Today I met the champ of all door dingers.

I

imported_Yosemite Dan

New member
Y'know I almost can understand the typical door dinger. They swing thier door open, and due to the lack of brain cells, they misjudge the distance and "kapow", even though I'm sure they've done it time and time again, ignorance is bliss. Sometimes the kids are the culprits but hey they're kids so you can excuse that.



Today was just classic. I'm at this restaurant where I got a full view of the parking lot. There's an empty spot beside a G35 coupe which the owner obviously kept clean and looked brand new. A BMW 745Li pulls up beside it but with sufficient space to open the door. This middle aged man gets out with no problem by opening the door slowly. This guy has a nice car so you would assume he respects other vehicles.



As I'm about to order dessert he goes to the back door to get something. Only this time he swings the door wide open and powerfully and "kapow" hits the G35 hard enough to make me shudder. This guy doesn't bat an eye just closes the door and goes on his merry way for a relaxing dinner.



It's bad enough when they open the door without thinking and hit your car but this guy is already outside opening his back door and knows how much space he has. I had to leave shortly after but I wish I could of waited outside and told the G35 owner what the bonehead did. I didn't have the heart to see how hard he dinged the car but I'm sure it's quite deep.



When I open my door I'm always aware of my surroundings and always open carefully (although I'm worried more about my car but hey everybody wins that way) Why can't others show the same respect. You might expect this with some guy driving a winter beater but a 745Li owner. :confused:



There's no respect for anything these days I tell ya.
 
Unfortunately, even the high-buck car owners are prone to stupidity. It only reinforces my belief to park my vehicle way out in the parking lot to avoid knuckleheads like that!
 
Saw the same thing happen to a Jag. The other car was nice too, but I can't remember what it was. I was in a restaurant too and saw it out of the window. The car that hit the jag was just coming in to pick up take out, so I wrote down the car model/color and tag #. Stuck it in the jags wiper blade.



VV
 
They forgot to bring their brain along when they go out...One dent they made it on others' cars, they'll get one rear ended.
 
This example should eliminate the belief that parking next to an expensive or another well kept-looking vehicle means less of a chance of getting a door ding. I suppose whenver it's ever feasible, try to park somewhere where absolutely no one else is parked near you but then you're a target for vandalism...agh... you can't win! :mad: :(
 
ntwrkguy1 said:
Unfortunately, even the high-buck car owners are prone to stupidity. It only reinforces my belief to park my vehicle way out in the parking lot to avoid knuckleheads like that!
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Unfortunately that doesn't always work either. It may actually work against you. Some even bigger knucklehead will notice your nice car parked out in the middle of knowhere and park beside you on purpose just to make trouble.



Bill.
 
Geez, and I like to park next Infinitis, Acuras, Audis, Bimmers and Benzes cause I thought it was safer. Parked next to a beautiful Maserati 4200GT. Never thought I'd see one of those in person.
 
When I first read your post, I thought you may have witnessed the person that carelessly dinged my car. Wrong place, and wrong type of G35 (coupe v. sedan), but same problem. Because of an idiot, I'm gonna be $125 lighter by the end of the week for a paintless dent repair.
 
Speaking of PDR, could I wait if I have a couple or do they have be done fairly quckly for some reason? And is their any fix for rear bumpers? I have some slight creases from being hit in a lot as well.
 
Yeah I agree, doesn't matter how expensive the car is. There are people who just don't care. You would think the more pricey the car, the more careful they'd be, but no. I always park as far away as reasonable (my wife is always yelling about this), and i'ts amazing how often some idiot parks next to me. I once came out of a store and found my car with at least 50 sports around me with a car parked so close to me I couldn't open my door all the way to get in. I was so pissed, I actually waited for the owner (car was a junker)to come back. I see a middle aged woman come towards the car and I politely ask her if it's her car, and she says yes. I ask if there is any reason why she parked so close to me with all the other spots around. She just looked at me like I was nuts got in and drove away. Regarding expensive cars. I went to a Mercedes Benz/BMW meet yesterday. Most cars were spotless. My car was (of course :D )spotless. Next to me was a CL 55 AMG, also in perfect shape. I went for a walk and when I was headed back I noticed on the another side of me a black CL 600 (V12). Retail is approx. $120,000 (with my "paltry" E55 AMG in between the two CL's. That's OK, I'm faster than both of them!) I anxiously walked towards the car and couldn't believe my eyes. This thing had about a years worth of crud, bird crap, and everything else you could think of all over the car :eek: The guy even was driving around on a spare tire! So you see cost doesn't matter. I had some quickshine in my trunk and almost started to clean, but this thing needed a LOT more than a QD.
 
Best thing you can do is park about 5-10 spaces out from the "crowd" in a lot.



That way you're not in the mix of idiots, soccer moms, shopping carts and kids, but you're still close enough to not get messed with on purpose.
 
Bill D said:
Wow! PDR is getting up there!:scared I thought the average was $70-$100
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The guy that quoted me the repair price kept saying it was a difficult job because it was on a curve of the door, and there was a possibility it couldn't be taken out because of bracing in the door. Of couse, I wouldn't be charged if he couldn't get to it. I'm getting a second estimate, but I think this may be the going rate for this type of repair.
 
what i like to do with my 350z if it's on a regular day where parking isn't crowded (usually weekends there are more customers at the mall or what not) i look for the spots where the curb is sort of crossed over to the one parking space. i park parallel to it. that way whoever parks the next spot has no possible way of dinging the car.



hard to explain, but maybe if i got time i'll go take a picture. i have never gotten a ticket for it and even some sherrif's i ask says they don't have a problem with it as long as it's not a handicap parking.
 
Only problem is not all lots have spots like that and from what I've seen, different parts of the country have worse parking environments than others :(
 
Whats even worse is the shrinking parking space. Seems like they only make parking spaces for compact cars.
 
jrocc1212 said:
Speaking of PDR, could I wait if I have a couple or do they have be done fairly quckly for some reason? And is their any fix for rear bumpers? I have some slight creases from being hit in a lot as well.
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If it's a sizeable dent, you can probably DIY. A friend of mine backed her Civic into one of those yellow cement poles and made a softball-sized dent in her rear bumper :(. I just removed the bumper and heated the dented area with a blow dryer. After a few minutes of heating I pushed the dent out (from the inside). The curvature of the bumper isn't perfect, but it's much better than before and way cheaper than going to a shop :).

I don't think PDRs can do much with plastic/bumper damage.
 
Actually I screwed up and should of left a note on the guys car but I was in a hurry. The ding was on the drivers side so I'm sure he noticed if he got there 1st and waited for this bonehead to finish dinner. My brother inlaw has a 745Li and those doors are huge and could do some damage.



Can't remember how often I've circled a parking lot at a mall for what seems like hours until I've found a suitable spot where there's a lot of space between cars and usually look for compact cars to park beside with small doors. I've actually gone back home from a place I was going to because the spots were way too tight and I got paranoid. When I get those end spots I feel like I've won the lottery.
 
Yosemite Dan said:
Can't remember how often I've circled a parking lot at a mall for what seems like hours until I've found a suitable spot where there's a lot of space between cars and usually look for compact cars to park beside with small doors. I've actually gone back home from a place I was going to because the spots were way too tight and I got paranoid. When I get those end spots I feel like I've won the lottery.
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LOL! Me too! I've arrived plenty early to places to do just this!

yep, I've gone home and/or moved the car plenty of times when someone else came and parked a litle too close for comfort :D
 
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