perfect parking spot

[jphanna]

guys, like you i am a motoring enthusiast. i may not have a cobra, mustang, FPV or anything special, but i love my machines, and do everything i can to preserve them.

that includes parking ridiculaous distances away from busy carparks to avoid kids opening doors on my car etc.

last sunday we drove to Lobethal in SA to do slot car racing. wide street, plenty of parking, sunday in adelaide country towns so its all 'snoozy.......'

regardless of that, i parked in the 'perfect spot'. After 75 minutes of fun we left and as i approaced the front of my car, i noticed a plastic object in front of my car.....it was my mirror. get up a bit closer, and the whole side is crunched in from the rear light, to the front guard.....

i didnt take pictures because this car was 2 months old, and i didnt want to remember the image. My insurer (CGU) just called me to approve the repairs. my crash repairer told me its $6,100.00!!

the' perfect' car parking spot.....hope none of you have to endure the experience i just had.

[GULL]

People are ******

[Lotte]

I park ridiculously far away for the same reason.

Glad to gear your insurers approved the repairs, I'm with cgu as well, good to know they aren't twats about that stuff.

[xisled]

It seems the more you worry where you park the more chance you have of being hit.

People see these cars as targets, especially when parked at the back of the car park by its self.

I park the GT where ever and never had a problem. My thinking is, if it blends into every other car, it is less likely to get damaged.

[OzJavelin]

Always seems to near new cars that get this to ... couldn't have been a 20yo Camry could it???

My SV8 was a couple of months old when my wife returned to it (parked way, way away in the far corner of a shopping centre) with the rear qtr stoved in :(

[dannyxm]

I work as a Solicitor. A Solicitor mate of mine represent a bloke who did a hit and run, some random got his plate number and called the cops.

Whilst watching it in court, the Magistrate tore him a new one.

Rightly so....

I had a Nissan Pulsar as a company car a while ago. Without a word of a lie, by the time i gave the car back, each and every panel had a dent / scratch on the bloody thing.

[GQ_Smooth]

Each to their own, I've stopped trying to find the perfect part away from everyone, if your parked far from everyone and someone dents your car, there is less chance of peer pressure and witnesses trying putting a note on your car owning up to the accident. No guarantees they will leave a note even if you park near the front door.

When it's your cars time, it's your cars time!

[ford71V8]

I still carefully consider where I park my cars but I used to be the guy that would use up 2 spaces to allow for the neighbouring cars to open their doors without drama.

Now I see that is an invitation for trouble. I know there are certain types out there that would purposely vandalise a car parked like that because its obvious the owner is doing what he can to mimimise potential damage.
I can almost hear the "Look at this ******, takes up 2 spots and I can still run my key all the way down the side, in fact its easier with the extra space!"

People suck

[GT450]

You are not alone, same thing happened to me recently. My wife took my new Mazda 2 so I could use her car to take my granddaughter out. Parked it where she tought it would be safe, came back to find the drivers side marked from front to rear.
No I wasn't a happy camper , no notes no witnesses . One excess later and it's fine. Glad it wasn't the GT but there are scumbags among us , I just hope Karma prevails but yhey probably drive some sh**box anyway.
GT450

[Mr G8]

I park in spots where no one has parked in ages or at all.... yet when I come back out to go home, I find big SUVs or ****box cars parked around me. Even had a drunk bloke, out all the car spaces in the wrold park next to me, then proceeded to slam his door into the side of my Fairlane. Yet he claimed he loved cars and hated people doing that to...?

Sent from my Galaxy Note II on Tapatalk 4 Beta

[GULL]

Bad luck

[93EB_SXR6]

Same thing happened to my sister when she parked in Murray Bridge SA.
No note, nothing just a big scraping dent spanning across half of her car.

[Mr G8]

Originally Posted by 93EB_SXR6

Same thing happened to my sister when she parked in Murray Bridge SA.
No note, nothing just a big scraping dent spanning across half of her car.

Just like with my partners VZ, no marks on it at all.... the dsy after I purchased it for her got hit twice on the same day one would've been a 4x4 judging by the hught if the paint and scrapes, the other by an old person because it was done at a RSL on bingo night

Sent from my Galaxy Note II on Tapatalk 4 Beta

[munners]

I try to park with a pole on one side and a Merc/BMW etc on the other. Doesn't always work but better than parking next to a crapped out VN with steelies!

Munners

[mik]

All you can do is your best to look after your pride and joy, i almost never park in general population to avoid scum bags damaging my pride and joy(sometimes no way around it),
it never fails if i park a hundred or more yards well away to a spot on my own,...................... when i come back there more often than not will be a beat up heap of **** parked in close proximity next to me :(.

[FALCONXTV8]

Had a similiar thing happen to my wifes car about 2 months ago. She parked on the street in Penrith so that she didnt have to risk parking in a cramped car park known for door dings and minor accidents.

Anyway, she comes back barely 10 mins later to the front of her 6 month old car damaged to the tune of nearly 5k!

