I'm mad

[VirginiaRick]

Man, that really sucks!  How can there be so much animosity out there?  I just don't understand why someone would have such hateful feelings toward another human being, just because they're trying to do their part to save gas.

 

Kinda makes me have second thoughts about springing the few extra $ for my personalized plate.

 

VR

[Hatchman]

I feel for your anguish over some idiot who in their feeble attemp to be careful did the bad deed!!  reminds me of something that happened to me a few years ago with my new truck, I like a lot of folks who have said here that they like to park away from all the action, thinking that would protect their nice c-max, well my beautiful new Truck was sitting all by itself in a Walmart parking lot away from all the other cars, when we left the store as we walked towards my nice new truck I instantly saw something didn't look right, as I got closer I could see the whole passenger side was caved in !! after a closer look we could see that someone had kicked from behind like they had their hands on their own vehicle and were kicking like a mule would kick! store surveillance cams could not get a good pic as I parked so far back, police took pics and patted me on the back and that was the end of my parking far away!! Now i just park as close as posible. :baby:   

 

Wow, it is just amazing how some people can be so hateful.  I try to park far away, but not enough to draw attention.  And the people who do the double parking, taking up two (or more) parking spaces are just asking for someone to mess with their car.  If you got a beater, take it to the store.   

[Scott]

You folks are right on about taking a beater when shopping ! wish I had a beater :sad:

[SnowStorm]

Maybe there needs to be a new paint option - "Distressed"!  You get dings and scratches hand applied at extra cost right from the factory, just like those crazy jeans and beat-up new furniture.

 

Seriously, it seems like our little Fit has collected more dings in 150,000 miles than all our other cars put together.  Do small cars collect more dings?  Or maybe its just getting nastier out there.

 

Then there is the friend of ours who built a beautiful wooden canoe all covered in clear fiberglass.  They're off down the river on the maiden voyage, wife's in front calling the turns and he's in back steering.  She calls one direction to miss a rock, he goes the other and scrapes it.  "Now," he says, "we don't have to worry about scraping it anymore"!  Somehow I can't quite transfer that logic to a car.

[Riddley]

Regarding where to park - I agree with what everyone else has already said.

 

Regarding the dent(s) you have, I agree with lowbar.  They have techniques for taking out small dents that are paintless, quick, and probably quite affordable.

 

True Story:  When I went to pick up my new C-Max. It had less than 10 miles on it. I did the visual inspection and noticed a pronounced dent on the driver's door above the door handle. It was about the size of a gold ball. No paint damage. I mentioned it to the sales person who had the service folks look at it.  They said they had a guy on site who specialized in taking small dings out of doors and body panels.  He came over and took a look and said he would have it fixed in 20 minutes. He asked if he could take the car to another part of the complex. I was so curious about how he was going to do this, that I WANTED TO GO WITH HIM.   He wouldn't go for that. So anyway, I wandered over to the lounge and got a cup of coffee. 20 minutes later the car was ready. There was and remains absolutely no way to tell that the door every had a ding in it. I was simply amazed.

 

Take it to a pro, and it shouldn't take long, and shouldn't cost too much money. I would be surprised if it costs more than $100-$200.  

[MacGyver]

When I was 18 my second car was a 1955 Cadillac. I used to take 2 spaces minimum, sometimes 4 spaces if I could do so without inspiring animosity, and would usually park at the farthest out section of the lot since that can be interpreted as kiiiinda jerky, but understandable given the classic nature of the car...

 

One time I took 6 spaces at the farthest end of a huge lot parked basically sideways, went in with a date, saw a movie, came back out, and 6 people had parked all around me... I just about had steam coming outta my ears... even tried to PUSH a couple cars out of their spaces with the caddy!

 

They both had auto transmissions, and so the "Park" locking pin in the drivetrain kept that ploy from succeeding- though the caddy was game, and pushed those cars until we were both at about a 20-25 degree angle...

 

So I settled down to wait for some foolish/brave idiot to come and get into one of the cars blocking me, with what must have been such an absolutely murderous expression on my face that I think it convinced at least one guy to walk right past his car and wait until after I left to leave himself...

 

Finally a woman came and was unlocking one of the cars blocking me in.... there was.... a confrontation.

 

No one was hurt, but she did leave at a high rate of speed when I told her what I was about to do to her car... 

 

I'm not real proud of this, but I thought it would be worth a laugh 25 years later...

[salsaguy]

it was probably a jealous Prius owner :)

 

Some idiot dinged one of my doors today.

I haven't had my car for 2 week.

No paint scraps but I can distinctly see 2 small dents in my left rear door.

I'm so pissed

[salsaguy]

wouldnt that defeat the whole purpose of having a cmax? as the beater in our case gets 17 mpg!

the store is close by so using the cmax on Ev only is the idea around town right?

yeah dor dings/scratches suck

 

just got my 1st one on my Passat at the car wash!

didnt notice it till the next day at work so couldn't go back and complain/prove it

doh

 

Wow, it is just amazing how some people can be so hateful.  I try to park far away, but not enough to draw attention.  And the people who do the double parking, taking up two (or more) parking spaces are just asking for someone to mess with their car.  If you got a beater, take it to the store.   

[armoredsaint]

when i replaced my license plate lights to LEDs, I noticed a very slight dent on the hatch door also - no sign of scratches either, make me wonder if it was done at the factory or even dealership which happens.

