Post
by Julianw » Mon May 25, 2020 10:43 am
I think it's the size, shininess and perceived monetary value of a car that attracts unwanted attention - park a new jag in the roughest part of a town or city and, unless there is the possibility that it is owned by someone 'connected', I.e. someone that will have any vandal dealt with by an acquaintance named Danny, a baseball bat and his 'security' dogs, it's a matter of time before it gets keyed or worse. Other sources of concern are those road users that are not particularly careful or even competent in the control of their vehicles, endangering everything below waist height with their bumpers, doors, door mirrors, tow bars, handlebars, trolleys, wheelie bins etc. Parking carefully and with full consideration for everyone that will pass by goes some way to mitigate these risks, but the oft heard anecdote from owners of cherished examples is the 'I parked well away from everything else and far from the entrance, and when I came back my car was surrounded by others parked really close' (or worse).
Depressing? It is a bit. Is the solution to have a daily or winter beater that looks hideous and you can shoulder your way through traffic with because of its many battle scars, and keep your XM in a carpeted, heated garage, to be taken out only for shows and special days out, where you go to the National Trust site and STILL come back with a new dent or scratch? Nah. That way you don't get to enjoy your XM for more than a few miles a year and it's STILL needy, through infrequent use.
OK, how about, you keep your XM in perfect mechanical and structural condition, but sod the paintwork? Sure, it'll be regarded by the incompetents as something they can rest their shopping trolley against, but you may not notice the new dent - you can't see it from inside, and you get to do as much mileage in it as you care, which is what the XM is good at, right? It is a shame not being able to keep them all clean, shiney and cosmetically perfect, but I'm not Lord Farquhar or Chris Evans with 'a man' to keep up my fleet, so I'll have to compromise.
Besides, for the moment, I'd settle for a running XM with an MOT...
in here!
), but I wonder if our XM's have any extra risk of being vandalised (keyed, broken windows, etc). Despite me living in a small town, with an enclosed garage and this being a pretty safe place so far and me never going to any big city and parking in the safest places I can find (big place to park, well lit, etc) and leaving no visible objects in the car, I still I would like to know if I'm getting any more risk than my 306 (which only had suffered a broken glass at my ex-university, a sad (and embarrasing for some) history for another time...)
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