Turns old a woman got her pedals mixed up and reversed into it at a rather high speed. The car is still at the smash repairers getting straightened out :(

[EA2BA]

Originally Posted by munners

I try to park with a pole on one side and a Merc/BMW etc on the other. Doesn't always work but better than parking next to a crapped out VN with steelies!

Munners

The Merc/BMW is more likely to open the doors onto your car they seem to care less, then the crapped out VN that be owned by someone planning to do it up.

[EA2BA]

Originally Posted by mik

All you can do is your best to look after your pride and joy, i almost never park in general population to avoid scum bags damaging my pride and joy(sometimes no way around it),
it never fails if i park a hundred or more yards well away to a spot on my own,...................... when i come back there more often than not will be a beat up heap of **** parked in close proximity next to me :(.

Well of course, which would you steal if you had a choice. they are protecting their car as well in a way.

[deesun]

Possible learnatic drove up to reverse park around your car and misjudged? Pretty p*$$ poor if the licensed driver didnt leave details. But they rarely do. I park in a parking station every workday and try very hard to get the spot beside the pillar. I run my eye over the drivers side every night when I come out of work. So far so good but I know the odds are getting shorter.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by EA2BA

The Merc/BMW is more likely to open the doors onto your car they seem to care less, then the crapped out VN that be owned by someone planning to do it up.

LOL, good point. The Merc/BMW is probably not even paid for and will be replaced at the end of the lease for another that they will never own. And so it goes on and on...

[jphanna]

thanks guys for your support and sharng your own horror stories. i did ask the deli/cafe owners across the road from my damaged car if they heard or saw anything, as i told them i went to the slot car centre accross the road, when it was hit.

thier response was 'no....but why didnt you park in the HUGE REAR CAR PARK that they have? it was a side entrance and i didnt know about it!!!!

there are people out there with bigger problems.....so i wait for the car to come back and then move on.

[lilmattie]

Car thieves/car vandals should be treated in the same way they used to treat horse thieves in the early 1800's.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by lilmattie

Car thieves/car vandals should be treated in the same way they used to treat horse thieves in the early 1800's.

Ship them out to australia?

[Dauphin]

I try to park a bit away from the cluster of closer sports for the same reason. Even abandoned shopping trolleys don't care about cars much once they get some wind against them on a slight incline.

We were parked in an RSL-type car park once when I was into playing bingo, waiting for the game to start. An SUV parked next to me and both the doors of the female driver and the kids in the back slammed into my car, and I had parked very well. The woman apologised, the kids had no idea, and luckily there was no lasting damage. Sheesh!

[Itsme]

Probably a learner did the damage, have seen this quite a few times & the instructors are no better than the learner.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Parking......

Well, as what a heap of you have said you try your best to park away from the rest of the crowd. When I had the Festiva, it lasted 10 years parked on the street and 200,000km with only 2 or 3 'car park' dings. I was overly cautious and always tried my best to park it where it would sustain the least damage... Then I met a young lady who now shares my last name with her 7 year old Mirage that had about 40 scrapes, dents and God knows what else from not really taking care of how it was parked...

Anyway, her Focus has lasted very well after 2 years.

Some of you may like these pics then.... Went shopping and parked in the most distant spot possible, with the closest car being 15 metres away...

Come back and found this:



Oh, and an indication of how it was parked prior to the Mazda deciding to keep the Focus company:



At least the other Mazda decided to leave a few spots....



Yesterdays effort ;)

[pertuan]

I dont' look for the spots far away. I just park normally but I try to park next to base model BMW/Merc/FPV/HSVs. My thinking is that they're the ones most likely to be looked after and hence not open their doors blindly.

[creative]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Parking......

Well, as what a heap of you have said you try your best to park away from the rest of the crowd. When I had the Festiva, it lasted 10 years parked on the street and 200,000km with only 2 or 3 'car park' dings. I was overly cautious and always tried my best to park it where it would sustain the least damage... Then I met a young lady who now shares my last name with her 7 year old Mirage that had about 40 scrapes, dents and God knows what else from not really taking care of how it was parked...

Anyway, her Focus has lasted very well after 2 years.

Some of you may like these pics then.... Went shopping and parked in the most distant spot possible, with the closest car being 15 metres away...

Come back and found this:

image

Oh, and an indication of how it was parked prior to the Mazda deciding to keep the Focus company:

image

At least the other Mazda decided to leave a few spots....

image

Yesterdays effort ;)

image

westfield tuggerah?


personally, ive given up with trying to stop marks on the car. I park where I want and, touch wood, nothing has happened

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by ford71V8

I still carefully consider where I park my cars but I used to be the guy that would use up 2 spaces to allow for the neighbouring cars to open their doors without drama.

Now I see that is an invitation for trouble. I know there are certain types out there that would purposely vandalise a car parked like that because its obvious the owner is doing what he can to mimimise potential damage.
I can almost hear the "Look at this ******, takes up 2 spots and I can still run my key all the way down the side, in fact its easier with the extra space!"

People suck

Probably more like "This guys an idiot, taking up two spots when he only needs one! And now he's stopping other people from getting a car park."

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by creative

westfield tuggerah?

Yeah.... the in laws live at the central coast.