wross996tt

Nice list USCHANDPOD. I am extremely **** about where I park and definately park as far from other cars as possible...no trees either. If I go to a mall or some place where I worry about leaving it, I take the Lexus.

MichaelL

I have 9000 miles on a 997S, dating from last August. I park it carefully, but in any space that doesn't look too risky. In the city, I use a parking garage, but then you have to let the valet drive your car. Lucky so far, no dings. The car makes a great daily driver.

SilverSteel

Park on the hill, away from frucks and suburbans, away from cart storage, on the end and in wide spots. Kick anyone's *** that touches your car. I prefer to have a pilar in front of me. ONe day at the store an old lady bumped the front of my car since she wasn't paying attention as she pulled into me. No damage, but I almost lost my mind. When this little old lady got out of her car, I just said no worries and bit my lip. Always park with something in front of you besides another car. Sometimes people can't see your car's nose or rear. Take no chances. Carry a grenade with you to drop in anyone's car that parks to close.

Raptor

FWIW (aka my $0.02): I have driven 911s since 1983 and have never had a parking ding. Granted, I don't drive a p-car every day (have averaged about 6000 miles a year). I treat it like a game and don't avoid exercise. Having said that, (1) don't valet park; (2) avoid trees and lamps (pollen and birds); (3) always park on an end-spot - there is always and end-spot if you are willing to walk; and, (4) most important, always park at the best angle possible, nose close to the corner and butt close to the adjacent spot. That forces the adjacent parker to leave maximum space between his/her door and your door. Do not take two spaces (probability of keying increases significantly). Try to avoid cars with big doors and always avoid "compact space" parking. Most people are respectful, but doors are heavy and can get away from folks. Best protection is to not let one swing open and hit your side. All in all, it's not much of a hassle and rarely a real problem. Fortunately, I have other wheels for those times when it comes to jousting with the unwashed masses.

On the other hand, I don't have a clear bra. Go figure!

sabatal

Thanks folks for all the responses. It's interesting to see the mix. Seems that most are a little (or a lot) careful, and no surprise given the price tag. I'll probably do the same, though I hope to be like the more carefree of y'all and just enjoy it to the max.

snarf

Take a car sitter with you - people are extra careful when they see someone in the car. Young children can be hired at a modest rate/hour .

CleanSlate

Nice to know that there are more **** (read: careful)people around than myself... starting to wonder about it.

Queram

Similar solution. Probably old stuff but would not have a parking problem with it.

http://f0rked.com/flash/v=big%20blac...%20named%20Ben

E55AMG

I'm **** about where I park.

Here's the best thing I've yet to hear about parking. Just read about a guy on the M5 board who got one of those "perfect" spots at a garage at the airport. He was due to be back there in a few days again after he got back and hated the thought of giving up that perfect spot.

There happened to be a lot of construction going on in the garage so he "borrowed" two orange cones, backed his car out and placed the cones in front of the spot. He was curious to see if they'd still be there when he came back in a few days. Guess what? They were there and the spot was empty!!! LOL. He even posted pics in the off topic forum at M5 board. I think that's a great idea!

chbj

My 997 is my daily driver. So I park where I can find an open parking space and valet park when necessary (especially in the city). Dings will happen. No point in worrying too much about it.

Vancouver83LTD

Nobody messes with orange cones - they look official and even if it looks like there's nothing wrong, they'll respect the orange cones... Maybe they think that it'll sink or something, hahaha
Seriously, if you saw some cones in front of a parking stall, you probably would skip past it too!

THPorsche

so now we need to keep a couple of orange cones in our trunk to be placed on the parking space next to our cars

waiting for PDK

The story about the M5 owner is amusing because it confirms what seems obvious about BMW drivers. (I'll leave it to a physicist to explain how the universe can revolve around that many different centers.) When it came time to replace our sedan, my wife wouldn't even consider a 3 series because she didn't want to be seen as a typical "a--hole beemer driver."

I'm still a couple of months from ordering but its good to see you generally treat the car as a car with only some modest (and sensible) precautions.

Sorry to take the thread slightly off topic.

Deanski

Count me in too!

I park as far away from others and look for end spots or end of row with a section for no space on one side so I can spill over into that area. This way, for car doors that swing wide, less chance of ding. I also have "Ding-Guards" which are magnetic and I put those on the one exposed side.

One day when I had my Father-in-Law with me when we went to a mall, he asks;" Hey, when is the bus comming?" I looked at him and said "What bus?" which he replies" the one picking us up to get to the mall, you parked so far away I thought there must be a shuttle bus" Smart A$$! It was funny then.

Anyway, I always try like hell to find spots that I know are wide, split etc. I can walk after all.

I think the "Ding-Guards" are sometimes a flag for those that may want to key a car at times, but I hope not. I have to find new ones that I can get colored black to match the paint so it blends in better.

SO I'm **** as hell about my cars. The last one I turned in had no dings or marks at all.

For bad weather or for quick trips to Stop & Shop and other stores I'll take my beater car as it has more room anyway, but nice days, longer drives it's always the Porsche!

Regards,
Deanski

mglobe

I follow a lot of the "rules" posted here. End spots, angled if possible, uphil,... I made it four years in my Saab without a ding, and now I'm trying to keep the 997 clean. So far so good, but...

About a week after I got the car, I go to Home Depot to buy some bird seed, and a couple of little items. I park at the last spot in the parking lot. I buy a 20lb bag of seed, and as I'm walking out to the car, I notice a pickup backing out of a spot about two slots from my car. As the truck pulls out, the shopping cart that they had left behind begins to roll. It backs up a couple of feet, makes a 180, and heads towards my car. No $h#t! The damn thing is rolling right at my passenger door. I take off at a full sprint, and make it there just in time to stop the cart from broadsiding me. I stopped it maybe 2 or 3 feet from my car. All the time sill carrying the 20lb bag of seed. Just like whatever that commercial is where the same thing happens. What I can't believe is that I was too stupid to drop the frigging bird seed.

Mike