side tubes might be somewhat dinted but the rest of the car was unscathed, luckily I took plenty of sandwiches as I had to wait ages for the D3's to amble along the track at a snail pace. contrary to popular advise the key to off roading is speed, stop at an easy section scan out a route for the next 20-30 yards and go for it. go slow and you will fall into the ruts and get stuck/damage your car At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Collected my SD 1st December and christened it driving timekeeper 1 hour ahead of Galloway Hills Rally.
Over 60 miles in Galloway Forrest 100% snow which was up tp 1 ft in places.
I had fresh snow and had better time than competitors running at tail of event in 2wd small cars. All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

druand wrote:

Collected my SD 1st December and christened it driving timekeeper 1 hour ahead of Galloway Hills Rally.
Over 60 miles in Galloway Forrest 100% snow which was up tp 1 ft in places.
I had fresh snow and had better time than competitors running at tail of event in 2wd small cars.

The Trophy is on your mantlepiece then

Mantlepiece, showing my age, hav'nt used that word for years

Fuzzkaz wrote:

Park right on the line is my best advice, tends to discourage anyone from attempting to park on your nearside and leaves a good gap on the drivers side.

Where I live it's the bin men. If they actually bother to empty the bin (a big if) they just drag a couple of them into the road, apparently blind to any cars parked in their way. Mainly seems to affect the Astra though - at least the FL has nice big protective bumpers.

Watched this older fella in a decrepid merc leaving his bay at the car park in town. He was millimetres away from the car next to him as he swung out. Unfortunately he was far from millemetres away from the car behind him as he reversed across the access way.

I could have forgiven him for that as there was no damage but as he then pulled forward to leave the carpark his front bumper hit the car next to his bay (the one he just missed on the way out) just below the headlight. I assumed he would stop and reverse but no he carried on and dragged his bumper across almost the entire front of the brand new Suzuki. Needless to say I left my details as a witness and the numberplate of the merc. The young lady that rang that evening was most grateful although it might have been nice to have had some thanks from the insurance company itself.

I am not a do gooder but I would have been totally p!ssed off if it had happened to me and why should the merc driver get away with it. As I said I gave him the benefit of the doubt for the 1st contact as it was light especially given his age but the 2nd was incredible to watch. Prog rock is cool!
2012 XS SD4 Indus Silver

A month or so ago after washing my freelander 2 I noticed that there were 8-10 hairline scratches on the bonnet. It looks like someone had used the front of my car for a shelf whilst loading up the back of their car. I can only assume that they dragged the bag/box off rather than lifting it. Any suggestions for removing these scratches as the range of stuff in Halfords etc is bamboozling. The scratches look like they are just through the top coat. By the way my FL2 is black and they are a bugg@r to keep looking good most of the time.

Always reverse into a space, saves them using the bonnet, as an added bonus they may crack their shins on the towbar too

If in a tight space, check the adjacent cars for tell tale signs, bumper scuffs, chipped door edges etc, take a picture, every phone thses days has a camera, if you get back and there is damage at least you have half an idea who it may be.

It never ceases to amaze how people struggle into a space when 20 yards away the car park will be empty, or the car park is empty apart from your car and some t t will park right beside you?

Following on from the cat p s thread, I think I will fit PIR's to the sides of the car that spray security dye when activated, that would nail the culprits

I had my Black Freelander 1 for 3 years and the only marks on it were where a hurd of cows had been licking the rear quarter. These polished out. Then when up for sale I got a deep scratch the length of the rear quarter and had to drop the price because of it. If I new who did it I would of been tempted to take that value out of something they hold dear, like their house windows.

The worst ever for me was two days after picking up my mazda sport. Stationary in a carpark waiting for two women, that were stood talking in a space, to move, a third women walked round my car, got in hers and reversed into me. She then pulled forward and did it again. When she moved forward again I managed to get out the now knackered door and run round to her driving side. She looked up at me politely and said "sorry did I hit you". To which I replied " yes that was the f*****g big bang".

She left me her number and her being a nice old lady and admitted it was her fault I thought I was ok. However, after many attempts at calling she accused me of speeding round the carpark and trying to squeeze through. It wasnt to i pointed out that I had the car photographed at the paint shop and could prove I was stationary due to having no scrape marks that, after consulting with her son, she agreed to pay.

The point is never trust anyone, even little old ladies can be lying scum bags.

Another good one to remember is if someone pulls out on you and they say you were speeding ask them if they saw that and pulled out anyway. If they say yes then they are at fault, If they say no then its un due care and attention and how did they know you was speeding?

Always take a picture showing the accident situation, as many as you possibly can. Every phone has a camera these days. Send them to you insurance co when sending the accident report. Alsways fill in such a report, even if they say thay will settle this without the insurance cos. If they back down, you have evidence and a signed statement.
If they do want to settle, only give them 24hrs.