Garage Parking Columns and Cars Don’t Mix

It feels so good to finally have underground garage parking after thirteen years of street parking when we lived on Capitol Hill. Our assigned parking space in our new condo in northern Virginia is next to a column. So we are very careful every time we park and every time we leave. Whenever we park in most parking lots we always drive in head first to the second space so we can drive right out without having to back up. We rarely pull in backwards in confined spaces. This afternoon we went to a local Greek restaurant for lunch. We ended up parking next to a column - head first - in an unusually busy and tight parking garage. Unfortunately when we were pulling out, the front right bumper scraped along the column, not only denting the bumper, but taking the car paint off along with it. Luckily our Subaru isn’t “new,” but it’s only four years old. And also luckily, we happen to have a Subaru paint pen because the rear bumper once took a mild hit when I was backing up a couple of years ago. When we got home we cleaned off the mess and applied the paint to the obvious spots. Later today we’ll go back and seal the same areas. The next time we bring the car in for a routine check we will get an estimate on a bumper replacement - but I think the damage extends to the wheel as well. At least no one was injured and we can still drive the car. Just when you think you have your expenses under control something like this happens. At least the car will be inside rather than outside so the damage may be contained. We just need to stay away from all the columns. It’s just not worth it.