Paranoid

[wakey1512]

My 2011 Indium Grey scirocco i picked up last week is nearly mint - you'd struggle to find a mark on it and the interior is spotless. It's managed 4 years of its life without any compromise to its flawless paintwork.

Which gives me the problem. Everywhere I go I am worried someone may crash into me. Every car park I go to I have to find the most remote space so that it doesn't get another car door denting it. When I see children playing tennis in the garden next to my drive I am paranoid that a ball might come over the fence and hit my car. When a bird craps on the bonnet I have to pull over and get it all off before it burns into the laquer. When behind another car at speed I keep at least 3 car lengths away to avoid stone chips. These are some of the things I'm struggling to cope with on a day to day basis.

How do all you scirocco owners manage? How on earth do you wrap your car in cotton wool and keep the it completely mark free without some serious luck?

(Disclaimer - OP paranoia not helped by previous scirocco also mint but mirror kicked off, bonnet keyed, bumper stonechipped beyond recognition, passenger wing gouged by careless driver, numerous dents and dings, car therefore devalued after 2 years by 6k)

[Jester]

I try not to think about it mate, I live down a very busy street and you wouldn't believe the tight parking spaces I've gotten in to. I did get a nail in the tyre via careless builders leaving shit lying around. £250 down the pan for that, just drive as you normally would mate. Usually, worrying too much causes mistakes because you are trying too hard enjoy your beast!

[old n grey]

At the end of the day its just a car, its meant to be used, you can look after it but the more you worry about it the worse it will be. I picked my new 15 reg R line less than 3 weeks ago I've already done over a 1000 miles and took a chunk out of one of my 19 inch alloys due to a pot hole, what can you do unless you buy one and stick it in a garage and never drive it these things will happen. At the end of the day most things can be repaired/replaced

[selleym]

It's not a Ferrari 250 GTO.
I too worry about mine. But what can you do.

If something happens to it fix it.
Just look after her don't be stupid and Enjoy

[mydogisbald]

I get paranoid about ours too. Just today the Wife drove it to work. She sent me a picture asking if it was parked ok, . The thing a lot of people forget is it's the most expensive purchase most of us will ever make after your house.

[mrhirst]

I'm paranoid too!! But I try not to think about it to be honest.
I do park in the less busy part of the car park to minimise the chance of anything but at the end of the day so many things can go wrong on the road, stone chips are the least of your worries!!

[Lewis Miller]

I always try to park next to nice cars in the car park

[Paddy_R]

I'll park in the furthest corner of the car park when forced to park at shops etc and walk. Not everytime in my Scirocco but 100% of the time when in my Scooby. The panels on it are so light they dent real easy and it's a show quality car so I don't want to mess up the bodywork.!

[Dave7692]

The way I see it, VW employ 1000's of people every day who make parts for us to break, if someone damages my car they pay for it to be sorted and I get on with life. Unfortunately all you can do is try to reduce the chances of the minor things happening (door dings etc). My Girlfriend always moans because I park so far away from the shops whenever we go, I usually end up going to the furthest back section of the car park where theres nobody to smack their door into my car.

[dimexi]

I used to be like that you know, and then you find you give yourself unnecessary heartache... I dont mistreat my car, in fact, I am overprotective; but I have grown to learn, there is always the unfortunate incident or moreso, a c**t on the road. No matter how far you park in a car park sometimes, some dick will park next to you and put a dent in your door... No matter how much space you give the fella next to you, he/his passenger will still manage to swing the door wide out enough to hit yours etc etc.

All in all, each to their own, but I stopped letting things like that bother me too much. Perhaps as the autumn approaches, I will take mine in to dress all the dents other stupid roadusers have caused on mine... Sometimes I wish I'd have been there for when it happens so I can have a tear up with them, but is it even worth it?!?! *sigh*

[Grande]

I've actually googled how to deal with this a while ago and found a couple of funny stories:

1. There was one person whose dad would fill up a shiny new pickup truck with gravel on his first trip out of the dealer to get it over with as quickly as possible and to be able use the car as it's supposed to be used. Drastic, I know, but healthy at the same time.

