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How To stop car park dents

Californication69

Californication69

Bill
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T6.1 Ocean 204 4 motion
What’s the best way to stop the side of the Cali being dented by other car doors that are used by Zombie heads / normal people accidentally losing grip on other car door handles whilst opening / drug users / people / kids / animals / A.N. Other in car parks ?
Need a vote type chat thingy.
Side plastic rubbing strips. Colour coded.
Large round chrome bar running boards
Running boards
Foot steps
Chrome strips. (VW or eBay ?)
Any other suggestions ?
:thumb
 
Never park near the entrance of whatever your visiting. Ie supermarket or attraction. If it's not a busy car park like a Doncaster Tesco's you could straddle 2 lines. Other than that your running boards etc wont protect you from door dings. Take another vehicle or walk is best.
 
A few years back the staff at my local Halfords used to park their cars diagonally across 2 parking bays. I imagine they didn’t get door bumps but probably got keyed by pissed off customers trying to find a parking space.
 
Never take your Cali to the supermarket
if unavoidable say in the Cali whilst someone else goes into the shop so you can glare at the driver of each car that parks next to you.
pretend to be getting in or out with door wide open so they give up and park elsewhere
 
As Loz said if we had to go to a supermarket car park in our Cali, I would usually stay with it and patrol like an over protective parent.

When we have been on a ferry with it I did the same ensuring I was the last person to leave the car deck and the first back.

I only ever parked it at the road side and never had any damage here or in the med countries we visited and I never parked it anywhere quiet when abroad so to reduce the chance of a break in. :thumb
 
If you have to park next to someone, choose the most expensive looking car in the car park. Hopefully they won't want to damage their paintwork either.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
 
If you have to park next to someone, choose the most expensive looking car in the car park. Hopefully they won't want to damage their paintwork either.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
Problem is lots of people lease cars these days on a contract and don't seem to care about them whilst people who splash their hard earned wedge tend IMO to be more careful.
 
Problem is lots of people lease cars these days on a contract and don't seem to care about them whilst people who splash their hard earned wedge tend IMO to be more careful.
You can buy rubber side strips for a transporter but they are a little unsightly.
 
Do your weekly supermarket shop on line! Can highly recommend Ocado - only costs £6.50 per month for a weekly delivery & because its a factory not a store hardly ever substitutes - price matches Tesco & now linked to M&S - best £6.50 I spend a month! & no dented Cali doors - not that I have one - yet!
 
I have a system that seems to work, touch wood. Most cars in car parks seem to drive in forwards. So I find a spot between 2 such cars and reverse in with my NS as close to the car on my L 's passenger side, such the they cannot open a door. On my driver' s side there is then plenty of room for me or the driver of the other car to open our doors and get in. It is often passengers rather than drivers who are inconsiderate of other cars.
 
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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These should be the type you require, in theory they could be painted but then car door bumps would show defeating the objective.
They are at the height that I've had door scrapes. Anything lower gives little or no protection to door dings especially rear passenger doors.
There are others on the market.

 
Wow, how do you guys all manage to sleep at night ? Maybe you should be changing your Cali for a smart car :headbang
Apart from a grumbling dodgy knee I sleep very well thanks.

If someone has spent a small fortune on buying a cali or any other expensive vehicle for that matter, I see nothing wrong with looking after it by taking all reasonable precautions to prevent costly damage. One small incident can set you back many hundreds of pounds to rectify properly. That either comes directly out of your pocket or effects your insurance with the same end result. It's all very well having a relaxed atitude to these things but unless you are prepared to have each piece of damage attended to then in the end your pride a joy will end up devalued and looking very unloved. If you don't look after it no one else will!
 
I do agree BUT is it really worth the stress on your health every time you go out to somewhere that requires parking ? It is something we have no control over, I have parked in what I thought was best position in a car park yet I still come back to a £100 rust bucket parked next to me .
 
I do agree BUT is it really worth the stress on your health every time you go out to somewhere that requires parking ? It is something we have no control over, I have parked in what I thought was best position in a car park yet I still come back to a £100 rust bucket parked next to me .
A Ford Nugget ? :)
 
Try your best to avoid carparks that’s my only advice.
Been there got the dint seen my arse, never again too many couldn’t give a monkeys people out there .
On the flip side when a park my defender in a carpark I park anywhere I like and never had a single dent.
it does have big side protection bars fitted so all my carpark phobias disappear in the Landrover I sometimes squeeze it in the tightest spaces it’s a pleasure
 
I do agree BUT is it really worth the stress on your health every time you go out to somewhere that requires parking ? It is something we have no control over, I have parked in what I thought was best position in a car park yet I still come back to a £100 rust bucket parked next to me .
I know what you mean but my point is that whilst you cannot prevent everyone from damaging your vehicle you do at least control where you park it and by doing so can mitigate potential risk. From my perspective there is little stress involved if I've followed my own above mentioned points. If I have done my best to park it wisely and it still gets damaged then I'm not going to be a happy bunny but at least I'm not left telling myself that I shouldn't have parked there.

All these points are aimed at risk reduction and damage frequency. It's never going to be possible to prevent all damage through out a vehicles lifespan but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
 
I think my biggest issue will be hedgerow scratches rather than car park dents - I live in a country lane & we have a lot of chelsea tractor drivers doing the school run - it did even make me question my rationale of buying brand new but I guess after the initial first few months you get over the preciousness just like you do with a newborn! :happy
 
Leave yr Cali on the drive then you will never get a door dink.
has a secondary benefit, you will never be involved in any RTA if you don’t take it out on the road.
Put a cover over it so you don’t get any bird poop either.
Another benefit, very low mileage.
Or stop fretting over the small stuff get out and enjoy what you drive
 
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