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How do you combat door dings?

5K views 33 replies 17 participants last post by  avisitor 
#1 ·
This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine and I take extra precaution when parking to prevent. I always park farther out at the last parking spot by a wall, end area, etc.

Any other good ideas out there that you guys use as preventative measures?
 
#2 ·
No need to park far away from everything, i will just park in spots where I'm in-between two empty spots.
If you do have to park next to two cars,
park in the exact middle of them, regardless of where the lines are.
Don't park next to cars that have evidence of children nearby (vans/SUVs, cars with school stickers, etc.)
Park next to cars that are clean, people who clean their car will care about the appearance of their car and likely yours too. (on that note, avoid parking next to someone where it appears that they never wash their car).

I've owned my car for 4 years and still have zero door dings, the method is working well for me so far. I also am a little lucky, I park in a garage at home, and have a parking garage at work with really wide lanes.
 
#3 ·
Like the previous poster says, I never park next to any car that looks neglected or has kids. I try to park at the end or next to something where a car will not be. I'm pretty lucky, I live in an area where most people seem to respect other peoples property.
 
#4 ·
When I am parking the car I try to choose spots where the car is exposed to other cars from only one side. I also avoid spots where there is another car parked in front (or the rear) of the car to avoid bumper dings. I also try to park the car to one side of the parking spot instead of in the middle of the spot so there is more space on the side of my car which is exposed to the door of the other car. This gives the driver/passenger of the other car more room to open their door without hitting my car. Note that you can only do this if you get a corner or edge spot which I try to get as shown below.

Below is a map of the train station parking lot where I leave the car for the day... If I am early I try to park my car in locations 1 to 4... All in corners. If I am late, I try to park in 5 and 6 spots also in corners where there is no car in front or behind. These preferred spots are also quite a bit away from lamp posts. Lamp posts are usually Sea Gull territory and if you park near those you are almost guaranteed to get bird droppings on your car. :smile:

 
#6 ·
When I am parking the car I try to choose spots where the car is exposed to other cars from only one side. I also avoid spots where there is another car parked in front (or the rear) of the car to avoid bumper dings. I also try to park the car to one side of the parking spot instead of in the middle of the spot so there is more space on the side of my car which is exposed to the door of the other car. This gives the driver/passenger of the other car more room to open their door without hitting my car. Note that you can only do this if you get a corner or edge spot which I try to get as shown below.

Below is a map of the train station parking lot where I leave the car for the day... If I am early I try to park my car in locations 1 to 4... All in corners. If I am late, I try to park in 5 and 6 spots also in corners where there is no car in front or behind. These preferred spots are also quite a bit away from lamp posts. Lamp posts are usually Sea Gull territory and if you park near those you are almost guaranteed to get bird droppings on your car. :smile:


And yet, you still will get some Nimrod who will back in and park so close he won't be able to open the door without dinging your car...:mad:
 
#31 ·
It may not always ring true, but in my thinking, it is more likely to be true than not. I remember what it was like to be a kid. I have also seen what many (but not all) people do to their cars if they are the type of people who never wash them. So if I have the choice of two parking spots, one has clean cars parked on the side and the other has a dirty car parked on the side, I will choose the spot with the cleaner cars.

None of the suggestions I listed on the first page will guarantee I never get a door ding, they are theories that will reduce my chances of acquiring dings.
 
#13 ·
Like you I often park further away from the entrances to shops. Unless the lot is near full there's little competition as people don't want to walk the extra distance with their packages, etc. Also the space allocated for each vehicle is smaller in some lots than others. At one of my local malls the slots are very small and I get as far away from other vehicles as possible. When possible I park at the end of rows so only one side of the car is exposed to another vehicle. Beyond these measures I hope for the best :smile:
 
#14 ·
Where I live there is usually some corner which is less populated with parked cars, or in car parks with a bit of an L shape you can usually park in a place not visible from the entrance and therefore not aimed for my most folks rushing to do their shopping. This requires some time driving round a car park new to you to explore options. These days there does not seem to be an issue with dingy corners of car parks.
 
#17 ·
My pet peeve too. Subconscious herd-mentality to gather near others.
Especially those of higher perceived status.
Kinda like the converse truthism to "stay clear of dirty car".
My friend owns a Porsche 911 in pristine condition.
He said even if he parked 2 rows out of the crowd, someone will park next to him when there are like 50 open spaces.
I always try to find a space where no one can park to my right, e.g. end of aisle.
The idea is most people drive alone so they open the left door, in the U.S.
Once I had to cramp my F150 into tiny space, it was the only one left.
Came out and found someone keyed my door - :frown:
What? I didn't park like this bloke.
 