2. Someone else told a story about a race car driver who took a spanner and banged up the side of his beloved race car to stop worrying, so that he would be comfortable driving it harder on the race track.

3. From the world of wrist watches: think of the inevitable scratches as battle scars that only add character to your timepiece. By analogy, think of your car as an experienced lion as it ages, with marks to show for it. There is beauty in ruggedness, especially if it is immediately obvious that you love and care for your car.

Here's a nice collection of videos which showcase car enthusiasts and their relationship with their cars:

https://www.youtube.com/user/PetroliciousCo/videos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[youtube][/youtube]

[SC0TTRS]

I suffer with this. Wasn't so much with my older previous cars..

Window cleaner parked close to my car in work, set of ladders on the roof........you can imagine what I was thinking, so I went and moved it.
Removal guys loading crap onto a van near my car.......so I watched them whilst they were there you know....just in case. LOL
People walking passed the car "EVEN" if the gap between the cars is to small whilst going on a fag break..grrrr

Just a few lol

Car parks are a bug bear for me due to previous inconsiderate A holes but, standard practice is:

1. Make sure you park properly in a bay (even though parking between 2 spares have crossed my mind)
2. Don't park close to where ever you are going (most inconsiderate people are lazy sods and try and park as close as they can!)
3.Park end of the row (eliminate potential dings at least to one side of the car)
4. Find a car park space all on it's own! *bonus*

I do hate being like this sometimes!

[dimexi]

Went over to the local ding repair guy round here, and all the dings and scratches will cost about £240 to "straighten" out. Wonder if to just get them all sorted, but guaranteed, someone will plant their door right into mine as soon as I get home

[Phil]

Mine has been through the wars lately with my Dad (of all people) reversing into me, getting keyed outside my own house and being crashed into at traffic lights (not to mention the knocks from doors..).

I have found it is going to happen and it is inevitable as people do not care about anything other than their own cars, and if they don't even care about their own cars then us enthusiasts are in trouble!

I find myself parking in spaces miles away, requiring a small bridge to the kirb and refusing to go down certain lanes in my area "just in case".

The curse of having a nice car sadly mate and nothing will change it unless you leave it at home locked away... but its too good to do that

[TheHungryHipo]

Unfortunately you just can’t avoid the paranoia or the dings...

I watched somebody reverse into my car from the window of my gym yesterday. The irony being I purposefully parked far away in a remote section of the car park to avoid car dings etc... this resulted in me not being able to see the guys number plate as he casually drove off as if nothing had happened.

[SC0TTRS]

Unfortunately you just can’t avoid the paranoia or the dings...

The irony being I purposefully parked far away in a remote section of the car park to avoid car dings etc..

But you could of parked right next to the entrance and it would have been fine! That's what I think sometimes and its luck of the draw half the time.

If it's going to happen it will, doesn't matter where we park....

[selleym]

Just do this

[dimexi]

Unfortunately you just can’t avoid the paranoia or the dings...

The irony being I purposefully parked far away in a remote section of the car park to avoid car dings etc..

But you could of parked right next to the entrance and it would have been fine! That's what I think sometimes and its luck of the draw half the time.

If it's going to happen it will, doesn't matter where we park....

I completely agree with this!! It doesnt matter where you park sometimes, there is alwas some berk who is just downright stupid!!!

I once parked right at the edge of the carpark, perfectly between the lines; then some bint came up with their banger and smacked it their door right in the side of my car! It's the largest ding I have and it's disgusting ((((... I MEAN, MY CAR WAS PARKED PERFECTLY!!!!


I see when some people take two spaces, that is a huge risk! Some people could just key your car if they get frustrated from not finding a space.

What's worked best for me is parking next to really nice cars