Does parking "way out" make you a target?
 

Seems like I can't park far enough away from the crowd to avoid dents/dings/scrapes; or worse.

I always park in the outer reaches but just during this year I've somehow still gotten a new scraped rear bumper, busted center reflector and little dent in the front bumper. And I really don't take the car out that much.

Wonder if I just parked with everyone else the car would be ignored.

I would not park with everyone else. I do park far out and have never had any problems.

What I've noticed is that every time I park away from "the crowd" - I inevitably have someone else ALWAYS parking next to me when I return... :grr:

(Ok, if it's another p-car... :) ).

I also park way out but always take two places diagonally so no one can park close enough to hit me, and if that's not an option, I'll park on the end spot and back in so my passenger side is right against the curb giving my drivers side a little extra room.

So far so good!

ZP44

I drive my OTHER car when I have to park and leave it in public places.

I take the opposite approach. Rather than looking for a spot out in nowhere, I look for a spot with "good neighbors." Maybe a nice Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes with a nice gap between the spaces. Avoid big old American cars like old Lincoln's with 8 foot wing spans with the doors open, or pickup trucks with bumper stickers that say "My kid beat up your honor roll student" or Calvin pissing on something window decals.

I circle till I find and end spot.

I park way out and still try to get a spot where I can get up against a planter box on one side. If there is a slope to the parking lot or wind, I often try to be on the downhill and or downwind side of the planter box so I am protected from runaway shopping carts. My wife's car has so many dings from this type of thing that it makes me sick just to think about it.

+1

That makes three of us......sometimes takes a while but I always either find an endspot or a spot on its own out in the boonies.........and yes I always come back and find another car has joined me in the boonies.....the other week it was a blue Aston Martin with a MD plate of DB7.....I felt in good company!!!

ahhh...shouldn't you be working... :roflmao:

Yep...I am, I am listening to a dude talking about protein expression in metastaic breast cancer and in another 5 minutes we move to radiation dose in controlling breast cancer......but does not mean I cannot link onto RL now and then!!......hahahahah Its Ok I know this bit!!.....and by the way I will still be here at 7 TX time when you are safely at home!!! .... and get those dues paid you "user" hahahaha

yeah yeah..sounds entertaining..lol..have a safe trip back! :D especially after the cowboys..ahh...

Sounds like you guys have been lucky (or maybe I just live in a less civilized part of the country). But I'm not talking door dings. I was in an empty section of the parking lot, middle of the day with good weather, for just 10-15 minutes and came out to find someone had destroyed the center reflector. Had to be a truck height bumper because it didn't touch my bumper; went right over the top.

Seems like it was during the Superbowl when a commercial aired (for what, I do not recall) with a guy with a nice car parked in a large lot with no other cars in site and an old junker pulled into the spot right next to his. Really tells my story.

Thanks for letting me vent. :banghead:

This is good advice. Some people might think that you think you're too good parking next to "the regulars," when in fact you're only trying to save the paint. Besides, if you park way out, you are giving up the close proximity to the store and/or security guards/cameras. In other words, if someone is gonna key it, they are most likely to get away with it way out there...

I park next to the "cleanest" car I can find because "generally," if someone keeps their car clean, they will be careful not to hit your car. Notice I didn't say "expensive," because in my town, some people trash their expensive cars.