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Says it all

 

That car will get keyed, and probably a rude word scratched into the paint.

 

Door dings are your enemy, that's true, but recently my parking regimen has changed because of four additional nemeses.....birds, debris from trees including sap, sprinklers, and ninja weedwackers.

I now park out in the open each day at my park-and-ride, far away from planting beds (sprinklers), landscaped areas (requiring maintenance), trees (sap), and bird hangouts. This has driven me, unfortunately, to park among other vehicles. Not to worry, though...I park between people I know and next to known driver-only vehicles, so I know which door to park away from. This strategy has worked beautifully, and it's now something of a strategic game I play each morning.

At other places I frequent (like Estella's) I have four or five "ding-proof" parking spots which also have relatively low "airborne debris" factors. Each spot, however, has own unique set of rules for safe parking. My approach to the restaurant down Arkansas Road affords me a quick overview of all my chosen spots so I can make a quick selection. It's not beneath me, however, to sit and wait for one of "my" spots to clear out, although usually several are readily available.

I take this stuff pretty seriously and spend an inordinate amount of thought on the very best places to park my MINI. Vigilance, people!!!

 

I have found that parking in public turns cars into magnets. For some reason ppl cant park by using the lines (maybe the hearding instinct we have built in?) I always park far with no one in sight at the mall/store and when i come back there's ALWAYS someone parked right beside me. hrrmms... humans, i don't understand them.

The only benefit of parking far is that the family filled minivans always hunt for the close spots. At least that risk is eliminated. So far I have no parking lot dings.

phil.

 

I usually posture that 10% of my milage is spent, searching for the most protected parking spot! This calculation may not be entirely in jest-- glad to observe that I'm not (perhaps), the only one! I've never regarded with any worth, others/passengers comments or suggestions-- I simply will not park between other cars, for any reason. As mentioned in another post here, I will never park on the downside of an incline (shopping carts can't roll uphill, generally), and typically, have a few minutes walk to any store, (regardless of the Northeast weather here), owing to my determination to have a sheltered spot. It has paid off, though-- I simply can't stand parking lot divets-- and have gone free for more than 5 years with 2 MINIs.

 

i got too lazy and just got a beater.

 

That strategy has always worked for me. The car drivers who are most likely to ding your car are interested in parking close to where they want to go.... The drivers who are willing to walk a bit are ones who share the desire to protect their car.

 

It is definitely an invitation to key the car....

 

Something we discovered real quick,was don't drive all the way into a parking spot.At first,we were crashing the front of the car on the cement stoppers.Then we learned if you pull all the way in,someone thinks it's an open spot and usually come close to hitting us.But why do SUVs park next to us?!

 

Because us SUV owners love to hunt down those itty bitty MINIs trying to hide and park next to them to see how small they look next to us

 

to irritate you...

 

Because they think they OWN the highways and byways. Much like big rigs.

 

Parking? Who parks

Mini's are for Driving... Not parking...

 

I dont even have my MINI yet, but always think about where I am parking as if I was parking the MINI... crazy I know..

I just know that this guy is going to start parking next to me everywhere I go... as if the truck isnt bad enough, talk about an SUV, it gets its own class XUV (as in Xtreme) Ford F-650.

 

Does anyone else have trouble lining up when backing into a spot? For some reason I can't hit it right...that feature on X5's/X3's where the side mirrors turn down is really brilliant..........until I figure out a trick, its in and out, in and out.........

 

Troubled by SUV's parking next to you?

Amazing what a valve stem removing tool can accomplish!

 

Here are my stategies when parking :

1 - park at the far end of the parking lot.
2 - park on a corner, and the closest possible to the curb.
3 - Never park in a street... Too many people bumps other cars when they park in parallel.

I've had my car for 3½ years and not a single door ding, bumper scratch, ...

 

Actually what we all need, is a motion detection activated particle beam.

 

I'd be happy to park next to these. Their doors open over our cars!!

I got scrood the other day at the supermarket. Parked way out like always but when I came out it was raining buckets. Long wet brisk walk with the cart.

 

To be honest, I'm not totally particular where I park. I try not to park next to a beater or a truck/van/SUV, and I actually like parking to the left of the cart corral.

Ding-free for almost 3 years (knock on wood).

 

In some cases you don't have much choice. Every single space in the lot for the subway station nearest my house is full by 9AM. So no matter what, someone will be parking next to me.

Commuters are the worst parkers of all because they're generally in such a huge hurry. The best strategy in those circumstances is to try to park in between someone who has "fashion parked" by backing into their space and a regular, pull-in parker. If you play it right you can often get set up so that you're between the passenger sides of the cars on either side of you. That doesn't entirely prevent dings, but your chances are better since most people don't have passengers.

 

After many years of attempting to be door ding free, I've personally come to the realization that what happens happens and life is way too short to worry about door dings. You park where you park and if you get a door ding life goes on. For the nearly three years that I've had my MINI I parked wisely and I'm yet to have a door ding. But as this world is full of kids kicking open car doors, shopping carts attracted to nice cars and people with no respect for other people's belongings, door dings will happen. Will I be upset? Yeah, probably but like I said, life goes on. If you do get door dings just think of them as adding a story to your MINI!

 

Do you speak from experience? I hope not.

 

Will a cub scout knife work?

 

Well, you know what they say about the size of a guy's car....I still think SUV'S have mini envy.