Your car’s sheet metal is thin and people are stupid. An annoying combination for car enthusiasts, because a parking dent is always lurking. You would prefer not to go anywhere by car for fear of damage, but you are a car enthusiast, so you prefer to go everywhere by car. We don’t have it that easy yet.
Fortunately, you can minimize the chance of parking dents and other damage when parking if you approach it a bit tactically. You probably already apply most of the following instinctively. Still: here are a few tips to minimize the risk of parking dents, without having to buy a Citroën Cactus with Airbumps or park in two spaces. (Don’t do the latter anyway – apart from being antisocial, it also provokes other potential harms for that reason.)
Stand far away
Photo: © TopGear
A bitch, but we’ll call him anyway. Walking is healthy, so it is best to park a little further away. Most people abhor exercise and like to park as close to the entrance as possible. Give your pedometer something to do and put the car in a quieter part of the parking lot, a little further away. The problem is that there is always one Skoda driver standing right next to you. All the time.
Preferably grab a corner spot
Photo: © Chris Kursikowski
Simple probability calculation: if you only have doors on one side, you have 50 percent less chance of dents. Sometimes in parking garages you even have a space between two pillars, so that you are completely safe. Please note that you are not standing along the walking route for shopping carts, or the like. Explore the area well.
Look at the door of the car next to you
Photo: © Conor Luddy
The driver’s door always opens when a car leaves, but not everyone has a passenger with them. If you do have to park next to someone, preferably choose a spot next to a passenger door. A door that doesn’t open can’t make a dent. Wasn’t that a cry from Confucius?
Find another enthusiast
Photo: © TopGear
Do you really have to park next to someone? Then find someone who is probably just as panicked about parking dents as you are. An old car that has just a little too nice paint, for example. Or any Alfa Romeo. The owner of this car will undoubtedly also be relieved when he or she sees your car next to his.
Do not park next to rattles or family cars
Photo: © TopGear
Someone who clearly doesn’t care about his car, you don’t want to park next to it. The driver will unsuspectingly swing his door open against your pearl. Also watch out for family cars. And then we are not necessarily talking about station wagons, because bachelors with a big hobby can also drive them, but cars with stickers on the windows or child seats. The spatial awareness of mini-humans is underdeveloped and for fear of limiting screen time, they will not always tell their parents if they have caused damage.
Watch out for the tow bar
Photo: © TopGear
If you can parallel park, it’s safer for the doors, but less safe for the bumpers. If you still have a choice of several places, it is better not to choose a place behind a car with a towbar. We don’t need to explain the reason, do we?
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