[spyburn]

Late chiming in here, but have a story to relate.  I have no issue with people who park out in the boonies and take up two spaces to ensure their doors don't get dinged, as long as there is sufficient parking, I think that's fine.  However, a few years ago my husband was eating his lunch in his truck in a grocery store parking lot and witnessed a kid pull up in a shiny new black flashy sporty thing. The kid parked diagonally at the front of the store, blocking not just 2 spaces, but 2 handicapped spaces, then he sprinted into the store (no handicaped plackard displayed).

 

A few minutes later an elderly woman pushed her cart out of the store and eyeballed the flashy car across 2 handicaped spaces.  She loaded her groceries in her car, which was legally parked in a single handicapped space, then she pulled a sleeve of saltine crackers out of one of her bags.  She crushed the crackers and proceeded to drop the crumbs in a circle all around the flashy car. She never touched the car but she was smiling a lot as she left.

 

In minutes, the entire car was surrounded by and covered in grackles, and they proceeded to cover this car in bird poop.

 

Karma. hehehe.

[Edsel]

Love it!

Late chiming in here, but have a story to relate.  I have no issue with people who park out in the boonies and take up two spaces to ensure their doors don't get dinged, as long as there is sufficient parking, I think that's fine.  However, a few years ago my husband was eating his lunch in his truck in a grocery store parking lot and witnessed a kid pull up in a shiny new black flashy sporty thing. The kid parked diagonally at the front of the store, blocking not just 2 spaces, but 2 handicapped spaces, then he sprinted into the store (no handicaped plackard displayed).

 

A few minutes later an elderly woman pushed her cart out of the store and eyeballed the flashy car across 2 handicaped spaces.  She loaded her groceries in her car, which was legally parked in a single handicapped space, then she pulled a sleeve of saltine crackers out of one of her bags.  She crushed the crackers and proceeded to drop the crumbs in a circle all around the flashy car. She never touched the car but she was smiling a lot as she left.

 

In minutes, the entire car was surrounded by and covered in grackles, and they proceeded to cover this car in bird poop.

 

Karma. hehehe.

[Adair]

lOVE THAT STORY SPYBURN!!!

[mtb9153]

Some idiot dinged one of my doors today.

I haven't had my car for 2 week.

No paint scraps but I can distinctly see 2 small dents in my left rear door.

I'm so pissed

tell me about it, I have two tiny dings like a pointed object poked my door right next to the drivers door handle.  It happened at my church too.  Can't even trust those I worship with, now that's bad.  So sorry you have experienced this too

Edited May 24, 2013 by mtb9153

[mtb9153]

when i replaced my license plate lights to LEDs, I noticed a very slight dent on the hatch door also - no sign of scratches either, make me wonder if it was done at the factory or even dealership which happens.

armoredsaint what LED lights did you use there?  Curious

[MacGyver]

From what I've seen, taking 2 spaces is like a magnet for people to mess with your car. Everybody is going to notice.  They will still park right up on you, key your car, leave nasty notes, etc.  

 

Best just to park far away and hope someone doesn't try to park right up on you anyway. 

 

a) it makes me sad that this is true.

 

b) I've used the tactic of parking juuuuuuuuust bad enough (in boonies) that it doesn't look like I was TRYING to take 2 spaces, but with one corner of the car far enough into the next space so they kind of have to straddle two themselves to park next to you... gives them permission to park that way, if the whole row filled up, everyone wins, everyone has plenty of clearance to not get dinged, I hate those a-holes who drive crappy old cars and secretly like to ding your car- because you represent someone/something to them?

[MacGyver]

Late chiming in here, but have a story to relate.  I have no issue with people who park out in the boonies and take up two spaces to ensure their doors don't get dinged, as long as there is sufficient parking, I think that's fine.  However, a few years ago my husband was eating his lunch in his truck in a grocery store parking lot and witnessed a kid pull up in a shiny new black flashy sporty thing. The kid parked diagonally at the front of the store, blocking not just 2 spaces, but 2 handicapped spaces, then he sprinted into the store (no handicaped plackard displayed).

 

A few minutes later an elderly woman pushed her cart out of the store and eyeballed the flashy car across 2 handicaped spaces.  She loaded her groceries in her car, which was legally parked in a single handicapped space, then she pulled a sleeve of saltine crackers out of one of her bags.  She crushed the crackers and proceeded to drop the crumbs in a circle all around the flashy car. She never touched the car but she was smiling a lot as she left.

 

In minutes, the entire car was surrounded by and covered in grackles, and they proceeded to cover this car in bird poop.

 

Karma. hehehe.

That is absolutely brilliant. There will be crackers in my car from now on.

[Noah Harbinger]

a) it makes me sad that this is true.

 

b) I've used the tactic of parking juuuuuuuuust bad enough (in boonies) that it doesn't look like I was TRYING to take 2 spaces, but with one corner of the car far enough into the next space so they kind of have to straddle two themselves to park next to you... gives them permission to park that way, if the whole row filled up, everyone wins, everyone has plenty of clearance to not get dinged, I hate those a-holes who drive crappy old cars and secretly like to ding your car- because you represent someone/something to them?

 

Back when I had my cruddy 12-year old car, I'd generally take that as a challenge, and try to back in as close as possible. Backing in you can get far closer far more precisely than going in head first. 

[Generalbeluga]

I have used a local "dent repair" service and it is amazing how good they are at totally removing a dent!  I had two on the hood of my old Honda Fit caused by a falling pine cones in the Sequoia forest.  The guy came out and removed both of them for $80.00.  They usually charge by the panel, (hood is one panel and each side door is another) so if you can wait until the next dent happens, it will cost you the same to get them both removed so long as they are located in the same panel.  If you can't wait, I would have it fixed now and learn from my mistake and park in the boonies at least until the "new car smell" is gone!