ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

I'm curious as to how many of you are as anal as I am when it comes to parking. I park quite a ways back EVERY time. I don't necessarily go to the last spot in the lot, but I make sure there are probably half a dozen spots between me and the last car. If the lot is full and I'm not able to do that, I find myself stressing while I'm away wondering if some asshole is gonna give me a door ding or scratch.

I have my preferred spots at my most frequented locations (i.e. work / grocery store / Babies R Us), and I get a little stressed if I'm going somewhere I'm not familiar with and know there are going to be a lot of cars.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I got this car almost brand new with no blemishes...then got a new paint job due to a paint defect. It's my goal to keep it dent / scratch free as long as possible...with the exception of marks on the hood from my daily highway driving. Even then I take extreme caution and stay far back from the car in front of me.

Fortunately my wife is cool with my "parking OCD" and never gives me shit for having to walk far...even while she was pregnant. Of course I would always offer to drop her off but she was fine with the walking.

So...how many of you are the same way?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

also, If applicable, park at the end where theres a curb!
so only one side is exposed!!

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

Exactly! I forgot to mention that...

Those tilt down mirrors come in very handy on those occasions! That way I can get as close as possible to the curb without scratching my wheels.

potmilkz

i am the same way.

let me give you a scenario.

i go to ralphs or any supermarket, see a wide open parking spot big enough so i dont get dent.. but only one thing standing in my way.. there is a supermarket kart in front of it. I can park in and will not have any issues with the kart being in my way but my OCD kicks in and i grab the kart and move it far away from my car as possible..

im sure you guys do this.

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

LOL, absolutely! I'll do a good deed in the process and take that one in with me.

Kinda reminds me of this commercial...

aspecallday

Every time i leave my car in a parking garage i always tip the guy well so he leaves my car right near the cashier booth. This eliminates parking attendant from slamming on the gas 3 to 4 times on his way to another level to park your car. They feel funny because i tip them even though i park the car myself lol

007Acura

I do the same & park far away, extra exercise isn't bad.

When I park by a curb I try to park at the right(->) end so the drivers door next to me doesn't open near my car (unless they back in).

aspecallday

i think i would do the same thing for my car.

Skin grows back paint doesnt

Treblig

Ditto on the "back 40" parking strategy as well as the curb side approach.

weather

I am the exact same way!! I park as far as I can or in a spot where I can watch it all the time. If I go to a coffee shop, I make sure its in my eye sight. Take from a guy who won't even drive his car on wet roadways...I am as ANAL as they get...and damn proud of it!

moych1

GUILTY as CHARGE to all of the above. Glad to hear i am not the only one.

Teddybear

I also pick what cars to park next to.
corollas, camry's and rav4's are big nono's,
same with any car that is dirty or hasnt been washed.
work trucks that have rust, and or dings.
large vehicles that dont quite fit the spot comfortably.
most hyundai's and kias.
any car with hub cap spinners
any car with haggard ghetto paint jobs.
any overly crookedly parked cars.

i prefer to park next to cars that are as clean as mine, and as in good condition. they're less likely to give me a door ding.

so far, my audi level analness has gotten me 1 super super small ding in my 1.5 yrs of owning the car. (i had no choice but to park next to a work truck )

KarKraze

Most times i will go home first and pick up the wife's car for any errands lol,in the event i cannot then i do what you guys do,look for the safest looking spot preferably next to a curb so that only one side is exposed.Pet peeve is people who leave the shopping carts all over the lot.

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear I'm not alone! I had a feeling most of you were like that though.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...if I ever have to go to Walmart I park in another zip code.

mightl

ditto... I also put up the door edge film.. just in case.

StHalcyon

I'm anal as hell, but unfortunately, I live in Chicago. Can't do much about it. The sides, if it's a parking lot instead of street parking, I do what you do. But if it's street parking, I just bought the Bumper Bully and Bump Shox. Don't worry, I'll always put out the Bumper Bully while I drive, because I'm sophisticated. ;-) Bumper Shox... Well, it's ugly as hell, but I can't do anything about it. People here do "love taps," as they call it, but when I see it happen to some stranger's car, I just want to go up the guy and show him my love tap by showing him my backhand up the face real good. =)



Another thing... Since street parking in public is common in Chicago, another pet peeve is when my friends open the doors of my car without checking the height of the curb. Worse, when they scrape the bottom of the door edge, they don't stop or even say sorry. Those are the friends I don't ever invite back to my car. =)

OpIv37

I'm not quite that OCD but I am very selective. I look for large spots next to small vehicles, and will park in the back if I have to.

