UKC

I've been eating lunch in my car for the last few days and each time I get someone pulling up in the next space along and opening their car door into my car

I don't like to make a fuss about it when there's no scratch left, but what gets on my nerves is when they don't even try to stop it happening and there's no apology.

How do you deal with these people? I don't have an expensive car or anything but it would be nice if it didn't happen

In reply to rossowen:
someone left a proper dent in my car and also took the paint back to the metal doing this. Ofcourse they didn't leave a note so I don't know who did it!

I always park as far as away as possible now even if it means a five minute walk to get into tesco. Other people are just so inconsiderate.

In reply to Milesy:

The problem is people are like sheep. If you park somewhere far away from the shop with no-one anywhere near you you can guarantee when you return to your car some sheep like human has parked in the space right next to you usually not leaving enough space for you to get into your door without bashing their car.
Rant over.

In reply to rossowen: People get way too stressed out about their cars - properly fetishistic. The odd dink isn't going to make any difference to what it does or how it works, or even how long it'll last. And given how grotesque the depreciation is, it isn't as though it'll affect it's value.

In reply to rossowen:

eye for an eye, door for a door.

spanner in the glove box just for the occasion.

In reply to rossowen: If they scratch your car by them being careless, get their details from them and claim on their insurance, If they start being a dick about it, wait until they are gong and put a nice deep scratch, all the way through to the metal along the full length of their car.

In reply to toad:

course it'll affect the value when it comes to selling it if the paint is through to the metal and its dented!!!!

In reply to toad:

I agree, it's just a small bit of paint on your vehicle. Stop whinging and get on with your life.

In reply to dan:

Yeah, criminal damage, that's the way forward!
If you really feel the need to annoy them, why not just let their tyres down? Will cause them more inconvenience than just being a mindless vandal?

I try my best not to hit other peoples car when opening my door.
I wish others would try to be just as considerate when parking. Especially if they are parking next to my car.
And park so close that I can't actually get in the car without my door coming into contact with their car.

I probably deserve to have my car damaged by some moron with a spanner though, for having the temerity to want to get into my car.

I agree, a "Sorry!" or some form of recognition that they have accidentally bumped your car with their door shouldn't be too much to expect - but I find it hard to get too wound up about it.

Unlike people *intentionally* damaging other peoples property for fun or from misplaced feeling of anger, I can get wound up about that.

Si

In reply to dan:

Wouldn't it be better to talk to them. "Hey, what ar eyou doing bumping my car" "Why didn't you apologise to me?" etc.

In reply to An Triubhas:

compared to what it loses every day just sitting outside your house, a few quid for a scratch is nothing. A whole industry of overpriced car repairs spending hundreds each time to repair a tiny dink. It's perverse. It's a huge collective blind spot.

In reply to rossowen: My Camper van is pretty much the only thing of value I own and I keep it in very good condition
if people are so ignorant and such poor drivers that they can`t position their car in such a way that they can`t get out of it without causing damage to someone's pride and joy, without an apology, or without leaving their details under the wiper deserve everything they get.

In reply to lowersharpnose: Of course it is, but chances are they wont give a monkeys.

In reply to rossowen:


Whilst they are walking off, get out of your car, banging their car. Acknowledge them when they look round and then walk off.

In reply to ice.solo:
eye for an eye, door for a door.
spanner in the glove box just for the occasion.

It is that sort of nonsense that generates pointless agravation.....


A real man would turn the other car upside down, loosely tie a length of rope to one end and wrap it several times around the car. Set fire to the car then drive off with the length of rope tied to your towbar.

Watch the burning spinning wreck as the owner returns.

Thank you. You can post me my Nobel peace prize.

In reply to rossowen:
I always buy a car with dents already in it. It saves time.

In reply to rossowen:

Dirty protest?

In reply to toad: It has nothing to do with if it's a small scratch or not.. and I think everyone has done it at some point. But it's when people don't seem to care less what they are doing to your property that is frustrating.

You say it's not going to make a difference to how it works, but you could say that about lot's of things. If someone was to spraypaint your house it wouldn't affect how it works, but im sure you wouldn't appreciate it too much!

