In a message dated 3/18/2010 9:33:44 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
JordanVw@AOL.COM writes:

my  advice - (my sister lives in brooklyn) if you have nice bumpers -
remove
them and install some crappy used bumpers..      or  at  least remove the
rear and install a 2x6 piece of wood in its  place.. i GUARANTEE  your
bumpers
will be destroyed.
New Yorkers  "bump park" in the city..  in other words they literally   ram
into the car in front and behind them when they parallel park.   like i
said,
your bumpers will be destroyed in a week...

if  you really want to protect your van, get some of the van cafe steel
bumpers  w/ overiders.. you will be glad you did..

oh... and to give you an idea - my sister bought a brand new subie
imprezza last year.. within one week both her front and rear bumpers were all
gouged up, big cuts in the plastic and paint scraped off..and dents  from
liscence plate screws/bolts from other cars.   within a month she  had a big hole
in her front bumper from someone with a trailer hitch backing  into her that
literally poked thru the bumper.... 3 months later someone  stole all her
wheelcovers..   5 months later someone keyed the  passenger side of her car..

you get the idea.

NYC is not a place to have a car..   certainly not a nice  one.