Parking lots, and getting your vehicle dinged

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

My biggest pet peeve in relation to this topic is:

When I go into any kind of parking lot, I always park as far away as I can. They'll be ten empty lots, sometimes many more, and I'll go there. When I come back to my car, there's another one right in the spot beside mine when there are are 10 more beside us empty. Why do people do this? Even just for the convenience of getting in and out you should leave one spot, no?

I hate these people so bad and I don't even know any of them.

I've run into that situation in the past. Now I park at furthest reaches of a parking lot. It might be a good walk to get to the store, but at least I don't have to deal with door dings.

[tussery]

I dont know if it has happened to my Jeep but I am pretty sure they would regret slamming their door into 1/4" angle iron or 3/16" steel plate that I have added to it to keep rocks from denting it off-road.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Yeah, your actions do make it bad for everyone else, agreed.

Well said.

What a total and complete overreaction. wow...

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

My biggest pet peeve in relation to this topic is:

When I go into any kind of parking lot, I always park as far away as I can. They'll be ten empty lots, sometimes many more, and I'll go there. When I come back to my car, there's another one right in the spot beside mine when there are are 10 more beside us empty. Why do people do this? Even just for the convenience of getting in and out you should leave one spot, no?

I hate these people so bad and I don't even know any of them.

Haha! I know how you feel. I recall parking well away from anything in the second level of the Sears parking lot in South Centre specifically because I was having a conversation with my passenger about people dinging doors. Ironically enough we came back to see our SUV surrounded by tons of empty parking stalls, except the one beside us, which sat a beat up POS wagon. It was parked so close I had to drive forward so the passenger could get in. I had to laugh at the situation though, I couldn't even believe it.

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

My biggest pet peeve in relation to this topic is:

When I go into any kind of parking lot, I always park as far away as I can. They'll be ten empty lots, sometimes many more, and I'll go there. When I come back to my car, there's another one right in the spot beside mine when there are are 10 more beside us empty. Why do people do this? Even just for the convenience of getting in and out you should leave one spot, no?

I hate these people so bad and I don't even know any of them.

Eddie,

Please don't hate me, I'm one of those guys. I park beside you because I get the sense that you are not going to slam your door into mine because you have the sense to park away from the nearest spot. If I leave the empty spot in between I run the risk of of some yahoo I have no gut feel about taking it. Your kind of like insurance I don't have to pay for.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

Eddie,

Please don't hate me, I'm one of those guys. I park beside you because I get the sense that you are not going to slam your door into mine because you have the sense to park away from the nearest spot. If I leave the empty spot in between I run the risk of of some yahoo I have no gut feel about taking it. Your kind of like insurance I don't have to pay for.

Wow, I never actually thought about people thinking this way. I actually experience the same problem that Eddie has on numerous occasions, and everytime I'm thinking, wth do people have to park their car next to mine when there's a ton of spaces everywhere else? I guess that type of thinking makes sense.

Me, I always try my hardest not to ding other people's door. I know a lot of other people aren't that considerate, but meh, why contribute to the jerk population by being one of them right? Just cuz they are jerks and do it to me, doesn't mean I have to be a jerk and do it back to them. Although if I guess if I actually saw someone ding my door and they knew I saw them do it and don't apologize, I think I would actually ding theirs back. Yup, it's pretty hypocritical of me.

[Andrew]

i got hit with a shopping cart 700 buck dent in my truck last year (according to the police thats what they thought it was a shopping cart). then a few months later in my civic, somebody drove into my car and ran away. 3000 dollar bill. thats bad luck ???

[JD]

I drive a pretty beat up POS and yet I'm still so concious of this kind of stuff. After all, when I bought it 10 years ago, it was my prize and joy. I still see it that way, even after all the trials and tribulations. But in the end, it's just a car. You buy it to use it. It's gonna get knicked and dented and chipped. Just the same in the Sears parking lot as driving down Deerfoot in February.