In reply to rossowen:

Different people have different ideas of how much space is required, I generally open my car door with my hand on the most outside point so that it's my hand that hits any nearby car, but while my mother considers 2 foot to be far too close I find plenty of room to get in with a foot of space in the same car. Although not so much in the van as there's a great big pocket and I have to jump down to the ground so need a bit more space, if I can't get out of either door I just climb through and get out the back.

Last Christmas my mum opened my dad's car door into my van, denting both. Apparently it was the fault of my dad's car door for opening so much.

But yes, people should apologise and try not to hit their car door into other peoples, but some peoples idea of 'enough space' is significantly more than other people need and in a lot of car parks you have no choice about parking relatively close, or you might be parking over the line because the person on the other side did and there was no-where else to park, I hate it when people get bitchy about others "parking too close"

In reply to toad:
If you like I'll mail you my address and you can send me your cash for no good reason.

Would you do this?

Are you protective of your cash?

I'm pretty sure the answer to the last question will be yes so why shouldn't people be protective of their cars?

And your last statement is ridiculous, you're suggesting that people will buy a bashed up car for the same price as they would a well looked after one.

Other than the fact that these peoples actions cost me money and make my car look like a heap it's their rudeness and total disregard for other people.

In reply to rossowen:
At least its only a car door. I came back to my car once and found the backend caved in where someone had reversed in to a space at speed. No note or anything. Nice.

Also, the other day, I was stood waiting for a lift and witnessed a man next to me try to reverse park in a space clearly not big enough. That didnt stop him. He hit the parked car 2 times to bump it down the road to widen the space. I gave him the shock of his life and a mouthful. He gave me a load of lip in return. I then told him it was my car, it wasnt but he didnt know that, and he sped off!!

Some people just dont care.

In reply to sianabanana:

Please, in that situation, just leave a not for the person whose car it really was with the guys details and yours as a witness! They'd be properly thankful, and the guy being a dick would have his premiums go up - winners all round!

Tim

In reply to rossowen:
We're maybe overlooking one key factor here, that cars have got bigger while carpark spaces seem to have shrunk ... some of the monstrous 4x4 tanks that I encounter at my local shopping centre take up the entire space provided.

In reply to Bob Aitken: I don't think that's the issue. It's the people who swing their doors open without even looking to check what the gap is.

In reply to Bob Aitken:

some of the monstrous 4x4 tanks that I encounter at my local shopping centre take up the entire space provided.

If they can't park their vehicle and get out without damaging someone elses property, they should park somewhere else or come back when it's quieter.

In reply to Bob Aitken: and then smile at you when they notice you were sat in the car

In reply to rossowen:

I appreciate that some people are not concerned about a 'minor dent' in their car doors, that is their choice. If other people get wound up about these blemishes that that is also their choice. It is not the place of those who don't care about the cosmetics of their car to set the terms of retribution for those who do care. If you happen to park next to my vehicle and manage to dent my door don't think to yourself that it's only a Landrover, it probably looks better with a dent because when I see that dent I will think 'thank you for your challenge, I accept you invitation to this vehicle disfiguring contest.

In reply to Flatus Vetus:
Landrovers just look like one big travelling dent

In reply to rossowen: I've just had an awesome idea what to do if someone damages my van, I should get an empty red bull can and fill it with thermite, ready with a magnesium ribbon fuse if someone dents it, place the can on the car bonnet, light it and sit back and watch it melt through the bonnet and through the engine to the ground, that may teach them to park more consideritly.

In reply to Flatus Vetus: A few years back when walking back to my three day old van I noticed a dent in the side, parked next to it was a very new merc van with the green paint from my van on the edge if the door. The cheeky git not only hit my van hard enough to put a fist sized dent in it but he left his van there and didn't even bother to clean the paint off. I don't know how it happened but as I was inspecting the paint on his door two scratches not only down to the metal but deep enough to crease the metal suddenly appeared down the full length of the side of his van. Shame that.

In reply to dan:

Wow. That is an awesome idea. You should definitely do that. Nob.

All pretty much goes to show how childish the general car owning population gets when their toy gets scratched.

Quite happy to drive down the motorway at 70+mph picking up stonechips all over the bonnet but a mark in the door. OMG! Call the police!

Laughable.

My kids are forever opening the doors onto parked cars or brick walls. That's what touch up paint is for. It's very good nowadays, you can even get a man who will do paintless repairs when you come to sell the car. He can do the dings in the door while he's doing the stonechips on the bonnet.

