Protection from door dings

brightside229 · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:04

Has any one used car door protectors for when parked in car parks to help stop your car doors getting scratched and dented? Seen a few on amazon but seem quite expensive.

Wondering if anyone has any experience with them and would have any recommendations?

I am paranoid about car park damage so anything that would help my anxiety would allow me to enjoy a day out/cinema trip without overly worrying about it

Diddums · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:07

brightside229 · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:10

yea basically similar to the above photo, to help take the impact from young children/careless adults swinging the door into yours

Terminal_Boy · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:10

Diddums said:

BMW copying the Citroen Cactus?

Nabinium · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:18

brightside229 said:
I am paranoid about car park damage so anything that would help my anxiety would allow me to enjoy a day out/cinema trip without overly worrying about it

Find a space further out in the car park. Also, try to look for a space that has an immovable object to your nearside like a kerb, wall, bush, etc., so nobody can park on that side next to you. Then you can park as close to that side as possible, leaving more space on the other side.

GravyMonster · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:27

They're either a) useless, b) ugly or c) both.

I tend to park further away in the car park, where no one is going to park next to you, and walk.

sigma · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:32

Buy a Cactus

sigma · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:33

Nabinium said:
Find a space further out in the car park. Also, try to look for a space that has an immovable object to your nearside like a kerb, wall, bush, etc., so nobody can park on that side next to you. Then you can park as close to that side as possible, leaving more space on the other side.

Just gotta be careful not to hit said immovable object, that would be ironic.

FBi7 · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:34

I drive a BMW. I just take up two spaces

Nabinium said:
Find a space further out in the car park. Also, try to look for a space that has an immovable object to your nearside like a kerb, wall, bush, etc., so nobody can park on that side next to you. Then you can park as close to that side as possible, leaving more space on the other side.

But yeah, basically this.

Nabinium · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:39

sigma said:
Just gotta be careful not to hit said immovable object, that would be ironic.

I have to admit there's been a couple occasions where I've almost hit a metal handrail in the gym car park to leave more space on the other side :cry:

sigma · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:44

Nabinium said:
I have to admit there's been a couple occasions where I've almost hit a metal handrail in the gym car park to leave more space on the other side

I once tried to squeeze into a really tight (but single) spot next to a big pillar.. it wasn't just the rear end of the car that was squeezing as I was reversing.

Semple · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:47

Nabinium said:
Find a space further out in the car park. Also, try to look for a space that has an immovable object to your nearside like a kerb, wall, bush, etc., so nobody can park on that side next to you. Then you can park as close to that side as possible, leaving more space on the other side.

The problem I find doing this (and I can get mm from the kerb without damaging my alloys) is that it seems to encourage the person parking next to you to park badly. The number of times I've come back and found the person basically parked on the line just because I've managed to park right on the far side of my bay.

BUDFORCE · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:47

Nabinium said:
Find a space further out in the car park. Also, try to look for a space that has an immovable object to your nearside like a kerb, wall, bush, etc., so nobody can park on that side next to you. Then you can park as close to that side as possible, leaving more space on the other side.

Exactly what I do.

sigma · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:49

Supermarket carparks are essentially a game of roulette played by people without brains

Nabinium · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:49

Semple said:
The problem I find doing this (and I can get mm from the kerb without damaging my alloys) is that it seems to encourage the person parking next to you to park badly. The number of times I've come back and found the person basically parked on the line just because I've managed to park right on the far side of my bay.

Get a cactus as @sigma suggested.

Plant it at the right side of your bay, so the car next to yours can't do anything dodgy. Sorted.

brightside229 · 8 Jul 2026 at 13:56

GravyMonster said:
They're either a) useless, b) ugly or c) both.

I tend to park further away in the car park, where no one is going to park next to you, and walk.

I don’t mind them being ugly as long as they work to some degree!

I do everything i can already, parking on the area with a curb so only one car can park next to me, parking as far away as possible, even have an expensive dash cam that records movement when i am not at the car and pings my phone where i can view it!

The next step in my logical brain is a side protector lol.

And its not like i have an exotic car either, but still the value of it is a lot to me and i would rather protect my investment. I dont care if it gets stolen, i would just rather not find it damaged(even though i damaged it myself a month ago at a roundabout)

Nabinium · 8 Jul 2026 at 14:02

brightside229 said:
I don’t mind them being ugly as long as they work to some degree!

I do everything i can already, parking on the area with a curb so only one car can park next to me, parking as far away as possible, even have an expensive dash cam that records movement when i am not at the car and pings my phone where i can view it!

The next step in my logical brain is a side protector lol.

And its not like i have an exotic car either, but still the value of it is a lot to me and i would rather protect my investment. I dont care if it gets stolen, i would just rather not find it damaged(even though i damaged it myself a month ago at a roundabout)

Just leave your car and forget about it. You've basically done everything you can.

The only other thing you can do is to not drive it

brightside229 · 8 Jul 2026 at 14:06

Nabinium said:
Just leave your car and forget about it. You've basically done everything you can.

The only other thing you can do is to not drive it

that’s exactly it, i find myself not going places because of the car lol

lordrobs · 8 Jul 2026 at 14:10

After years of worrying about this with my own cars, parking them out of the way just to come back to some shed parked 2.3cm away, I ended up with a company car which get's parked anywhere and doesn't pick up any car park dings.

I can therefore only conclude that car park damage is one of those weird phenomena where the more you try and avoid it the more it happens!

dacads · 8 Jul 2026 at 14:48

Stick a ding dong on each door?