I have learned that when I put my poles in the back of the car, or in the trunk, to either drive to a different spot or to leave for the day, to use these four steps to keep from snapping off the tip of a rod:
1) carefully place the rods into the car so that no part will have the door or trunk shut on it, 2) look again to make sure no part will be caught in the closing door/trunk, 3) to shut the door/trunk slowly, while watching the rods, and then 4) to stop just before I shut the door/trunk and open the door again, just to make sure.
Works for me 97% of the time.