In reply to toad:

Personally, I have never understood the logic of buying new cars, but I guess somebody has to. The depreciation on the sort of car that someone in my income bracket 'should' buy, would just make me cry. I am pretty good at wasting money in ways I am much happier about, I dont need to play that game.

In reply to TimR:
Plus, I don't know why people get so steamed up when you bash into their bumpers. It's what bumpers are for. Bumping.

In reply to rossowen:

complain to the a***oles that designed the car park with tiny spaces just large enough to slide your car in with a shoe horn and requiring a can opener to get out.....or move to Canada where spaces are more generous..?

In reply to TimR:

childisn - not really, just that some people like to look after their cars and limit the number of chips and dents and some don't.

Touch up paint sticks out like a bull dog's bollocks and Dentmaster paint repairs are not much better than temporary.

If you or one of your kids dented my car I would invite you to put your hand in your wallet - it is not about what you see as valuable, but about what I see as valuable and you just damaged. Respect for others they used to call it in the old days.

In reply to John Rushby: You know John its not so much the damage its that they just dont think and if they then do realise they just dont care. Its the pig ignorance that I find so shocking.

In reply to Bob Aitken:

My local Tesco carpark saw a fracas a few months ago when someone opening the door on a Humvee type vehicle took out the passenger side window on an MG. The Humvee owner just looked at it, shrugged, got back in and tried to drive off but was cut off by an irate MG owner with a trolley.

In reply to rossowen: They are clearly ignorant. Grrrrrrr!

In reply to rossowen: The main issue here are parking spaces which are too small for cars to park in reasonably, in order for the business to get the maximum number of cars into car park. Pay & display car parks probably do this to maximise revenue. In Tescos and non P&D I just park across the white line using 2 car spaces - gives plenty space to get the shopping in and avoids issue, or use the disabled or M&B spaces. In P&D I park with maximum space on the driver door side and minimum space on the passenger side, so the adjacent car cannot even open their door (passenger side)to get in so avoids the dent problem, which means the driver has to get the car out of the park space first for their passengers to be able to get in and again avoids them opening their door into my car.

In reply to jjj111jjj:

or just use the disabled spaces like every M3 and Range Rover Sport driver.

In reply to John Rushby:

Well said.

In reply to John Rushby: I saw a disabled badge in a Range Rover last night at Asda, they must not have been that disabled if they can climb in to one of those with no problems!

In reply to jjj111jjj: and also people who drive oversized cars which they dont have the skill to park properly

In reply to dan: Getting into a Range Rover is much easier than getting into a car for someone tall. With a Range Rover or other 4x4 you can just slide onto the seat and lift your legs in, with a car you need to fold yourself into it and drag yourself out.

In reply to dan: Its not their body thats disabled Dan

In reply to jjj111jjj:

For what you say you really need to find two car that have drive in forwards and then reverse in between them leaving all the room on the side with two driver's doors and no space on the side for two passengers.

In reply to TimR:

I wonder if it was one of your children who left us with a £395+VAT bill for repairs. Do you laugh and congratulate them as yet again they slam and grind your car door into someone's car. You obviously don't care about personal responsibility; and are teaching your children to not give a damn about other people's property or feelings.

In reply to jjj111jjj: Honestly I don't think that is the main issue at all and you are missing the point.

If someone dents your car by accident then ok, accidents happen, but at least have the decency to own up to it/offer to have it repaired.

It's the people who clearly have no respect for others and don't give a sh*t that are the main issue in my opinion.

In reply to Removed User: That's exactly what happened to me yesterday. Sat there eating lunch when a car pulls up on my right - I look across to see child swing door open without looking to see if anything was there and of course the door bangs my car at speed. Child gets out and closes the door without looking. I look at child's mum who watched what happened, see's me, smiles with a half-shrug and walks away without saying a word to child or me.

Accidents do happen but it would be nice if people at least looked like they were trying to prevent them.

In reply to rossowen:

There is of course payback

I was driving slowly along the Grove in Ilkley a few months ago, had right of way along what is a very narrow road. A BMX X5 was heading towards me and chose to ignore my right of way and try to bully me out the way.

I opted to apply the Collision Regulations and decided to be stand on vessel. I stopped and he continued to head towards me before jibbing it at the last minute, swerving, grinding his alloys along the kerb and tw*tting his wing mirror on mine.

