Is it just me??
 

It happened again today!! I go to the store and search around for the one parking spot where I know my car will be safe. I'm go in the store for no more then 15 freak'in minutes and when I come out there's a mini van right next to my Box... and it's parked crooked. The back end of the van is about a foot away from my rear bumper. I swear this happens so often. I drive me f#*'ing nuts.
Do people do this to piss off the Porsche owner because they're jealous or something? I feel like it's just total disrespect. They have to know I parked far away from everyone for a reason. I just don't get it. :troll:

That stinks but at the same time the same driver parks the same way next to my truck, car and probably everyone else's vehicles. I for one will never shy away from parking next to a nice car simply because sometimes I just need a parking spot regardless of how inconvenient it may look. I will also admit that sometimes I don't park perfectly straight between the lines with equal distance on each side. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just saying that the world doesn't revolve around our cars despite the significance of these vehicles to us.

:cheers:

i got a solution for you man since you obviously parked far away from everyone else, and theres a lot of space next to you.
dont park perfectly in between the lines, but park 1/3 in one spot, and other 2/3 in the other spot. that way no matter how messed up they park, they ill be far from your car, or just park so that the lne is in themiddle of your car
problem solved.

Did you ever think the guy was tired of people denting his van so he parked next to you figuring it was safer? Jeez ;)

Seriously.. get over it. You own a Boxster. One of 200,000+ built... Sure its yours and its "special"... just like the one of over 200,000+ built minivans/ wagons, pick ups that will park next to you.

I would never recommend parking in two spaces...now your asking for trouble.

I always look for end-spots...hug the curb to keep as far away from the only car that could park next to you...on the right-side if possible...the thought process here is that the next car is most likely not going to have a passanger...least chance of a door-ding.

That's just asking to get keyed.

I don't bother trying to find an open spot in an empty section of the lot if it's close to the store at all. I just go for the furthest spot I can next to a curb on the passenger's side of the car. Not one ding.

I do what bmussati does. It seems the best of all solutions

Quote:


I always look for end-spots...hug the curb to keep as far away from the only car that could park next to you...on the right-side if possible...the thought process here is that the next car is most likely not going to have a passanger...least chance of a door-ding.

I do the same and some jerk still manages to park 1 foot away from my car and the biggest jerks are the ones who think other cars are there for them to lean their shopping carts against and leave them there for you to bring it back. :mad:

This has nothing to do with cars or jealousy, some people just don't respect others, and don't give a sh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!t about you or your property.

End spots are your friend..

do NOT take up 2 spots, thats just asking for it.
Most people are just clueless

It's about where you live as well. I haven't run into much hate where I live. There is the occasional ricer/high-schooler that wants to race, but many days go by without incident. I park it in normal spots, sometimes with the top down, and have had no issues at all.

I would never have thought that SC would be more accepting than, say, CA, Chicago, and NY. Who woulda thunk it? :D

Shot for end-spots if you can,if not then oh well. Not much you can do,just drive the damn thing and get them over with so you won't worry about them anymore.

I was walking out to the Boxster after I left the gym once and this old couple,Grandpa opening the driver door,which was where my passenger side was,he put a ************************ door ding in it resting his door on my passenger door.........I continue walking to my car looking at him,he looks at me almost as if he was saying "oh well", continued to get in his car and leave,all this time just standing next to my car thinking what I should do............DO NOTHING,door dings cost around $50-75 to get removed. It's not going to be worth the thought and time you put into argueing with someone who has no respect for your car.

For those who get door dings and what them removed via Paintless Dent Removal;

http://www.dentnetwork.com/index.html

My personal expierence with PDR has been very good not great,only because they remove around 95% of the dent,I can still see a tiny trace in the right light at the right angle. ;)

I don't think it has anything to do with having a porsche, but it has to do with the fact that majority of drivers are really bad drivers, were do you live, a major city.

Rick is correct, There are so many high end cars in the my area (NYC/NJ) they really just blend in with each other. The average Coffee drinking, cell phone talking soccer mom in her minivan or gigantic SUV does not make the distinction between dinging your pride and joy Porsche or someones "average" car :)
Thats just life, we try and protect what is ours but at the end of the day you have to just try and drive your car and enjoy it, If it gets a ding.. well you get it fixed and move on.
It took me many years of Porsche ownership to mellow out about these things and yes.. I still get the RAGE over it sometimes.

