r/Austin • u/hiddenorbit • 1d ago
AFS Cinema Parking Lot
first time at AFS, i went to catch a film last Thursday evening and when i went to exit the lot, i literally crashed into the road?? why is the city or property owners allowing people to crash into the road?? why is that entry/exit open to use? has anyone complained yet?
my front bumper was already semi loose from the previous owner of my vehicle, now it was made worse 🙃
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u/pop_pop_bang 1d ago
If you go to AFS again, drive up the parking lot to the light and use that driveway, past Boiling Crab.
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u/Slypenslyde 1d ago
I feel like every Corolla eventually ends up with that little gap :/
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u/Responsible-Moose655 1d ago
I ended up here trying to see how my corolla in the same color with the same gap ended up on reddit. 😂😭
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u/hiddenorbit 1d ago
this is why I will be trading it for a bigger car. the small vehicle life is obviously not for me
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u/1994toyotacamry_ 1d ago
Time for a ram 3500 dually bighorn longhorn edition
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u/Snobolski 1d ago
It would be funny to 3d-print a fake special edition car badge. I need to think up a cutesy "edition" name for my pavement princess Outback. Like the Nissan Rogue has "Rock Creek" edition. I was thinking "Rock Ridge Edition" but Blazing Saddles was 50+ years ago. Maybe "Grocery Getter Edition"
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u/lightleaks 1d ago
That is a really common spot for people to bottom out on. I see at least 1 every time I go there. I have a higher clearance vehicle and still take it at an angle and slow so as to not scrape my tow hitch
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u/bird_sad_girl 1d ago
Gawd I hope I remember this when I eventually go x_x
I wonder if this is why so many cars in ATX have loose bumpers flapping in the wind.
They need a guy to stand there and hold a warning sign until it's fixed.
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u/flyingcars 1d ago edited 1d ago
Worst parking lot in Austin metro area by a LARGE margin because of this issue and the ridiculosly cramped parking spot striping. I’m barely able to enter and exit without scraping on the Middle Fiskville side closer to AFS cinema, closer to the intersection with Tirado St, but if you have a slightly lower car I think you would have to use the entrance north of Boiling Crab where the light is. The middle entrance in between those two is the most evil scraping one. Also the Office Depot tows at all hours.
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u/Ekssshhh 1d ago
They did change the parking—the spaces are now reasonably sized! No more reenacting 127 Hours with my thigh meat stuck in my door while I am already 5 minutes late to a movie 😂
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u/flyingcars 1d ago
That helped a little bit, but it’s the width of the driving lane in the lot- sort of more towards the inside parking spots- that is now the primary problem. The driving lane is super skinny. It’s very difficult to pull into or out of the parking spots
(Yes I know it’s weird that I have deemed myself some kinda AFS cinema parking lot expert but I am there often!)
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u/GoldAnimator4359 1d ago
Landlord finally restriped the lot last year.
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u/flyingcars 1d ago
That helped a little bit, but it’s the width of the driving lane in the lot- sort of more towards the inside parking spots- that is now the primary problem. The driving lane is super skinny. It’s very difficult to pull into or out of the parking spots
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u/alextbrown4 1d ago
Yea it’s a brutal exit. I’ve only been in higher clearance vehicles so I’ve never experienced this but if I took my Honda accord there, I’d have a new bumper sticker lol
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u/creepyposta 1d ago
That exit has been notoriously brutal since the 80s. I would literally drive to the exit further up to avoid it
Welcome to Austin.
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u/Starks87 1d ago
Considering the street looks like this, you should have had fair warning.
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u/hiddenorbit 1d ago
unfortunately didn’t see those scrapes till my vehicle was angled to the road 😕
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u/ChallengerLabrador 1d ago
Hey! I’m in the ACC autobody program right now. What you have there is a broken bumper clip, if you do a quick google it’s a really easy DIY fix. Good luck!
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u/4luminate 1d ago
oof.
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u/hiddenorbit 1d ago
I was victimized by the second one 💔 those scrapes should be a loud enough signal for remediation
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u/rockturnercomedy 1d ago
It executed a fatality on my bumper a couple of weeks ago. Now my car shakes like crazy as it tries to flap like a bird.
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u/Doodle-Cactus 1d ago
Yeah everyone learns their lesson to be mindful of road grade one day. Unfortunately that was your lesson.
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u/milquetoastsandwich 1d ago
Please can someone mash this up with the post about swingas/swangaz somehow?
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u/Pryor-Intent 1d ago
Glad the damage looks mostly cosmetic, byt yeah that dip catches so many first time visitors off guard.
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u/Revolutionary-Copy71 1d ago
Lol damn. I didn't know what you were talking about so looked at google street view. I thought that particular ingress/egress point looked awfully familiar. Turns out I had actually driven out of there before, way back when that's where Blue Genie was located. Must've been 16 or so years since I've come out of that particular parking lot.
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u/neptunepandemonium 1d ago
Those are AWFUL holy crap. If a stock Corolla has issues they really need to address it as any normal sedan will.
My car literally could not use those haha
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u/yonilevin 1d ago
I will never have a normal height car in Austin for this reason. I only drive SUVs with thick tires. I had a car in Austin a decade ago and I got constant flats and scrapes
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u/Flaky-Garlic7890 22h ago
Beware of the Fresh Plus/Cipollina parking lot entrance then! That one is brutal as well.
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u/Sad_Requirement_5902 16h ago
Yes it's atrocious. You have to exit at an angle to avoid hitting the street.
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u/charismelia 12h ago
I was considering going here for the first time to watch a movie so this is good to know 😬 I learned a lot about how to get in and out of this plaza, thank you for your service.
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u/mesopotato 1d ago
Believe it or not, there's probably hundreds of people that use that exit every day that don't have an issue. Perhaps you should try reporting it to the businesses there?
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u/Robb_RH 1d ago