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#19 ·
Got a mild ding in my Supra, one of my kids ran into it with a trike parked in the garage, so that is not a safe spot either.

Do you feel your vehicle will be safe if you left it in your dealers showroom? Certainly the best place to leave it to avoid road salt damage.

Was telling my son, this spring, have to tear my snowthrower apart to paint it, dang road salt is rusting it out, still runs great.
 
#20 ·
I am more concerned about dinging someone else's door since the Elantra doors swing wide compared to other cars I have driven.

My last car was a Saturn and no dings on my doors in 274,000 miles. My door ding radar has been down for years.
 
#21 ·
I've always been paranoid when it comes to dings. I look for open spaces for sure in parking lots, but I'm also very cognisant of where the shopping carts are and the slope of the pavement (for runaway carts). I had a new car years ago that got a huge couple of dings when it was only a couple of months old after I parked at a BART parking lot. I was so pissed for days, then a friend recommended Dent Pro to me which is one of the those dent repair services that comes to you. He was out there for maybe 45 minutes before he came to get me to show the repair. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the dent was. He even showed me where the dent was and I still couldn't see the repair. Evidently car dealers use these repair services all the time.
 
#24 ·
To answer you question I have to tell you the story of how I saw one man fix the problem:

I was about 12 years old when this happened.

I sat in my parents car in Ford hospital parking lot in Detroit while my parents went in for a doctors appointment.

A Catholic priest pulled up in a 4 door american car and parked in the parking spot next to my parents car.
He closed the drivers door and walked to the trunk of his car.

He pulled out what looked like 2 short garden hoses at first.

These hoses were approximately 1 inch in diameter, and had a heavy wire running thru the ID of the hose, and had a "C" shaped hook attached on each end.
The priest hooked one end of the 1st hose device to the LF wheel lip molding and the other end to the LR wheel lip molding.
He did the same thing with the 2nd hose device, connected one end to the RF wheel lip molding and the other end to the RR wheel lip molding.

He then closed the trunk, locked the car and went into the hospital.

I thought it was a clever use of ingenuity to solve a door ding problem.
It was a little time consuming to say the least, but effective in implementation.
 
#27 ·
When I park my car, I try to park in the middle of the two cars
And, I also try not to swing the door wide open
Always caution

However, not everyone does that .. to be careful.
I have so many dings. I give up.
I don't want to own a new car again.

Once parked at the supermarket, the person in the next spot put his bumper into my door while backing out
How do people like that ever get their drivers license?????
 
#29 ·
I got a big ding one day in my Saturn, but not my door. Parked in a Target parking lot 3 cars away from any car. When I came out of Target someone had busted my passenger side fender. The good thing is I went to Pick-N-Pull and got a the same color fender for $70 and installed it myself. No painting. Perfect match. The idea of the space frame with all those polymer pieces attached had it's advantages.

Now I cringe when I have passengers at work that are somewhat childlike. Really need to keep an eye on them when opening the doors. I estimate a modern day ding a $500 repair. There are advantages to having a beater car.
 
#30 ·
Thousand bucks on our Cruze, just the right front fender. bodyshop had to break off piece of plastic first to remove it. These had to be replaced with new parts. Talked about straightening it out, objected, crushed sheet metal is never the same, and a new one only cost $97.00, but only comes primed from the factory, has to be undercoated and final finish at the body shop.

Bodyshop had to invest heavily in a brand new water based paintbooth and a lot more hand work as opposed to solvent based paints. Use to do a lot of my own bodywork, solvent paints were easy, getting too old to learn and use water based paints, plus the equipment needed is quite expensive.

I think they call the progress. Was a major chore to keep that Cruze clean, spraying a full five buck bottle of bug and tar remover was only a start, hours with a claybar got the rest of it off. Not sure what my Limited is using for paint, water hose gets most of the tar and bugs off, quick rub with a soft clothe gets the rest of it off. What ever it is, I love it, so does my son, don't need his help anymore.
 
#34 ·
Guy came into the store yesterday
He wanted to return some calipers he bought a couple of days ago
When I asked him if there was anything wrong with the calipers,
He said that he didn't need them any more
Some guy in the middle of the night .. going 60 mph on a 25 mph
Jumped the curb and hit both his cars in his drive way
Both cars are totaled.

Yeah, I worry about dings in my door
But, you never know when an idiot, next to you, is just going to smack into your car
I see new dings on my car everyday .. especially when I come back from the supermarket.
 
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