Car park "door dings" can be the bane of any car owner's existence. These tiny dents often occur when parked next to another vehicle or close to a shopping cart return area.
While it's difficult to avoid such places, there are a few tips and tricks that can help minimize the risk of door dings.
Park on the end
The "end park" is a wonderful parking space that can help minimize the chance of getting a door ding. This is a space right on the end of a row, which allows you to halve the chance of getting a door-ding because there is only another car on one side of you.
An end park does better than halving the chance of damage because you can also position your vehicle a little further towards the clear side than you normally would, giving the vehicle next to you more door-swinging space.
Avoid trolley bays
Avoid parking your car next to the trolly return bays, as many people simply thrust their empty trolleys in the general direction of the bay, and whatever they hit, they hit.
Also keep away from any area where trolleys are likely to be abandoned: near the front door or along a supermarket-adjacent footpath, for example, as trolleys can easily fall off the kerb.
Stay away from SUVs and utes
If you don't drive a larger SUV or ute, try not to park next to one, as it can create a situation fraught with potential damage.
For a start, if you have a normal car and you're next to an SUV, the difference in height means the door openings won't match, and there's much more potential for a dent in an unsightly place. That goes double for the bottom corner of an SUV or ute door.
Beware of cars carrying babies
Parents of young children often have baby seats in their cars. But the truth is that a car with a baby seat in the back is like a contagious disease when it comes to carpark smarts. Some parents are very careful, some really aren't.
Regardless, it is almost impossible to get a young child in or out of a car seat without swinging the door wide open and leaning on it quite a bit...
Don't be fooled by sliding doors
Vehicles with sliding doors (like a van or people mover) may seem safe as the door can't damage your car. But that's a flawed strategy because a vehicle with sliding doors is also far more likely to be carrying a lot of people, which means many more bodies around your vehicle - and bodies wear clothes with metal domes and zips...
Check out the car you're parking next to
Always take a quick look at the edge of the front door on the car you're parking next to - if it has scratches, scrapes, or chipped paint, it's likely that the driver or occupant isn't too worried about letting the door fall open on solid objects. Like your beautiful car.
If it's a car with those hideous plastic caps on the door edge designed to protect their paint (but nobody else's), that's way worse; you know that person will open their door without any care...