Door Ding Frustration
 

Only had my S60 for two weeks, absolutely immaculate bodywork until yesterday.

Overnight stay and parked furthest away as usual from all the nutter door bangers. Noticed a car parked next bay last thing but thought leave it, it's fine.

Back out in the morning, their car now gone and a brand new ding awaiting me on my drivers door! Noticed it straight away and my heart sank. No more than a couple of millimetres but enough to see when the light catches and now totally do my head in!

Honestly why can't people just open their doors without banging away?

No respect! I had a fella throw his door open against my wing mirror, didn't give a damn till he noticed me sat in my car glaring at him. Look on his face was priceless! There is a barely noticeable scratch on the indicator lens but I hadnt had the car that long so couldn't say he did it and it could have been there already.

" ... why can't people just open their doors without banging away?", 'wkel24' asks.

I have an idea that the lack of respect of which 'Peter86' speaks may be due to people leasing their cars and not actually 'owning' them. I had a similar experience in 1978 two weeks after buying my first and only new car. That Mini 1000 cost me £2200 and I saved for years to buy the car. To say that I was annoyed was putting it mildly.

It seems to me that paying a few hundred pounds a month for the privilege of owning a car today does not engender respect for others. I have also noticed that those of us who do run older cars, often considered 'bangers' by such people, tend to exhibit much more respect for other's vehicles, be they old or new.

Regards, John.

I think chips away for this one, hopefully nothing too dramatic on the cost.

I've bought a set of those magnetic door buffers. They look a bit unusual, but I don't care as long as they're doing something to protect the car.

The really annoying dings seem to come from higher ground clearance 4WD Chelsea tractor type motors where the carelessly opened door puts a ding in the upper curved part of the door just below the window line - I collected one on each front door last week.

I know it sounds sad, but I usually try to park in supermarket car parks spaces with a space either side of my chosen slot free preferably as far from the store entrance as possible.

:B_rant:
However, of late, it seems to make whichever car I've used a magnet for idiots, some of whom might do well to provide a tin opener to allow other car park users to get back into their cars. They clearly have no idea that the general opinion is one should park in the middle of an available space. The worst offenders are those who leave a nice big gap so they can get out easily whilst leaving only a few inches for the driver of the car on their left to get back in.....clambering feet first over from the passenger seat is becoming painful and tedious.
:B_rant:

"Dent Magic" are good if you can find a local operative.

I feel your pain, as do many others on here too. It's a massive wind-up and totally avoidable. At times I believe it's ignorance, at other times I think it's jealousy: there are some unpleasant low-lives around. I've used PDR types many times before due to car park dings (and I too park a million miles away from entrances/other cars when in my 'good' car), and they've always got the dents out perfectly.

Incidentally I also run an 18 year old mk4 8v Golf GTI banger which is the first car I've ever owned that I don't really care about and DO park it close to entrances, in tight spaces etc. It's silver so doesn't show dings very well. It's been a revelation owning a car that I'm not precious about, I highly recommend it! :teeth_smile:

Whilst most folks on here feel your pain, car park dings are a fact of modern life. Caused mainly by the following:

1. Car park spaces have remained the same width since the 60's yet cars have grown ever wider. Compare an original Golf with a current model or even the original BMW Mini with a current example. the current one appears to be on maximum strength steroids. This obviously makes getting in and out more difficult.

2. The general decline in manners within society. The general attitude seems to be 'I'm all right, stuff you'.

3. Apart from car nuts on forums such as this no one has any relationship with their car anymore. The majority of folks regard their car in the same way as domestic white goods such as a washing machine. A washing machine gets the clothes clean, a car gets them from a-b, end of.

I do the same, park away from most people.
Park in far corner, nobody around then you come out still nobody in car park apart from the car parked next to you!!

I nipped to tesco once, parked alone and only in tesco about 5 minutes then when i returned alas nobody around but a big paint scratch on rear wing.

I should have asked to see the cctv really.

I found out the hard way that most supermarket cctv only covers the entrance to the actual supermarket, if it is actually turned on!

You can be sure that the cameras that record you overstaying the car park by a microsecond are always turned on!

