Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

So a friend of mine had her car stolen this week, and insurance is refusing to cough up for the repair bill. Why?

Because she had a spare key in the car. It was a brilliantly hidden spare key and wasn't discovered. The only problem? She didn't know that her car had a transponder key, and the spare was hidden in a place where you have to pull apart the radio console and dig behind the dash a bit. Turns out that she'd stuck it DIRECTLY to the transponder receiver - thus allowing the thieves to start the car with a screwdriver to the ignition switch.

When she gets it back from the dealership with all new plastic interior bits (they broke $2000 worth of trim pieces stealing the radio - and she's paying OUT OF POCKET for those fixes) she wants me to install a proper killswitch.
 
EyeMWing said:
So a friend of mine had her car stolen this week, and insurance is refusing to cough up for the repair bill. Why?

Because she had a spare key in the car. It was a brilliantly hidden spare key and wasn't discovered. The only problem? She didn't know that her car had a transponder key, and the spare was hidden in a place where you have to pull apart the radio console and dig behind the dash a bit. Turns out that she'd stuck it DIRECTLY to the transponder receiver - thus allowing the thieves to start the car with a screwdriver to the ignition switch.
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:lmao:

Someone didn't read the manual - most cars with transponder keys mention it in the manual.

When she gets it back from the dealership with all new plastic interior bits (they broke $2000 worth of trim pieces stealing the radio - and she's paying OUT OF POCKET for those fixes) she wants me to install a proper killswitch.
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Make sure you break out the car's wiring diagram first - don't just kill power to the ignition.

I would suggest patching into the fuel pump power. :D
 
Spectre said:
:lmao:

Someone didn't read the manual - most cars with transponder keys mention it in the manual.



Make sure you break out the car's wiring diagram first - don't just kill power to the ignition.

I would suggest patching into the fuel pump power. :D
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Notice how I used the word "she" - which means that "Wow, I should read my car's manual!" never once entered into this person's mind.

And yeah, ignition kill, alternator kill, and fuel pump kill sounds like the best plan - that way the ECU and radio remain powered without my having to hack shit too terribly hard.
 
The person I bought my car from has to remove their car's ecu when the get out of it because the kill switch they used didn't work. They live in Lynn "City of sin" Massachusetts.
 
Topgearfanatic said:
The person I bought my car from has to remove their car's ecu when the get out of it because the kill switch they used didn't work. They live in Lynn "City of sin" Massachusetts.
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You need to know what you're doing when you're wiring a killswitch. Most people do not. Most foolproof way is to kill both the hot from the battery and the hot from the alternator, but that has the unfortunate side effect of resetting any memory the ECU may have, along with the radio presets.
 
Homer_Bart said:
Hey guys, you all should know that there's this superb photographer called 360photographer. Apparently, the company he works/worked for (360 forged) is a scam.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-touring-discussion/136586-warning-360-forged.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=360+forged+scam&aq=f&oq=

No wonder he disappeared...
And my desktop is of an S65 AMG on 360forged, guess it's time for a change...
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Holy shit, I was wondering about the lack of threads in the photo section with exclamation marks in the titles.

360Photographer is William Stern, BTW.
 
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Is there a clause you have to sign every time you buy one of these...

09_Chevy_Silverado_HD.jpg


5885_st0640_046.jpg


...that says, "you must drive 3mm from the car in front of you in the left lane at 85mph, and swerve in and out of traffic in a desperate attempt at getting ahead of the 20 cars in front of you all doing the relatively same speed?"

Anybody ever rig the rear bumper of a Honda Civic coupe to deploy M93 Hornet anti-tank mines?
 
Gonna go check out an E30 318i today. I already know it's going to be a heap, the question is how much of a heap it's going to be.
 
BlaRo said:
Anybody ever rig the rear bumper of a Honda Civic coupe to deploy M93 Hornet anti-tank mines?
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Nope, but my dad had one of these in his old commuter civic.

41dW5dxAOWL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
 
Vette Boss said:
I had an idiot doing that to me just earlier. Nice time to make sure the brakes work. :p
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agreed, If the guy behind you hits you it's his fault as well.

you're always supposed to give the drivers ahead of you a certain amount of space, like nearly 100ft at highway speeds, the brake check is a foolproof way to get them to fuck off. sometimes they get pissed but thats all you can do.

truck drivers keep high beams on when its dark so they're gonna be blinding you regardless.
 
BlaRo said:
Is there a clause you have to sign every time you buy one of these...

<big-ass pickup trucks>

...that says, "you must drive 3mm from the car in front of you in the left lane at 85mph, and swerve in and out of traffic in a desperate attempt at getting ahead of the 20 cars in front of you all doing the relatively same speed?"

Anybody ever rig the rear bumper of a Honda Civic coupe to deploy M93 Hornet anti-tank mines?
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If you figure it out let me now how to modify it to fit an RX-8. I've noticed a disturbing number of semis doing it too lately, even seen a few swerve into the next lane because they wouldn't have been able to stop in time. Seriously, if you're driving a truck that big, you will kill someone by tailgating them. I don't care if people cut in front of you in traffic.
 
BlaRo said:
Is there a clause you have to sign every time you buy one of these...
<unnecessarily large cars>

...that says, "you must drive 3mm from the car in front of you in the left lane at 85mph, and swerve in and out of traffic in a desperate attempt at getting ahead of the 20 cars in front of you all doing the relatively same speed?"

Anybody ever rig the rear bumper of a Honda Civic coupe to deploy M93 Hornet anti-tank mines?
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I want giant metal spikes. Is it legal to have giant metal spikes on your car?
I could even put them on the hood/trunk because those things bypass the bumper entirely, the god damn headlights are level with my head.
 
>800 km-in-a-day numbness.
 
tigger said:
The only ones I've seen here were in light industrial applications; generators, forklifts, etc. They make for a fantastically reliable and utterly unkillable power supply when good fuel consumption and longevity is needed and power isn't.

I wouldn't mind a little 1/4 ton pickup with a 4 cylinder NA diesel.
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I know I'm commenting on an old post without reading the entire thread so hopefully I'm not repeating something already mentioned. How about the Isuzu P'up, that thing was awesome my friend had one with the diesel engine and 4x4 you just couldn't make it break down. I may be mistaken but I seam to remember that being a NA engine

BlaRo said:
Anybody ever rig the rear bumper of a Honda Civic coupe to deploy M93 Hornet anti-tank mines?
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I know a guy who rigged a funnel and tube that dropped bearings out his trunk floor. Evidently they bounce just about the rite distance to punch holes in radiators ([CYA]I wouldn't recommend this as it is illegal and dangerous [/CYA] )
 
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^ No need to pay attention to anything but that last couple of pages in a 'Random Thoughts' thread.
 
I was thinking to my self lately that car companies should give free car checkups to make sure everything is going well, and today I got an email from my dealer for exactly that! :lol:
 
I could use one of those, I still haven't had anybody really take a good look under this thing.
 
Koenig said:
Question: I keep reading that insuring a car like a Nissan GTR (the brand new one) costs a fortune, upwards of $20k/year. I was a on a car insurance quote machine trying to get a quote on a 99 Camry that my parents are thinking of donating to me, and for shits and giggles, I decided to see how much it would cost to insure a 2009 GTR. I punched everything in (keep in mind that I am a "young" driver with 3 tickets on my license) and lo and behold, it only costs $3600/year to insure a GTR. Weird.
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I pay more than that for my car. A lot more.
 
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