Parking bufoonery.

[brucemillar]

Aha. An update from me (The OP). I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting a very eminent psychologist this week. During our conversation I broached the subject of why, when you have parked on your own, others then park beside you.

She commented. It is "human herding mentality". Some feel the need to be in the herd or pack. If they are not with the herd, they start to feel that they should be, then question if, in not being, they are in danger. Rather like a comfort blanket.

So that explains point 1 = Why do people choose to park next to you in an empty car park.

As for point 2. Why do they then damage your car. She paused and contemplated before very politely stating "Oh that is just F*cking rude a complete lack of respect borne out of a poor upbringing where respect is not taught."

 

[Mr slow]

I live on a small island and thus use our island ferry frequently. Now, with most small ferries you have to reverse on and drive off; this is a source of great amusement for the islanders and frustration for the ferry crew during the tourist season. It is surprising how many people cannot reverse park or follow simple handsignals! on several occasions I have seen the crew give up and offer to put the car on for them, both men and women.:fail

 

[ianrandom]

Herding mentality is about right. People have little of their own initiative recently. Slack jawed, I call it. I'm not old, but I feel it when I see the slack jawed self entitled thing in action.

Older drivers are a lot of it, but younger drivers have a different kind of lemming thing going on which is just as bad.

I lived in plain view of the wide easy parking road where my little 2cv lived for a few years. It was so annoying having to fling up the sash window and shout at people that were shunting the 2cv. Even when there were three empty spaces - this was still challenge for some older drivers. Old or young, someone hit my car most days. I tried to park tactically but obviously not always possible.

One time i was stood outside the house chatting, and an older guy was reverse parking into a space near the front of my house. He came in quite well, but then gently made contact with the front of the parked car behind him. (Not mine!) Wondering why his car had stopped moving, he proceeded to raise the revs etc until it did.

Cracking and scraping, he was pushing the other car backwards. I urgently tapped on his window realising he hadn't realised. "No I didn't sonny", he said with a stern look. I give up... he went and parked around the corner thinking we didn't see him there.

I don't normally park in supermarket car parks, but when I do I do the furthest away space - and if possible near another car that looks loved, so we can kind of help each other out, a bit like someone else mentioned.

Best ridiculous driving I see is back home in South Devon. Its just so painful though, soul destroying when you wan to get somewhere.

 

[219]

True, but small cars are much bigger now. My W126 looks and feels huge, but it's not far off a normal car like a Mundano now. Even a Golf looks bizarrely big. The Mini is now hench..

Cars have definitely become much less space efficient over the years .

I mentioned the example of my W111 and the W126 it kept company with on the drive - although both cars were externally about the same size , the interior space in the Fintail was vastly greater !

This was down to factors such as increased thickness of the doors , much more padding , dashboard being much deeper and more padded , large centre console on the 126 where the 111 had none ( indeed the earlier car with column change gears could be optioned with a centre cushion between the front seats or a bench seat , both allowing three to sit up front ) , the roofline was more horizontal so more headroom at the back , generally better visibility die to wrap round screens and thinner pillars ( also the positioning of the pillars was better for vision at junctions ) , ingress and egress in the front was easier thanks to the doors which extended and hinged further forwards below the wrap round windscreen ; reversing was easier thanks to the tail fins which could be seen through the back window , showing exactly where the extremities of the car were .

Oh , and the boot was HUGE compared to the already decent sized 126 boot , thanks to the W111 fuel tank being below the boot floor and , although perhaps shallower ( but can't be by much ) , the boot was so much longer it was amazing what you could get in there ! The centre fuel filler behind the number plate was another nice feature , meaning you could just as easily fill up at pumps on either side .

I know the changes were largely for safety reasons , but one can also look on it as for a given amount of interior space , the car has to get bigger on the outside .

Another couple of examples - compare a bright and airy W201 190E interior with the cramped and claustrophobic interior of a W203 C Class ( is that what the C stands for ? ) .

Looking elsewhere - compare a Mk 1 Golf with a Mk 3 , 4 or later .... within the last day I've had a pal round in his Mk1 Clipper and other friends in their Mk V , not much difference in interior room but the later car is so much bigger outside .

