It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. The rush is on to purchase the gifts, and the food and rushing between the many festive parties.

Christmas may be the season of peace and goodwill but for many busy people, it’s also a time of stress.

It’s at this time of year when our fellow road users tend to take their eyes off the ball, get a little careless and give our cars an unwelcome dent. So what precautions can you take? Read on for the top tips from the paintless dent repair and dent removal experts. Follow our tips to keep your car dent-free this holiday season.

Make Time to Relax

Sometimes it can feel that just one more item on our “to-do” list could be enough to push us over the edge. There are just not enough hours in the day when you’re striving to make the perfect Christmas.

What you could do without is either a ding or a dong appearing merrily on the bodywork of your shiny, precious car.

If and when this happens, first up, take some deep breaths. Try out a few simple mindfulness techniques that will help you to relax. The beauty of mindfulness is that you can practise it anywhere, even when you’re driving to the supermarket. This is going to get you in the right frame of mind to make the space and time you need to avoid getting any dents in your car.

Pick Your Moment

Research has shown that the most dangerous time to drive is around 3 pm and the riskiest days are Fridays and Saturdays.

The safest time to drive in Australia is when there is likely to be the least number of vehicles and drivers on the road. More often than not, this will be on Sunday and Monday to Thursday, except between 8 and 9 am.

So, if possible, when you feel tempted to snatch the car keys and rush out to buy grandma’s Christmas gift, stop for a minute. Can it wait until a more appropriate moment and would it be more efficient to include some other tasks to do on the same trip at a later time?

Now that our former freedoms have returned after a substantial length of time, there is perhaps more temptation to rush out unnecessarily simply because we can.

Choose Your Parking Space Carefully

You might be a considerate driver. You might be mindful of leaving plenty of space when you park for other drivers. However, there are plenty of others who are not like that.

Do you get hot under the collar because the wheels of a neighbouring car have crept over the line of the parking space you have your eye on? Bear in mind that this driver may have had no choice as the person originally parked next to them had done the exact same thing.

To avoid needing paintless dent repair, pick your parking space carefully. When you use an underground car park, avoid parking next to the following places:

• The trolley storage locations
• “Family” designated parking bays
• Cars that have crept over the line into your space
• At entrances or exits

When shoppers are in a rush, they tend to be more prone to have their minds on other things and not where they’re wheeling their shopping trolley. Steer away from trolley storage areas to mitigate the risk of any bashing into your car boot and making a dent.

Kids opening car doors is another old chestnut better kept roasting on an open fire. They’ll often be racing out of the car without checking how close your car is to theirs. Before they know it, they’ll have given your car an unwelcome bang. Check out where families are more likely to park and avoid leaving your car there. Try to avoid parking next to cars with child seats.

If you have to park in a space next to someone who has crept into your bay, take plenty of “before” and “after” pictures in case you get a dent while you’re shopping. At least then, you will have some evidence to present to the team that’s managing the car park.

Park Strategically

When it comes to underground car parks, you should be mindful of where and how you park. Whenever possible, try to pull up next to cars that are smaller than yours. This will let you make more space between your vehicle and others.

Try to avoid tight spaces and if possible, park in an emptier part of the car park even if that means you need to take a few extra steps to get to the shops.

Parking underground also keeps your car safe from exposure to the elements and flying debris that could cause damage to your vehicle. Driving during storm season is one of the most common causes of scratches and hail damage in cars.

“End-of-row” parking spots are often a good choice as you will only ever have one car next to you. By their nature, you have already reduced the chances of needing paintless dent repair to correct small dents and dings.

Avoid parking next to older vehicles that have seen better days and already have dents in them. Their owners may be a little more slap-dash as they don’t feel the need to take such good care of their own cars. Similarly, try to park next to a car that looks as though its owners have well cared for it.

And, finally, when you’re Christmas shopping you may find you’re juggling lots of carrier bags along with a handful of kids. Make a little more time to get everyone and everything in and out of the car to avoid any scratches from keys or dings from heavy purchases.

Call PDR 2U, Brisbane’s Best Paintless Dent Repair Company

At PDR 2U, we offer a paintless dent repair and dent removal service. If after taking all our precautions, you’re unlucky enough to get a nasty ding, dent or scratch, don’t delay and get in touch with us now.

We’ll get the job done quickly, at a time and place convenient to you. The results of our paintless dent repairs and dent removals are so seamless that you will never know that a dent has even happened. Call us at PDR 2U today.