I am usually envious of, well, nearly everyone, because they have nicer cars than me. But really, when I read threads like this, I can smile because I honestly wouldn't get mad if someone dented my car one more time. Heck I had a rock 3" in diameter fly across 84th Street one time, and it crushed a portion of my windshield. I laughed... what kind of luck would I expect?

Yet I'm the last person that would dent any of your cars. Even though they are just cars. No reason to slash someone else's tires. That's a sick story and I can't believe you tell it with such pride, like you showed her. You only showed her what kind of a vengeful person you are. Maybe in some circles that's a virtue...

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Andrew

i got hit with a shopping cart 700 buck dent in my truck last year (according to the police thats what they thought it was a shopping cart). then a few months later in my civic, somebody drove into my car and ran away. 3000 dollar bill. thats bad luck ???

The province has some sort of fund set up for hit and run. I have used it in the past. You pay the first $100 of your deductible and they pay the rest, something like that, forget how it worked, and it does not go on your insurance record. My insurance company told me what to do, ask yours.

[skins]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

same thing happened to me

...story about retaliation...

petty? sure, but she had every chance to make that situation right, and didnt.
i just thought she might like a taste of her own medicine.
i've said it before and i'll say it again.
society sucks.

you're damn right it's petty. so much for trying to be the better person eh? what's that saying about "an eye for an eye"?

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

Beddington Town Square might be one of the worst parking lots in the city. Stalls are so narrow they could only have been designed for Hobbit cars.

I came out of London Drugs one night and my drivers side door mirror was sitting on the roof of the vehicle. At least the a**hole that knocked it off was considerate enough to pick the mirror off the pavement and place it on top of the vehicle.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

Yep, I could have, but to me, it made more sense to make her suffer the same. And I'm a nice guy! Its just that her complete and utter disregard for the situation and my personal property warranted something more.

I'll back you up on this one. I'm a car guy and take a lot of pride in my car. It's almost 8 years old but still looks as good as day 1. It's a coupe which has longer doors than usual and I take a great deal of care not to ding other people's doors. I don't park in tight spots. I also don't have bump strips along the door.

If I came out of a mall and found a huge dent (beyond a minor ding, down to the paint) and I was absolutely sure the car next to me did it, I wouldn't feel that bad about returning the favor. Disrespect my car, and I'll do the same to you. Car guy code. Don't mess with my car - they used to shoot horse thieves for a reason...

In your particular situation though, I'd probably have told the lady if she leaves I'm filing a hit and run report with the Police 1st, and see how she responds. If she flips me off, I can't say I wouldn't react the same way you did. If you control your dogs, control your kids. My parents warned me relentlessly to watch the car next door growing up - it's a matter of respecting other people's property. A ding can cost hundreds of dollars to fix, and I don't accept "Oops!" or "Kids will be kids" as an excuse. Might not have popped the tires though.

For all of you that think this was an overreaction - assuming you all had brand new cars - what would you have done? I see this as no different than if someone takes a hammer to your car, looks at you, and leaves. The other party knew they were doing wrong, and didn't care.

Someone in a tall SUV backed into my car and nailed the quarter panel upo high with their spare tire. $1,400 to fix. Who ate that? Me, it was hit and run. Might as well of stolen $1,400 from my wallet at gunpoint.

4 years as President of a condo board taught me that there is very little respect for other people's personal property in our society.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

For all of you that think this was an overreaction - assuming you all had brand new cars - what would you have done?

Had a similar thing happen within days of getting my car (years ago now).

The mom tried to blow it off at first, but I told her she could deal with me and the dent clinic, or the cops and insurance. She hated it - and clearly me too - but paid up.

But had she not I would have called the cops, not vandalized her car. I get the emotional response, but there's no way I could justify acting on it. IMO it's worse than the original crime.

I'd never teach my kids that's ok (dinging the door and running away I mean), but it got me thinking. What would my wife have done? I'd say there's at least a 50-50 chance she puts her head down and gets out of there. Not out of irresponsibility, but fear. If some angry dude is barking at her and she wasn't quite sure of his intentions or what happened, she'd take the kids and get out of there.

