Is it a concern to anybody else here that the doors are "naked" and exposed to all kinds of parking lot abuse? What would our options be?

Go look at the new cars on different manufacturs lots. Side moldings are absent on a lot of cars.

Just take up 2 parking spaces wherever you park your car at. Works for me. ;) Lol!

My 16 year old Bonne SSE/SC doesn't have any door dings. But it does have ginormous plastic cladding all the way around.

unfortunately it's the trend now. Ditto the Challenger, the CTS, etc

Just take up 2 parking spaces wherever you park your car at. Works for me. ;) Lol!

Last time I did that (about 25 years ago) someone "thanked" me by keying my door...

unfortunately it's the trend now. Ditto the Challenger, the CTS, etc

Yeah, I know. I'm wondering if there's anything I could do about it.

Come to think, there's a trim shop downtown that sells BSM by the foot. Wonder if they would have anything other than 1978 Oldsmobile style... :barf:

Park as far away as possible and get a bit of excercise to boot.

I always park on an end spot or about 5 spots away from the furthest vehicle. If you must park next to someone, park next to a 4 door since the doors don't swing as wide.

i will be parking on the other side of the country to avoide some dbag throwing their door open to get out of there car

http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/images/holden-ve-commodore-2-big.jpg

the Calais-V and Statesman/Caprice in australia have a small moulding near the bottom of the door, only its colour coded, with a chrome strip.

asylum......those moulds are all chrome on the calais

asylum......those moulds are all chrome on the calais

ahhh yes good point, i was thinking of the previous models :D

Olly,

I sent you, asylum & DY an epistle (private message) about my G8GT and what a great ride it is.

Penguin

My car is a weekend warrior. And every now and then I'll let my wife take it to work since there is no worry of anyone parking next to her, and she parks it underneath a car port.

My car is NOT allowed in ANY type of parking lot or my mother-in-law's... She's got several cats that are attracted to a new car in the driveway like a magnet, and love to jump on on top of a new car that has just been waxed and is super slick, so when they jump on they start sliding so they fully extend their claws and scratch the hell out of it... :cursin:

Haven't got the G8, but they got my Dodge when it was brand new....

Olly,

I sent you, asylum & DY an epistle (private message) about my G8GT and what a great ride it is.

Penguin

I didn't get your PM penguin, but thanks for thinking of the aussies anyway.

My car is a weekend warrior. And every now and then I'll let my wife take it to work since there is no worry of anyone parking next to her, and she parks it underneath a car port.

My car is NOT allowed in ANY type of parking lot or my mother-in-law's... She's got several cats that are attracted to a new car in the driveway like a magnet, and love to jump on on top of a new car that has just been waxed and is super slick, so when they jump on they start sliding so they fully extend their claws and scratch the hell out of it... :cursin:

Haven't got the G8, but they got my Dodge when it was brand new....

I hate cats, dog person myself.

But if any animal did that to my brand new car, you better believe that animal is going to have a body full of either broken bones or bullets

they fully extend their claws and scratch the hell out of it

The obvious solution is to quit wasting time and money on car wax. :gr_devil:

This doesn't help the side of the car but I have always put on those cheesy door edge guards to keep chips off the edge's.

On a black car they don't look too bad.:sneaky:

Last time I did that (about 25 years ago) someone "thanked" me by keying my door...
Sorry to hear about that man. The chances exist that the same thing could happen to me too but all I can say is that who ever gets the courage to try the m:censored: f:censored: better pray that I don't catch em. My Mustang is pretty much well known in my town and the G8 will be no different when it gets here. Noone has ever said anything about me taking 2 spots when I park not even the police but I do also make sure that there are plenty of other spots free before I take 2 spots oh and I also park it furthest away from the store or wherever I'm at. If someone straps on their stupid and tries to scratch it someone will eventually see it and people will talk. The only incident I had with the car was a few years back at a car show a couple of kids laid their greasy paws on my car. Pi$$ed me off but eventually it pi$$ed my son off more since he went over and yelled at the kids before I could run over and say something! :punch:

I always park on an end spot or about 5 spots away from the furthest vehicle. If you must park next to someone, park next to a 4 door since the doors don't swing as wide.