My last car was an 08 Accord coupe, and it got a door ding the first month I had it. It also got hit in a parking lot while I was inside, causing damage to the door, rim, and panel on the driver's side. Of course, the offending driver was nowhere to be found by the time I came out and noticed it.

Rxpete

Same here-- I park as far away as possible. But every once in a while some Idiot parks right next to me even though there are tons of spaces that are empty.

My situation isn't as good at work. I have to park on the street in a crowded city environment so I know I'll have marks on my bumper in no time. It's killing me because I'm as anal as they come. It's the reason I held out for such a long time buying a new car.

Edward'TLS

Sometimes it is futile to leave lots of space to adjacent cars, because the next cars taking up the adjacent-car spots are gonna park back real close to us.

AGK

I learned my lesson the hard way, the 3rd day of my owning my brand new car, I parallel parked with an empty space in front of me, but when I came back there was a huge SUV that fit into that tiny space with a metal hook touch my bumper, which cause a piece of paint to chip off. That idiot had his license plate screwed with 1 screw. I was so angry, I ripped it out and threw it across the street. After that, I'm paranoid where I park.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

My new wife and I always walk from far away. I parked in between 2 cars on Saturday, for the first time in a long time. I got a paint ding.....

Mitch-S

I try to park next to nice, expensive cars that looks well maintained. It shows me the driver of those cars are just as careful as I am with their car.

I get pissed when an old beat up car parks next to me. I always check for dents and scratches.

Blaze9

Always park in the back, next to a corner, away from -all- cart holding spots and other cars.... At Uni I have my own spot where the spot next to mine is too small to park (about 1/3rd a normal spot) so I can legally take up both that spot and my spot. I get it every day since I get to my parking deck extra early (half due to that parking spot =P hah)

StHalcyon

Awesome! That's what I would've done too!

Experience has taught me that parking next to nice cars doesn't mean anything. I have witnessed a situation where a trixie (look it up on urbandictionary.com) parked her nice, expensive BMW within the boundaries of the parking space, with plenty of space from the next car. She swings open the door, yapping on the phone with, "So yeah, I was, like, totally not going on another date with that, you know, loser. Because, you know, I have, like, standards, right?" And guess what... During that whole breath of wasted air, I heard her door hit the other car, and it didn't bother her a bit. Shut the door and walked towards the elevator with me. Grrr!!!

And it's not limited to the young. I've seen some people in Streeterville (an upscale neighborhood of Chicago), where some rich dude got out of the car, dinged another nice car next to him, and walk off. The dude was even wearing an expensive suit that probably costs more than my one month of pay. And he didn't care.

Simply put, you can't judge how careful or considerate a driver is based on the car they drive. A**hole drivers are far, wide and in between.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i havent had a door ding in my last 3 or 4 cars, thats how anal i am ....no one parks next to me....

flyguy081

I defintitely park far away and would love to avoid getting any dings or scratches! I am so anal that I check the car completely every time I return to it from shopping in a store or eating at a restaurant. I don't know about any of you, but I sometimes imagine how I would react if I came back to it and noticed a ding and knew for sure it was the car parked next to me that did it. I have visions of myself either kicking their door and denting it, or keying their door in the exact same spot they dinged mine!

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

This happened to me when I had my old car. I was at Cracker Barrel and I parked in the back. When I came out there was a car next to mine that had parked shitty and was real close. Sure enough I walk up and see a nice door ding with paint the color of this car. Without thinking it through, I opened my door and slammed it into theirs, giving them a nice size ding in the process. Unfortunately, it left a mark on my door where it hit theirs. It was small, but worth it IMO.

If it ever happens again I will be sure to use my key, and probably write a big F*** YOU! in their door.

I always get paranoid if there is a car next to mine when I come out, and check thoroughly for dings / scratches.

Teddybear

i've also started to avoid parking where there's a sidewalk right behind the car
(if u back up), i know usually u think "ohh. no car can hit you from the back". yes, but i've seen ppl spit n throw cigarette butts at cars (or at least super close to cars/in that general direction), or walk super close, with keys/buttons/zippers/etc brushing the car.

i wish i could make my entire car's body electric..... make ppl think twice about rubbing up/leaning on stranger's cars....

akiko2012

i understand being OCD when you're by yourself or with your significant other or with people that really know you. i park far when i'm in public. living in AZ, i forgo the shade parking too just because i don't want people next to me.

how about when "other" people are riding with you? is the parking OCD still there?

