Parking lots, and getting your vehicle dinged

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Having a new car really sucks. I live with paranoia whenever I drive my car anywhere. I don't like the feeling of leaving my car at the mercy of the person who parks next to me. So far I have not had any problems...but I don't want to speak too soon.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by worth

Don't really see how denting someones car back helps the situation any.

I do.

First off it would make you feel better. But it also teaches a lesson. According to the post, he asked her for insurance and she refused. She probably did so thinking she could walk away and it would not cost her anything. As it turns out; it did cost her- likely more that it would have to do the right thing from the start. And having a kid I'm going to assume she'd married, and at some point would have to explain what happened to her husband. At that point perhaps he might be able to tell her that she would have been better off dealing with the situation instead of walking away, and I'm sure the kid will get a stern talking to about being careful with car doors.

In an ideal world he could have called the police. Assuming they came anytime soon, if the woman showed up they likely wouldn't have charged her with leaving the scene of an accident, and Rico still would have been no better off.

[Cliche]

I park crooked. It seems to minimize people slamming their car doors into my car. It doesn't prevent people from keying my car or leaving nice scratches in the paint though. For those of you who park in the remote areas of the parking lot, neat (RE: parking between the lines) is out. Parking diagonally, crossing the line, or even sideways, may be in order. However, taking up 2 spaces in a crowded parking lot will probably get your vehicle keyed.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Cliche

I park crooked. It seems to minimize people slamming their car doors into my car. It doesn't prevent people from keying my car or leaving nice scratches in the paint though.

It doesn't surprise me that you get your car keyed. I've been tempted to do so when I see some selfish person taking up two spots. Why would you do it if you know it doesn't leave your car any safer?

[habernac]

I've felt that frustrated before but would never go that far. Slashing tires is nuts. Call the cops next time.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I do.

First off it would make you feel better. But it also teaches a lesson.

I don't buy that. Yeah it sends a message. So does running an idiot off the road on deerfoot. Smashing your noisey neighbours window with a bat. Chucking the pizza guy out your door withhout paying because he's late.

The message is 'there's no rules so do whatever the heck you want'.

If my 3 year old hits his brother, I'm not gonna hit him to show him it's wrong. (naturally I'll abuse him menatlly instead )

[urban1]

So committing a crime made you feel better? You intentionally vandalized her car.

You asked her for her insurance info and she refused. I dont really know what insurance is going to do. But you could have written down her license plate if you truely believed insurance would get involved.

So you slashed her tires and kicked her door? I would have loved it if you had gotten caught by security or other people in the parking lot. Would that have been worth it for you?

And the guy with a crow bar. WTF? Dudes gotta have issues if he carries around a crow bar to solve parking lot problems.

Door dings suck. People are inconsiderate. Youre not going to fix these problems by committing crimes. Ive new vehicles dinged. I had an old lady back into my car while parellel parked on a street the first week I had my first brand new car. She scuffed the bumper and walked away like nothing happened while I was sitting in the car. It pi$$ed me off but what would slashing her tires accomplish.

Originally Posted by ricosuave

same thing happened to me

at deerfoot mall, im sitting in the car waiting for the wife. the car in question is by no means mint, but it is in decent shape, and besides, its mine.

white mid-late 30s lady in a minivan pulls in beside me and her little monster of an 8yr old totally slams the door open, putting a big dent in my door.

i get out, look at it, look at the kid, then her, and ask for her insurance.

she doesnt say a thing, just looks down at the ground and hurridly (sp?) tells little timmy to come on.

i am seething, absolutely raging at this inconsiderate b*tch and her hellspawn and watch them walk into the mall.

so, in retaliation, i kicked the passenger door in about as bad as mine and then proceeded to puncture her 2 tires on that side.

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.

[shane_c]

Originally Posted by fotze

Plus that lady probably will tell all of her friends what happened and maybe they will do the right thing where they wouldn't have before.

And admit that she was wrong? That'll never happen

[Ironhorse]

Door dings are quite possibly one of my biggest peeves when it comes to motorists.

I will always park at the far end of the carpark. I don't care if it is raining or -20 out. If there is someone else parked at the end, they are most likely another "car guy" (I give the car a quick once over) and I then usually will have no trouble parking beside them. I respect them, they respect me. I will not trust anyone else in "regular" spots. At Christmas time, I will not even park in the carpark. I will park on the street somewhere and walk.

I take great pride and joy in keeping my car pristine. On top of that, they're worth a lot of money! A friend of mine has recently bought a very nice car, the nicest she's ever owned. And now she's starting to act like me when it comes to parking spaces.

And Rico: I probably would have returned the favour also.

[Cliche]

Originally Posted by ken0042

It doesn't surprise me that you get your car keyed. I've been tempted to do so when I see some selfish person taking up two spots. Why would you do it if you know it doesn't leave your car any safer?

Yes, it trades one form of ry for another. The other part is to do the above parking in remote spots, or you can park between the lines but still crooked. I would certainly not do the above parking tactics if the space were close to the doors(variable, but usually if it doesn't take me 5 minutes to the door). The ironic part is that my car got scratched when I was parked neatly.

Anyways, I don't take up 2 spaces in parking lots with potential to be packed. Instead I use the crooked parking method combined with the remote location. Sure my car is still within the lines, but the sides of the car certainly aren't parallel with the parking stall. Anyways, most of where I park the stalls are wide enough to accomodate diesel pick ups anyways.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

same thing happened to me

at deerfoot mall, im sitting in the car waiting for the wife. the car in question is by no means mint, but it is in decent shape, and besides, its mine.

white mid-late 30s lady in a minivan pulls in beside me and her little monster of an 8yr old totally slams the door open, putting a big dent in my door.

i get out, look at it, look at the kid, then her, and ask for her insurance.

she doesnt say a thing, just looks down at the ground and hurridly (sp?) tells little timmy to come on.

i am seething, absolutely raging at this inconsiderate b*tch and her hellspawn and watch them walk into the mall.

so, in retaliation, i kicked the passenger door in about as bad as mine and then proceeded to puncture her 2 tires on that side.

