What's your secret to parking so you don't get door dings?

[RacingRoger]

The other day I was at the gas station filling up my Mustang, and on the opposite side of the pump a kid in a Camaro pulls up and parks. He gets out of his car and strolls into the convenience store -- I'm figuring to prepay for his gas. Few minutes later he comes out, carry out pizza slice in hand, gets in his car and leaves. WTF. Then it hits me -- Rather than park in the spaces up front where he may risk damage from an inattentive parking neighbor, he puts his car in a safe spot and doesn't have to worry about getting biffed. I find that little move either brilliant or ballsy. (Being a Camaro driver, I choose to think it was the latter).

Any of you ever try this?

Any other creative parking solutions out there to save your paint and sheet metal?

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[Ratpack]

I usually try to find an end spot and park slightly out of the lines so I am away from the spot next to me.

 

[Tucker80]

I do that all the time. If I pull into to a busy convenience store it's always at a gas pump. I do feel a bit dick-ish, but I'm not dealing with door dings and wouldn't do if the pumps were actually busy at the time.

At the grocery store I'm not necessarily in the most remote spot. Instead I'm trying to find the highest point in the parking lot. It's a bonus if I can use something stationary as a blocker like a cart corral or landscaping between the car and the natural path of a lazy person leaving a cart.

 

[Crew4991]

 

[wingnutt]

yep…trunk monkey FTMFW

 

[lo-fi]

I park far away, if at all possible, and walk. Living in the south has its benefits as most everyone is, well, rotund, and couldn't run thirty yards if their life depended on it. Lots of parking far away

Parking at a pump is a dick move, not doing that, ever, unless completely empty, but then there would be places to park if empty.

 

[MAGS1]

I always back in to avoid my splitter getting caught on any parking stops. I try to park farther away and in an end spot so IF someone decides they absolutely have to park next to me, there’s only one side of my car that’s exposed.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way and crowded spots are sometimes unavoidable. Just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best

 

[junits15]

Don't park at a pump that's rude.

Just do what i do and profile the cars you park next to. Try for an end spot, and avoid parking next to dinged up shitboxes full of trash.

If someone cares that little about their own car then they must care even less about other people's cars. Haven't had a ding yet

 

[pinksurfer]

long story but sometimes it just doesn't matter. parked the daily at a 711 far away waiting for a driver of ours to do an audit. while parked and waiting, I now have a 9mm slug indent in my front fender from across the street. I thought it was a kid throwing a rock at the truck when it hit. 1 dead/1 injured and a whole lot of holes in cars/buildings/people.

I can say tho that chevy builds a tough truck fender. it didn't penetrate.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/06/17/lvmpd-investigates-homicide-near-cambridge-sierra-vista/

 

[86Capri21Stang]

I park as far away from anyone or thing as I can.

 

[mindo389]

I usually park far from an entrance, or off to one side of a building, someplace where there's not many cars. And I avoid parking beside SUVs and trucks, even when I'm driving the wife's SUV.

 

[LCK22GT]

All of my tactics have been stated. In addition I have a handicap placard for my wife if she's with me. Some of those spaces are very wide. But usually I drop her off and park way out. If there's another really nice car parked way out sometimes I'll park next to that.

 

[SheepDog]

There is no solution. The harder you try, the harder Murphy's law works. I can squeeze my car between 2 beaters, and no ding. I can park three rows away from the nearest car, and some jerkoff will be 3 inches away from me when I get back to the car. I had this exact thing happen not a week after I bough this car. My blood boils every time I see the ding on the rear fender, and that was 3 years ago.

 

[IPOGT]

I always back in to avoid my splitter getting caught on any parking stops. I try to park farther away and in an end spot so IF someone decides they absolutely have to park next to me, there’s only one side of my car that’s exposed.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way and crowded spots are sometimes unavoidable. Just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best

Most door flingers are fat asses who won’t walk too far, so parking away
decreases your chances of that. OTOH, it can attract unwanted attention.

 

[SheepDog]

Most door flingers are fat asses who won’t walk to far, so parking away
decreases your chances of that. OTOH, it can attract unwanted attention.

and they have to swing the door fully open, to squeeze their blubber in and out

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