lyjw88

Yup they are magnetic and there's a plastic hook that attaches to the seat belt so you can't steal it either lol

h-townmbdriver

hanjaya1 has a good point. If you can stay between the passenger side (of the car next to you) and a curb, you should be alright. Seems like 90% of drivers are alone so no one is getting out on your side. Other than that I walk, I'm as crazy as the rest of you!

I love the door protectors lyjw88 is showing, I assume they are magnetic, two things concern me, the car better be clean, dirt behind the magnet will scratch the surface and someone will probably steal them first time out!

fp69

Hey guy's... I'm new and this is my first post... All good advice on door dings. I've used many of the same techniques for years. But I was curious to know what types of experiences you've had with Valet and door dings & curbed wheels...

K-A

My advice with Valet's is "don't use them".

El Cid

Another thing I try to avoid is when I see young kids in vehicles, I don't park next to them. Too often, they just let the doors swing as wide as possilbe. Also run up to their car and may hit mine while running.
No offense to those with kids, but it happens.

ttoE550

Yeah, I am forever telling my 4-year-old not to use the door to push herself into the car. You're right, this causes the door to swing wide and stop when it hits the car in the next spot. I catch the door and admonish her most of the time, but I've missed a few...

fp69

Thanks K-A I have been skeptical about them lately. At first I thought they would be a safer option. Private parking area. Only one driver and not a large group of people walking past your car or exiting the others next to your car.

ttoE550

My wife and I use valets fairly frequently. We've never had a problem at upscale hotels and restaurants. The only place we've had problems is at a parking garage at my wife's office building, where she is sometimes forced to valet when the garage is full. Once the valet scraped the side of her car on a pillar - he denied it, and there was little we could do.

Sometimes at upscale hotels and restaurants you can ask for your car to be left out front. This often works with my Mercedes, but for some reason it never worked with my old beat up Subaru.

K-A

Are you f*&#$ng kidding me. What POS's.

ttoE550

It's odd, but I grew up in West Texas, where any car damage was considered disastrous, the end of the world, a calamity. Eventually, I moved to Boston, and in the first week I was there a colleague told me his wife had totaled her car in a wreck. My reaction was consistent with my upbringing -- "Oh my God! What are you going to do?! How terrible!" His reaction was much more muted. "Ahh, you gotta expect to be in a wreck at least once a year. Cars are disposable."

Since then, my attitude has become much the same. "Whatever." Dings, scrapes, baseball-sized rocks bouncing down the freeway, "whatever." You'd die of hypertension if you worried about it here. At least with most cars here, the damage is collateral rather than malicious. When I had my Porsche, it seemed that people would go out of their way to mess up my car. When I traded it in for my Subaru, it [the Porsche] still had a patch of tar put on the car by an envious person who was taring a parking lot, and that's when I parked as far away as possible from other cars.

I don't worry about dings. I park wherever I want. Sadly, my car is still disposable.

hyperion667

I feel that way about the people walking around looking for cars to bother.......they're disposable........

K-A

HAH! Word. They're far more disposable than the nice cars they eff with.

fingroupb

I was cleaning my truck yesterday and saw new, light scratches down the passenger side covering almost the entire length between the wheel wells. My wife had taken it downtown last week and parked in parking garage. I asked her about it and she said she noticed them but cannot swear the incident occurred there. Obviously, some careless jerk walked alongside carrying a purse or briefcase that happened to rub the car in passing.

I would just love, LOVE, L O V E to catch some jerk in the act.

rovermark

What would you (or anyone else here) do if you caught someone dinging your door, let's say unintentionally?

ttoE550

Slightly different, but I was teaching at a university and noticed a two students using my Porsche as a writing desk. "Don't write on my car! Are you f***ing idiots?" The following semester, those same two students were enrolled in my class, but for only a few minutes. Maybe my glare for those first few minutes encouraged them to drop.

Live Oak

E550 Lux:

I've noticed that the Costcos, in our area at least, have extra WIIDE parking places, with double yellow lines between spaces. We always appreciate that extra safety.

Also, NEVER, EVER, park next to a 70's - 80's two-door hardtop. It's already a wreck, the owner doesn't give a rat's a***, and the doors are at least 8 feet wide and always opened to the stop.

steinjr

This happened to me on the day I purchased the car. Can you believe this? Why would anyone do this unless it was intentional?

beshannon

Park far, far away

Airmousam

My car seems to be a magnet whenever i park far out, usually its another Benz or nicer car....all good advice in this thread. One thing to add, I never park next to a mini van, ever!!

edbro

I actually look for the minivans with the sliding doors.

dbldpr

I park in the handicap spots. But that does not always work. My old car was parked in the handicap spot and someone backed up into the rear door. Of course they did not leave a note. Cost $2,000 to fix. The safest place is the handicap spots it is a lot safer than a regular spot.

z06michael

Park away from most other cars and if you get a ding I am sure threre is a local dent pro/wizard tech in the area,they can remove them in no time for little amount of money.

Airmousam

No thanks, mini vans often come with kids, sometimes lots of kids...

hyperion667

I love a strip of spike-like material to go down the doors

pamiboy

Hope you have a orange / handicapped badge. Otherwise you'd be starting a new trend. And an undesirable / ethically and morally wrong one too.