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lost car in supermarket carpark

(81 Posts)
Fennel Thu 06-Sep-18 19:41:51

I've only just got the confidence to drive down to our big Tesco once week for the main groceries etc.
I get there early, 9.30 ish and park, trying to be as close as possible to a main entrance.Go up the escalator and do my shopping.
Fine up to now, but when I get down again, register the parking ticket, but where is my car? The carpark is packed by now, and it's HUGE. All 4 sides around the store. This morning I must have walked over 15 minutes looking for it.
With my trolley. TG found it eventually.
Any advice how to track the parking place.

pollyperkins Fri 07-Sep-18 15:45:02

I was going to say buy a bright or unusual coloured car! The majority ard shades of grey/blank/ silver so any coour would help. I like red cars but I've seen yellow, green and tomato shade cars occasionally.

mokryna Sat 08-Sep-18 07:26:16

ditto stella1949 but not just one, take photos of the individual parking number, another of the line, floor level and exit doors etc.

Aepgirl Sat 08-Sep-18 07:26:46

Yes, tie something on the aerial so that you can spot your car from a distance. Or shop in a different supermarket that doesn't have a huge car park.

monanny Sat 08-Sep-18 07:44:30

Lots of good advice. Just a funny story that happened to me, my daughter and two granddaughters. We had parked the car in Denton Texas and went to order a takeaway pizza. It took quite a while and we were starving and couldn't wait to get back to the car and hotel to eat. We couldn't find the car and wandered up and down the side roads. We started eating our pizzas while looking. After about half an hour of walking and eating we found it.

moobox Sat 08-Sep-18 07:47:41

Courtesy cars are great. I have been known to drive from the garage, go to do the supermarket shop and come out not even knowing what colour it was

moobox Sat 08-Sep-18 07:52:03

Then there was the occasion when I parked in a small car park in a large village. I returned to find my car missing. It took a while to realise there were two similar car parks fairly close to each other. As for larger venues, we were seriously lost recently in Meadowhall s we couldn't find the right car park, never mind the car

LJP1 Sat 08-Sep-18 07:57:22

Tie a poly bag on your aerial!

elleks Sat 08-Sep-18 08:05:04

We did this at the airport once-spent 20 minutes in the dark and rain looking for it. After that we always wrote the row/bay details down before we left it.

Tamayra Sat 08-Sep-18 08:05:10

Now a tracker is a really good idea
I usually lose mine at IKEA in Sydney The car park is HUGE !!!

sarahellenwhitney Sat 08-Sep-18 08:07:24

I actually had a panic attack several years ago when parking in a park and ride car park. I could not locate my vehicle which was one of hundreds of 'silver greys' also parked .A kind gentleman seeing my distress calmed me and after a few details, I provided, located it for me. Although I have changed my car I now attach a small vivid green flag to the radio ariel and remove it when returning to my easily found car.

GeorgieKay Sat 08-Sep-18 08:14:02

A bright coloured car really does make a difference !! Luckily, my bright blue one is easy to spot. I would never buy a silver/grey car - they seem to be everywhere !!

chelseababy Sat 08-Sep-18 08:25:43

I've got a Winnie the Pooh aerial topper on mine - it really helps!

Mary59nana Sat 08-Sep-18 08:44:29

I spent 2 hours once looking for my car only to be told there were 2 multi stories side by side.
Now I park and take photo on my mobile of bay number and position to entrance and delete after.
Always works for me now

Sparklefairydust Sat 08-Sep-18 09:38:18

Many years ago I had a very large Volvo in a distinctive colour, I could find that car anywhere, it stood out, both from the colour and being longer than others, there weren't many big cars in those days. We went to Legoland when it first opened, parked and went off for the day. Came back with tired children and it was gone! We didn't know there were more than one car park! Like a PP we ended up staying until it closed and it was the only one left, with very tired, fed up children!

Kim19 Sat 08-Sep-18 09:58:13

Remember being in Florida. Hired car. Friend and I decided to go to the fun park early when it was less crowded and hopefully to have an earlyish departure. Of course, when we came out there were absolutely fields of parked cars. Not a chance! Both of us could vaguely remember the colour of the buggy. Brand? Number? Phhhhhhh! We simply took ourselves back into the wonderful world of Disney until closing time when we came out to find the vehicle in pretty much solitary splendour. A learning curve indeed.

