Dime

I know this has been posted before about door-dings and such, but mini-vans are the WORST people to park next to, because 1) The drivers usually have kids that get in/out who don't know any better when opening the doors, 2) They for some reason have a habit of finding the two best looking cars and parking SOOOO close in between them, and 3) The drivers are usually people who don't care about other peoples property.

Why am I posting this? Because I just watched my A4 get dinged by some laday in a dodge mini-van and drove off before I could catch her. *Why* did she choose to park in between my new A4 and the new Lexus GS400 when the parking space in between us was SOOO small????!! This isn't the first time I've seen a mini-van dent-up a brand-new car. Damn #*$&#..

Glad I vented...

IronMike

They should give tickets to big cars in compact spots. A Yukon in a compact spot dinged my door.

Paul H. (in MD)

My insurance agent is a good friend of mine, so when I read this post I called her to see if someone could actually make a claim over something like this; and if paid, would the insurance company subrogate from the other driver's insurance company to recover funds?

Not only did she say yes to all of the above, she said to call the police too; because if they damaged your property and left the scene then *this is hit and run*.

Personally, I don't know if I would ever actually go to that much trouble over a door ding; but if you're that pissed off about it (and it sounds like you are), then you have rights. Exercise them. If you don't, then please don't complain if you get a door ding or two...

Just my 2¢.

Paul
'98.5 A4 1.8TQTS in Pearl, with a few door dings

Paul H. (in MD)

Oops - didn't mean to seem so unsympathetic - I should have said 'next time' get the tag#...

Dime

Not to mention the 1 inch wide blue paint sratch 3 inches below the first one! I was trying to get her license plate # but couldn't read it.

Thanks for the info cuz I was wondering if I can do that if I got it.

alan t.

Minivans are driven by people and some people just plain suck no matter what car they're in.

David S

Sorry for your misfortune,

It is discouraging to have this sort of thing happen, I have a a few small scratches and one ding from other vehicles on my A4, too.

What's my other car? A Previa minivan. The van is actually one of the best bets, because the sliding side door that my son uses never gets more than 5 inches outside of the closed position, virtually impossible to come into contact with another vehicle.

I've instructed my son (well, the wife too...) about being VERY careful when opening car doors.
It's all about common sense and simple courtesy.
The type of car one drives has little to to with it. Same goes for getting cut off or tailgated in traffic...happens with all kinds of cars/trucks. The one thing in common is inattentive, rude drivers. Unfortunately, there are too many of 'em.

Happy motoring,

Dave

Good luck

Another Chris L.

One of the reasons my wife insisted on getting a minivan is the sliding rear door, which allows you to load/unload small children (especially in tight parking lots) without having a door swinging back and forth.

Our Siena is a big car, to be sure. But I worry more about parking my A4 next to an Expedition or Suburban with a child seat in back. I've got the dings to prove that!!!

And even though we always try to park it in wide, easy-access spaces, we have dings on our minivan at SUV-door-edge height.

As someone said below, there are some people who just plain suck, no matter what they drive.

pauls

Yukons and their ilk are a whole new problem, I hate 'em

Marcus Frost

... not park by anyone. I know this isn't always possible, but 8 times out of 10 I park away from everyone in the back of the lot, and take up two spaces. If not, I have a few other choices. One is to find a spot next to a handicap zone. Yes sometimes they need that space in between the handicap space and the regular spaces, but I park ever so slightly over (a foot or two) on that "neutral zone" so as not to be close to whatever car parks next to me on the other side. Another good spot is a corner spot. With a corner spot if there is no median, you can usually park far enough from the space next to you and on the painted "neutral zone" so that car doors (or SUV) ones won't be able to touch your car, even if flung all the way open. Any of these ways are good preventative measures, but not full proof. They do require some searching or a longer walk, but for me it's definately worth it to have a nice ding free A4.

Hope this prooves to be good advice!

Marcus Frost
99.5 1.8TQM (ding-less and beautiful)