Does anybody else suffer from problems in car parks, I don't mean the usual height problems, but the fact that other people seem to have a great inability to manoevre. Two days after purchasing our Townie, someone managed to put a small dent in the driver's side, just under the swage line, just in front of the rear wheel arch, obviously just caught it with the bumper as they swung in or out of the space. The a few weeks ago, someone did exactly the same, but about 1" higher up, about 18" long and more deeply than before. Unfortunately neither driver has stopped & left details (Surprise, surprise) and we haven't seen either incident, this area is a double skin as well, so cant be simply 'popped' out. Has anyone else experienced this ? I might carry some traffic cones in the boot & put them all round the vehicle when parked. Regards Rob.

- (#3407) Rob Drinkwater, 17 Jun 02

Not had this problem, but you can get a dent 'pulling' kit from Halfords, so you can pull the dent out from the outside skin.

- (#3412) Ray, 17 Jun 02

not had this particular problem, but have found i'm driving the only invisible townie!
considering it is such a large vehicle, i have been cut up in it more than any other car i've driven, including my old mini!!
what, can't they see me coming??

- (#3414) eddie arrowsmith, 17 Jun 02

I've not had a vehicle yet that hasn't had dents down the side due to toss useless parking (or rather, ignorant bastards opening their car doors) in supermarket carparks. However due to the size of the Townie being scaled up, the dents have taken on a comparative increase in size. I have a nice dent in the nose cone thanks to some passer-by and one in the rear offside thanks to a runaway trolley in Wickes. I bought a dent puller from screwfix but it isn't strong enough to pull the dent out. Welcome to the beaten up Townie club!

- (#3421) Ian Dunse, 18 Jun 02

We all remember the "sorry mate, didn't see you" thread a few months ago?

- (#3422) david miller, 18 Jun 02

I regularly get scratches appearing along the side of my cruiser that are exactly the height of the front end corner of a (Sainsbury's)trolley. I wonder if all supermarket trolleys are the same size? Maybe those lower scratches came from Tesco's

- (#3444) Phil Pearce, 19 Jun 02

Oh dear, ours just got a right bashed passenger door. Like it won't open. Can't blame the other guy this time though, just a badly placed bollard at a car park entrance (Focus DIY in Canterbury if anyone wants to ramraid it). Cliché as it may be, my wife was driving (although I was the last provider of the several bits of minor damage, courtesy of Cornwall walls!).

Oh well, BBC or somebody will no doubt be £350 better off quite soon, as well as the body shop who can knock the bit of body in front of the door back into shape.

- (#3521) SteveFE, 25 Jun 02

Have enjoyed reading all the e-mails ref
car bashing, but you should try being a woman driving a Liteace. Boy racers cut me up, white van man looks me at as though I have no right to drive anything more than a hoover and the number of men who think I need help parking especially after driving for over 20 years is unbelievable. However, I still get a kick out of driving head and shoulders above most road users and the odd occassional whiff of black smoke when I accelerate does generally tend to get rid of those drivers who think my tail gate looks enticing!

- (#4020) Sheila, 28 Jul 02

Driving for 20 years, you'd be too tired to park the thing, old joke I know. My wife always complains about being cut up etc, I just drive straight at 'em, they usually get out of the way, remember, your nice srong ladder rail chassis will carve straight through the average Mondeo, at around driver's kideny height, so they usually s*** themselves & get out of the way. If you look back a long way through the BoK you'll see a whole thread on the subject of Townies invisible to other roadusers. Rob.

- (#4031) Rob Drinkwater, 29 Jul 02