What is it with people.

[chrisandsharon]

Originally Posted by damo76

hey guys so angry, i have a 15month old focus sports and after 3 weeks of owning it someone scraped the passenger side rear quarter and grazed it. Now i go outside and look at the car only to see someone has scraped the drivers side, this time its pushed in the metal near the fuel filler and scraped all down the bumper. I mean wtf there was no notes left on both incedents and thats part reason why i got a smaller car was so no one would hit it. No one ever hit my other buckets of crap why this new car?
Anyway can i get insurance to fit it since it was obviously done in a shopping centre carpark, my insurer is rac?
ps its stressfull owning a new car, i might go back to an xf falcon.

Mate do yourself a favour and buy a camera. I run the Blackvue 650 2ch. It runs a 1080 up front/720 rear. When I park the F6 I just flick a switch and it will record for days if needed. It has built in wifi so if you need to download you just press a button on the camera and it hooks up to the phone app.......1 minute and you can download whatever you want into your phone library. Extremely easy to use and the cameras are near on invisible. Only thing is the Blackvues are pricey price but worth every cent in my opinion - you get what you pay for. I've had mine now for 18 months running a 64G card and has been faultless. All installed without drilling into anything either.
If you were running this it would have shown up in red on the recording when your car was touched.

I feel for you and your story......hope you have better luck from here on in.

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Happened to my wife's car last Friday, in the car park of the local shops. She comes out and notices several white lines along the rear black bumper. As she's standing there looking, a car pulls up and say's she's seen it happen and took the other cars rego.

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

Anyone that hits another vehicle with theirs and drives off = scum.

Happened twice to my Territory; once on the right front side, next on the left front side.

Now, when parking in car parks, I try and park the SS-V where people don't park - usually far away from the entrance. The annoying thing is I've noticed that people have an attraction to parking next to others. Couple of weeks ago, went to the local shops, car park was quite empty, I parked far away. When I come out a lady has parked right next to me, so close she had to squeeze out. Why? you've got 100 empty double parks everywhere.

agree we do the same park as far away as possible coz most people are lazy but you do get the odd p.o.s that wants to park next to you ...what ive started doing is take two spaces its normally quiet in the far corner and most of the spaces are only designed for a corolla

[supershifty]

Yep, know and fully understand how you folk feel about disrespect for another's property and the low life scum that do damage, then do a runner.

When I used to ride motorcycles (had a few nice ones) all too often I'd come back to it at a shopping centre carpark with the tank covered in greasy hand marks where mummy had sat little precious Johnny on it. I caught one Mum once and put her firmly in her place with a lecture, didn't swear or raise my voice - it wasn't the kids fault.

Of course there's the scenario on the weekend where you're washing the car and discover a mild dent on a panel that wasn't there before from a careless door or shopping trolley. Blood boiling!

Lastly, I parked the Xh ute away from the throng and waddled my lard *** the distance to Coles, returned and loaded the spoils into the ute, didn't notice the damage until I got home:



Mongrels of the highest order.

Cheers!

[Beastie]

So here's a crazy idea....

I was just reading this thread and thought to myself....what if you got a couple of those pool noodle things, cut them in half (down the length), glued them to a thin flexible magnetic strip and then when you park in a car park, just stick them on your doors.

It may look silly, but it might just save your doors from those little dings?

Just a thought

[EBSXR6]

[QUOTE=supershifty;5607001]Yep, know and fully understand how you folk feel about disrespect for another's property and the low life scum that do damage, then do a runner.

Happened to a mate recently at a strip shopping centre luckily a witness who saw it happen left a note on my mates windscreen with the registration number of the car and the witness contact details.

My mate has got the Police involved and they have charged the driver.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Loud_Noises

Claim it on insurance and watch the color drain out of their faces when they get a bill for several thousand dollars.

As if that is going to happen! insurance companies are weak as ****, lost a few excesses payments because they could not bother to chase offenders even after supplying details.

[Cheech]

Had a twilight zone one a few years back.