I parked in a space away from the entrance to a hotel recently, gaps both sides. Was sat in the car and the next car came in, pulled forward into the space opposite and 1 across which had gaps both sides, then reverse to park next to me. Cannot comprehend why they would do that, then moaned about not having space to get their stuff out of the car :rolleyes:

CCTV is on more than you think, but not when my car was 9 days old (to me) and got scuffed and the bumper pushed off on one side.

I've only ever had one really decent looking car[an XJ6 I used to own]and I was paranoid as heck about the possibility of damage to it.The V70 I have now looks like someone polished the two o/s doors with a Brillo pad,the lacquer is peeling on top of the o/s front wing just ahead of the drivers door,the rest of the paintwork isn't that great and the alloys could do with a refurb.I can park that thing anywhere and other people avoid it like the plague:cool: mechanically it's sound and I'd trust it to take me anywhere and that's all that matters to me.It must be said my Omega is better body wise and just as reliable as the V70 but I'm still not that precious about it.But whichever I'm in I always take care if in a tight spot not to damage other peoples property-being built like a biro re-fill helps me out here:rolleyes: I'd agree with an earlier post re-size of car park spaces and cars getting ever bigger plus other peoples white goods throw away mentality.

I am frequently mocked by wife and daughter for every "tour around the car park" looking for an end space or space with gaps each side. Last year at the beach car park in Aberaeron I was asked by the driver of a white Discovery towing a boat if I would move my car to the next space along as it would give him a 2 space length to park Disco and boat in. No problem, moved car and he waved and thanked me. 2 Hours later I come back to find no Disco or boat and a huge white vertical dent in my front passenger door just where his rear door would have impacted. I spend a lot of time in Aberaeron visiting friends and if I see a I white Disco towing a boat and the same driver we will certainly be having a conversation! B*****d!

I know it's not the answer, but the more you obsess over these things the more you will notice them.
Cars will accrue dings and scratches over time and it's just unavoidable and the more you try and avoid it, the more you will notice tiny marks on the car.

I bought a 9 year old C30 in August and honestly every time I looked at the car, I noticed another imperfection that just drove me completely crazy and drained my bank account in attempts to put right these issues.

I know it's not acceptable that people just don't care about other people's property, but there isn't a whole lot you can do about it and getting it fixed if it's only small, now, is going to breed obsessive compulsive disorder in you every time you see a new mark that may have been there for months without you noticing.

we visited a local garden centre one morning last week.

it was very wet and the huge car park was nearly empty, but I still parked my MX5 a long way away from the entrance on it's own.

on leaving, the car park was still nearly empty, but parked next to my MX5 was a Renault Clio, so close that I had to reverse out of the space to allow my wife in the passenger door !!

didn't seem to be any dings, but I can't fathom out the mindset of these idiots. Indeed I wanted to wait in the car for he/she to appear, but wife wouldn't have it.

Iain

I have two small dings in my rear door curtesy of our local car park. When i open my door when i am close to another car i put my hand there to act as a buffer between us. However nobody else thinks of that. Have been in touch with dent magician they can suck them out but at a cost of £60 per panel. I think its worth it as i have a imaculate 15 year old car spoilt with the two dings. Good luck with yours James.

Further to my ding issue. Managed to find a company called Dents. Great service and had my door sorted in less than half an hour.
Can recommend for the Manchester/North West region.

How much did it cost you ?

Drive a battlescared 24 year old discovery and you don't notice the extra dings but more importantly others treat your car with respect leaving plenty of room.

I am mindful of others, especially with the disco, it being 3 door the doors are bigger than front doors on a5 door and have door edge buffers on all cars, just wish others were as considerate.
The discos battle scars come from overgrown lanes and a couple of dings from driver misjudgement. A mate fitted rocksliders to his defender, never got a bodywork ding in car parks though many damaged their doors on them judging by the dings and chips on them not caused in the lanes.

More annoying than the accidental or careless ding is the deliberate key damage done to the volvo, would of put it down to lanes on the disco but 2 vertical scratches on the waste line of rear door half inch long 2 inches apart are not accidental. I always reverse park and am anal about being center of the bay.

Paul.