I'm getting fed up with how inconsiderate people are these days. I don't drive my M-B as much as I used to these days. I have a 1989 Volvo 245...originally bought it as a secondary car so that I wouldn't have to drive my baby Benz so much and risk getting dings and what not on it. Well, the Volvo is very clean and almost cream puffy. And I don't even want to drive it that much for the very same reason why I don't drive the Benz that much. Now I have two cars I worry about getting dings over. Anyway, this week I gave my M-B a wash and thought I'd take it for a spin for the week. More dings! And I know they weren't there before! I don't think I could ever live a normal life if I bought a brand spanking new car. I'd need therapy.

hi tkami,

Yeah, I take very strong preventive measures when I park. I try to park at the end so that I can reduce getting dinged by 50%, always try to leave big spaces for the car (or cars if I have to park between two cars) next to me to compensate for any bad parking on the other driver's part, park in no-man's land (if I cannot find a suitable parking space, preferably an end space), and park next to nice cars (but nice cars don't necessarily mean their drivers care).

About the door guards. I don't think I will ever use them in public. They will just make people want to ding my car even more!

Most of what you can obviously do to prevent door dings is useless...it only infuriates others to wreak more havoc to your precious vehicle than the errant door ding.

I find that kids are more likely to impart damage to your vehicle than adults since they typically fling doors wide open without restraint. But parking alonside a minivan is generally safe, since they are equipped with sliding doors.

I have a revolving account with the ding removal guy here in town (I get Christmas cards from him every year ), so I just take it as a way of life. I only get furious when the ding appears in a difficult-to-repair area...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car