Drove our pristine XR6T to the local shops.
Waited for an old lady to back out of a parking spot.
Instead of reversing straight she turned, damaging every panel on the car parked next to her and drove off.
I took her spot, got out, found a pen and paper and started writing down all details - rego, what driver looked like, type of car, time of day, my phone number - with the intention of putting it on the damaged cars windscreen.
Whilst writing this down the owner of the damaged parked car returns and starts abusing the crap out of me for damaging her car ! Told her to look at my car and then explained that I was doing her a favour in recording the details which changed her tune.

Cops called me later that afternoon to corroborate the story and had an insurance co call me a few weeks later (not sure if it was the damaged cars insurance co or the damagers insurance co) asking me if I could identify the driver and I said I could. Phone call ended and never heard anything again. So I assume everything turned out OK.

[snopony]

If I can I always try to park next to those vans/newer cars that have the sliding doors. I figure it can't be opened to bang into mine.

[SYZ]

Yep... I always try and find the two newest vehicles to park between. And NEVER park next to a 4WD or a cab chassis.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by SYZ

Yep... I always try and find the two newest vehicles to park between. And NEVER park next to a 4WD or a cab chassis.

I honestly wish everyone was like you, my pristine condition PX Ranger will be dent/scratch free.

[snopony]

Here's another tip- if the car next to me has a baby seat or a booster seat in the back I will look for another spot. I'm a mum myself, and nearly did acrobatics trying to put my baby in the baby seat. I always made sure I put my hand on the outside of my door so if it did push open my hand would stop the door from touching the car next to me... I've had it done to my car where the baby gets put in, mum leans over to buckle them in- bang- straight on my door soon as they lean over their bum pushes the door into yours. Doesn't worry me in the daily as I have chunky wide protector strips that are the perfect door height..... But if it happened in the XB I think I would be decidedly more sweary!

[SYZ]

Originally Posted by trublu

I honestly wish everyone was like you, my pristine condition PX Ranger will be dent/scratch free.

I should have added a mud-covered 4WD with a Kelpie, an Esky, and chain saw on the tray LOL.

[2011G6E]

Modern sized car parks don't help either.
The ones at my workplace are relatively new, and are "painted to Australian standards".
Really?
This is a pic of my Celica in one...it's not a big car, but look at the gaps. Imagine parking something like an XC in it??

When I get my Charger on the road, it's getting parked way down at the end of the car park with the other nice older cars that people own...or dead center and taking up two parks.

[tonys6550]

Originally Posted by snopony

Here's another tip- if the car next to me has a baby seat or a booster seat in the back I will look for another spot. I'm a mum myself, and nearly did acrobatics trying to put my baby in the baby seat. I always made sure I put my hand on the outside of my door so if it did push open my hand would stop the door from touching the car next to me... I've had it done to my car where the baby gets put in, mum leans over to buckle them in- bang- straight on my door soon as they lean over their bum pushes the door into yours. Doesn't worry me in the daily as I have chunky wide protector strips that are the perfect door height..... But if it happened in the XB I think I would be decidedly more sweary!

Yep, I can definitely relate to this comment. Did some shopping at the local shops one day and when I was returning to my car with my shopping trolley I could see a trolley awfully close to my car and a number of people standing at the rear of my car. Anyway as I got to my car I discovered a full shopping trolley leaning up against my car, blood starts curdling, but then to my shock horror there is a young mum behind my car changing bubs nappy on the boot of my car with two other small toddlers playing catch me if you can while using my car as playground equipment. By this this stage my vision was blurred and my blood pressure rising to a point of exploding, but I managed to compose myself as I approached and politely asked the young mum what she thought she was doing? To which she snapped back with a reply of "why, this is not your car is it" then I calmly pulled out out my remote and half raised my arm pointed towards my car and pressed the unlock button and said as a matter of fact, yes this is my car.
She quickly collected her snot rags and shopping and piled them into her open pos mini van parked right next to my car and without any acknowledgment of remorse calmly backed out of her spot and drove of with the two older kids jumping around on the back seat totally unrestrained. And of course she abandoned her shopping trolley on the other side of her mini van, dangerously close to the other car.