Parking Nice Cars
 

Been driving nice cars for a while now. Currently live near and work at a college. Have lived in a few big and small cities including Honolulu where the biggest parking space is a compact spot in the mainland. A few of my do's and don'ts.

1. Always try to park at an end space with your passenger side door to the end/curb. Pull over close to the end. So if there is a passenger he has plenty of room.

2. Never take more than one spot or park crooked. In many places, even if the lot is empty, you are asking for it.

3. Movie theater lots are the worst. Too many people that don't care. Ideally take your beater. If not, NEVER park near the back of the lot. Try to get an end spot near the front/middle of the lot. (USAA reports movie theater lots are where most vandalism/break-ins occur.)

4. If you go to a college or take mass transportation, spring for the parking pass, do not park on the street in a nice residential area to "protect your car" or save a dime. First it is illegal in many/most locations (towns write ordanaces designating these spaces for residents or their guests.) Second it POs the residents so ... don't be surprised when some one spits on your car or worse ... may not be right but it does happen -- have heard of a few cases of Coke on the hood/trunk. If you are lucky you may just get towed. Finally, do not be surprised when the owner mows his grass and the clippings are all over your car. I know the passes are expensive but ... you are driving a Porsche.

5. Do not pull up too far into the space. Leave at least six to eight inches from the line.

6. If a car has a baby seat, never park on the side of the car with the baby seat. It is next to impossible to put those little critters in the seat without opening the doors wide plus the baby strollers are the worst.

7. Do not park next to the shopping cart bin at walmart or a grocery store. However, if you are too far away folks tend to leave the carts vice walk 100 feet so ... ideally bring your beater. Moral, the cart bin does not make an end spot.

8. If there are no great end spots, park next to a nice car ideally a four door (coupes have longer doors). Some SUVs have high doors, etc.

Finally, Paintless Dent Remoal works well. Get it done as soon as possible from a reputable guy (dent wizard guys are pretty good IMHO.) Some are better than others and dents near creases in the body work are the hardest to fix. If the guy is good, it will cost about $75 for a small ding (about 2" X 2" max) and more for a larger ding. I like the mobile guys so I can watch the repair. If he is heating up the area (not required in the hot summer sun) and using lights (even in the sun) to check the repair, you will get a better repair. Some of these guys are amazing. If you find a good one ... tip him and take some cards for your friends. The good guys will appreciate it and "hook you up" in the future. (Note: Some have bumper, paint chip, and wheel repair associated with them all of which are pretty good to have available.)

Does this always work? Of course not there are inconsiderate people everywhere and some are real idiots. Was driving to Kings Bay GA last week and stopped for lunch, found a great end spot in the shade parked to the right of the spot. While I was eating some idiot parked a big SUV mobile so close I could not get in my car -- his wheels were actually in my spot. Went back into the restaurant and got the guy. He wanted to be in the shade too. Luckily he did not have a passenger -- oh well.

Just my dime.
ATB,
Tom

Did you ever consider she just cant park. Have you see the episode of the office where she drives everyone and they all freak out. Dont be too quick to judge... but yes, I pretty much park either way the hell out in no mans land, or the front spot.

if I have no choice but to park between cars I don't pull all the way into the spot.
Since the Boxster is not a big car I can pull in 3/4's of the way so that the passenger doors of the cars next to me are next to my front fenders and my my doors....because If I came out the store and saw a big dent in my door I would immediately fall to the floor and start going into convulsions.

MidAmerica Motorworks sells magnetic parking door guards for the Boxster and 911. A good idea to keep those in the car for those type of situations.

Thanks Tom,
Those are some good tips. I like #6 and # 8, something I never considered before. I do take my beater car most of the time, although my beater car is a new Saab so I'm careful with that one as well. I always park in the spots out and away from everyone, but the reson why i wrote this is because these people park right next to me when I'm in an isolated spot. It drives me nuts...and they're not nice cars. I don't understand how somone with an average car goes out of their way to park right next to the shinny Porsche. Maybe they think my car's lonely and needs a friend or something. heh heh. :cheers:

Thanks
 

Thanks everyone for the great tips and comments. Glad no one yelled at me for accidentialy posting this on the "Performance Talk" board instead of the general Discussion.

Coupe.

Good point. I have done that. I will park next to a car that is nicer than mine figuring that driver won't want to dent his/her car anymore than mine.

Those are some good tips, I try to park in the back of the lot, I don't mind walking. The problem is school parking lots and teenagers that suck at driving, means dented cars.