Or compare that Mondeo with its great grandaddy - a Mk I or Mk II Cortina .

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Aha. An update from me (The OP). I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting a very eminent psychologist this week. During our conversation I broached the subject of why, when you have parked on your own, others then park beside you. She commented. It is "human herding mentality". Some feel the need to be in the herd or pack. If they are not with the herd, they start to feel that they should be, then question if, in not being, they are in danger. Rather like a comfort blanket.

Ah, proof indeed that I'm not human. I hate crowds and always strive to avoid other people. I park well away from everyone else, always shunning far more convenient spaces bordered by others. On the beach I cringe at the hoards gathered together close to amenities and head for a deserted spot. Concerts, sports events and the like tend to be off limits for me because of the crowds. I'm definitely not human.

 

[Druk]

I'm definitely not human.

I think most of us had jaloused that.

 

[renault12ts]

Jalouse | Definition of Jalouse by Merriam-Webster

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Cars have definitely become much less space efficient over the years .

I mentioned the example of my W111 and the W126 it kept company with on the drive - although both cars were externally about the same size , the interior space in the Fintail was vastly greater !

This was down to factors such as increased thickness of the doors , much more padding , dashboard being much deeper and more padded , large centre console on the 126 where the 111 had none ( indeed the earlier car with column change gears could be optioned with a centre cushion between the front seats or a bench seat , both allowing three to sit up front ) , the roofline was more horizontal so more headroom at the back , generally better visibility die to wrap round screens and thinner pillars ( also the positioning of the pillars was better for vision at junctions ) , ingress and egress in the front was easier thanks to the doors which extended and hinged further forwards below the wrap round windscreen ; reversing was easier thanks to the tail fins which could be seen through the back window , showing exactly where the extremities of the car were .

Oh , and the boot was HUGE compared to the already decent sized 126 boot , thanks to the W111 fuel tank being below the boot floor and , although perhaps shallower ( but can't be by much ) , the boot was so much longer it was amazing what you could get in there ! The centre fuel filler behind the number plate was another nice feature , meaning you could just as easily fill up at pumps on either side .

I know the changes were largely for safety reasons , but one can also look on it as for a given amount of interior space , the car has to get bigger on the outside .

Another couple of examples - compare a bright and airy W201 190E interior with the cramped and claustrophobic interior of a W203 C Class ( is that what the C stands for ? ) .

Looking elsewhere - compare a Mk 1 Golf with a Mk 3 , 4 or later .... within the last day I've had a pal round in his Mk1 Clipper and other friends in their Mk V , not much difference in interior room but the later car is so much bigger outside .

Or compare that Mondeo with its great grandaddy - a Mk I or Mk II Cortina .

Additional safety equipment taking up more space maybe.

 

[rf065]

Additional safety equipment taking up more space maybe.

Correct, crumple zones, side impact beams, airbags etc etc.

Russ

 

[219]

Correct, crumple zones, side impact beams, airbags etc etc.

Russ

The W111 had crumple zones at least as big as those in the W126 ; no side impact bars in a 126 , but it does have motors for the electric Windows and solid door pockets as opposed to collapsible ones , and just a thicker shell. Yes , there are more gadgets and toys in later cars , some for safety but many just conveniences .

 

[brucemillar]

If we believe my psychologist friend (I do) then size really doesn't matter here. If you park in the middle of a deserted B52 landing strip, some buffoon will park next to you leaving both you and themselves no room to exit and ding your door at the same time.

That certainly has been my experience to date. My latest was with my beautiful C55 Wagon. Parked all on it's own, outside my local mechanics garage. Some piece of coprolite managed to smash into the rear causing considerable damage (new back bumper, tailgate dented and moved etc). It would have been impossible, even if driving a tank, not have noticed that they had smashed onto my car. As a gesture of their good grace and upbringing they then drove off leaving my garage with a hefty insurance claim and me with a smashed up car.

 

[ianrandom]

I drive wedding cars, and people drive into those too. Once in a car park with 7 people in the car. And about 30 people all around the car. Shunted the back end sideways a little. And then tried to drive off. The mind boggles...

Recently the bride & groom popped off for pictures when they came back the car had its rear bumper all hooked off. The kicker is, only wedding guests had been parked there.

