I just spent two minutes this morning backing up and pulling forward into a parking space. Just so I could place the car far enough away from the car to the right that he couldn't possibly ding me with his drivers side door, but not so far that I run the risk of getting dinged from the passenger door on the other side.

I have a system worked out: Obviously, end spots are the best and its better to park next to a mini van (with the sliding doors) than a regular car. A four-door car (smaller doors) is better than a coupe. And above all else, avoid SUVs and beater cars like the plague.

Whoever told me these MINIs are easy to park must have been insane. Or maybe I am, hummm....

 

I like to go to a store that all the way out of town. That way I can drive farther, more time in the mini, and there is plunty of parking.

 

Park on the outskirts of the parking lot and get some exercise.

 

hhehehe... man i so know what youre talking about. I do the same here at work in our 5000 car garage. gotta stay away from SUVs because the black guard we have on the bottom will not stop them. I check my car for dings EVERY SINGLE time, when I come back to it.

Whats also funny is I only ever park on the "ends" (concrete posts in my case, becuase they make a nice big gap) and minivans have priority as neighbour cars when parking. Those and expensive new cars.

And I thought I was the only one. lol.

 

yep yep. do that every time at targets, frys, ralphs etc.

 

I tend to park on the street most of the time,or the far end of a lot.I'm one of the first at work and park in the end space,next to a wall.

 

OH yeah accross the Parking lot for me...as far as possible...and funy thing...while most are driving around in circles looking for htat perfect close spot I am already in the door shopping

 

Parking lot and parking spot analysis is an obsession with me I almost never settle for anything but an end space, and park to the protected side of the space giving the largest amount of space to the car parked in the next space...and it seems like 6 out of ten times when I return I find the vehicle in the space next to me has changed and the car now in that spot is either on or over the line into MY space . Once I could not even open my door far enough to to squeeze into my car while there were two open spaces to the other side of the car that blocked me in ..you shouldn't have got me started, like I say I'm obessed and constantly amazed at the idiots that were given a license to drive !

 

hahaha Jimbo that was pretty funny, it happens to me too!!!!! LMAO. I park like you do, as close to protected side leaving nice 4-6 feet between the next car, and when I come back, another clown is over the damn line.

And I dont want to admit this... but... there have been times where I have either not shopped/eaten, not watched a movie.. i.e. turned around and headed for home if there was not a parking spot worthy of my Camel. heh. True story.

 

While you are hyperfocusing on finding the safest spot on the parking lot.......don't go and forget to engage the hand brake!

 

I agree except for the mini van part... mini vans still have front doors that swing open. And, mini vans are usually accompanied by kids - and kids like to fight over who gets shotgun. I see a mini van and think kids running to see who gets the front seat... throwing open the door... oh no...

 

yeah but minivans are longer, so you can park so your nose isnt near the front door.

 

Is everyone forgetting the oh-so-important park uphill of shopping carts rule?

I park as far away and on the highest ground as possible. I joke about it being part of my exercise program, but hey, I am guilty of ALL of these sins... I always do a walk around before I get in the car. I have had it for 23 months and three weeks, and I've lost 15 ponds!

 

I never thought about the kids part. But camel is right about the parking far enough back from the vehicles on either side. Usually you can avoid a potential ding that way.

Someone else mentioned to park at the far end of the lot. I agree with that and I do it all the time, but sometimes parking near someone is unavoidable. When I go to work, I have to park in a lot (pretty much) The lot's usually crowded and I end up parking next to someone. Since most of the people who park there are also workers, I figure I'll park a little closer to the left car's passenger side, than the right car's driver's side, since chances are there is only one occupant in the vehicle.

There's a whole strategy involved with parking now. Never had that with my beater car. It might have been a little bit more difficult to parellel park, but if in that car, if I hit the curb (or even another vehicle ): Eh, who cares? :smile:

 

Oh, the dreaded shopping carts (I like to call them buggies). Let's just say I make the jobs of the shopping cart go-getters at the local Wally World a little easier because I collect all of the buggies within a 50-foot radius of my car.

So far, all of these precautions have served me well. :knocks on wood: No dings other than one self inflicted. I parked the MINI a little too close to the beater, opened the MINI door to rest it against the beater and sure enough a little speck of paint came off...

 

Ack! The dreaded Fry's! I take the ancient '88 Isuzu Trooper to Fry's...not Wanda...no way, baby!

I do everything listed above.....never have with any other car, either!


Clover

 

I'm just glad to hear I'm not the only one. When I park at my apartment's parking lot, I get as perfectly between my neighbors as possible, with just a touch more room given over to the neighbor with a truck. Then I back the car up a bit, so that their front doors on either side can clear my side mirrors, but so my rear end isn't as far out as their's, to protect against someone badly backing up into me. It's not really that much protection, but at least it's something.

