"Preventative Parking" tips

[vernal]

I noticed a thread regarding the phenomena of people parking next to you regardless of how far away you park. It got a little heated over there, and the thread was closed. However, me and my sister have both noticed this phenomena over the years, and she has a few rules/guidelines on "preventative parking." No offense intended by any of these, they are simply pragmatic rules of thumb e.g. People with kids are more likely to have the doors swing accidentally while they're messing with whatever. I can't remember all of them, she's the master at it, but the ones I remember are:

Park with an island on one side of you, so only one side of your baby is exposed.

Never park next to the opening-side of a minivan with those slide-open doors.

At the risk of showing our ages, "Baby on Board" signs are a big no-no.



I may be slow, but the island one never occurred to me. Anyone have any others?

[The_Blur]

Try to park on one side of a really nice car. That car will probably show some respect in the parking lot if you do the same, and it will be less likely to damage your car.

[TJ91]

i always park right next to the curb of an island. Park next to similar class or higher class cars. If its a bad lot, will use another car. Stay in the car if its bad and its my last option. Nevr park in two spots or on an angle. Park as far back in the lane as possible so other cars backing up dont hit and run. Thats about it, the rest is just luck really.

[Camaro_Corvette]

+1 on the island thing. I usually jam my car as close to that island as possible, that way there is extra room on the otherside. Making it almost impossible for anybody to door ding my car. Sometimes I can get about two or more feet between my passenger door, and the line. which makes about 3 to four feet between me and the vehicle beside me. It hasn't failed me yet, and I don't expect it to. Islands for the win

[Lauryn200]

Park next to someone who's car is super nice/waxed and sitting by itself.

I try to park my GTI in the far corner,one car can only park on one side of me.
I've been lucky,only cars I've found parked next to mine were...Challenger,Infiniti Coupe 2x and a Genesis Coupe.

Or have these handy reminders in your glove compartment

[TJ91]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Corvette

+1 on the island thing. I usually jam my car as close to that island as possible, that way there is extra room on the otherside. Making it almost impossible for anybody to door ding my car. Sometimes I can get about two or more feet between my passenger door, and the line. which makes about 3 to four feet between me and the vehicle beside me. It hasn't failed me yet, and I don't expect it to. Islands for the win

+1

[TJ91]

Originally Posted by Lauryn200

Park next to someone who's car is super nice/waxed and sitting by itself.

I try to park my GTI in the far corner,one car can only park on one side of me.
I've been lucky,only cars I've found parked next to mine were...Challenger,Infiniti Coupe 2x and a Genesis Coupe.

Or have these handy reminders in your glove compartment
Attachment 80208

yeap, always find nice cars next to me for the most part.
lol imagine putting that on someones windshield haha

[vernal]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Try to park on one side of a really nice car. That car will probably show some respect in the parking lot if you do the same, and it will be less likely to damage your car.

She mentioned this, and surprisingly said that it works less than would be expected. She noticed that some with nice cars evidently can afford to fix them/trade them in after a year/whatever, and a generalization was not possible. I think her list likes BMWs, but doesn't like Mercedes sedans, for instance.

[TJ91]

Originally Posted by vernal

She mentioned this, and surprisingly said that it works less than would be expected. She noticed that some with nice cars evidently can afford to fix them/trade them in after a year/whatever, and a generalization was not possible. I think her list likes BMWs, but doesn't like Mercedes sedans, for instance.

interesting...never thought about that...lol then i guess parking next to an island is the best option
i forgot to add, i always park in between friends when we go out, thats the only real insurance policy

[TripleB]

If not an island, park at an end spot. Same concept as parking next to an island. Or park next to a handicapped spot. They're usually bigger so you can have extra room on at least one side to minimize the chance of a door ding.

[Angrybird 12]

I have found no matter how much space you give the car next to you if they leave and someone else pulls in they will pull alot closer to your car especially if you are parked to their passenger side.. many times I have come out where I have parked on an end space and someone has pulled in next to me on the driver's side and not given me enough room to even get into my car.. and some with long vans or pickups will park so crooked that they leave the rear end hanging across the back of my car...

I usually find the largest (longest and widest) parking space I can and park in it...and I will try to position my car far enough back in the space so that if they open their car door it will miss the front bumper of my car or bunp into my front tire..

[vernal]

Originally Posted by TJ91

i forgot to add, i always park in between friends when we go out, thats the only real insurance policy

Thats right, she told me that a "true" friend, having arrived somewhere first, would be parked two spaces away from the island so she could have the island spot and be shielded on both sides.

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by Lauryn200

Park next to someone who's car is super nice/waxed and sitting by itself.

Attachment 80208

Originally Posted by TJ91

yeap, always find nice cars next to me for the most part.

Well, this is likely what "the drivers with not-so-nice cars" that most of us find parked next to our Camaros are thinking. The owners of those "not-so-nice" cars (some of us call POS) may consider their cars as priceless (per say) as we do our Camaros so they park next to us.

[tlc9193]

:f acepalm: