Protection from side dings
 

Anyone know any ways to reduce door dings, besides the obvious answer of parking really far away?

I was wondering whether Xpel/invisiguard would help, and whether there were Mazda or aftermarket side bumper strips.

Thanks.

There have been products in the past that protects your car's sides from being dinged, however they are not really feasible and are actually pretty silly and inconvenient.

There really is no other way of preventing dings other than parking really far away, and even that is no gaurantee.. In fact, it is VERY likely that some other car will park next to you just because of your car. I find that happened all the time with my Audi TT. Fortunately most of the time those people are also sportscar owners who simply like parking next to another hot sportscar. Kinda silly huh?

Don't sweat it. The sooner you accept the fact that one day your car will get dinged, the less worried or paranoid you will be about it on a day to day basis. Worrying only wastes your energy.

I found the following guidelines below to be helpful and will reduce the chances of getting dinged down to pretty much nil. Parking far away often times is not an option (unless you don't mind walking half a mile to the baseball stadium or concert for the big event).

Good luck.


Door-Ding Prevention Rules
by Michael Smith

1. Park away from 2-door cars as much as possible. Their doors swing wider.
2. Unless you have a handicap tag, park far away from the business entrance. There’s
not one of us who can't use the walk, and it's never too hot or cold for another 10 seconds exposure.
3. Park at the end of a row, with an obstacle such as an esplanade to your right. This is part of a general strategy of keeping your right side protected. Because every car has a driver, you can bet that your right side is more likely to get hit than your left.
4. If you must park next to someone else, make sure it's not a two-door car on your right.
5. Park with a bias toward the left edge of your space.
6. Never park downhill of another car, particularly a two-door. People forget about the slope and let their doors fall open. If you must park on a hill, park on the right, not the left, of another car.
7. Never park next to a full size pickup truck. Their tail ends can swing wide as they leave and clip your fender.

I have zero door dings, thanks to the grace of God and by following these rules.

one other suggestion, if your going out somewhere that parking like to be crazy, movie, sports event, club etc... and your not on a date or something, get someone else to drive. use the small backseat as an excuse :)

This has already been discussed recently. Please do a search or look through recent threads.

---jps