Ok, I know some of you guys are as paranoid as I am when it comes to parking. What are some of your rules that you follow when you go to park?

Here are my parking lot rules:
If you have to park next to someone:

 

I basically go by everything you posted. My girl thinks im crazy for it. We might find a spot right near the door but nope.. ill go all the way in the back and she'll normally say something like "Really? Its just a car". So ill say "Its just a little more walking too"

 

except for seniors and the disabled, I never quite understood peoples need to park as close to the building as possible.

Another thing to keep in mind is no matter how far out you park, don't park diagonally accros two spaces. A lot of people hate that and some are bold enough to let you know in a destructive sort of way.

 

I generally park a bit further away whenever possible. Girlfriend used to find it weird and go, "really?" - now she doesn't pay it any mind.

 

Do not park next to a "family car" children will just fling open the door so carelessly.

 

I try to park where employees park. They tend to come and go alot less.

I still park out in the sticks though.

 

All of the above plus a little prayer never hurts .

When I'm driving my mom she makes me drop her off while I go park.

 

She makes me do that too!

 

I'll disagree with that #3. Shopping carts are usually sent in that direction for those that are too lazy to take it to the drop off around here. That and the curb might be a bit higher than it should be and thus will scrape the underside of your door.

And I also don't park under power lines, same reason as I don't park under trees

Everything else said I agree with

 

LOL @ Gary!!!

I don't think I'd ever bother taking a pic of the car(s) next to me, as it would be highly unlikely that anyone would admit to dinging my door without a witness or video.

 

I drive to the back of the lot and take 2 spots everytime. I don't care what others think and I don't feel it's inconsiderate because I park in no mans land and walk a long way, if I can I park next to a nice car like mine so that if he leaves I hope he us as concerned with door dings as I am

 

In addition to the parking rules, I also dont use fast food drive-throughs. My wife used to complain when I would make her go inside and not let her eat in the car. She stopped complaining after she went to McDonalds drive-through one morning and the high school girl in front of her decided she could not wait any longer and backed into her trying to leave.

 

I park in Egypt as well...... Cool story; I parked there (Egypt) last week and another nice stang was parked beside me when I came back out. No clue who it was.

On the cautious note guys, it does make your car stand out when you park way out all alone. There are dirtbags that will run a scratch right down the side of it just for spite when they see this.

 

Agreed, I go with all your rules except the very last one. Not much can be done with the pic. Go the police? Nope. Try and get their personal info and take them to court? Possible but not likely. And if you did, they'd say it wasn't them and the damage was done from a different car after they left.

Good idea, I forget this one sometimes.

I definitely don't take 2 spots... like nite said, some people take that as an invitation to key the car. I'll park in no mans land and walk a long way since nobody is likely to park there, but i won't take 2 spots.

 

I understand the concern with key marks but I've been doing it the whole time and no one has keyed my car, I live in a nice enough area though

 

Whenever I go somewhere new if I get the chance I scope it out on google maps for the best parking. The satellite view and street view really help

 

This is awesome, and I was just trying to get over the whole door-ding thing and just enjoy the car. See, it requires a lot of mental energy to keep worrying about the car... I'll avoid going places completely if they don't have the right parking. I park where I only share one side of my car with another. I try and get my wife to park next to me, to shield me from dings. I park where I can see my car. I always park at the top of a hill, in case of loose shopping carts. I park extremely far out in the parking lot. I wake up extra early to get to work when they still have the diagonal spots which don't share sides with anybody.

I *always* stay within the lines, though. No matter how far out I park.

 

All great rules...but don't forget to consider strong winds.

Depending on which way the wind is blowing, park your nose into it. That way, when you open your door, the wind won't try to rip it from your hand. I learned this the hard way...a strong gust of wind snapped the door from my grip and slammed my door open...luckily for me, I was parked by myself and no harm done to mine or another vehicle.

That's my 2-cents

Lou

 

1. Park between the white lines.

You'd be surprised at how many people cannot figure this one out. Anything that makes your car stick out makes it a target for people that can't deal with individuality (I've found frequently that this group largely includes strongly religious folks, but that's a different argument for a different time). This includes parking way out at the back, parking across two spots, etc. People just get pissy when they see people being "prideful", and that's when cars get keyed, shopping cars get run into them, etc.

I don't park anywhere special. I park in the closest spot just like everybody else. I park in the middle of the spot. Yes, I got one shopping cart scratch, but it was a windy day and the cart that did it was near my car when I got out - I should've moved it but was too lazy. My bad.

Since I don't make my car stick out, nobody pays my car any mind. Unless I'm in it, when they go, "Hey, nice car!" and we wave at each other.

 

None of my sons would key or ding your car BUT...everytime they see a car purposely taking up more than one space to "protect" the car they park so close that they driver must enter from the other side of the care if at all possible. It is a pet peeve of theirs.

I, personally, park my grocery getter at the very end because I hate driving through parking lots and the idiots in them. I don't mind walking and I figure I need the exercise.