I'm going to have to park on the street in SF with my new Miata. Any tricks or products for keeping the braile parkers from scratching the heck out of the paint?
I've thought of a car bra, but I only really want it for parking and I want to protect both front and rear.
JJ
Remove your front license plate from the bumper and ty-rap it to the supports inside the mouth. Or at last make sure the mounting nuts are on the front side of the plate, so they won't be driven into the front mask.
After 20 years here, I've seen a lot of wierdness as well--including an old guy with a "stuck accelerator" that trashed about 6 cars and an out of control bus that totaled 7 or 8. The trick is to use the individual spaces where braile parkers can't get to you.
To answer my own question... Take a look at
You could probably contruct something like this fairly cheap on your own but I'll probably toss them a few bucks for thinking of it first.
JJ
I bought some of those cheap clear plastic tag covers (the brittle plastic ones). When a Braille parker backs up on my car the clear plastic breaks and makes an awful sound. I go through a couple a year but most people stop when they hear the plate cover break and there are only two small marks on the front end where the screws for the plate were pushed back by a blind and deaf parker. As for the fenders and doors in angled parking I haven't found much that helps but always remember to leave your car BACK in the space. A couple of times a moron thought there was an empty space between two SUVs and tried to get in at Mach 1 only to find out there was my little Miata pulled forward to the curb. Leave your rear end back far enough to be even with the other cars rear ends. As a side benefit your doors will only pick up dings from the rear doors of most cars, your front fenders will look like a WW-1 battlefield and your rear end fenders will stay new forever. Hank
See my black beltline molding:
It runs around the upper arcs of the wheelwells, too. Worth its weight in door dings. I actually kinda like the way it looks, but YMMV.
Where did you get the molding at? Is it glued on or magnetic or whatever? Thank you, Larry Hill
It was on the car when I bought it. It's standard, generic self-adhesive vinyl. Typical dealer-installed stuff. Cut-peel-stick.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required