What can you say....

 

[Alex225]

This is why I drive a 13 year old W211 as my daily car. I care about the car but can handle an older car getting inevitably dinged using it day to day.

My other half has recently sold her Ford Focus. She was a nanny and used it daily, had to park it where she could on many an occasion. She owned it two years and it was damaged on five separate occasions whilst parked.

i have since taught here the ways of the (parking) Force, which involves parking as far away as possible and in a space with only one space to the side to minimise the idiots.

Thing is I park in a multi storey most days which is used by commuters getting the train into London. I tend to follow my own rules and use certain spaces to minimise damage but I see odd parking behaviour most days. Not always terrible but parking that makes absolutely zero sense.

The floors are often totally empty when I arrive but the car in front will often just go for the first space they see, regardless of how well their car fits in it.

One chap owns a lovely Maserati but it is massive. Doesn't mean he won't park it 6 inches from the car next to him and force his way out of the door or that it over hangs the space by a fair bit.

Few people care that much for their cars though, dings are just seen as normal and taking the paint off your door edge, well it just happens doesn't it.

All we can do as car fans is try and minimise the likelihood of people doing it but there's only so far you can go!

 

[John]

This is why I drive a 13 year old W211 as my daily car. I care about the car but can handle an older car getting inevitably dinged using it day to day.

My other half has recently sold her Ford Focus. She was a nanny and used it daily, had to park it where she could on many an occasion. She owned it two years and it was damaged on five separate occasions whilst parked.

i have since taught here the ways of the (parking) Force, which involves parking as far away as possible and in a space with only one space to the side to minimise the idiots.

Thing is I park in a multi storey most days which is used by commuters getting the train into London. I tend to follow my own rules and use certain spaces to minimise damage but I see odd parking behaviour most days. Not always terrible but parking that makes absolutely zero sense.

The floors are often totally empty when I arrive but the car in front will often just go for the first space they see, regardless of how well their car fits in it.

One chap owns a lovely Maserati but it is massive. Doesn't mean he won't park it 6 inches from the car next to him and force his way out of the door or that it over hangs the space by a fair bit.

Few people care that much for their cars though, dings are just seen as normal and taking the paint off your door edge, well it just happens doesn't it.

All we can do as car fans is try and minimise the likelihood of people doing it but there's only so far you can go!

That sums up pretty much what I tend to do. Minimise the chance is all you can do...

Mine has a few parking dents and dinks but you have to look inline with the door to see them and mine is 12 years old similarly...

The Maserati guy you mention makes me cringe. I nearly went for a Gran Turismo earlier this year but that would not even grace a car park let alone finding a space on its own.

I can't help thinking even if I had billions of pounds - I still couldn't just park it anywhere.

I guess it must be an upbringing thing.

 

[Mxhid]

I hate it ABSOLUTELY HATE IT when this happens. So bloody annoying


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[kid-jensen]

There's only one reason why cars are getting bigger...

There's much more profit in them!

 

[renault12ts]

There's only one reason why cars are getting bigger...

There's much more profit in them!

So, as cars are cheaper now than ever, and use more materials than ever...there are bigger margins? How does that work?

 

[Lennox]

So, as cars are cheaper now than ever, and use more materials than ever...there are bigger margins? How does that work?

Well in sales there isn't. At ford in the 90's I made a fortune selling cars. I made circa £400 base (no add ons) in commission per car. Today Arnold Clark pay their staff £50-75 a car.

It's a majorly volume business more than it's ever been.

 

[kid-jensen]

Renault21ts wrote:

"So, as cars are cheaper now than ever, and use more materials than ever...there are bigger margins? How does that work?".

No idea where you live, but whenever I checkout the prices of new cars locally (just out of curiosity, obviously) they certainly haven't got cheaper, especially compared with my so-called "cost of living" rises over the past few years.

What proifit did VAG make before the Dieselgate scandal hit? About 4 billion dollars IIRC....

You don't make that sort of money by making this year's Polo the same size as last year's.

 

[John]

When we bought a Honda Jazz in 2004, it cost around £12k.

When we looked at the equivalent in 2011, it cost around £17.5k.