Will this always happen?
 

So walked out to hop in the whip to head to work and the roofers who had been working on my house are all standing around it. I am obviously completely used to that sort of attention by now so I stroll up and greet them amiably. Boss man asks me if I've "seen" my car... my blood ran cold and my eyes went red. One of the dudes tagged my driver-side front quarterpanel with a truck door.... AWESOME. 5-days in my ownership, 7 days in the state, less than a fortnight in the country and the American trucks are already bullying my car. FML. At least Bossman said he'd pay for it to get fixed... So I took it into the body/paint shop with the best reviews around and they write up an estimate. E-mail the roofing company and they immediately call the shop and give them their credit card for the work. Taking it in on Monday --I'll post a photo of the finished repair and I'd love to hear about the percievable quality of the work! Pardon my links to the pics. I don't know how to get a .jpg URL through google docs/drive (anyone have suggestions for that BTW?)

Black BRZ

The Black one is mine... This was the day I brought it home...

Dinged Up!

This is the ding that it recieved. Post-repair photo when it's done.

***Update***
Got it back from the body shop after a few days. They did a great job, paint matches perfectly in all the different lights I've had access to. Here is a G-docs link to the repair pic:

Job's Done!

P.S. What is a good way to keep those rotors clean? I wipe them down but it seems to come back... Is this just Oregon's effect on things?



Cheers,
Nate

Fortunately not too bad.

Luckily, yes. The body/paint shop said that there is only a very small chance that the bumper/hood/door will need to be blended --whatever that means.

Paint blend: when they repaint the panels surrounding the repair so that the color of the repair matches/doesn't look as off.

Thank you for reminding me why I hunt for the right spots. They have to be far away that it inconveniences people to park there, but not so far as to draw the attention to it from people thinking they parked to avoid cars. These people then proceed to fuck with your vehicle.

I also always try to find a spot with a curb to one side, be it left or right, and hug that curb. That leaves maximum space between my car and the only other car that can park on the other side.

[ ][ ][ this Xcurb
[ ][ ][is myXcurb
[ ][ ][spot Xcurb

I do this same thing with my current ride. At work there is a metric eff ton of free spaces so I'm the asshole that takes up two spots. However I do it where hardly anyone parks so it's not like I'm inconveniencing anyone.

That's awesome that they owned up to it and are paying for the repair.

I've only had one issue with a door ding on my BRZ (it was pretty minor) and it seems most people actively avoid parking close to my car.

Not for me, I can park a mile away and people still park next to me. Even when parking lot is half empty.
:sigh:

They'll park right next to me but they usually park a little closer to the opposite line to give a little extra space between my car and theirs.

TO be honest i actually hunt for parking spaces that meet the following criteria.
1. Against a curb (that way it eliminates one side available for door dings)
2. A spot between to small cars (never park between trucks/jeeps/SUVs)
3. A spot not covered by trees (Sap ruins paint)
4. A deserted spot far from the doors but not near traffic.

I see an advantage to parking next to your car even when you're parked far from the rest. For one thing I know you want to protect your car and I want to protect your car too. Secondly, if you feel that way about your car I feel justified in thinking you will think the same way about my car and be sure not to harm it.

That thinkiing makes it a win-win for both of us.
:burnrubber:

This is the logic I use too. Mutual protection from the rest of the yahoos in the parking lot who can't reverse into a spot, or can't stay within the parking lines.

Me:
1. Always parallel park and find the first spot. Even if I have to walk a mile, its good for your health. I always think that parallel parking require more skills so no first timer, at least even if the other guy hit me, he will only hit the rear bumper. Plus, your doors are safe from stupid people that just bang their doors.

2. If there are no parallel spots available, say you are in a mall, then find place between pillars.

3. If you arrived in a parking floor that almost full, then proceed to another level which will be empty. Park as far you can from the lift/entrance.

4. Find the corner spot where at least only 1 side is exposed to other car next to you.

5. Still no good spot available? Find a higher price car to park next to. Last time I parked next to a GTR in a mall. LOL.

What about the roofing? did it turn out well?

Drive more. Steel rusts and will continue to do so no matter what you do, it's usually all gone after the first few stops.

P.S. What is a good way to keep those rotors clean? I wipe them down but it seems to come back... Is this just Oregon's effect on things?

Sorry to see that. No respect but at least the boss owned up to it.

Also, IIRC, the rotor rusting is due to the high carbon steel they used, supposedly resists warping and cracking better for over heating. Not sure on that last part though.

I live out in Astoria at the moment and my rotors are covered in rust every morning. I tried a few things, but to no avail the rust always wins. So now I just drive it and not worry about it. Rust peels right off after a few sets of braking.

I hate that, parked on my driveway the first day I got it, 1 hour later bunch of yellow/brownish marks, quickly wiped it off and parked into the garage.

