I've read too many parking horror stories, so I figured I'd share my experiences. I've been driving my Challenger daily since April 1 and have zero dings so far. My '85 Omni had 2 dings after 16 years of daily (summer) driving. I must be doing something right.
Exhibit A - my work location.
I am lucky that my work location is in a nice neighbourhood with a decent parking lot. Although it's quite empty at the time, it gets quite full in the with come-and-go customer parking. My work location is the purple circle.
I park in the green area, next to a tree and a curb on one side.
STRATEGY 0 (thanks snipper226) Before going anywhere, assess whether or not there will be ample parking. If in doubt, use a beater vehicle.
STRATEGY 1 - park far away from the building entrance - red zones 1 and 2 above. Two reasons: common folk don't like to walk, so they park close, and because the entrance will have lots of proximity foot traffic near your car.
STRATEGY 2 - park next to a curb. If only one car can park next to you, you reduce your ding chances by 50%!
STRATEGY 3: park next to a curb so that the car next to you would have their PASSENGER DOOR next to your car. As per the green arrow, since most people drive into a parking space (not backing up), the odds of there being a passenger in the car next to you are significantly lower than the odds of there being a driver in the car
STRATEGY 4: park as damn close as you can to that curb. I lower my mirror to see the tire and curb, and back into the spot. Every darn morning. Even if your tire rubs, who cares -- tires can take some abuse and are easy to replace.
STRATEGY 5: parking alongside a residential street where there is no sidewalk also works as a second resort.
STRATEGY 6: Notice the nice amber spot. It's a good spot, next to a curb. BUT: someone parking in would get out on the side of your car, increasing chances for a ding. Furthermore, idiots backing out from the spots ahead (see red arrow) may smash your car. This happened to my boss' Porsche just last week.
STRATEGY 7: find a coworker to park next to you. A coworker of mine always defends my car by parking next to it. He drives in, his driver door is facing away from my car, so I have zero chances at a ding.
STRATEGY 8: find a nice car to park next to. Tthe two green spaces at the top-left corner are good choices, since a doctor in a beautiful BMW 5-series parks in one of them. He parks in reverse, tires close to the curb, with the available spot on the right. He follows my strategy, so when my favourite parking spot is taken, I park next to him. It's a bit of a walk for me, so I never park there unless my spot is taken.
STRATEGY 9: avoid taking more than one space in crowded lots. If the lot is full and you're taking 2 spots, you're gonna piss someone off. That someone will scratch your car.
STRATEGY 10 (thanks sniper226): park next to one of those wide handicapped parking spots, giving yourself plenty of room on the public side. Park elsewhere if you think there's a chance someone will use it though.
STRATEGY 11 (thanks My Hemi): park uphill from shopping carts.
STRATEGY 12 (thanks ClevelandChallenger): try not to park next to other 2 door cars. Those long a$$ doors open extreemly wide and can bang another car, fence, etc...
STRATEGY 14 (thanks Joe Syko): Consider backing into all parking spaces whenever possible. Many parking spots have high curbs that will scrape your front skirt. Also, watch out for those concrete parking choks that have rebar sticking up out of them.
I hope this helps you enjoy years of ding-free doors. If you can think of other tips, add them here!
Exhibit A - my work location.
I am lucky that my work location is in a nice neighbourhood with a decent parking lot. Although it's quite empty at the time, it gets quite full in the with come-and-go customer parking. My work location is the purple circle.
I park in the green area, next to a tree and a curb on one side.
STRATEGY 0 (thanks snipper226) Before going anywhere, assess whether or not there will be ample parking. If in doubt, use a beater vehicle.
STRATEGY 1 - park far away from the building entrance - red zones 1 and 2 above. Two reasons: common folk don't like to walk, so they park close, and because the entrance will have lots of proximity foot traffic near your car.
STRATEGY 2 - park next to a curb. If only one car can park next to you, you reduce your ding chances by 50%!
STRATEGY 3: park next to a curb so that the car next to you would have their PASSENGER DOOR next to your car. As per the green arrow, since most people drive into a parking space (not backing up), the odds of there being a passenger in the car next to you are significantly lower than the odds of there being a driver in the car
STRATEGY 4: park as damn close as you can to that curb. I lower my mirror to see the tire and curb, and back into the spot. Every darn morning. Even if your tire rubs, who cares -- tires can take some abuse and are easy to replace.
STRATEGY 5: parking alongside a residential street where there is no sidewalk also works as a second resort.
STRATEGY 6: Notice the nice amber spot. It's a good spot, next to a curb. BUT: someone parking in would get out on the side of your car, increasing chances for a ding. Furthermore, idiots backing out from the spots ahead (see red arrow) may smash your car. This happened to my boss' Porsche just last week.
STRATEGY 7: find a coworker to park next to you. A coworker of mine always defends my car by parking next to it. He drives in, his driver door is facing away from my car, so I have zero chances at a ding.
STRATEGY 8: find a nice car to park next to. Tthe two green spaces at the top-left corner are good choices, since a doctor in a beautiful BMW 5-series parks in one of them. He parks in reverse, tires close to the curb, with the available spot on the right. He follows my strategy, so when my favourite parking spot is taken, I park next to him. It's a bit of a walk for me, so I never park there unless my spot is taken.
STRATEGY 9: avoid taking more than one space in crowded lots. If the lot is full and you're taking 2 spots, you're gonna piss someone off. That someone will scratch your car.
STRATEGY 10 (thanks sniper226): park next to one of those wide handicapped parking spots, giving yourself plenty of room on the public side. Park elsewhere if you think there's a chance someone will use it though.
STRATEGY 11 (thanks My Hemi): park uphill from shopping carts.
STRATEGY 12 (thanks ClevelandChallenger): try not to park next to other 2 door cars. Those long a$$ doors open extreemly wide and can bang another car, fence, etc...
STRATEGY 14 (thanks Joe Syko): Consider backing into all parking spaces whenever possible. Many parking spots have high curbs that will scrape your front skirt. Also, watch out for those concrete parking choks that have rebar sticking up out of them.
I hope this helps you enjoy years of ding-free doors. If you can think of other tips, add them here!