Mini Cooper Forum banner

What's the point

13K views 22 replies 18 participants last post by  paulramon 
#1 ·
I was really excited about getting my first factory built car and vowed to get it detailed and regularly wash and polish it - so for the first month of its life my F55 has had plenty of TLC.


But, Sunday I went to my local Tesco for some shopping, I parked nowhere near anyone else and when I came back out there was a long black mark along the drivers side wing as if someone had scuffed it on the way by. I've managed to wash most of it out but there are still two areas where the marks are obvious and some deep scratches.


Now am wondering if it's worth keeping the mini looking good or just go back to the twice yearly wash? :crying:
 
#2 ·
Sorry to hear that........Do not park in Tescos that's the lesson. I don't go to Tesco now but did pop in on Monday and parked in a big empty area......came out after 5 mins and there was a stupid woman hard up to passenger side and just as I got there I heard a tap on the door as she got out. Nearly tore her head off and she was blatently denying she touched it. Luckily there was just a small line which polished out.!! I knew to watch her after she was trying 3 times to position her car as I walked across car park
Don't let it get you down though even if you have to get it rectified........you know how much satisfaction you get when its all looking good.
 
#5 ·
I totally hate inconsiderate parkers like this and poor you everkarl. We park miles away from anyone if we can but ultimately if they're gonna get you ...... dent devils or chipsaway have saved us in the past ie me who dinted my wife's mini door with the Hoover!
 
#6 ·
I read somewhere a while back that people tend to be more careful around a car that is obviously well cared for. If someone is inconsiderate, there isn't much you can do about it. I do like you and try to park far away, or I try to park near a car that is obviously well cared for and hopefully expensive :D.

Did you clay bar the area yet? Follow that up with a light polish and then reseal. I had to remove some pretty knarly marks off my R56 and was stunned how much I repaired by hand. Took time but I got it done.

Annette
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeremybingham
#8 ·
My Top tops for parking!

1) Stay away from model's with 3 doors. (No offence 3 door drivers!) Their doors tend to be larger and therefore swing open more to get in and out. (Particularly if there are people in the back seats)

2) Aim for a corner space, away from the run of trollies and (as has been said) the less car caring fraternity. Cut down the chances by protecting at least the front/offside or rear/nearside of your car if you park in a corner space too.

3) If you have to park next to another vehicle, try and avoid the ones with kids/baby seats in them. - Have a look first!

I have at least 3 or 4 scratches that I can't account for and I know when I hand my existing car back the lease company will charge me. I'm determined not to let the mini get like that!

There are always the cleaver in-car camera systems that can monitor around your vehicle when your away. Motion and movement sensors might capture the culprit!
 
#13 ·
My Top tops for parking!

1) Stay away from model's with 3 doors. (No offence 3 door drivers!) Their doors tend to be larger and therefore swing open more to get in and out. (Particularly if there are people in the back seats)

2) Aim for a corner space, away from the run of trollies and (as has been said) the less car caring fraternity. Cut down the chances by protecting at least the front/offside or rear/nearside of your car if you park in a corner space too.

3) If you have to park next to another vehicle, try and avoid the ones with kids/baby seats in them. - Have a look first!

...
These are good points! I always try to NOT park beside a two-door as they are much longer and when swung wide open they are more likely to nail a car beside it than a shorter 4-door style door!

Or, better still, leave your MINI in the garage and just look at it! :D No, that kinda defeats the whole thing though huh?

But, sometimes...well..."stuff happens". Once I was returning to the parking lot after buying some dog food only to be 4 or 5 feet away from my old but pristine (i.e. no dings) Jeep when all of sudden the door on the car that had just parked beside my Jeep has the rear door "fly open" and absolutely NAILS my Jeep's rear door! This little kid couldn't wait to get out of the car...I almost cried...it was worse since I actually SAW IT HAPPEN! :crying:

The woman apologized, but only after I said something....I actually think I was too polite...but, insurance won't cover such things with a deductible, so I was screwed anyway!

It's a very painful thing indeed being on the receiving end of a DING or scratch though.....PAINFUL!

Cheers,

John
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeremybingham
#12 ·
Protective bubble needs to be an add on for inconsiderate people and whatever those bugs are that leave the giant yellow splat that dries to a superglue like crust. Pebble protection too.

My husband's X3 recently had a fine mist of what looks like white road line paint all over it. Most of it came off but we are still finding specks.
 
#14 ·
Thank God I've found other people like me. I thought that I was the only one paranoid about parking my car. Tesco is the worst place I agree. You park miles away from anybody else and come back to find that despite there being hundreds of empty spaces they decide to park right next to your car. So you end up with two cars parked miles away from everybody right next to each other. Other thing, don't start me off about people who refuse to take their trolleys back to the trolley park and on a windy day they are blowing about the car park like yachts on the ocean.
 
#15 ·
I guess we are all the same when parking them then!, I try to park (when possible) right on the end of a row as far over as I can from the next car while staying inside the lines. Car parks with a row at the edge that curves around are good where you get the funny shape spaces that are really wide at one side. Never park next to a car that looks like it's been wacked all down the side with a hammer as it's one of those "It gets me from A to B" drivers who don't give a **** about their own never mind anyone else!. Years ago my mother-in-law opened a car door full swing into the front wing of my Fiesta Si... I still get mad when I remind myself of that!. I saw this guy a few months ago in a brand new Jag in Asda car park using the posts as parking sensors... looked like he had too much money to be even bothered.
 
#19 ·
Supermarket car parks are nothing but a curse. I try and use my wife's car for the shopping trips but when I have to use my Mini then I try and park at the end of a row and park slightly over the lines to be as far away as possible from the car next to me. Or just park miles away and walk. It's just that so many people just don't care about their cars and especially not about other people's.

My first car was a Landrover Defender and it had reinforced tubular sills for off roading. I remember one day a man getting out of his car and flinging open the door into the sill - it bounced off the sill and hit him square in the face. I couldn't help but laugh at him and the lovely dent in his door. I think it might have made him think twice about how he opened his door in future.
 
#21 ·
There's comfort in driving a beater! LOL! But, of course that means leaving the MINI in the garage too much, and that's no fun!
 
#22 ·
So sorry hear the story. I park my car at the end of parking lots, far away from the entrance/ exit/ people traffic. Still I sometimes find a car parked right next to mine with a gap of 10cm. Makes me wonder what a message might be.

And I do not wash my car often. I go with Murphy's Law - as soon as I wash my car, it rains or birds commit carpet bombing on it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top