These are the my Cali parking tips:
1. Never use a parking bay between two other vehicles even if it's the last space. That exposes your vehicle to maximum risk.
2. Always park at the far end of the car park away from the entrance. Most people will park as close to the entrance to the supermarket or attraction as they can.
3. Never park next to any vehicle that's parked higher up the slope. If someone lets go of a door it's likely to hit your Cali.
4. Never park at the bottom of a sloping carpark. Any run away trolleys are likely to head straight for your van.
5. If parking at night always try and park under a street light and not in some dark unlit place.
6. Try to avoid school runs in your Cali. A significant number of the mums either don't care about cars, yours, theirs or anyone elses, can't or won't park carefully and are usually in a hurry with their minds elsewhere. Also they are dropping off offspring that are either unaware, careless or too small to control the weight of a car door. Having suffered expensive damage to our Cali I now use a cheap battered fifteen year old banger for school runs.
7. Never park near to any vehicle that has a comprehensive collection of minor bodywork damage. Either the driver can't drive properly or just doesn't care.
8. Try to limit risk by picking a corner spot at the far end of the carpark or single parallel parking bay.
9. Park it as if you've abandoned it, semi diagonally so that it takes up one and a half bays. Only in a carpark where there's plenty of free space.
10. Don't park near the recycling area where there will be plenty of traffic.
11. Once youv'e picked your corner spot you will have protected at least two sides. Limit the cost of repairs by leaving the o/s exposed as that should be the cheaper side to have minor damage repaired.
12. If poss leave someone in the vehicle to glare at drivers tempted to park near your van. If they have the features of a rabid Rottweiler then that could be an advantage. Or stay in the Cali whilst they shop.
13. If someone starts to park very close to you, turn on the ignition to activate to the dash cam and horn just in case. They should then also be aware that there will be a witness.
14. If you have to park next to other vehicles look for something shiny new and expensive. The chances are they won't want to bang their doors either.
Alternatively ignore all of the above and carry on regardless. Expect the odd dings, dents and scrapes. Don't bother checking the windscreen for a note admitting guilt and given a name and contact details as that rarely, if ever happens.
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