That's a good point. Although I think you'd feel differently if you saw the way the van was parked(how close and crooked it was) and there were 25 other empty spots where he would have been just as safe. Trust me, it was rude. It's not the first time this happened to me, that's was provoked me to ask if this happens to others here.
Couper

Actually I take my Yukon to movies and stores so I really don't experience this problem much. My Boxster is just a weekend toy. The other thing I never do is Valet parking. I know these guys park cars much much nicer than mine (pricewise) but I don't care, nobody valet parks my Boxster for me. I'll just go to restaurants that don't have valet parking. There are plenty nice ones that don't.

I have a mini van that I use for my business and I respect it like I do my Boxcar. I will park the van far to the back of the lot with plenty of room around me as I don't want it dinged any more than I would want any car I own to be dinged. Sure enough there will be one other vehicle parked right next to me when I return. Loads of space all around me but there we are, side by side, with empty spaces on either side of us. Frustrating for sure. Probably some reasons for this behaviour; People tend to figure that you must park next to a car to uniformly fill in an area just like when you go to an event and an attendant parks one car next to another until a row is filled. Secondly, as has been pointed out, the driver feels that if you parked there you will respect his car and at least one side is protected. And thirdly, there are just some plain ordinary all-american A**holes out there that haven't a clue. Just live with it and marvel.

AKL

Allen, That exactly what I'm talking about but guess what i just figured out........It must be an upstate NY thing. You live in New Paltz??? I'm in Poughkeepsie. Heh Heh.

In addition to looking for end spots, I also look for openings next to the handicapped slots. Around here it seems like a third of the spaces in the lot are for handicapped and you are lucky to see one in ten used. Usually you see five rows of three or four designated slots so the odds of someone using the outer one next to you is nil. This has worked well for me.

Steve, in Houston, it's "cool" to take your elderly relative's handicap hangar and use it when they are not with you, so every single handicapped spot is taken around here. This really pisses me off and the city won't do anything about it. But I digress.

Because of the potential for vandalism, theft, carelessness on the part of others and just plain vindictive behavior often seen in Houston, I do not park my car in public places. In fact, I have stopped driving my car to church where I thought I could safely parallel park it in one particular area that is safe... the soccer moms in mini vans have rubbed my driver's side back bumper a couple of times and never once confessed to doing it. And everyone at my church knows who owns the black boxster smack dab in front of the church's front doors. Grrrr.

I've said it before here and I'll say it again... I wish I lived in Germany or that their respect for other people's property (especially their cars) would infect our country. They must park so close to one another that their side mirrors are always closed and it would seem that they get out of their cars through the back hatch or the window and then roll it up with the key. And even though they park like packed sardines in a can, they rarely, if ever, ding a door.

If you ask me, it's all an issue of rampant narcissim or selfishness. As a country, we just don't give a crap about anyone else or anyone else's property any longer. Sorry for the long post, but this issue of door dings and not being able to drive my car and park it in public places really pisses me off.

Hey, if you have joined PCA you are in my region. Dr. & Mrs. Kill and wife and I are thinking of meeting up at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome as it is re-opeing on Fathers day. Have yet to set a date but if you are interested in joining us let me know. If we get enough interested we get a group rate and a roped off area to park in eliminating the need for 'sentinels'. Get back to me at: aklon30@yahoo.com

AkL

I agree with you 100%. It's like that everywhere these days. This country is akin to the Roman Empire ripe for decline because we have become fat, dumb, and lazy.

Maybe the mini van contained a dad and some kids that wanted to check out your kool car. I get that all the time. I take my car everywhere when the weather is nice. I park it at the store with the top down. I've been minimaly keyed once but that is it. I'm going to enjoy my car, that's why I bought it. Driving the car is what's fun, if I had a door ding I wouldn't be able to see it from the driver's seat while I'm pushing on the gas pedal!

I always park on the end (ALWAYS) but never take more than one spot. If I go to a place with a big parking lot (like a mall) I'll park all the way at the end and hoof it back. I've taken several pictures with my c-phone of my car all the way at the end of the lot.............with one other car parked right next to me. I'm with you, I don't get it.

This quote was taken from another forum I visit:

I was at my local BBQ place with my friend ..... I see a Porsche parked outside (Boxster). Of course, parked on the end spot, as close to the curb (and as far from the other spots) as possible. I say to my friend: "Wow, a porsche; parked by a porsche owner"...

So, I guess that answers our question. Somehow we are pricks for not wanting our cars dinged even though we are not harming or inconveniencing anyone.