When it comes to shopping, the first place I've been shopping after picking up my MINI, was an auto parts store, where I picked up some loving care supplies ($120's worth, ouch!). The place was packed, so I parked on the far end of the lot. I barely realized I was doing it while I was doing it, then I realized what I was doing, and I couldn't help laughing at myself! (Any other of my old cars, and I wouldn't have bothered, even when they were new. )

When I was done shopping, checking out at the register, one of the store managers came over, looked at all the car cleaning stuff I was getting, and said, "So, you must be the one with the new MINI parked all the way out there at the end of the lot, eh?" How embarassing.

Just for interests sake, this is all that I bought, though there are still a few more items I need:

Tire Minder pressure gauge, with LED, with a sure grip rubber body.
Gel Formula Rain Gear rain repellent. (Even though I've already got a spray bottle of Castrol Super Clean AccuVision rain repelling glass treatment.)
Zwipes Microfiber windshield and glass cloth. (I've already got a half-dozen microfiber towels I bought for my kitchen, but one can never have enough microfiber cloths and towels!)
Mothers Plastic Polish. (For the clear plastic gauge covers, etc.)
The Absorber. (Some sort of high tech material, super absorbent, drying cloth/towel. I had one before, that my ex-wife now has, and they're pretty handy.)
A really neat little compact squeegee. (It was so cool, I couldn't help myself, though I'm not sure I'll ever use it. )
Blue Coral glass cleaner. (Cheapest glass cleaner they had.)
Dupont Teflon Wheel Cleaner. ("For a Clean that Really Lasts!" Oh, really? Hmmm...I'm not so sure about that, but I bought it anyway.)
Red Line Water Wetter super coolant. (For the radiator coolant.)
Stoner Tarminator tar, grease & sap remover. (Though I'll always try good old car shampoo and water first.)
Nu Finish car wash. (This one is self-explanatory, right?)
Zymol cleaner wax. (I was excited when I saw this one, because it's so highly recommended by MINI owners! With my MINI only a month or two old from it's factory paint, I'm not sure I can use it. Can I? Can I?)
Eagle One Tire Swipes pack with small bottle of their Wet Tire Shine.
Black Magic shaped foam wax applicator pack. (Though I'm not sure that's the best way to apply wax, even if it is the standard hand way to do it.)
A bucket. (Also self-explanatory, right?)
A handy little 12V car plug-in vac, with it's own cute little bag and attachments. (For $20, I thought it was a steal, and it's perfectly MINI boot sized. )
Trip Tails car pet carrier bag. (For my cat. He's not gonna claw up the upholstery in THIS car! Even if my dealership DID get the color wrong! )
Grip Tech interior/exterior detail brush. (Not sure I'll use this either, but it was cool, mainly for dusting the vents and radio buttons, etc.)
Nylon license plate fasteners. (To cut down on any unnecessary vibration noise/damage.)

And...oh, wow, that's about it! For now. I still need an upholstery brush, and some leather cleaner/treatment (for the MFSW), and a better license plate mount for my rear plate (so it doesn't dent the paint everytime I "slam" the boot closed), and...maybe some non-glare vinyl, rubber, plastic cleaner/treatment of some sort (I hear that ArmorAll is NOT recommended, is that so?).

Anyway, I've started to take this thread a bit off track, but I think that this falls in line with the general subject of how nutty we all can get about taking care of our MINI's appearance. (And I've not even made my first payment yet!) I pray for the safety from door dings, and other dents, on all your cars. Oh, and...uh...MINE too! :smile:

 

My very first car in high school, I parked it in the safest spot. Another student lost control and creamed the side of it.



Now, I park wherever I can. It doesn't matter. If they are gonna hit you, they are gonna hit you. I take care of my cars, but I don't worry about parking at the "far" end of the lot.
I saw a guy with a Z06 park close to the store the other day, but he parked at an angle taking up two spots. I can't believe folks would even do that, plus it's only a corvette.

 

minivan = kids = park far away

I have a "special" parking space at work, far in the back of the garage, in a corner, so the car on the right can swing his door far open and not even be close.. and the car on the left is low risk...

 

I usually try to park at an end spot too, or close to a pole or near a security office. I never park near SUVs or Minivans. I'll be damned if I let some careless soccer mom and her devil spawn near my mini! Just so you know, i used to work at Chuck E Cheeses and now work in the toy department of our local supermarket, so I have a special lisence to say such things

 

Definately use the end spot. I also take one at the right end of a row so the car next to me faces me with its passenger side. There is less chance someone is using that door.

And stay away from the vans! Kids around cars scare me

 

I always try and find a spot away from everyone else's car, way out in the lot where there are lot's of empty stalls. I also look for a place that is not under a tree. I hate cleaning off tree sap!

 

Always remember that two door cars have larger, longer doors! Many times it's better to park next to a four door. Really, check it out.

 

When both front doors are fully opened in the MINI, the car is longer from side to side than it is front to back!

The MINI is a small car with HUGE doors!

 

Maybe, the owner parked close to the door to avoid this..