Protecting Your Car From Other People

Dealing with inconsiderate people will be a continuous challenge for you in your car ownership.  Unfortunately, empathy will fall short by the masses.  One of the best ways to deal with this is to understand their nature.

With respect to mechanic shops and car dealerships, I am going to mention something most people do not think about.  Aside from your poor wash (?) habits, these businesses are the source of most of the damage to your paint.  You simply need to be intentional, thoughtful, and assertive in how you deal with businesses who you may leave your keys to.  With respect to mechanic shops, that means being very discerning and communicative.  With dealerships, that means limiting unnecessary trips to the dealership and being extremely communicative.  I go to automotive repair and maintenance shop that is small business owned, with a reputation of catering to luxury vehicles.  They have on my file instructions about being careful with my car in addition to not wash it.  If I have to go to the dealership, they get two verbal requests (ideally phone and in person) along with visual signs to not wash the car.   This is a product of unfortunate experiences earlier in my car ownership at automotive shops and the dealership.

Where to park?  What requires the most effort to get to not only the store, but to park at?  I like finding corner parking areas in that spot.  Taking a picture of the area in the parking lot, if there are red flags of dangerously inconsiderate neighboring drivers parked near you.  I also prefer aligning myself with stores where people are not going to be in a hurry to shop in or stores where people are not shopping price.  It may seem snobbish to some, but there is something to shopping at grocery stores that are priced higher.  People who are more discerning about ingredients in food tend to also be more thoughtful (considerate) of the little things that do not affect them.

Less crowded areas are better.  For some there may be an intuitive awareness of when to shop, but a Google search will help.  There should be an option to show the most and least heavily trafficked hours.  Neighboring establishments can be a positive and negative for you.  I love going to a store in shopping plaza at the time a neighboring store has closed, to take advantage of that extra parking space.  I would also be mindful of restaurants nearby with limited parking space, which their patrons may park nearby.