I think thats true to a certain extent but you can go a long way to avoid it happening.
Parking in the middle of a row of cars in a supermarket car park is a given that it will get a ding eventually.
Leaving it where kids are playing, all these things speed up the eventuality of it happening.
I don't think its any coincidence that I've not had any dings with my last 2 cars and I don't mean that in a boastful way, far from it. That's just by me being sensible where I park. I certainly don't think its part of the territory of owning a car. I've got to laugh when I look at car adverts now and see "Usual car park dings" in the advert. When did these things become the norm?
I know they can happen and you can be just unlucky despite taking all the precautions in the world but I definitely don't think it is to be expected.
I agree, you can definitely take steps to minimise the risk when choosing where to park. To me that's just common sense. For instance when I do the school run I park some way away and just enjoy the extra walk with my daughter. It definitely pays off. As we walk past all the other school run cars who have tried to park as close to the school as possible (lazy buggers) I see all the kids scraping their school bags along the sides of the cars. Not mine.
But there is no guarantee and not all damage is sustained whilst parking. Sometimes things such as hedge scratches etc cannot be avoided, say on a rural road faced with a big lorry that's taken a short cut that it shouldn't have, forcing you into a hedge to avoid getting side swiped. These things can just happen. I actually alter my routes to and from places to avoid such events even if it means a longer journey, costing me more in petrol and time, but there can come a point where you are going to such extreme lengths to avoid damage that it's just silly.
So exercise common sense but if you want a guarantee that your car won't ever be damaged then take the bus.
Those 'usual car park dings' adverts are directed at 90% of the people who park in my works car park, so for them they are the norm
