Re: Where to park (WAS: Dings in the door...)

["Christoper Hartwell@bbn.com" <chartwel@bbn.com>]

Jesus man, you have a lot of time to write or else you can type quicker
than my VR6. So in a nut shell, take responsibility and apply your best
judgement when parking. Or you can be like me and never park the frigin'
thing. But as you've seen in my previous postings, miles suck! She's
resting now, in a nice safe driveway (I hope). Uh oh hindsight, I left my
Saab parked in the same place when I was driving the VW, and no scratches,
rather a nice phat dent in the drivers door. Piss me OFF. Oh well Life goes
on....Hopefully the VW will be safe. Those damn kids!

I wonder if instead of substituting a limb of sorts, we could claim a
"mental handicap"....Hrmmmmm......


At 12:49 PM 10/05/1998 -0800, you wrote:
>
>I have minimized the amount of dings I have been getting (got three in the
>first six months, and none for the past year) of owning my car, and
>attribute this lower incident rate for dings to the following reasons:
>
>1. If possible, always park as far away as possible from the "popular"
>parking spaces, and park in a spot where there is no one else parked next
>to you.
>
>(This is similar to going into a bathroom and picking the urinal where
>there is no guy right next to you, for similar reasons ;)
>
>Walking an extra dozen yards is a) good for you b) is sometimes faster than
>driving for five minutes just to find the closest spot
>
>2. If possible, park where there are no cars, no shopping carts or other
>possibly mobile things around your car. While you can't guarantee another
>car won't park next to you, your chances are better than parking next to
>one or (worse) two or three cars around you (people might ding you from the
>front too).
>
>3. Never park in "compact" parking spots.
>
>4. Never park in a spot that is adjacent to a beater (rusted out Pinto) an
>older car with a GATE for a door (82 GTO), and avoid cars that might be
>difficult to get out of with a partially opened door (4WD cars and certain
>sportscars).
>
>5. If you have to park next to a car, park to the right of a van or certain
>sportscars. Generally speaking, minivans and sportscars only have one door
>on the right side of the car. Minivan sliding doors are your paint job's
>best friend.
>
>6. Park next to a nice car who will want to avoid dings in his own car.
>Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo, Lexus, or fellow VWers, etc. are good choices, as
>are most new/expensive cars.
>
>7. Park right next to an island. You know for sure at least that 1/2 of
>your car is protected by parking next to an island. Also park as close as
>possible to the curb of the island to give the other driver more swing in
>his door, possibly even parking so close to the curb that the guy couldn't
>hit your door if he tried.
>
>8. Avoid parking next to "family" cars. Cars with baby seats in them are a
>great car NOT to park next to, because generally parents need to open the
>door 100% to easily fit the stroller, the baby bag, the baby itself, and
>mommy in the front seat, etc. Also, avoid family cars and station wagons,
>as spoiled little brats may be the primary way to describe the children in
>these families, and the rugrats might open the door swiftly into your paint
>job by accident or carelessness, and mommy and daddy might not even know
>their rugrat did this, not to mention a note asking if they can pay for the
>damage.
>
>9. Park next to bikes if available. Harley drivers especially are quite
>careful about their bikes, and want to keep them pristine. They'll
>generally give you the same courtesy.
>
>10. If you haven't already, get a clearcoat from the dealer, ASAP. Mine
>cost $150, if I remember correctly, and is the best preventative
>maintenance. Especially metallic paints, which scratch easily.
>
>11. Take your SO/roommate/friend's car to the mall instead. :)
>
>12. Cut off an arm or a leg, and apply for a handicap sticker. This is sort
>of extreme, but if you value your paint job more than a body part, you
>can't beat the spaciousness of a handicapped parking spot.
>
>Every situation is different use your judgement to save your paint, and try
>to stay observant to your environment to pick the safest location for your
>car.
>
>-Khan
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Khan Klatt <kklatt@nw.verio.net>                             Verio Northwest
>Network Engineer                                    Bellingham Branch Office
>Tel 800.591.2757 x 13                                    725 N. State Street
>Fax 360.738.8315                                        Bellingham, WA 98225
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>