And I'd be good with that. Whatever someone does to my car in anger can be fixed.

[Dan02]

Tough situation indeed, what to do if someone ignores you after dinging your car. I personally don't think its outta line if they brush it off like that to get retribution, however, as i see it. you bash up their car, you're gonna both end up paying for your own damages to your vehicle. You take a more rational approach and she ends up paying for the damages no cost to you. Either way shes paying for it, question is, should you as well?

Agree with the previous poster as well though about females in particular trying to avoid the situation, I wouldn't blame my fiance if she just tried to avoid the situation.

As for parking at the back of the lot. Well you might get stuck with me for the simple reason i either need Costco sized parking stalls or 2 open stalls side by side to slide my truck into a parking spot without doing a 5 pointer. Don't worry though i'm rather conscience about not dinging other peoples doors.

[Draug]

Man, I cant believe the overwhielming majority of the people in this thread really take care not to ding other people's cars! All my experience out there had led me to believe that almost NOBODY cared about another person's car.

I am very careful with my cars, and all the cars around me. I do everything I can to make sure my cars stay like new forever. I dont lean on them, rub my hands on them, I keep them clean (always touchless or hand wash), park them inside, plug them in, etc, etc. . . Sure, you buy them to use (in most cases), but they are the second most expensive things I own - so they better be taken care of.

As for the worst parking lot - it has to be the little one at Sunridge Professional Building, just North of the mall. Our family doctor is there. They must be the smallest spots I know of. And, they are always full. Being a doctor office, tons of kids in daily driver family vehicles just waiting to accidentally hit my car!

[ricosuave]

LOL, so now its turned into an intimidation thing? yeah, right.

she knew what her kid did, she heard it, saw it, reacted to it, and chose to walk away. it wasn't a little door ding, it was a 2-3" wide crease that ran from the top of the door to the bottom - it was major and in the end, i had to replace the whole door. it had nothing to do with me 'staring her down', my look was of complete shock that it happened, and stunned disbelief that she chose to walk away without so much as an apology. there was no intimidation, no aggressive behaviour and no loud shouting or anything that would have 'intimidated' the poor woman. funny how some of you all assumed that i was some deranged lunatic the moment it happened, and the reason why she walked away was because she was afraid for herself and her kid.

all of you who are sayig stuff like 'it was a kid' - yeah, it was the kid, and the kid should have known better. since they didn't, the parent should be responsible, and most importantly, accountable. she was neither, and when she blew me off, well, that was it.

it seems that it is easier for some of you to justify her non actions than to justify mine.

and i guarantee that if it happened to you and your car the exact way it happened to me, you all would be singing a different tune.

it started off with a child not being taught how to carefully open a door, and it went all the way to a parent apparently not teaching respect or owning up to their responsibility.

get off your high horse already, none of you are the saints that you are suggesting that you are.

[Regorium]

Rico, you are my hero.

I also don't understand it. I don't touch anyone else's car, even if it's just to run my hands on it while walking by. I don't rub myself against them even when I try to get into my own car, I don't put things on them (I've seen ladies with groceries use the car next to them as stands while they load up the trunk). I just don't see why people just don't have respect for other people's property.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy McGillicuddy

I came out of London Drugs one night and my drivers side door mirror was sitting on the roof of the vehicle. At least the a**hole that knocked it off was considerate enough to pick the mirror off the pavement and place it on top of the vehicle.

This is kinda amusing in a bad way

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

LOL, so now its turned into an intimidation thing? yeah, right.

I have no idea what you did or didn't do, but I didn't mean to suggest you went jovo-monkey on the woman. I was speculating on the scenario in general. My bad.

In the end though, neither action is justified. That's the point.

[worth]

I suppose you go by the theory two wrongs make a right, eh?

Are we that petty that we have to smash some elses car up to make us feel better, to get "revenge"? Don't really see how denting someones car back helps the situation any.

I think i've only had one dent in a car and that was in my old daytona. I also had someone back into it while it was parked infront of my house, which I have no idea how that was possible given the orientation of the cars, but they came to the door to give me their info.