What goes through driver's minds when they just let their door fly open into anothers car damaging the paint and leaving a ding? We all hate these on our cars so why do other drivers have this beliggerant attitude where they don't care about another's car?

Scenario:
I'm sitting in the car wating for the Mrs. to come back. Right in front of me this Ford SUV pulls in and I see the cow of the driver fling the door open into a little Civic. The driver see's me shaking my head at her and she shrugs her shoulders... I don't get the lack of respect people have these days...

 

She drives a FORD. Enough said. If she drove a Lexus or a BMW or a MB, then she'd be more considerate.

 

I beg to differ. My mom's good friend drives nothing but MB cars (SL500, CLS55, ML500 and hubby drives a CL600) and I for one can tell you she can care less if she dings another car. Likewise, if someone does it to her's she, in turn, would shrug her shoulders and it would not bother her one bit. To some people not matter how nice of a car, it is just that, a car. No matter how nice, cheap, lux, econobox, etc, there are always people who do AND dont care. It really has nothing to do with the make of car someone drives. Go tell a muscle car enthusiast that because they drive an American car they have less integrity and are more careless and see what reaction you get.

 

I hate to see this happen, especially when it happens to me (twice ) and that is why I park the furthest away from people I can or in a spot that has curbing on one side so I can minimize the possible damage

 

haha... i do the same. gotta love end spots to avoid those people who could care less! plus, you get a little exercise from walking a little farther. a much needed thing in this country.

 

I do too! I make it a point to get to my school parking lot EARLY, as in before anyone else gets there so that I can park in an end spot with my wheels basically touching the side curb. The spot I park in leaves enough room between the first painted line and my car to fit almost half of another car! But alas, I still get hated on by someone in the most EXTREME way!!!



Shows what good my side door moulding does in preventing door dings I'd rip it off it weren't going to wreck the paint underneath.

 

Here's what I don't understand. Why is flinging your door open into another car and creating a ding, chip, scratch, etc., any different than backing into another car and denting it? I believe it should be treated exactly the same (okay, maybe not exactly the same, but pretty close to the same). Hey, no one is saying that the person did it on purpose, but accidents happen, and that's why careless drivers have insurance.

There was this one time when I saw a person ding someone else's car, and I took down the car make, model and license plate, and left a note for the person whose car got dinged (with my name and cell phone number, so they could call me if they needed a witness). I never heard anything from it, so maybe the person didn't care that much about their car. It's just the principle. If you damage someone else's property, you should pay to fix it. Plain and simple.

e

 

WELL PUT.

I would have done the same thing if I witnessed a door ding occur. for your actions.

 

That's a good thought to leave a note. You figure if a traditional approach is used to fix the damage, it's gonna be ~$250+.

 

Actually, as long as there's no paint chip, I think the paintless dent repair guys charge less than $100. But still, it's the principle -- you break it, you fix it.

 

I fully agree with the park-in-the-last-spot-and-walk solution....and to park with your inner wheels as far as possible from the inner white line. The problem is that those spots are not always available, and even when they are, MANY people ( and I see this day in and day out ) just don't want to park and walk. They are either lazy, or impaitient, or handicapped, or don't want to or are unable to carry heavy packages all the way across the lot.
Also, if storms are going to be in the vicinity, try and park in covered areas...preferably a parking garage. That way your car will be protected from large hailstones, ( small ones usually won't hurt ), falling tree branches, wind-blown debris....and, of course, a lightning strike. But keep in mind that some older concrete garages allow water to drip down and mix with lime and form a caustic solution that drips on your paint. Don't park under any area that is obviously doing this.

Saturn also had a great idea for preventing door dings with the plastic side panels ( though, of course, the paint could still scratch) ...but the Ion and the VUE are their only vehicles left with this feature, and all future Saturns will have conventional metal panels. I will not rehash again here what a mistake I think that is.....we've already done that in other threads.

 

Door dings, door dings, door dings.

At my work, I have direct view of the parking lot where I can see people get in and out of their
cars day after day.

A few things I notice are:

1. People in SUVs are more likely to swing their car doors open with any car than most cars.

2. Fat people have a higher tendency to open car doors wide open because they need the room and they generally don't pay any attention to cars next to them. A fat person in an SUV is very
bad for parked cars.

3. Women are more likely to ding other cars.

4. Your changes of getting dings on the passsenger side of your car is greater than getting them on the driver side.

5. People in clean, shinny cars are generally more courteous. They car about their cars and are
more mindful about other people's cars. People in dirty or beat up cars don't care generally.

6. Smaller cars get beat up by bigger cars.

 

Another problem, one I forgot to mention in my earlier post, is that with the emphasis on cost and weight reduction, a lot of the sheet metal used on today's vehicles is simply not thick enough to resist dings either....and that is also one reason why today's thinner auto glass cracks so easily.

 

You could also add to your list that people with 2 door cars are more likely to cause a ding than those with 4 door cars. The doors on 2 door cars are bigger and swing out further.

 

Good point, e-man. That is correct. I forgot to mention that in my last post.