Re: Anybody else experienced parking lot troubles...

[Miki Haraguchi <ikim@xxxxxx>]

Even though my previous car was not a BMW, I put a lot of time into taking 
care of it...and inevitably got people parking an inch away from me. If you 
take care of your car, it doesn't seem to matter what you have, it acts as 
a beater magnet. However, I've been mostly very lucky with my 
year-and-a-half old E36. Only some insignificant marks on the side, and I 
really think they are just stone chips from highway miles (no dings).

However--I don't know where it happened--but I happened to walk by my car a 
few months ago, and a gleam caught my eye as I walked by the hood. I looked 
down and someone, somewhere, had taken some very sharp object, pressed down 
real hard, and "keyed" the car for about an inch down to the bare metal 
(which is what I saw winking at me). Talk about malicious behavior. I was 
really upset. And what upset me even more was some of my friends' 
reactions--actually intimating, "what do you expect?" and "you're asking 
for it with a car like that". Just no sympathy. My car is garaged at home, 
so it definitely happened in a parking lot.

I very much advocate choosing your parking spots carefully, but as some 
other contributors have said, I'm not sure about going a mile out and 
isolating yourself. I actually think it draws *more* attention to you if 
some joker has mischief in mind. It is a double-edged sword, unfortunately.

Miki H.
1997 328is

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