I am so tired of people hitting the car at wife's work. She cannot park away from other cars, there is not enough room. I need to find some kind of protection to put on the side of the car to stop it from happening. I'm looking for something we can take on and off because i don't want to change the looks. Any ideas? :evil:

 

A friend and I discussed this at length and sadly were unable to come up with anything practical. Maybe someone else can. The temporary aspect is the problem. Anything that's temporary, like magnetic strips can be removed by some lowlife who likes your idea, but doesn't want to spend the money on their own.

 

I saw this in mini2 see what you think

http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page54.html

 

I kinda like the one you showed csasso, but it's hard to see from the pic how well it'll protect. I've started brainstorming and the idea of one of the swimming noodles came to mind. You know the foam tubes that people use in their pool to wade on. I was thinking of slicing it in half, then gluing a magnetic strip to it. And as far as thieves moorlockx, I was thinking of some kind of strap to stretch from it to the door window. May look tacky when it's on it. But I believe it'll work. Are the looks of the car sitting in a crwded parking lot worth a dent or two a year? I think so, wife says "It'll look stupid". What do you think? Maybe I could make up a bunch and sell them here.

 

The only way to really save it from tight spots is to drape a rubber or
heavy fabric matt over the doors...or change the company you work
for. :smile:

 

I think your on to something. You coud use a noodle and hang it from the window I am afraid the magnets will scratch the paint. You could also hang those foam tiles the kids use for floor mats it would cover more of the door and if you got a color close to your mini it would blend in more.

Let us know how it works this might be a new business for you.

 

I saw something a couple of years ago that would definetly protect you from dings. Someone at work had a nice custom painted PT Cruiser. When they parked it in the garage they pulled out a curtain rod that had large rubber coated magnets attached on either end. The rod was painted to match the PT so it blended in fairly well. The rod was the expanding kind that has a 90 degree bend on each end. It was not super strong, but would absorb the impact of a door.

Something else that may work is to take a pool noodle and glue on a couple of magnets (or suction cups). You can paint it to match with some modeling paint. It would do a very good job protecting the paint and you won't loose out on much $$ if someone were to run off with it.


Duh! I just read the other posts! It's scary that we think alike!

 

Your door protection is fine...........BUT.....ever see where that SUV door would come into contact with your MINI? I had an Excursion "docked" next to me and their door looked like it would contact my ROOF! Each car that parks next to you will have different door contours that have protruding edges at various spots. You will not be able to guess who will park near you or where their door would meet your MINI to leave a ding. You also do not know if the car next to you will park head on or attempt some feeble try at backing into the spot. These are the worst..as the jerks never park straight, get out, and leave you trapped!! The best solution was the rubber curtain. However, people are such flamers that they may try to ding your door just because you care so much about your car. I go through this with all our vehicles. I park in spaces that are usually on an end, where I can hug the curb. But it never fails....some a(*&(* always manages to park next to me. My wife was wondering if I had a sign on MINI that said "Park here and take your best shot at my doors!"

 

How about this?

http://www.promini.com/products/doorguards.shtml

Scott

 

park in no-mans land

 

What a challenge! Teampajn, nothing will do the trick
except for finding a safer place to park. Consider:
- Getting permission to park in a spot that's not really
a parking spot.
- Parking in a different lot and walking.
- Coming to work earlier than everyone else, getting an
end spot and parking as far to that side as possible.
And finally:
- Wife drives something else to work.

God speed.

 

>>Your door protection is fine...........BUT.....ever see where that SUV door would come into contact with your MINI? I had an Excursion "docked" next to me and their door looked like it would contact my ROOF! Each car that parks next to you will have different door contours that have protruding edges at various spots. You will not be able to guess who will park near you or where their door would meet your MINI to leave a ding. You also do not know if the car next to you will park head on or attempt some feeble try at backing into the spot. These are the worst..as the jerks never park straight, get out, and leave you trapped!! The best solution was the rubber curtain. However, people are such flamers that they may try to ding your door just because you care so much about your car. I go through this with all our vehicles. I park in spaces that are usually on an end, where I can hug the curb. But it never fails....some a(*&(* always manages to park next to me. My wife was wondering if I had a sign on MINI that said "Park here and take your best shot at my doors!"
>>

Just another example of why SUVs don't belong on the road and, by extension, in parking lots.

