Watch It! Two Common Risky Scenarios for Your Car
You’re a good, careful driver, and your car is your pride and joy. You’d never put it at risk, right? Well, we hate to say it but there are so many different ways that a car can get scratched, scraped and banged up there’s no way for even the best driver in the world to avoid them all. Here are just a couple of the risky scenarios we all face almost every day.
The Shopping Run
You need to pick some bread, milk and other essentials, so you pull in to the supermarket car park for some quick shopping. Watch out, though, because you’re about to face a gauntlet of potential damage to your car!
The Careless Door-Opener: Somebody parks next to you and doesn’t realise how close they are before throwing their door open. Bang! That’s a dent in the side of your beloved motor.
The Surprisingly High Curb: You want to minimise the risk of damage from that guy? Simple, you look for a space at the inner end of the row, so there’s at least no chance of them getting you from one side. You pull in nice and close to the curb at the edge to give whoever’s next to you as much room as possible. Too close; you clip the curb and whoops, you’ve nicked or scuffed your nice shiny alloys on it.
Bollards Everywhere: Why does a car park need so many bollards? Combine this with a careless door-opener in your own vehicle (often over-excited kids) and there’s another dent in the door.
The Trolley-Squeezer: People love to try and take the most direct route possible – even if that means squeezing between two cars (neither of them their own) with a heavily laden trolley which of course has a wobbly wheel sending it off to the left. If you have the poor luck to be on their route, you could end up with scratches down the side of your car, dents in the side, a wing mirror left askew, or even a smashed light.
How to Survive
Choose your parking space well. Don’t be tempted by the spaces closest to the shop entrance – that’s where everyone who’s in a hurry will be, and they’re the most likely to be careless. Look for where the trolley sheds are, and steer clear of them so you’re not on the trolley-squeezer’s route. Careless door-openers in your own vehicle can be curtailed by sitting them in the back and using the child locks!
Failing that, well, you could always order your groceries online, right?
Parked At Home
When you get home, where do you park your car? On the road? On the drive? In your garage? Sadly, there’s some kind of risk wherever you choose.
Vandals: If your car is parked out in the open, then there is always the chance that it could be targeted by vandals. This can include broken windows and wing mirrors, scratched bodywork, stolen hub caps and much more.
Weather: Again, if you’re parked outside there’s plenty that nature can do to your car. High winds could bring down trees, or even rip off a neighbour’s garage roof and drop it on top of your car. A heavy hail storm could cause dents and scratches.
Trees: It might seem like a good idea to park your car under a tree for some nice shade. It’s not, especially if you’re leaving it there for any length of time. First of all, you’re offering the birds a perfect opportunity for target practice, and the trees themselves can drip sap which can also damage paintwork. Add to that falling leaves – and the chance of falling branches – and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Bags and Coats: No, really. Many garages are a pretty tight fit, and the same can apply to driveways which leave you squeezing through between your car and the wall to get to the door. If you’ve got zips, buckles, decorative studs or basically anything a little bit sharp on your bag or your clothing, you could end up scratching your own bodywork.
How to Survive
Well, that’s a tricky one, considering that there’s something that can happen wherever you are! Parking inside is always going to be safer than outside, though, so long as you have the room to get your car in comfortably and move around it.
There’s no reason to get paranoid, though; here at Smartway London, we’ve got your back. As specialists in car body repairs in Wimbledon, we can help your car to recover from the not-so-gentle attentions of the trolley-squeezer, the careless door-opener, Mother Nature and whoever and whatever else may threaten the sanctity of your paintwork. For more information, get in touch with us today on 07732 542500.
