oh boy i feel you.. i gave up on caring after like 3 door dings, someone keying the door, and hurricane throwing shingles on another door...

but one of those random times i came out to my car, i saw a long (about 2-3 foot) black mark on my car.. >.< i was like OMFG WTF! .... looked like a shopping cart leaving a long mark or something, but thankfully after some scratching and throwing some Goof Off, it came right off and looked almost like it was never there.

 

yah, ive had shopping carts crash into my car, keyed door by some arsehole, UPS truck smashing into my car, etc while parked.

that's wat dd's are for i guess. i have detailing and PDR tools so most of them i can fix at home but some of them needs professional care.

doesnt matter how careful you are, it can be a bird dropping super acidic crap while you're out shopping and etch your paint in a few hrs.

 

Just saw my first ding yesterday after I got back from work! Very slight but I know it's there. Going to see if how much to pull it. No paint damage at least.

 

Yes. Trailer Trash comes in all shapes and colors. They know who they are and can easily be spotted although they are so oblivious to anyone else watching them in disgust.

 

I agree with others.

Here are my parking strategies after getting a ding:-

1) I will try to park way towards the furthest end of the parking lot, otherwise,

2) I would try to find an space at the end of the row and park closest to the edge of the row, nearest to the wall etc so that there is ample space for another vehicle parking on the other side of my FIT. By parking at the end of the row, there will only one vehicle parking next to me instead of two had I squeeze in the middle... I am reducing the chances of dings by 50%

3)If I had to park between two vehicles, I would try to park next to the newest vehicles because they had as much to loose as me if they ding into me.

4) I also tried to avoid parking next to a shopping card path if at all possible

5) Try to avoid parking under trees that can drop tree sap

 

you think you got problems, some dumb fuck hit my car in the car park with the wing mirror and made a deep scuff mark inside the passenger window glass.

i just hope it does not explode by itself when the winter comes



http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/8386/1001968l.jpg

check the pic out - will this window eventually fail with this damage - it has been over 5 weeks now?

 

Go to the Newbie FAQ section of the forum for the How To's:

Here's a start: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...html#post33150

 

excellent tips, Ric. i want to add about the shopping cart path. it's 99.9% on the other side of the shopping cart return rack area. some dumbarses dont push the cart in past the little caster wheel bump on the pavement so the cart freely rolls back when wind hits it. and if your car's parked on the other side of the cart return rack, then wham!

also another easy tip is to park you car slightly on the driver side (left) of the parking spot. most drivers dont back into the parking space so you have a couple more inches clearance from the driver side door. if they have arsehole passengers then that's a whole different story but chances are, depending on the time of day, there's only one person in the car so you'd worry most about the driver opening the door vs the other doors.

parking shallow next to minivans is also a good idea cause they have sliding doors.

if all fails, i pull out my PDR tools on my garage wall..

 

The issue lies in the fact the vehicle visits WalMart. No vehicle (or person for that matter) should visit a WalMart.

That aside. it sucks when you have to deal with irresponsible people that just let their doors swing or carts go. My mom actually got a nasty look from a lady who just sent a cart flying off with one hand (instead of returning it to the cart return - yeah... like 5 feet away from her) when [my mom] reached out and stopped a cart from hitting another vehicle. She let the cart go and mom mom got the nasty look... Bitch! If I hit another vehicle, I'll leave a note if I can't find the owner. I'm a big believer in actually being RESPONSIBLE for your own actions (another reason I don't shop at evilmart)

OP, Your last sentence sums it up... unfortunately. It would be nice if we didn't have to actually accept that this is the way it is but until people become more responsible, we'll have to deal with crap like this.

~SB

 

Inversely, in Orange County, CA the trick is to park next to the cart return. Nobody actually returns carts where they're supposed to go here, so you're actually safer parking next to the return than anywhere else in the lot.

 

I always park next to the cart return. Automatic protection on one side and those that actually walk to the return to drop off their carts are the same people that are courteous enough to make sure they are actually IN the return stall. Heck, the fit is small enough to park IN the return... then you only have to worry about the rear bumper.

~SB

 

I just bumped into your car! There are a lot of people watching me write this note. They think I am leaving you my name and phone #, I'm not!!!

 

Good one! Just gotta know your neighborhood huh.

EXCEPT... places with flat carts like HD or Costco. Happened to me. The cart bed stuck out on the side where I was parked. I guess if the handles didn't catch on the return side rails, the cart really would have done some damage on my car. Just had some scratches on the driver side side skirt.

 

My 2 cents suggestion to my fellow FIT friends... I've learned the hard way and my FIT was dinged by someone trying to get out of their car whose door swung open by gravity and hit mine because in a slope mall parking, he was parked higher than my FIT. Mall parking at the lower end of the slope is a disadvantage. In hindsight, I should have parked on the higher end of the slope

 

wen i first got my car 3rd day using my car for commuting to skool was a door dent on my passenger. i rly hate it so i try to park far away no cars, between nice cars, or big space. but rly 3rd day of having my car door dent and as us now having it for couple months i have 3 door dents 1 driver 2 passenger side -_-

 

you are still fairly lucky... my first Jazz in 2004, is one of the first batches of Jazz they ship to my country... was Red in color and look extra smooth, clean, and eye catching since only a handful of people have them then... 3 months in, and some A hole stupid blind driver struck me square on the right side in a T intersection... it got both of my door fairly crumpled... and I was like Holy Sh!T_T my brand new smooth shiny bright red Jazz.... got r@ped by some stupid A hole.. no money can compensate that!...

 

There is some great advice in here! If I have to park in between 2 cars in a lot, I try and park between 2 high end cars....last Saturday, I parked in between a nice BMW and a Lexus...both cars were in pristine shape, so I felt confident my Fit would be ok..at least from door dings......

 

Since you were inside upon impact, can you please share the Fit's impact protection/damage/personal safety protection?
I am happy with the Fit BUT am very nervous with crash protection/bodily harm......

 

Your pic made me think, parking next to 2 door coupes can be dangerous as well.

 

Unless the couple happens to have scissor style doors!