Teddybear

^ yes.
i also don't park under trees. i hate tree sap, leaves and other crap that ends up on my car....

my brother gets annoyed with me a lot LOL

JM2010 SH-AWD

Good question. Not an issue with my wife - she gets it. When I'm with friends or work colleagues, I just tell them - we're parking far away and walking. No one seems to care.

But even when you're careful, idiots can get you. Airport parking is the worst, I think. I had my old Legend (which was really flawless) in what I thought was a safe space at the airport. I returned from my trip to find some jerk in a giant SUV had driven up and over my rear bumper and left the thing there. He was coming to his rig at the same time I approached mine. I complimented him on his parking - his response, delivered with a shrug was "did I do that?" No, sir, I make a it a practice of backing my car under the car behind me. What a jerk.

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely! I let them know ahead of time that I do that and offer to drop them off. I would rather have those few moments of "awkward" than a ding / scratch that last much longer.

Acura2010

I always try to park near the curb, and i always try to park as close to the curb (without touching the rim of course) to ensure that there is lots of room for the car next to me to open their door fully and not have any contact with my car. I'm also OCD about parking.

Acura2010

oh and another thing, if i'm at the grocery store or any retail plaza, i always look at the grade of the parking lot to see how it slopes. I always park in away that shopping carts will roll away from my car!!!

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

^^^ Smart thinking...though in the flatlands of FL that is generally not an issue.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

yup...guilty. i'm anal as hell about where i park. i've had the hit and run so i have good reason to be paranoid.

i strategically park every where i go which means...way the hell far away from everyone. i have passed up spaces that look ok, but not enough for me to park it there.
-end spaces next to pillars or curbs to the passenger side of the car (most drivers are single drivers).
-uphill from shopping carts.
-nice single car spaces
-next to nice clean cars
-NOT at end spaces with high traffic (turning)
-no street parking if possible
-NOT under trees (i have a sensitivity to this one too).
i'm sure there are a bunch more...i'd have to go drive my car and park to tell you any other criteria there are for parking.

JM2010 SH-AWD

^^ I'm with you on all of those.

FanaticFan

I've always parked "in the wilds" (far out) myself, as well (any malls, grocery stores, movies, etc.) -- thing now though is, doesn't that make you more susceptible to towing-theft?

Other thing is, it's rare but that hasn't in the past prevented me from finding myself accompanied in the wilderness by some angry person in a big red truck, say, who's decided to crowd my vehicle just for the hell of it. If you're dealing with a crazy, there's really nothing you can do to avoid the attention beyond a certain point (and it's not only teenage boys, say -- one of the worst experiences I ever had was some minivan Mom who I guess had had it with people that day, and targeted my vehicle for some absolutely random reason, guess she didn't like the color? oh well).

DManz

I do not believe I would rate myself as OCD, but I am careful. I did have a recent unpleasant experience. The night we picked up the new TL we decided to visit our favorite steakhouse on our way home. I decided that it would be best to head to the very back of a parking lot that was about 40% full. With no other cars within 10 rows, I used 2 spaces to ensure I would not leave there with a ding in my new TL with 16 miles on the clock.

Well shame on me for being so inconsiderate of others! When we returned to the car, there was a note on the windshield that said “Listen A**hole, your taking up 2 spaces. Your not driving a Ferrari…F**ker!

To all the flamers, yes, I did take up to spaces in the back row of the more than half empty parking lot, so I guess I had it coming.

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, there's a fine line...it's tough to park in a way that makes you feel comfortable (whether that's way out or taking up multiple spots) but without bringing negative attention. For that reason I don't ever take up two and don't park too many spots beyond the last car.

I went out to lunch today with work peeps and the parking lot was full where we went, so I had to park at the restaurant next door. It was pretty busy too but I got a spot with an empty one on each side (under trees though). As we're walking in I see a spot right in the front open up...an end one. I hesitated to move my car since it was on the end and not under any trees but couldn't bring myself to do it. If I had been alone I probably would have. Sure enough I come out and there's a car on each side of me, with one being pretty close. Fortunately no dings / scratches but man I was sweatin it on the walk over.