I usually try to:

- always park where I'm least exposed to other cars (walls and curbs are your friend)
- avoid parking next to trucks
- avoid parking next to SUVs
- avoid parking next to cars that are pieces of shit

I still get dinged occasionally :\

It's annoying enough when it happens to my old GTI-- I'm gonna be really pissed when it invariably happens to my BRZ.

Dings will always happen no matter what, I was parked all by myself and my co-worker decided to park next to me. I think he was the one who dinged my car because he got an F150 and told me, "I didnt realize how small your car was until I parked next to it..".

I think I knew what he meant when I got home and noticed the ding on the passenger side. It wasnt a big ding and I easily fixed it so no biggie

After about a week of the boss-men coming over to look at things and do touch-ups on everything it turned out great.

Found out that the same dude who dinged my car was cutting a vent hole in the roof with a reciprocating saw and cut all the way through to the interior of the house.... into the shower stall.... where my housemate was taking a shower.... the blade missed her head by aprx 6 inches!!! The dude got SO bagged after the job.

it sucks but at least you are covered. things happene.

about that rotor, it's completely normal when raining.
even brand new rotor will give you that after time passes by.
it will clean automatically when you break :)

every year i fix all my dings... approx 3 a year

any time me and my friend go out we park side by side as close as possible to get away from the dings! lol

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...14634653_o.jpg

THAT HOW YA DO IT!

been doin' this for 45 years! works for me!

yes! most people will not park next to you because they "respect" your reasoning for parking the way that you do,EXCEPT the ''assholes" who don't care!

this is generally correct,however ''some" will park next to you in the middle of nowhere simply to make you nervous,or try to aggravate you. (no intention of harming your property) yes! "some" people WILL do this,because they are f**ked in the head!..just sayin'

this happens in minn-ah-snow-tah? how can this be?

My son told me how a 'mate' keyed a car parked like that at the cinema, to teach the selfish owner a lesson. That was when he was in his teens.
So be warned. Hopefully it's safe enough at work.

For the record, my son was digusted and it made him even more paranoid about parking his own car.

When you see a flash car using 2 bays in a busy carpark I think most people would cheer if it got towed away.

I have safe parking rules too, trying to look inconspicuous so that some physco doesn't realise how devastated I would be if they mess up my car.

Man, if I had a dollar for every time I've parked out in BFE to avoid dings, only to return to see a beater parked next to me for no apparent reason, I'd order a Nameless catback right now...

Paintless dent repair and some scratch doctor will fix that good as new without having a body shop "blend" over spray all over your car.

God I love parking my POS truck next to people who do that. I don't mean any harm I just like knowing I gave someone who's a bit too anal retentive a fright.

Lol... Maybe that's why they do it. I've never had one that was too close, and none has ever dinged my door. :happy0180:

I hate people that have no respect for other cars. If I am in centered in the lines and you park next to me, I expect you to be respectful of my car.

In my legacy I was parked at the mall getting some lunch, when I came back to my car I noticed my right side mirror was half way folded. I then relized how horrible the small truck next to me parked. He was over both sets of lines (Driver Front tire over left line and Passenger rear tire over right line).

I investigated further and saw a small paint chip on my wheel arch from where the dude's door hit my car. Since I had some time, I waited a round a little (In hiensight, maybe not the best idea) for the guy to come back.

I asked him to be more careful when parking and opening his door because he caused damage on my vehicle (damage was minimal, didn't care much). He got super defensive and starting saying he didn't do it. So I ran my finger over the small paint chip and showed him the paint tranfer from his vehicle.

He continued to deny that he did anything wrong. I then asked him to open his door which lined up perfectly with the damage. He continued to deny that he did it. He then stated "Well I am sorry if someone else did this, but it wasn't me."

By that point I knew he wasn't going to fess up, so I just told him one more time, just be careful when opening his door next time and headed on my way.

Human beings dude... such fucking disappointments. :sigh:

dinged at a week old!? at least they're paying for repair

Shameless bump to show off the repair work! Check my first post for the updated pics (links because I don't really know how to use the internet.)

This weekend i was doing the same thing i wanted to park next to another expensive car and when i opened the door slightly the fucking wind slammed the door to theirs (ouch) and yes left a mark on theirs and i got a little tiny chip on the edge of my door :(

I'll park next to nice cars with by beater VW TDI, because I know I'll be careful and respectful of their property. Yes, I park my pickup out in the back too, it's a really nice $50k pickup. I've had to fix two really bad door dings in the truck already and it's not even a year old yet.

+1

I left my car at work overnight when I was on a business trip and it rained for two days. I came back and each rotor had a nice layer of rust on them. I hopped in and once I got home they were shiny as new. All the rust rubs off under the friction of braking.