I stood there for a moment like a stunned fish thinking to myself, did that just happen and then proceeded to walk around my car checking for damage. There was a small scuff mark from where she leaned the trolley against my car which I managed to buff out later and of course there was a **** load of sugary coated little hand prints around my entire car from the two little ones playing chasy.

After I loaded my shopping and returned mine and her abandoned trolley to the trolley return area I drove home still trying to come to grips of what just occurred. Only in the cartoons, I thought to myself, only in the cartoons.

[Spurious]

I too have been subjected to other drivers causing damage & then fleeing.

Unfortunately, with so many people & cars on the road, it has become all too easy for people to run away from their responsibilities.

Rest with the knowledge that KARMA will bite your butt if you damage someones property & run away like a COWARD!

You may think you're clever, & by fleeing like a coward you'll escape the responsibility, but the CCTV that recorded you doing it, or the witness who wrote down your rego as you left the scene will definitely disagree with you when YOU have to face a magistrate to defend your cowardly actions.

This kind of crime, & yes it is a crime, is called "fleeing the scene of an accident".

[GTP534]

I always try and find a spot between 2 cars already parked. I've found a lot less dings occur this way.

[Brian_H]

For many, many years I have always been exceptionally fussy about where I park. I will always make sure I have enough time to look for a spot where I am satisfied it is highly unlikely I will get a door-bang or any other type of accidental damage. There are, of course, no guarantees but I always do my best to find a 'safe' parking spot. I will drive around for up to 10 minutes sometimes. I know this sounds pedantic but to save a $500 (min) ding in the door of my cherished beast I will invest the time. Now, here's an important point: more often than not my wife will be with me and watches and learns how important this type of strategy is to keeping the car ding-free. She's not a car person at all (constant source of sadness for me!) but is cognizant of the need to protect our 'asset'.

So, against this background I am here to say that my beast (no, not wifey) has no parking lot dings after many years on the road EXCEPT FOR the TWO dings in my driver-side rear door!!! Can you guess where they came from?? Yep, wifey and the kids in MY OWN GARAGE. Wifey claims, on two separate occasions, that the kids distracted her and caused her door to open and bang against my car! Just when you think you've heard and seen it all . . . .

Since then and for the Sprint I have the giant cardboard triple-thickness box our bigscreen came in, laying with attached sponges, against my car on 'her side' every time I park in the garage. Who'd have thought I'd have to protect my car in my own garage AND FROM a person who intrinsically knows how much trouble I go to avoid this type of thing in public car parks. We are still married. Just. I have my teens to consider. I don't want to even contemplate what would happen if she perpetrated this careless stupidity against my new Sprint. I've gritted my teeth and lived with it on this car but I will never allow it to happen again in MY OWN GARAGE! Most definitely not to the irreplaceable Sprint!

[josh1990]

I had an older gentleman reverse into my xf at woolies. Not any old xf mind you, but an orange one. You'd be have to be pretty ******* blind to miss it. Luckily, I had a steel plate reinforcement welded behind the bumper so I got 2 scratches. The elderly gentleman received a caved in rear door, mashed up rear bumper and verbal abuse. I was there to see it all, got to his window and started going off. He tried to drive off and I booted his rear door with my steelcap boots. Caught up with him when he hit another car backing out further down the line.I removed him from the vehicle while the other driver called the police If I didn't have a gun licence to lose he would've got way worse than an ear bashing. The police also took his licence.

[Jess1992]

I usually try to find a nice car or an obvious car enthusiasts car to park next to

[blueoval]

This is why I hate shopping centres with a passion. The entitlement era is well and truly evident when you head to your local westfield. If it's not stealing your carpark which you have patiently waited for, it's opening a car door onto your car to not giving 2 craps about your property with no sorry or remorse whatsoever.

You be surprised at how well a sincere 'sorry' will help calm a potential situation down. But these dole bludging, oxygen thieving filth just look at you with less than zero remorse as if you just violated them when you give them a spray of 'showing some respect'.