There were bits of bronze plastic, glass and signal lens all over his bonnet. His face was puce and I just looked across at him and smiled

The moral of the story is, don't try and bully a ton and a half of military Landrover with dumb iron wing mirrors out the way

In reply to John Rushby: Class. I need one of those Landrovers

My Dad told me once, 'always park next to a posh car'

In reply to rossowen:

Christ, the problems some of you people have in life. Get a grip.

jcm

In reply to rossowen: In the past I have been annoyed by the rubbish parking of some people who don't fit between the lines and effectively use up two spaces. I have since realized that this is a brilliant idea as most people will use the next full size space either side, thus leaving me with ample, ding free (usually) room!
I don't do it all the time but it is very useful when wrestling a 18 month old into his car seat without having to worry about the next car's paint job.

In reply to Removed User:

Obviously.

In reply to John Rushby:
In the head on situation, each vessel should alter her course to starboard, sounding one short blast on the ship's whistle.

In reply to birdie num num:

In the head on situation, each vessel should alter her course to starboard, sounding one short blast on the ship's whistle.

You could always try the old cunning racing ploy of shouting "Starboard", no matter what tack you're on.

In reply to rossowen:

Do like most of the brain donors do at Rochdale super markets,park in the disabled bays,even though they are not,loads of space.

In reply to rossowen:

Personally I think that anyone who worries about the odd tiny scratch on their car probably deserves to have their ncar scratched. I am amazed that such an anally materialistic person could also love climbing.

In reply to Robert Durran:

ermmm... controversial.....just look what a rumpus is kicked off by the climbing fraternity when one of their trad classics is nicely scratched from the drytoolers.
Back to cars, I had a nice 2 inch bare metal trough put in my door from a shopping trolley left to drift around the car park by a supermarket consumer who's life is so busy they can't secure the damn thing in the collection points provided. Ultimately its a question of manners and respect. I fear for the consequences if we abandon all attempts at making the effort.

In reply to adam11:

That's the way forward - park next to nice cars, people who own them generally don't want to damage their paint, so will avoid knocking your door with theirs.

In reply to dan:

Don't be stupid. A sparkler is a far more effective fuse, and easier to light.

In reply to sbc_10: I'm impressed, you've managed to squeeze dry-tooling into an already contentious debate!

Just as a note back to the op, why do you care if there's no scratch? If the space is really tight I often open the door slowly, till it touches the other car before getting out so I don't accidentally bang it. That way, alright my car touches yours, but it doesn't dent it, because it's touching from the start there's no force generated to bang it. Surely this is just common sense and I'm not sure why you need to do anything about it. If it doesn't scratch, then why worry?

Ben

In reply to rossowen: Last year, waiting to pick my girlfriend up from work a fella parked in a space next to me and opened his door with a great thud into my car. I swiftly opened mine with a thud into his car and closed it again. He looked at me, scowled and walked off. Wonderful.

In reply to Sharp:

If you open the door onto my car so that it's touching , and then get out of your car while in that position your door will move up and down as the weight is moved. If this scrapes or marks MY car in the process I'll feel justified in applying my boot to your balls.

In reply to Sharp: If there's no damage then I'm not particularly fussed, other than the fact that the basher doesn't care whether they'd damaged my car or not, and they could well have done.

It's the attitude towards it which is nearly as frustrating as the damage itself.

If in any doubt, I use my hand as a buffer to make sure there's no contact between the cars - I don't want to damage my door any more than I want to scratch theirs. I wonder why others can't just do that.

In reply to Roguevfr:

And I think that sums up the issue perfectly. We're starting to see predictions of a 70,000,000 population - lots of people living on top of one another means we've all got to show some consideration towards each other. But equally, we've got to stop getting quite so upset about our shiny metal boxes.

Don't touch the Precious Things!

In reply to rossowen:

I hate it when people bang their doors into mine while I'm in the car at Mc Donalds. I don't mind too much if it's because they're leaving though, at least then I can throw my rubbish out the window without it bouncing back into my car.

In reply to dan:

My partner has MS and we have a Nissan X Trail on motability to which we contribute a payment each month - They aint free.

one of the reasons we have this is because the high and wide entry doors makw life a lot easier when manouvering in and out of car.

Please think things through before you post.