I had to go run a errand this morning and I stopped into a McDonald's to eat my usual mcmuffin breakfast. I usually park and run inside and get the order to go. The lot was pretty full so I didn't have much of a choice as to where to park. Since I was just running in and out so I didn't think too much about it. A lot of retired folks where I am and most of the cars in the lot were newer models. I didn't pay too much attention to the car on the passenger side but the car on my side stuck out like a sore thumb. A big black Hummer 2 looking all shiny and new. I can't help but look at a Hummer without thinking what an a**hole must drive a beast like that but the thought quickly passed and I went in. I was barely in there five minutes and when I came out the Hummer was gone. I walked up and whoever was in the passenger side of the Hummer hit my car so hard with their door when they got in that it took the paint down to the metal. Maybe I'm being touchy about it but looks to me that it had to be intentional. It may be stupid on my part but whenever I see a Hummer I look at the guy or girl and think there goes someone who thinks they are the center of the universe. Probably when they look at a prius driver they do some mental calculations on there own. Well anyway, all of the money I saved by getting good gas mileage for the good long while got taken out by an idiot Hummer driver who is smugly driving down the road. I realize when I look at the picture I tried to attach the thing looks small. Sure looks horrible to me.
Take it easy. You'll accumulate many of those things. Life. You should have see the half length of car scratch I got in my brand new shiny RAV4 when I took the first time for a boat launch. It was a redneck who parked his rusted pickup truck next to me. Gone when I came back. I have a couple of parking lot hits in my Prius that have sheet metal bent in. It's just a car.
Some people just don't watch when they get in and just swing the door wide open. Opps! get in and leave and don't think anything about it. It's just what they do.
Probably not intentional but more like some kid or an Air head with a serious case of HIA. I can only guess your frustration. So sorry.
I can understand how you feel about the Hummer. I suspect that people who buy such machines can't stand fuel-efficient cars because they think we should all be wasting as many resources as we can-it's patriotic or some nonsense like that. I avoid parking next to any car that appears to be driven by someone who doesn't care about the environment around them (including how they care for their own car). A scratch like yours would bother me every time I saw it-it might be worthwhile to get it fixed so you are not constantly reminded of the large number of ***holes in the world.
If you had a police report in hand, or involved the police, they might ask the owner of the location to see the tapes of the parking lot, watching the perp do it might open some doors.
After it happened I got on the phone with my sister and let a lot of steam off. When I got home I posted and maybe just getting it off of my chest I felt a little better. I think prev93n had it right that I will think of it each time I get in my car so I'd better get it fixed. But I'll tell ya, plspush, I cannot for the life of me understand the thinking of someone buying a Hummer. Must be the bitter old man in me, but that's one stereotype I'll wager that's accurate more often than not. z
If I park so close that I know the other car will have to be careful, I watch then. In a place like McD's I trust no one. In a prius to boot! no way id trust anyone. I park way out where im clear, when I am next to someone with my 6 year old, shes not even allowed to open the door and were both careful. Caught a guy once in my lifted GMC when it was a week old, and I was sitting in it. Pulls in next to me and slams the door into mine, I had a protector strip that stopped damage. It was a fat old man, had it been a anyone else id a stomped em. It hit hard enough to shake me. I got out and belittled his alcoholic azz, but I drew the line at beatin a old geezer but i was shaking mad. his paint was readjusted a bit. We were the only two cars in the whole lot and he had to park next to me and slam my brand new truck. Ive looked for him in the neighborhood ever since and still havnt seen him. Im a little different im, not a passive prius driver.
I'm anal about stuff like this. If I think there is a chance that something like this will happen I take a cell phone pic of their license plate and their car parked next to mine just in case. A small scratch is bad enough but I've had people pull in/out too sharp and dent/gouge a whole fender.
I believe the most gentle, christian ,loving, father and grandfather I know drives a viper truck, gets 9 miles to the gallon, you and no one else will ever convince me that because someone dives a GASHOG that they are a Lowlifes and by the way, he thinks my Prius is cool, just not for him!!!!
That's rough man. I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear but that's exactly why I park a mile away from where I'm going. Avoid crowded parking lots at all costs. Part of having a black car is avoiding putting yourself in that position. Personally I'm just as afraid of having dozens of small dings and dents as one really bad one like that. Good luck gettin that worked out, how you gonna fix that? Get the door resprayed?
Sorry it happened, stay away from big vehicle next time. Many people who own those are not agile and fit enough to get in without the door being wide open. I've seem someone with a lifted truck tried to squeeze in his truck because he or the car next to him parked too close, only to fail and slip, he fell back on his door and it slammed on the car next to his. Totally unintentional and sad to watch.
Sorry to hear about ding. I always try to park far away and away from other cars, esp. junkers after I'd gotten some horrible dings on my former Maxima. Yeah, I get so annoyed every time I see Hummer H2s and Ford Exxon Valdezes (aka Excretions aka Excursions; ET 3/99: Ford's new gas-guzzling SUV wins the "Exxon Valdez" award from the Sierra Club) on the road, of course, almost always being driven solo or w/minimal cargo and passengers (which would fit fine in a car, small or mid-sized SUV). I saw both an H2 (6400+ lbs.) and Excretion (can weigh even more than the H2, into the 7000+ lb. range) today. These things are uber-monstrosity battering rams of death. Some days, I see multiple Excretions and H2s. Both those vehicles were exempt from EPA fuel economy testing and thus except counting against the automaker's CAFE numbers. In contrast, current mid-sized cars typically weigh ~3000 to 3800 lbs. My Gen 2 Prius is 2890 lbs. Gen 3 Prius is 3042 lbs. When I see the above along Hummer H1s being driven by civilians, it tells me that they don't care about or are unaware of some/all of the following: AGW, safety of other drivers (and understanding of kinetic energy = 1/2 * mass * velocity^2), our dependence on foreign oil, the amount of "proven" reserves of oil in the US, military interventions needed to secure its supply, oil being a non-renewable resource, the environmental consequences of oil (besides burning it), the $800 million/day that flows out of our country to pay for foreign oil, etc.
wow that sucks, i had an idiot in a lifted Dodge truck almost backed into me because he couldn't even see my car since he was so high up.
Sorry to hear that man. It's okay to vent. There are a lot of people in this world who don't care about the things they own, let alone someone else's. And out of the ones that do care, they may be too old, too young, too fat, or too occupied with young kids to notice where their door is at. At the end of the day, you're safe, no one is getting sued, and it's repairable. It could have been ugly. I make it my mission to park far, away from others, or choose spots with only one adjacent stall. I know two H2 owners: one could fit your stereotype, the other doesn't.
And he spent over $100 in gas last week. lol I try and park as far away from other cars as possible, keeps the dings off and I get a good walk out of it. (if you can't find a spot just buzz around in EV knowing it costs you nothing but time.)
