How careful are you with your new car?

godtabh

I see the same person in the same car walking to work every morning. They had a Santa Fe up until last week.

They got a brand new 11 D VW Golf on Monday. Its a diplomatic car (from a country that has a stereotype of been bad drivers) with all the bells and whistles as far as I can tell.

Today it has a massive dent and scrape on the rear passenger side door. If you saw her trying to do a turnabout (which is a regular occurrence after she misses her turn into her office!) it would be no surprise to see the damage done. Must be thousands worth of damage done and the car is 5 days old!

If it was me I'd be very cautious with a new second hand car let alone a brand new car.

Any one else see stuff like this?

Was gona take a picture but I could have been done for spying!

MetzgerMeister

If a car in front of me is waiting to turn right and there's a footpath on the left, I don't undertake. Not because it's not entirely legal but just so I don't run the risk of either hitting their car or damaging my alloys off the kerb.

If there's potholes on a road, I will slow right down.

My car is 7 years old, I've owned it for 3 of those years and I intend to be as careful if not more careful for the length of time I have it

einheisserschre

einheisserschre wrote: »

If a car in front of me is waiting to turn right and there's a footpath on the left, I don't undertake. Not because it's not entirely legal but just so I don't run the risk of either hitting their car or damaging my alloys off the kerb.

Surely you can judge it there is sufficent space or not?

MetzgerMeister

RoverJames wrote: »

Surely you can judge it there is sufficent space or not?

I can indeed but I still don't take the chance I know it sounds stupid but it's just a habit I got myself into since I got the car. Mind you, I don't ALWAYS do it but I do the majority of the time.

docmartin

I'm a paranoid parker, i like to park beside a shrub or kerb so that if idiots do try to park beside me they can only damage one side of my vehicles with their doors.
my parking rules include i like to park beside an expensive clean car,
an older car that has been looked after and kept well,
a sensibly modified car that you imagine is owned by someone who takes good pride in their car
i will not park beside rough looking cars,
cars that look like there is gonna be a pile of kids getting into and out of
or as my number one rule avoid all people carriers.
also on a smaller scale i avoid 2 or 3 door cars as the swing of these doors is wider than that of a 4 or 5door car.

best to park away off in the corner of the car park beside nobody

my names docmartin,,,,,,,,,,and i'm a paranoid parker

barryfitz

very careful. Still getting used to the width of it and im well off the mark when it comes to reversing it. its a hatchback, used to have a saloon and now when Im reversing up to anything and I get out and look back there is a tonne of room left!!! but the nose is always in line with the car beside me :cool:

Cyrus

docmartin wrote: »

I'm a paranoid parker, i like to park beside a shrub or kerb so that if idiots do try to park beside me they can only damage one side of my vehicles with their doors.
my parking rules include i like to park beside an expensive clean car,
an older car that has been looked after and kept well,
a sensibly modified car that you imagine is owned by someone who takes good pride in their car
i will not park beside rough looking cars,
cars that look like there is gonna be a pile of kids getting into and out of
or as my number one rule avoid all people carriers.
also on a smaller scale i avoid 2 or 3 door cars as the swing of these doors is wider than that of a 4 or 5door car.

best to park away off in the corner of the car park beside nobody

my names docmartin,,,,,,,,,,and i'm a paranoid parker

im with ya, the missus has now caught the careful parking bug off of me,

generally a space i can parallell park in is preferable

docmartin

Cyrus wrote: »

im with ya, the missus has now caught if off of me,

generally a space i can parallell park in is preferable

oh thats a great one, i never thought of it,

whippet

I have only ever bought new cars and I treat them in a manner that when I advertise them to sell after a few years I can stand over the comment:

"In excellent condition"

The amount of ads I see with the words 'Mint Condition' & 'Showroom Condition' is mental .. considering a car can only be in Showroom condition really once in it's life .. unless a couple of grand is spent on detailing it prior to selling.

My understanding of the words 'Mint Condition' is obviously very different to alot of sellers.

C4Kid

When parallel parking for college, in a housing estate on the side of the road, I try to pick a certain spot. There is a drive way and just 1 cars lengh of footpath and then another. Much easier to get in/out of with all the space in front and behind.

As for potholes, try my best to avoid them in a safe manner and slow down if needs be.

Wolverine_1999

C4Kid wrote: »

As for potholes, try my best to avoid them in a safe manner and slow down if needs be.

Back when Castleisland was being resurfaced a few years ago I slowed down to a snail's pace as the road was full of trenches.

A guy behind gave me a massive honk because I didn't want to destroy my car. I slammed on the brakes and gave him a piece of mind through the median of my own horn. Gob****e.

E39MSport

On principle I don't drive new cars BUT

I throw my landcruiser into every hole I can find just for the fun of it. However I ensure, as with all my motors, that it is in tip top mechanical shape.

Everything else I treat with varying degrees of increasing respect.

C4Kid

I slowed down to a snail's pace as the road was full of trenches.

I'm with You there, A road very close to me isn't full of potholes but with lumps of tar to fill them in and it's nearly as bad, like driving on the surface of the moon. People assume, "ah sure theres no potholes so why You slowing down but it's like hitting ramp at 50KM/H and therefore gets treated like. and I'm not the only one who slows down for it nearly everyone else does too but I slow down a little more!

mondeo

My primary concern is where I park my automobiles. Sometimes even if I find a nice place I sometimes move back out again and do another circle around the car park incase there is a better one. I won't park beside any Suzuki swifts, micras or other commonly small girly cars as from experience they love to swing their doors open and bang!

E39MSport

mondeo wrote: »

My primary concern is where I park my automobiles. Sometimes even if I find a nice place I sometimes move back out again and do another circle around the car park incase there is a better one. I won't park beside any Suzuki swifts, micras or other commonly small girly cars as from experience they love to swing their doors open and bang!

Oh noooo.....

gk5000

Drive my own car like a rental car mainly. Life's too short to worry about scratches and potholes...mind you it's an older car.

Also with airbags now can't give your friend a little nudge if they are ahead of you. Also miss parking by ear like in America.

keithclancy

If theres a jam of cars on a street and I have to reverse to make space I'll pay absolutly ZERO attention to anyone shouting/beeping/giving directions.

I went down a street in Germany once and there was a truck coming up the other way with cars parked all the way down either side. Not enough space to pass so I went to reverse up.

There was a driveway and this d*ck in a Range Rover behind me was shouting out the window in German to reverse into the space so he could get past.

I just sat there, said nothing. Then he started flashing his lights, beeping his horn.

Eventually he got out, walked up to my window, banged on it, Addressed me as "Fu*king Niederlande A*shole" (Dutch Plates)

I just pointed at the Parking Pole slap bang in the middle of the driveway, I guess he couldn't see it from where he was.

He went bright red and walked off, got into his Range Rover and started reversing back down the road.

Needless to say I always get out and check if i'm reversing into a private driveway for whatever reason incase theres parking bollards, pole etc.

Anyways, I'll only ever take directions when moving that car when its someone I know is competant at it, any old randomer on the street could direct you into a river and walk off safe in the knowledge there is no comeback on them.