I try and that the mrs car to the shops if I can. It has dents and scratches on it already and she doesn't care too much about it, and while it would still annoy me if it got more damage from others, it wouldn't affect me as much as it would my Subaru.

[falcon_bandit]

Originally Posted by johnydep

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

wife works at a smallish shopping centre, started 6am one day and came out after work with 2 doors and rear 1/4 caved in. Given that she had parked in a dirt patch behind the shopping centre, it was one of the other workers there. The height of the damage indicated a 4wd.

also another bloke from work came and told her he seen it was caved it when he started at 6:30am. Ok...... so now it was someone who had an early shift that day. Given that the police station was literally next door, hoping it might be on video. Nope. What about video of the roundabout 30m down the road, cant imagine it was that busy 620-630 !!. But nope, police not interested because we had insurance.

So the wife basically put it down to only 2 businesses in that centre who start their employee's that early and quizzed them, and nope, nobody knows nothing. So now the wife has resorted to getting work mates to check any 4wd's in the typical workers parking spots and send her photos of any that has fresh paint scrapes on the bar. A couple leads, were sent onto the police.

So after 3 weeks, we give up and was about to make the claim, and bear the 20% increase in premiums/rating stuffed because we had no name to give them, we receive a call from the police that the owner 'came forward' as the cops were checking out one of the cars we gave them details of. Cop arrived at our house, with a scribbled letter from the scum driver, admitting guilt, apologising as it was an honest mistake blah blah, and the cop had the nerve to tell my wife... " now this better be it!!! dont you hassle this woman!!!"

never were they helpful, everytime we asked for it, we had to "annoy" them to do it, and even when the person was busted, we were made to feel like assholes

but theyre so quick to jump down your throat if you got a bloody blown brake light !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by falcon_bandit

wife works at a smallish shopping centre, started 6am one day and came out after work with 2 doors and rear 1/4 caved in. Given that she had parked in a dirt patch behind the shopping centre, it was one of the other workers there. The height of the damage indicated a 4wd.

also another bloke from work came and told her he seen it was caved it when he started at 6:30am. Ok...... so now it was someone who had an early shift that day. Given that the police station was literally next door, hoping it might be on video. Nope. What about video of the roundabout 30m down the road, cant imagine it was that busy 620-630 !!. But nope, police not interested because we had insurance.

So the wife basically put it down to only 2 businesses in that centre who start their employee's that early and quizzed them, and nope, nobody knows nothing. So now the wife has resorted to getting work mates to check any 4wd's in the typical workers parking spots and send her photos of any that has fresh paint scrapes on the bar. A couple leads, were sent onto the police.

So after 3 weeks, we give up and was about to make the claim, and bear the 20% increase in premiums/rating stuffed because we had no name to give them, we receive a call from the police that the owner 'came forward' as the cops were checking out one of the cars we gave them details of. Cop arrived at our house, with a scribbled letter from the scum driver, admitting guilt, apologising as it was an honest mistake blah blah, and the cop had the nerve to tell my wife... " now this better be it!!! dont you hassle this woman!!!"

never were they helpful, everytime we asked for it, we had to "annoy" them to do it, and even when the person was busted, we were made to feel like assholes

but theyre so quick to jump down your throat if you got a bloody blown brake light !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just reading this has my blood boiling for you. Where is the justice?

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Just reading this has my blood boiling for you. Where is the justice?

Se this is the problem into today's society, no one gives a damn any more,
cops don't care, courts let them off..... what bloody hope have you got these days!!!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by trublu

Se this is the problem into today's society, no one gives a damn any more,
cops don't care, courts let them off..... what bloody hope have you got these days!!!

And they wonder why there is vigilante groups out there dishing out their own punishment

[Falcon SXR8]

Came out to my ute one day to find a used nappy chucked in my tray, ive given up on expecting much from society these days sometimes its a struggle just getting to your car for all the trolleys just left dumped around the car park, no wonder everyone is fat there to lazy to walk 2 meters to put there trolleys away.

