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Best method to protect against the inevitable door dings and other careless people

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I apologize if this has been covered before. I usually lease all my cars so it didn't bother me too much. My last car was a G37 and someone rammed a shopping cart into it at a Walmart parking lot. I don't know why people do this to other people's property. All I can do is sigh.......

My first vehicle that I purchased was a black Acura Integra. Shortly after someone keyed the entire hood of the car. Sigh....I have also read on the forum of someone having their MS keyed while parked in LA as well. So many haters out there.

I would like to keep my MS for as long as it is drive able. I'm planning on getting Opti Coat Pro for sure. I not sure I want to do the full Xpel wrap. Are there any other methods to protect my precious?

I'm in LA, Cali. If you can also recommend anyone that will be most helpful as well. I have searched the forum and I only see Tuan of Glossworks recommended in the LA area. Thanks in advance.
 
The paint armour is the number one thing that will protect your car's finish. Not supporting WalMart is another good strategy. Some folks have put on door protector bumpers, but--yuck.
 
Unfortunately for me the only method is Sitting in the car while my wife goes into stores. But if I'm at high end mall I find a good spot with one side not against another car and plenty of clearance. Also, at work I park in Doctors Parking lot and usually most there have nice cars I still park at the end even though I have to walk a little further. I also, have front and rear facing cameras so I can catch People and Lic Plates. I leave the light blinking on the camera so people know the camera is there. I also have Full XPEL Clearbra.

If all else fails I have my Dent Wizard Guy on speed dial. Just not sure How the Aluminum body ready to Paintless Dent Repair.
 
Full body wrap in Xpel Ultimate is the best thing you can do. Also, find a good paintless dent removal guy in your area and keep his number handy for the eventual door ding.

And, yeah, maybe not shop at Walmart, or take another car when you do. :)
 
Don't park next to two-door cars, their doors are longer and swing wider. Don't park on the downhill side of another car, gravity can pull their door more than intended. I try to avoid parking next to another's driver's door, you know that one will be used, passenger maybe not.
 
... if I'm at high end mall...

Actually, I would disagree with that assumption... I think there is a delta graph that could be made.

Parking at low-end areas you get damage from people who don't respect others' property so they are careless.
Parking at high-end areas you get damage from people who think repair expenses are trivial so they aren't careful.

I think the safest places to park are in nice middle class areas.
Those folks are educated/wealthy enough that they have nice things AND conscientious/poor enough that they find repair expenses/hassle daunting.

Having lived in both types of areas... I find the parking lots at upscale grocery stores to be the most dangerous!
 
Your favorite body wrap is, indeed, one part of a good defense, but....

...as Bhuwan and others wrote,

the First Line Of Defense is to park as far away from where another vehicle is likely to park as possible. Usually that means at the very nethermost regions of a large parking lot; sometimes it means Over Out Back where employees park, and so on.

What differs from door dings and one class of careless people, however, are the dings that occur whilst driving. Something Alaskans know far too intimately: usually in the medium of gravel being kicked up, either by the vehicle in front of you, the one overtaking you, or the one passing you from the other direction.

I am well-versed in the ways to mitigate all those possibilities...but have found myself frustrated here in the lesser-48 again and again by my inability to sense when there may be gravel on these fine-looking roads you have down here...but, nope - gravel here too and my windshield is a magnet for those pebbles. Yecch.

But body armor does an excellent job agains such gravel on painted parts, even if not for windshields.
 
Actually, I would disagree with that assumption... I think there is a delta graph that could be made.

Parking at low-end areas you get damage from people who don't respect others' property so they are careless.
Parking at high-end areas you get damage from people who think repair expenses are trivial so they aren't careful.

I think the safest places to park are in nice middle class areas.
Those folks are educated/wealthy enough that they have nice things AND conscientious/poor enough that they find repair expenses/hassle daunting.

Having lived in both types of areas... I find the parking lots at upscale grocery stores to be the most dangerous!

Yea except at our High end mall there is Valet parking and I always ask them to keep the car in front of the mall in the loop- and they usually comply. The low end mall which has bus service has no valet parking.
 
I do a few things. If I can park by an island, that is the first choice. I also look for spots that only have the passenger door of a car next to mine. I often glance in the window to see if they have a bunch of junk on the passenger seat too. I try to park so that my mirrors line up with where a door would open to block the door from hitting the side of my car. If given the option I will also park a little further away.
 
avoid parking next to really old cars or cars that are neglected. If I see a whole bunch of scratches and door dings on the car, I wouldn't park next to them. Or better yet, park right next to an island, so there's only one car that would be next to yours.
 
setup one of these everytime you park

14' Indoor CarCapsule

That is too cool. You should bring one to the next OC Meet... Is 14 feet enough for the Model S though?

Aside from simplesolar's solution...

I had mine all wrapped (see thread) by MoeMistry. We even had him do our Roadster.

I find myself a shopping cart magnet, so... begs to follow that I would need to do this.
 
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