Doug4.7 wrote:

No, it hasn't been washed in several years, unless you call rain "washing". However, the interior and engine/transmission/suspension/etc. are in great shape. I keep the parts that count in good shape. I just don't sweat a ding or two. I have vehicles to USE, not to just look at.My cars get the same mpg and ride just the same with or without the scratches.

It is just a car. If you want a museum piece, then don't drive it to the store. If you take you car out on the road and park it at the store, it's going to get dents. No point in getting upset about it. Also don't be the ones who park in such a way as to take up 4 parking spaces just so no one will park near them.

Doug4.7 wrote:

It is just a car. If you want a museum piece, then don't drive it to the store. If you take you car out on the road and park it at the store, it's going to get dents. No point in getting upset about it. Also don't be the ones who park in such a way as to take up 4 parking spaces just so no one will park near them.

camper wrote:

Just wondering Doug, if you ding someones car door, do you wait for the people to tell them, do you leave a note with contact info or do you drive on?

fchammer1 wrote:


Another "trick" some people use is to deliberately take up two parking spaces by parking over the dividing line. This, of course, should not be done at a popular restaurant, especially if it takes up the last two available spaces.

That's what happened to us last year; however, the driver of the offending car just happened to leave enough space for me to park our toad -- a 2000 Honda CRV. Less than two inches remained on her driver's side and she had to crawl over through the passenger side to get in (not an easy task in some newer cars!). I sat on the bench outside with a big smile on my face and my camera at the ready. Made my day!

naturist wrote:

To the OP, a little story told to me by Bill Brown, a marketing guy I worked with back in the late 60s.

It seems that Bill's hobby ever since he was a teenager too young to have a driver's license, was fixing auto bodies. He acquired a beater, stripped it down, fixed it up and enjoyed it. The first car he did that to, in high school, got painted candy apple red. For those who don't remember that paint, it was a semi-transparent metallic red that properly applied, with 47 hand-rubbed coats, looked about a foot thick. It was gorgeous to behold, but impossible to repair if damaged. And Bill had applied those 47 hand-rubbed coats of paint to his project car.

Of course he was very careful about where he drove it and where he parked it. But one day he had no choice but to drive it downtown, where he carefully selected the bottom-most level of an underground garage notorious for never filling up. He found two spaces between a couple massive pillars, no other cars on either of the bottom two levels. He parked on the line, taking both spaces, so nobody could park beside him. And you guessed it, when he got back some jerk had wedged in beside him, thrown open the driver's door to exit, and put a big ding in Bill's door, with a big chip in his Candy Apple Red paint job. Still no other cars on that level.

Bill said he climbed into his car, carefully backed out of the parking spot, got out of his car, and calmly went around to the offending vehicle . . . and kicked the drivers door completely in. Then he calmly got back in his car and drove home to grind the entire car back down to bare metal for repainting.

Yeah, yeah, I know, vandalism. But wasn't that just a very satisfying story? Weren't y'all sitting there rooting for old Bill and his revenge? And haven't you ever wanted to do something on that scale? (Please do not do so, remember Bill's revenge, and live it vicariously. Much less likely to get you killed when the other guy shows up, sees you, whips out his piece, and opens fire.)

Doug4.7 wrote:

Who cares? It's just a dent. Will it get lower mpg or ride worse because of the dent? Just ignore it and move on. Calling the police over a dent? I think that's a bit out of line. How will the dent affect the car's performance? If it really bothers you, have the whole car covered in rhino liner. That's about the only way you are going to keep your car from getting dents from other car's doors.