[GO FURTHER]

I have been very lucky so far (touch wood) that in the 18 months of owning my FG MKII XR6T from brand new, I don't have a single ding, dent or scratch on it.
Just the few small stone chips on the front and a few on the bonnet from all the country miles I do. And mostly those have been from following trucks.

When I do park my car, especially at shopping centres I have these rules I always follow;

Rule 1: - If possible always park at the end of the car park, and walk the extra distance.... Because a lot of car door dings and scrapes are caused by people navigating shopping trolleys between parked cars .... The closer you park (especially to a supermarket) then the more people are going to be passing your car with trolleys to get to their car...Parking at the very end of the car park, means no trolleys need to go past your car.

Rule 2: - If possible always park on the very left of a row of car parks (the first spot), because 90% of cars are driven by a driver without passengers, so there is much less chance of the car parked to your right, having the passenger door opened and hitting your car.

Rule 3: - Never park next to a "two door car" .... As the doors are longer on 2 door cars than 4 door cars, and there is greater chance their door will touch yours.

Rule 4: - You are better to drive into a car park than reverse into it... Because if someone backs into your car, it is better to have damage on the rear than the front... The radiator may be damaged and the car could be become undrivable more so than a hit from the rear. Less chance of being stranded and the cost of repair is usually less.

Rule 5: - Always fold in your wing mirrors when parked to give that little extra clearance.

Rule 6: - Don't park near or next to the "shopping trolley return bays" in car parks for obvious reasons.

Rule 7: - If you have to park between 2 cars , you are better, if possible to park between two small cars than two large cars, obviously their doors maybe shorter, and leave more space between the car park lines being narrower.

Rule 8: - Never park next to a "side door" loading van... Unloading these vehicles risks damage to your doors from boxes, hand trolleys, etc.

Rule 9: - Always try to find car spots with "2 point or more protection" ... i.e. Concrete kerb on one side and kerb, barrier or fence at the front so no one can park in front of you or on at least one side.

Rule 10: - If you are parking in a car spot with empty spots to the left and right of yours, always make sure you park "centred" between the lines, and not closer to one of the parking lines.

Rule 11: - If possible, it is better to park in a side street next to the shopping centre rather than in the carpark itself and walk the extra distance.

[jpblue1000]

This is why the daily is the Old XR8, already more hits than elvis, I doubt I could tell if its been hit again. On the other hand the good cars don't get parked, I drive them and put them away at the end of the day, if I do park it its mostly at the end of a parallel park against the curb. Worked well for 20 odd years. Gave up worrying about some cars long ago!
JP

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I have been very lucky so far (touch wood) that in the 18 months of owning my FG MKII XR6T from brand new, I don't have a single ding, dent or scratch on it.
Just the few small stone chips on the front and a few on the bonnet from all the country miles I do. And mostly those have been from following trucks.

When I do park my car, especially at shopping centres I have these rules I always follow;

Rule 1: - If possible always park at the end of the car park, and walk the extra distance.... Because a lot of car door dings and scrapes are caused by people navigating shopping trolleys between parked cars .... The closer you park (especially to a supermarket) then the more people are going to be passing your car with trolleys to get to their car...Parking at the very end of the car park, means no trolleys need to go past your car

Rule 2: - If possible always park on the very left of a row of car parks (the first spot), because 90% of cars are driven by a driver without passengers, so there is much less chance of the car parked to your right, having the passenger door opened and hitting your car.

Rule 3: - Never park next to a "two door car" .... As the doors are longer on 2 door cars than 4 door cars, and there is greater chance their door will touch yours.

Rule 4: - You are better to drive into a car park than reverse into it... Because if someone backs into your car, it is better to have damage on the rear than the front... The radiator may be damaged and the car could be become undrivable more so than a hit from the rear. Less chance of being stranded and the cost of repair is usually less.

Rule 5: - Always fold in your wing mirrors when parked to give that little extra clearance.

