I'm soooo scared parking my car at the mall, department stores, grocery stores. I try to park far away but someone always parks next to me. One minute I'm the only one there, when I'm done shopping it seems like everybody moves their cars next to mine.


I've had other new cars before, but I think that because I have such "rare" car at the moment (in my area) it draws more attention (good and bad). I could just be paranoid though I guess....don't want to get dings on it before I even have a chance to wash it myself. I just seem to care more about the Lex than my Audi.

 

I'm resigned to my eventual fate; the car can only stay pristine for so long, and every driver you park next to has an equal random chance to be a moron. I just try to park away from cars that have obvious dings/dents and cross my fingers.

 

[QUOTE=hashs99]I'm soooo scared parking my car at the mall, department stores, grocery stores. QUOTE]

And I thought it was just me!

s

 

Even today, I go out to dinner.....the entire parking lot is empty, so I still park kind of far away just in case, as I'm walking up to the restaurant, I turn and look and a old guy driving a boat parks right next to my car. And to make things worse, my heart stops when I see him swing his door all the way open. Luckily I parked right against the curb, just in case that happens.

 

So I'm having the same problem, not use to having park so far away. I now arrive early and stay short so I can get my car away, I'm finding that instead of parking way out where someone will inevitably find you, just find a space that will allow you to isolate your car, usually a corner spot or a spot next to a pole/handicap space/wall, etc. Sometimes you might have to wait awhile for this space but there's nothing like the peace of mind you get when you're inside knowing that you parked well to the left side of space and that no one can park on the left side and the right side line is 6 feet away.

 

glad to know it's not just me - right after getting the car I stepped up and bought (rented) a reserved parking spot in the basement of our building at work for 75 a month - my wife thinks I'm crazy - and she's probably right....

 

1) avoid parking near obvious family cars...nothing against famlies..but kids..especailly young ones tend to fling car doors open and not have any idea they hit another car
2) park near other nice (and clean) cars..shows the owner cares about his/her car and doesn't want to ding theirs up either
3) If you get a ding or two find your local paintless dent repair shop...they do wonders with fixing things like this without paint..basically they remove the ding from the inside out.

I dropped a cooler on the door of my 04 S2000 and could have died..a three inch long crease...Body shops wanted >$1000 to fix...had it fixed for $200 with the paintless methond and I challenge anybody to spot it..

Of course there is no control over who parks next to you after the nice car leaves and POS central arrives.

Remember the only NEW cars are on dealers lots

 

I had the same issue tonight. Went to the mall, parked in the middle of BFE. The whole time I'm shopping, I'm wondering who parked beside me. I need to go ahead and get the first scratch to get over it.

 

Am I the only one who wraps their entire IS in bubblewrap when parking at the mall or grocery store?

Cheers,
Kermee

 

Didn't you get a free (I think it was for 90 days) ding repair coupon with your new car purchase?

 

Dude, it's just a car. It's not like it's even a custom rod, etc. Maybe you should have bought something you don't have to worry about so much.

 

It would probably mess up the look of the car, but I wish Lexus had found a way to integrate some kind of body side molding on the IS.

 

Free coupon?? i didn't even get a big red bow for it.......

 

Yeah, I got one of those dent removal coupons.

 

I hear that! I found a nice corner space once, parked as close to the curb as possible. Sure enough, a Chevy Tahoe parks next to me while I’m still in my car. Out pops a 4-5 year old boy from the passenger door. First he leans on my car. Then, he proceeds to rub his hands (he apparently just ate a donut) on my passenger side door! At this point I’m jumping out of my car and the boy stops. His mother comes out of the Tahoe and just smiles at me as if to say, “Awe, isn’t my boy cute?”. I wanted to say WTF?!?! There’s really no safe place to park.
It may be just a car but, it may be the nicest car some of us will ever own. Even if it was just a Kia, if the owner takes pride in owning it, they’re going to wince at any ding or scratch.