R56 I got a ding!
#26
To most people a car is an appliance and thinks everyone is the same. Park away from other cars or only park next to clean sports cars or don't park at all if the lot is too full. I have seen people back into cars in parking lots and just continue on like nothing happened. Most people don't care about other people property unfortunetely especially automobiles.
There are no guarantees, but I always park as far away from other cars as possible, and near a light. My husband growls a little, but at least my 2 month old MINI is ding-free *knocks on wood*.
His 3 week old Lexus, on the other hand, which he insists on parking as close to the restaurant/store as humanly possible, was rammed by a huge SUV trying to squeeze into a parking spot next to him. Cost was $1,000 to repair it. Hit and run, no less. The hostess at the restaurant where we were dining came out and told us she witnessed it.
#27
What a rotten thing to have happen to your brand new MINI. Hope it doesn't cost much to fix, and that it looks as good as new.
You can only do so much in a parking lot sometimes, defensively, and there's always that one thoughtless twit. We live in a selfish society where too many only care about themselves, and if they can get away with something, like dinging another car or backing into one with no one else seeing it, they scoot away.
Usually, they get theirs, somehow, somewhere.
CROC 411
You can only do so much in a parking lot sometimes, defensively, and there's always that one thoughtless twit. We live in a selfish society where too many only care about themselves, and if they can get away with something, like dinging another car or backing into one with no one else seeing it, they scoot away.
Usually, they get theirs, somehow, somewhere.
CROC 411
#28
#29
#30
Dude, I am so sorry. I had a similar ding on my bonnet taken out last week. I was so happy when the dent repair place was finished and they walked me out to show me the work. I actually squealed at the guy and bounced like a teenager, I haven't done that since I was a teenager...
I'll keep my fingers crossed that your dent repair goes as well as mine did. Good luck!
I'll keep my fingers crossed that your dent repair goes as well as mine did. Good luck!
#31
Yes, I did. And he denied it. I started laughing. I said...would you mind opening your door just a tad so we can compare ding to door jam?
While holding his little darling he told me to "F*%k off, B!tch...you got no witnesses".
Rather than be arrested for assault, I let it go. I knew how much the PDR would cost me, and he wasn't worth bail money.
While holding his little darling he told me to "F*%k off, B!tch...you got no witnesses".
Rather than be arrested for assault, I let it go. I knew how much the PDR would cost me, and he wasn't worth bail money.
The important part here is having license plate info. Without it, you've got nothing and your deductible does come into play. But if you had it, then it was silly to let it go. To go one step further, a couple of years ago, this happened to my father in a Home Depot parking lot. When he got into his car, he didn't notice the ding, but a good samaritan did and left the offender's license plate info on the windshield. That was all that was needed for our insurance company: Expense = zero (if you don't count the general bad emotions and loss of time).
#32
#33
#34
I didn't need to see your post and the pic. Pisses me off to no end.
You can see videos on YouTube where the pros work magic on getting those dents out.
I watched about 30 of those movies and downloaded them. I can assure you yours is fixable. But make sure to get a pro.
Here are some of my favorite ones. I uploaded them to my server.
http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/M...RepairDemo.wmv
http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/M...epairDemo2.wmv
http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/M...epairDemo3.wmv
Sadly, all you can do is get it fixed. No one in that Whole Foods parking lot gives a rip about others.
What I do is simply not park in parking lots like they have at Whole Foods. The store here has a tiny lot and the cars are crammed next to each other. No way a MINI can escape damage there. So I park on the curb or not at all.
Wherever else I am parking and it looks like there will be problems I park semi-sideways out by the curb, where there is no one but me.
I am known for surveying a parking lot for 10 minutes to get a secure spot. I've even parked in someone else's parking lot if I can't find something next to the place I am shopping.
Nothing is worth getting a door ding or dent. No safe parking = no shopping. I'll go home empty handed.
Last edited by MichaelSF; 08-14-2008 at 02:19 PM.
#35
#36
This can be paid under the comp provision of your policy.
See the threads in here talking about getting your insurance deductible on "comp" or comprehensive coverage as low as your company allows [my insurer's is $100.]
If this happened to me, it would be $100, but that's better than paying $500 to have a body shop do the work [with bondo and what not.] Plus those dent guys show up at your house and can do the job in 40 minutes.
And you car will look like new.
Guess I am saying, it could have been worse. No one likes being out $175, but I would take that over something not being repairable or never being the same even after the repair.