Don't ever park next to a Cadilac DeVille or Lincoln Town Car. Geezer factor is too high for many of the drivers of these cars and they are notorious for door banging.

On the other hand, some days you are just doomed. Several years ago a friend of mine had his Fawn Beige '62 in a World of Wheels car show in Denver. After four days downtown, he was returning to home in the western suburbs and had to stop at a shopping center. It was late Sunday afternoon and the parking lot was near empty, but he still parked as far away as he possibly could and went in to pick up a couple of items and returned to his car to find a shopping cart had found him from clear accross the lot and banged his fresh paint.:cry::cry:

Yeah, all you can do is play the odds. Here are my rules:
1) Find an end spot on a row of cars where you can crowd the end line away from the adjacent car.
2) Avoid parking next to "geezer" cars (they'll never know I'm a geezer driving a G8 :) ) Many of these older people have disabilities and need to open the door fully to get in/out. Many also just plain don't have a clue.
3) Avoid parking next to 2-door cars - doors are longer and detent stops farther out on many cars
4) If you must park in a lot, crowd the passenger door slightly more than the driver's door on the car next to you. There is a 100% probability that the driver's door will open, less that there is a passenger.
5) Park as far away from the establishment door as you can. In WalMart lots, look for the employee parking areas -- less likely to get caught by a short term shopper. See also rule 1.
6) Parallel park if you have a chance, and park on the street and walk a block to two in good weather.
7) Don't waste time when you park (shopping, etc.) This minimizes exposure time.
8) Survey the car next to you. If it's a "beater", go find another spot. These people often have no self-respect for themselves or anyone else.

Yeah, all you can do is play the odds. Here are my rules:
1) Find an end spot on a row of cars where you can crowd the end line away from the adjacent car.
2) Avoid parking next to "geezer" cars (they'll never know I'm a geezer driving a G8 :) ) Many of these older people have disabilities and need to open the door fully to get in/out. Many also just plain don't have a clue.
3) Avoid parking next to 2-door cars - doors are longer and detent stops farther out on many cars
4) If you must park in a lot, crowd the passenger door slightly more than the driver's door on the car next to you. There is a 100% probability that the driver's door will open, less that there is a passenger.
5) Park as far away from the establishment door as you can. In WalMart lots, look for the employee parking areas -- less likely to get caught by a short term shopper. See also rule 1.
6) Parallel park if you have a chance, and park on the street and walk a block to two in good weather.
7) Don't waste time when you park (shopping, etc.) This minimizes exposure time.
8) Survey the car next to you. If it's a "beater", go find another spot. These people often have no self-respect for themselves or anyone else.

...and best not to take up 2 parking spaces, it tends to really tick some people off, like you feel you are better than them or deserve 2 places. I follow the above, except #4, cuz there is no, if you must so no reason taking the risk. My wife says I have trained her to follow the same approach and there are no dings on any of our cars since we have owned them.

My wife has a theory which may may be very true, she feels that "older" folks need a car next to them to "guide" them into the spot, and are "afraid" to park between too cars, so instead, they seek out cars parked by themselves as it is "easier" to park next to them.

I think she is right as every time we park far away, there is some old persons car (ie Caddy, Lincoln, etc) that is not in the greatest of shape parked next to either of us even when we park a mile away.........:banghead:

The big problem is that it only takes ONE TIME and your car is scarred for life. I have been looking around and there are several companies that make nice looking custom BSM for, for instance, BMW 5-series. I'm going to do some measuring and see if they would fit. I have a spray can of Panther Black metallic paint left over from my GTO days; I think if I purchased the paintable BSM and then painted to match (with about 5 coats of clear on top!) that they would look fine and give me a bit more peace of mind. I would still follow the "rules of parking" but, like I said, this might make the difference for that one asshat that parks next to me.

FWIW, I did some comparisons and, amazingly enough, the closest I could get to the same length of doors was a BMW 750iL. That's the long wheelbase 7-series. And it's doors are still just a bit shorter (.6 to 1 inch) than the G8. Man, this car has long doors (for a 4-door, that is).