GabriellaG Sat 08-Sep-18 10:16:05

In multi-storey car parks, I often forgot to note on which level I'd parked. I got around it by taking a helium balloon with me in unfamiliar areas and letting it rise to the ceiling above where my car was parked, always with a short string so it couldn't be moved by a joker.

GabriellaG Sat 08-Sep-18 10:18:54

Who, in this day and age, has an aerial on their car?

Growing0ldDisgracefully Sat 08-Sep-18 10:30:41

Years ago we once had a brown Sierra which I parked near the entrance to our local Asda. I did my shopping, came out, found the car, unlocked it and got In, then realised the interior upholstery was a different colour! Yes, there was another brown Sierra parked bear mine, and my keysopened both! I beat a hasty retreat before the owner found me in their car ....
Another little 'lost it' story - I take part each year in a big biking ride-out for charity (Hogging the Bridge) which involves 4,000 - 6,000 bikes riding across the Severn Bridge. One year we were all sitting on our bikes ready to go, when another biker was spotted running frantically up and down the ranks, as he couldn't find his bike in amongst the other thousands! Tee-hee! I guess he had to wait till all the rest had gone to find it!
And yes, I have lost my silvery-grey car more than once in big retail park car parks ....
However there is a gizmo on the remote for it which switches the head lights on so that's one way of finding it.

Jalima1108 Sat 08-Sep-18 10:32:24

Who, in this day and age, has an aerial on their car?
I was confused too and was going to go out in the rain to check.

supernanauna1 Sat 08-Sep-18 10:35:56

About 25 years ago I had a white Fiat Panda with a black roof rack and bullbars front and back. I thought it was the only one of its kind and I loved the car. Company had huge car parks. Came out of work, got into car. Wondered why seat was pushed fully back and stickers on windscreen were in different positions. Assumed my husband had come to my work with the spare key and drove it, but he said he hadn't.

Next day I found out that somebody else at my work had the very same type of car. She got a broken windscreen and asked Autoglass to come and replace it. They had replaced mine instead of hers. The cars were very old with worn keys so easy to get into. I was puzzled though why they didn't check the registration number.

I was very disappointed to discover that my car wasn't unique! And it turned out my car was in a different car park - something I didn't realise when I spotted a car just like mine outside the main entrance!

allsortsofbags Sat 08-Sep-18 10:40:14

I'm not too bad but it has happened more so before I started to 'land mark' where I parked.

I will be taking some of the advice offered here. Especially about taking a photo looking into ??? and one looking back at the car park.

On DH first visit to town he parked his car in a multi storey over a bus station, wandered round came back - no car. After and age he stopped a police man, told him the tail, police man said 'could it be in the multi storey at the other bus station. Yep, red faced. There it was in the car park over the Southern Bus Station.

It's not a big town but at one time it did have two bus stations with car parks above - happy days

Sheilasue Sat 08-Sep-18 10:44:15

We are always doing that my h and I at our local supermarkets. We have to make a point of parking near trolly park or near the entrance.
Bluewater in Kent our big shopping area has letters so where ever you park you know where to go when you come back from shopping (unless you forget the letter ?)
We once went on holiday to Cheltenham we were Staying in a cottage outside of the town, decided to go into the town and wasn’t sure about the parking so parked in one of the roads not far from the town, forgot to take the name of the road, took us an hour to find the car.
Trouble is too our car is black, we have a little thingy on the top of the aerial to be able to spot it.

Jobey68 Sat 08-Sep-18 11:11:51

I manage to do this in my local Asda all the time! We once lost our car at Birmingham airport, spent 2 hrs trailing over all the floors dragging suitcases, hubby convinced it had been pinched! Eventually got driven around by the attendant in a transit van until we spotted it, happens all the time apparently although husband still swears it wasn't where we left it! winkneeded another holiday after that! grin

Pinkrinse Sat 08-Sep-18 11:32:05

Hi, take a photo on your phone of the car showing where it is, or the nearest post with numbers or some distinguishing mark. My eldest always does this so she can find car and she’s 38!

grandtanteJE65 Sat 08-Sep-18 11:35:43

If you have a smartphone it has a compass. Take a compass bearing when you lock the car and whilst walking away from it, look back and take another. That way you will at least know which direction to walk inwhen returning to the car.

Otherwise take the advice already given to always park in the same part of the parking place,