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.

I was lovin the story until you punctured the tires

Anyway, couldnt you have just taken her license plate and called the cops for a hit and run or something like that. Its at the very least vandalism.

I called the cops once when I was in the WEM parking lot and some complete ###### did that to my vehicle. I called for the cops, waited and then left (I didnt really leave, only park far away and then watched from a window until the dude showed up).

The cops proceeded to give the guy some yellow sheet of paper, I assume it was a ticket of some type.

MYK

[ericschand]

A short while ago, I go into a mall with my daughter in tow. We go in,
so some shopping, come back out. I open the trunk to drop our stuff
in, and my daughter, standing next to the passenger door says, "Daddy,
what's on the car?"

I go around and look, and not only has someone left a really really nice
fat big door ding, the car being somewhat dirty, they actually rubbed away
some of the dust and felt the ding as if to say, "Wow! That was a good
one! Never done anything quite like this one before!"

So, that pissed me off a bit, but hey, what can you do except hope
it buffs out (some did, but you can still see it).

Then I go to a different mall, a couple of weeks later. This time I
parked way out of the way, there were only a few cars about. I come
back, walk around the front of the car, and what do I see? Someone
has backed into me, cracking the bumper! They actually cracked the
bumper and took off. With 30 other spots, they park in front of me
and crack the bumper? No note, nothing. WTF? How dense do you
have to be?

As an aside, it's the cap on top that is cracked. It runs forward,
about the middle of the car, then down the front, as if it's peeling off.
Is there some sort of glue or something I can get, or do I really have
to go get a new bumper?

ers

[habernac]

we were on vacation in Vancouver back in the 80's. We were just about to leave when we watched a man back out of his stall and into another vehicle. He then pulled forward and hit another car. Backed up one more time and hit a third. Dad got out and asked the man if he was going to leave a note. He gave him a blank expression and drove off. Mom was copying down his license plate number and we left notes on all three cars. the guy must have thought he was playing bumper cars or something.

[peter12]

Oh lord, the paranoia of owning a new car in Calgary... A few months ago, I bought my first new car, a 2007 Toyota Matrix. I love this car, great colour, great look. I was driving it quite a bit in the first week, I hadn't even filled up the tank once, when a driver blew through a red light on his freaking cell phone and clipped the front end. $1400 damage and the wouldn't own up, give me his information or anything. Basically made it the hardest thing in the world for me to make a claim.

It all got sorted out in the end, but it's ridiculous how screwed over I got in the whole process, when it wasn't my fault. The time spent talking with the insurance company, the autobody shop, was such a headache.

It's funny though, after this first accident, I'm way more alert and confident.

[habernac]

It sucks, doesn't it peter? My wife and I were lucky. The person that hit our car was very cooperative. But having a brand new vehicle get nailed is a painful experience.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Regorium

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.

I am totally this way when it comes to cars as well. If it is not your car then you shouldn't be touching it. I just don't see how people don't think it is a big deal to lean on a stranger's car and then act like the owner is a jerk when they call them on it.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by ken0042

At that point perhaps he might be able to tell her that she would have been better off dealing with the situation instead of walking away, and I'm sure the kid will get a stern talking to about being careful with car doors.

Ken, the error in your arguement is that you used reason and accountability, two things that women tend not to be familiar with.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Ken, the error in your arguement is that you used reason and accountability, two things that women tend not to be familiar with.

Ha ha! You just admitted to watching "As Good As It Gets!"

Oh, wait, I guess I just too then.

Classic Jack Nicholson!

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Ha ha! You just admitted to watching "As Good As It Gets!"

Oh, wait, I guess I just too then.

Classic Jack Nicholson!

Hey, Helen Hunt was in a wet t-shirt in that movie. How could I not watch it?

In all seriousness, that line was as true of a description of the difference between men and women as I have ever heard.

[MaDMaN_26]

The first week I got my car, I had someone use my roof to set something heavy on it, when they dragged it off it left a large scratch, both my doors (drivers and passengers) have been dented by other doors and someone has backed into me breaking my taillight, denting my bumper and my trunk... all parking lot damage.

I always park far away and alone, but in some lots its just not possible... the car is two years old and beat to hell now by other people. No one left a note I was left holding the bag... its upsetting and especially hard when the car is new, but I'm not that mad... it is what it is and I expect it at some point in the life of owning a vehicle; sadly it was soooo soon after getting it but whatever...

Something I learned when my mom lived in California, is they consider a trip to the body shop once a year or once every two years part of the maintenance of the car... its something they budget for and do routinely. Like oil changes and new tires. I tend to agree with that, if you have an expensive car or even a new one you should budget for body work. if its not a door in a parking lot its a rock right?

Something else I'm wondering is why no one is coughing up to accidentally bumping a few cars them selves, personally I think everyone that has owned a car has lost grip on the door at least once, maybe you caused damage and maybe you didn't but you can at least see how it happens by accident... I think the getting caught and not caring or apologizing is one thing but many people truly feel accidents happen and its just part of the risk in having a vehicle... I mean no different than I put my life in the hands of a million a$$holes and terrible drivers every time I get behind the wheel... no one is trying to kill me but it could happen.