I want to agree but I think your being a bit hard on the silver spooners. Of course there are alway those who don't appreciate things but I see it more as what % of a person's wealth does the material good represent.

If you can easily swing the lease payment on a 7 series or an RL you probably just see it simply as a vehicle. An easily replaceable one at that. If you are stretched to have it then you probably worry more about it and that translates into what others may see as being overly cautious or anal about it.

Seriously, if a person is hauling down >$250K a year working hard then a $1000/mo lease payment ain't shit to them. Seriously, it's not. Should they have to drive a shit-box to park close to the store in a tight spot? Of course not. Let them park where they want (as long as it is far from me). I just wish they would [have Biff] clean the brake dust off the front rims more than once a year

 

I know if I've never made such a big deal about taking care of cars, my wife wouldn't give a damn about where to park. It has gotten to the point where she's too paranoid to drive my car. 1 point for me.

 

Ok check this out, I did the parking thing for an entire year, and even at work I know who parks on either side of me and we all respect out rides, but even with that I have a small ding that I can not explain how it got there, but could have been when my wife took it to work during the last Winter, anyway I still do the parking thing, but if we go grocery shopping, movies or the Mall we take the Ody and I want to say we do not park it far, actually we take the 1st spot we find and the funny thing is, there are no door dings on it...I can't figure that, all I know she throws it in my face everytime I do the parking thing with the TL...

 

I agree with the Tripper......

 

Damn, this thread is crazy, and funnier than hell. I'm glad to know there are people out there as crazy as me. It's like coming out of the closet.

I have to admit that I park in BFE, all the time, and I make damn sure that I'm on the high ground so an errant shopping cart doesn't come barreling down into my ride. I like the checking the wind comment, I never really thought about that factor. Nothing pisses me off more than some lazy slob leaving their shopping cart next to their car, and not putting it back into the cart corral. That shopping cart with proper momentum has the same effect as a battering ram. With our chronic obsesity problems in the US, it wouldn't hurt some of these people to walk another 50 feet.

My wife thinks I'm absolutely nuts, but has accepted this strange behavior!!

 

You're not strange.. you're normal. Those who don't care about thousands of dollars of personal property are the strange ones.

 

I still park at the far end of the parking lot and probably will for the forseable future. I have gotten used to the walk and it doesn't bother me one bit. A little exercise never hurt anyone.

There are even places I still refuse to take my TL to because of the parking situations. When we make a decision to go to certain places my husband asks what car are we taking (jokingly of course) and of course we both respond with "the Accord" (my old '97 that has become our beater).

I even pay $15/month to park in a parking garage at my office just so I can have covered parking and be able to park far away from other cars as the garage is not full.

 

YES! I am borderline obsessive about this. Couldn't agree more. My family thinks I am nuts (well... I guess I probably am )

but it works...

 

Ditto!

If your wife gets pissed, get a new wife! Mine got used to it, I do drop her off if it rains, other than that it's a nice walk.

At work I park the furthest away, peace of mind and no door dings!

I picked my current apartment because it has covered parking and no junkers around.

If I have to go into Philly I park in a parking garage or take my Sable.

It also seems that here in the US people do not value other people's cars as much as in Germany, where you can park pretty close and the lady in the Benz doesn't swing open her door without looking and or caring. Man, how many times do I see the older ladies in the SUV Benz or Bimmer swing open their doors without looking at the Starbucks I stop at after work. Hell most likely their husbands bought them the car and they just don't care and therefore lay no value on other's either ... of course this is only my opinion and does not apply to all - BUT MANY!

So there is a solution for the door dings, but what to do about the shitty roads that beat up our cars in another way!?! Answer = buy a used car ...

Oh yeah, those damn links in our text if freakin' annoying!!!

 

Yep, same here. My wife also has a TL.. an '05. When there is a question about parking (concerts, etc.) we take the Ford Ranger pickup.

I also park under cover at work and most people know about the nicer cars and where they tend to park.

 

Hey look at it this way. Cars don't heal.

 

There are times when I've actually turned back or gone somewhere else because I can't find a good spot.

 

some things to keep in mind - never park next to a coupe as they have longer doors. If its during the week and at work - likely its just the driver side doors you need to look out for. If its the weekend or after work, all doors are fair game. If you clearbra your entire car, you will become indestructible. Other cars will bounce off you in a crash.

 

That's funny. I've never actually done that but I know the situation at most of the places we tend to go so I can be prepared. I even refuse to drive my coworkers to lunch or other offsite meetings we have, if I know the parking sucks. They think I'm ridiculous and they get a little dejected because they all love my car and want to ride in it .

 

that's when your car gets keyed

 

One other thing. Try NEVER to take your TL to some function, place, hotel, etc. that has valet parking.