Rule 6: - Don't park near or next to the "shopping trolley return bays" in car parks for obvious reasons.

Rule 7: - If you have to park between 2 cars , you are better, if possible to park between two small cars than two large cars, obviously their doors maybe shorter, and leave more space between the car park lines being narrower.

Rule 8: - Never park next to a "side door" loading van... Unloading these vehicles risks damage to your doors from boxes, hand trolleys, etc.

Rule 9: - Always try to find car spots with "2 point or more protection" ... i.e. Concrete kerb on one side and kerb, barrier or fence at the front so no one can park in front of you or on at least one side.

Rule 10: - If you are parking in a car spot with empty spots to the left and right of yours, always make sure you park "centred" between the lines, and not closer to one of the parking lines.

Rule 11: - If possible, it is better to park in a side street next to the shopping centre rather than in the carpark itself and walk the extra distance.

All excellent advice, but do you ever find a park

[ea90gl]

Yes unfortunately some people have no regard to other's property just because they have no regard to their own property...

Within a month of owning my new work van some peanut left a nice obvious ding in the side of it due to them opening their door wide open and slamming it into the side of it. The frustrating thing is its not enough to justify getting it repaired via insurance but enough to annoy you every time you see it.

Just today I was doing some work on a second story flat roof on a building next to a lawn bowls club. My helper and I were speaking about the elderly drivers and how they park and we will most likely see an accident as a joke. Soon after low and behold, some lady attempted to pull in at a sharp angle in between two parked vehicles and ended up hitting the car in the next parking bay. She then proceeded to re-park at a better angle just next to the car she hit and once parked continued on as if nothing had happened. We ended up leaving a note on the damaged car's windscreen with the offenders details.

Some people need their licence taken away

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by Brian_H

For many, many years I have always been exceptionally fussy about where I park. I will always make sure I have enough time to look for a spot where I am satisfied it is highly unlikely I will get a door-bang or any other type of accidental damage. There are, of course, no guarantees but I always do my best to find a 'safe' parking spot. I will drive around for up to 10 minutes sometimes. I know this sounds pedantic but to save a $500 (min) ding in the door of my cherished beast I will invest the time. Now, here's an important point: more often than not my wife will be with me and watches and learns how important this type of strategy is to keeping the car ding-free. She's not a car person at all (constant source of sadness for me!) but is cognizant of the need to protect our 'asset'.

So, against this background I am here to say that my beast (no, not wifey) has no parking lot dings after many years on the road EXCEPT FOR the TWO dings in my driver-side rear door!!! Can you guess where they came from?? Yep, wifey and the kids in MY OWN GARAGE. Wifey claims, on two separate occasions, that the kids distracted her and caused her door to open and bang against my car! Just when you think you've heard and seen it all . . . .

Since then and for the Sprint I have the giant cardboard triple-thickness box our bigscreen came in, laying with attached sponges, against my car on 'her side' every time I park in the garage. Who'd have thought I'd have to protect my car in my own garage AND FROM a person who intrinsically knows how much trouble I go to avoid this type of thing in public car parks. We are still married. Just. I have my teens to consider. I don't want to even contemplate what would happen if she perpetrated this careless stupidity against my new Sprint. I've gritted my teeth and lived with it on this car but I will never allow it to happen again in MY OWN GARAGE! Most definitely not to the irreplaceable Sprint!

I can relate. My mother thinks she takes care of her car, but she doesn't really. Expects everything done for her, or paid for by others.
She has to walk behind my car to get into the house from the garage. Which means if she has shopping bags, then she just scrapes them along the boot/bumper of my car without a second thought. I only had the rear end resprayed 18 months ago, but there are scratches and chips in it, I KNOW she caused. I've been behind her when she's hit my car, and told her off for it.

But it's not her fault. Nothing is ever her fault. It's Dad's, for having things stored in the garage, taking up space that she needs to get by my car without hitting it...or mine for backing too far into the garage. Because lifting the bags up higher, or holding them in front of her and just being a bit more careful, is too much effort.
No apology either, and she wonders why we don't like her...