 

I have a friend who owns a Miata & she REALLY does use the swimming pool noodles She uses them just like on a boat!!!

Lois

 

Parking in no man's land doesn't work either! When I first got my S2000 I parked it at Walmart as far away from humans as possible. The only cars by me were the ones driving down the highway behind me. I was literally 200 yards away from anything. I was safe. DOH! When I came out of the store a cart had rolled ALL of the way down (some 200 yards or more) the hill and hit my front bumper! After that I gave up on trying to avoid dings. Funny thing is that I didn't get a single door ding on my Boxster (2 years). I got keyed but that's another story.

 

I second those door guards from promini. Not sure if they cover enuff top to bottom though...

 

force field

 

>>>>Your door protection is fine...........BUT.....ever see where that SUV door would come into contact with your MINI? I had an Excursion "docked" next to me and their door looked like it would contact my ROOF! Each car that parks next to you will have different door contours that have protruding edges at various spots. You will not be able to guess who will park near you or where their door would meet your MINI to leave a ding. You also do not know if the car next to you will park head on or attempt some feeble try at backing into the spot. These are the worst..as the jerks never park straight, get out, and leave you trapped!! The best solution was the rubber curtain. However, people are such flamers that they may try to ding your door just because you care so much about your car. I go through this with all our vehicles. I park in spaces that are usually on an end, where I can hug the curb. But it never fails....some a(*&(* always manages to park next to me. My wife was wondering if I had a sign on MINI that said "Park here and take your best shot at my doors!" :evil: Sorry for venting.

 

Most people pull into spaces, so I find an end spot that has open spots on the left so the driver exists away from my car. Just in case someone backs in, I also try to get as far over in the spot as possible. So far no dings after one year. :smile:

 

Honestly, I have had my Mini "S" for 2 years now. No door dings, no scratches, nothing! Do I park away from the crowd? NO! Superficially, performance doesn't matter how the car looks, but we all like an imaculate Mini!

 

Put on a car cover.

retroom

 

Tweak this for a motion/door ding detector

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812...e.thrower.car/

I remember I had my last new car for 2 days, and some guy engaged me in conversation. His daughter got out of his car, next to mine and "wham!" big honkin' ding in my car. He just shrugged, and said "oh well", and drove off. Is it worth the hassle of insurance, etc? Not for that one, but for my MINI, probably.

 

Personally, I always park as far as possible, which you did say you can't do. However, should anyone park even REMOTELY close, I just kick the crap out of their door with my boot. Yes, not very friendly or neighborly, but this is MINI we are talking about. Eventually, your wife will get the reputation of someone not to be parked next to. (Especially if she leaves a note saying "not that it was me, but, as I was leaving to get in my car I saw this guy screaming about how protective he is of small cars and he appeared to be taking his rage out on your door. Probably shouldn't park so close to me next time.)

Just my .02c

:smile:

David

 

Pssst it's only February 2004

I work under the premise that each vehicle has only one person in it, so if I can park on the passenger side of that vehicle I will. I also will walk a long way to be in the deserted part of the lot.

I also don't pull in all the way, I line up my front wheel spats with the other car's door edge. That way if they are A-holes, regardless of type car driven, they hit the plastic and not the body work.

I think Boat Bumpers would also work

 

>>DUCTTAPE wrote: .....However, should anyone park even REMOTELY close, I just kick the crap out of their door with my boot. Yes, not very friendly or neighborly, but this is MINI we are talking about. ......
>>
>>Just my .02c
>>
>>
>>
>>David

Hey David,

Ever think that this might be why people ding other cars. I hope you really don't go around kicking other people's cars. You never know if the owner might be watching and you wouldn't want to mess with the likes of me if I saw you doing that to one of my cars.

Just my .02c

 

I have parked my car out in no mans land before and there have been cars that I'll park next to out there. The only reason i do is if they are taking the time to park that far away they have the same reason for being out that far, so they are going to be as curteous to keep thier doors off your car too. So you'd be better off parking next to someone that feels the same way about their baby. I'm still on the lookout for something to use, but am really considering the pool noodle because of the thickness, and not cutting it in half now. I think keeping it whole and placing it near the top will give it that protection from trucks too. When I figure something out I'll test it and let everyone know.