#37
Here they cram in cars like sardines.
#38
#39
I think hippies tend to look favorably towards MINIs. And I'm pretty sure that any hippie worth their salt would tend to be against the whole property-damage thing. The spaces at Whole Foods are a bit tight, though... But I'd rather park next to a dirty Subaru than a shiny Yukon driven by a pseudo-organic soccer mom who thinks she needs an SUV to cart around her morbidly obese son. Just sayin'...
#40
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does anyone think this approch will work. it uses a hair dryer and a can of compressed air upside down and is basied on expansion and contraction. i just got hit this sunday, someone backed up into me in a parking lot and i couldnt move basicly, and i've got some dentage on the leading edge of the front passenger door and the quarter panel, its small and not to bad but i think location is what will keep mine from working. has anyone tried this? will it hurt the paint? the heat that is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
#41
check this out, even if you have already gotten the repairs done. You can use a hair dryer and a can of compressed air to get the ding out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
I saw this a while back, and you little ding reminded of of it. I have not tried it out, but there are quite a bit of videos out on this quick fix.
Good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
I saw this a while back, and you little ding reminded of of it. I have not tried it out, but there are quite a bit of videos out on this quick fix.
Good luck!
#43
lol i guess i'm not the only person who has heard about this technique.
Maybe this would be a better technique - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrXg1KXrN4k&NR=1
Maybe this would be a better technique - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrXg1KXrN4k&NR=1
#44
Alright, c'mon guys...back on track.
Let me ask you this...how would you handle it if you had been in the car at the time?
It's too small to report to insurance and exchange info. But it's kindof a big enough deal that it would be tough to let go. I'd be conflicted, but ultimately I would just shake my head and move on. Guess I'm just low key that way...how would you handle it?
Let me ask you this...how would you handle it if you had been in the car at the time?
It's too small to report to insurance and exchange info. But it's kindof a big enough deal that it would be tough to let go. I'd be conflicted, but ultimately I would just shake my head and move on. Guess I'm just low key that way...how would you handle it?
#45
check this out, even if you have already gotten the repairs done. You can use a hair dryer and a can of compressed air to get the ding out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
I saw this a while back, and you little ding reminded of of it. I have not tried it out, but there are quite a bit of videos out on this quick fix.
Good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM
I saw this a while back, and you little ding reminded of of it. I have not tried it out, but there are quite a bit of videos out on this quick fix.
Good luck!
And the OP's injury is not the kind that would pop out with this type of technique.
Better to leave it up to the pros. Nothing can screw things up faster than DIY nonsense that we see on YouTube.
Last edited by MichaelSF; 08-14-2008 at 10:29 PM.
#46
i tried the DIY technique on my multitude of dings. Unfortunately they are all still there. Its worth a try i suppose, and i have heard of it working on rare occasions. But as for me, no effect, positive or negative. Good luck! I'm still accumulating dings till i save enough to fix them all...and hopefully i'll get a good deal because i have at least 5 dings (keep in mind they're all very minor and tolerable enough to live with...but annoying none the less) I feel your pain.
#47
I had a similar situation as tigwantstoplay. I was the only car (94 Nissan Twin Turbo 300ZX with no dings) in a restaurant parking lot. Watched mom in her pos station wagon pull right next to me. A little girl gets out and bangs her door right into the middle of my drivers side door. Instant rage by me! I go out and politely tell the lady what happened and she denies it, of course. I politely opened her door and it amazingly lined up perfectly with the dent. She stopped arguing then. Got her information. Caught her insurance guy walking out of the office for the day. Ended up getting about $400 bucks for the repair.
#48
I hope you get yours fixed satisfactorily.
#49
#50
So true. These punks across the street (renters) are always doing something stupid. They like to ride their ATV's up and down our quiet street. One day I just snapped and started screamin at this kid. Next day I had a mark on my bumper with tire marks in the driveway about the size of an ATVs. I finally lost it. They also like to use the empty lot right across from my driveway as their personal parking garage. So a couple days later I had to work early and I said F*** it. I backed my truck out as fast as I could right into their suped up Honda. OOPS
The best part was the cops were laughing about it when that punk wasnt around. They wrote it was dark and I didn't see the car. No insurance hike either. lol lol No one has parked there since!!!
The best part was the cops were laughing about it when that punk wasnt around. They wrote it was dark and I didn't see the car. No insurance hike either. lol lol No one has parked there since!!!