What is wrong with people today??

[madden]

Originally Posted by jlj3394

I think a car cover screams "I'm anal, F with my car."

I treat it like a regular car. Parallel park it, put it in a garage, park in any neighborhood. at the end of the day, you're essentially driving 2 Civics, so just relax and don't act like a D-bag (not saying that is what you did, but I see it all the time from Porsche and BMW folks) and no one will mess with your stuff, other than the random crap.

Yeah I had a car cover on my car and people were always lifting it up trying to get a peek at what was underneath. I was always scared someone was going to mess with it just because the car was covered

[JoshS]

Burnt temp tags? Aliens, yep they do that all the time.

[cstetter]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

My EZ-pass was stolen out of my Elise recently...just glad the car is OK. It's the only thing of value in my car anyways

Some idiot stole the Blaupunkt faceplate out of my car - while it was parked in the gated parking garage of my complex

[appleica]

i find that if you drive something different their feelings turn from jealously right into being evil. lol. it's like a smack in the face to them if YOU drive a nicer car then them... god bless north america. =)

[Blonde1]

Originally Posted by jlj3394

I think a car cover screams "I'm anal, F with my car."

I concur.

And I agree with the OP that there's something wrong with some folks... we had an incident recently (with the MINI) where someone took off the nice license plate cover, then put back the license plate with one screw and left it dangling. WTF? We now have theft-resistant screws in our license plates. But, seriously, WTF?

[Dominick22]

I dont have a lotus yet, but an MR2, hoping to upgrade soon.

Anyway, I came home day in my daily commuter to find the next door neighbors kids literally chucking rocks at my MR2 from the street (about 20 feet away). They are 10 and 12 i believe. I drove my commuter car right at them to sort of pin them in and let them know that yea--i caught ya and you cant run because I know were you live. I walked them back to their mom who was nonchalantly apologetic which really burned my biscuits and the boys never even apologized themselves. They just stared at the ground and kept teasing each other.

There were 3 dings in the hood from this but I know she has no money raising those kids alone so I didnt do anything except give her an earful. But I also dont think she did anything about it with her kids. To be honest, I'd like to throw a brick through their window now and wish I had filed a police report, sued, and whatever else I could have done.

Ive actually said to my wife now that I wouldnt consider a lotus untill we moved because of this. I have to wonder now about every new ding now.

DAMN SHAME.

Dominick

[LARRY]

Originally Posted by madden

Yeah I had a car cover on my car and people were always lifting it up trying to get a peek at what was underneath. I was always scared someone was going to mess with it just because the car was covered

No one pays any attention to my Lotus under the silver car cover out in front of my office.

They never "lift it up," because I have a cable running underneath and a bungie cord holding it across the thermals in back.

No one "messes with it."

And it keeps the interior out of the heat and like new.

GET A CAR COVER. PROTECT YOUR LOTUS.


Cal Car Cover – Custom Fit Car Covers, Motorcycle Covers, Cleaning Products, Garage Accessories, Collectibles and More

[BladeRunner]

Doesn't excuse them - or the parent(s) - from vandalism. Calling the cops should at least raise the Fear Factor for the rock-throwers, although the police may not appreciate being called into such a "minor" incident.

In the end, Karma catches EVERYONE

[Moto44]

It does sound like the kind of stupid thing that kids do. I'm always thankful when they don't take it that next malicious step and do serious damage.

[dasmoofler]

I can't be positive as I didn't see them but I think a kid hit my windshield with a rock the other day. I was driving back into town watching the car ahead of me when, as I pass a new home under construction up on a hill a rock bounces off my windshield at an angle that looked like it came from the torn up back yard. It was actually a pretty good shot! Fortunately no damage done, just scared the bejeezes out of me.

Some little buggers did steal my valve stem caps, though.

[Rennstore]

Seems that people cannot be nice/polite unless they HAVE TO BE ie at a job, etc

[Audiophile]

I went to lunch about 3 months ago with some friends, my S2000 was 3 months old, had about 500 miles on it, it was particularly clean and one of the first warm days of the year. I park it in a single spot, away from all other cars along side the building, come back and there are still no cars around it, yet my passenger mirror is bent towards the car and there is a 2" dent on the crease in the door directly under the mirror. Dent wizard can't do anything about it with out risking fracturing the paint and even then they may not be able to fix it due to the location. Accidents happen, but it says a lot about society if someone went out of their way to do this, either way it is upsetting. There were literally 50 vacant spots around my car, which leads me to believe it was some spineless cockstain going out of their way, as the title says, what is wrong with people today?

[J. Salmon]

In general, there are a lot of bottom trollers out there. I had driven the Lotus to work, and my wife needed me to come get her at my 5 year old's gymnastics class. Well, I don't want my daughter in the car, so I let my wife drive the car home. She has never driven the car, so I walk out to orient her to everything. While we are talking, some bozo kid pulls across the front of the car to tell me he's never seen one and how cool it is. I say thanks, and compliment his (pleasantly stock) Honda Civic Si. He keeps asking me questions, and it is pretty obvious I am talking to my wife. I continue to be as cordial as possible, but my wife is in a hurry, and I think any fool could tell.

Finally he drives off, I am still trying to be nice, I give him a friendly thumbs up, to which he proceeds to do a nice burnout in the parking lot and go streaking out. Keep in mind, this is in front of a kids gymnastics school in a busy shopping strip.

Wife drives the car home without incident, but she does tell me that he later pulled up next to her and wanted to race... revving the engine and pointing at the light. She said she looked at him as if to say, uh, you know I have not driven the car before, are you a complete idiot???

To which I would say, yes, he is a complete idiot.

[XPcarguy]

They didn't know you at all but they thought they did. A lot of people misinterpret your motives when you park remotely and it offends them. I know I know. Dings suck and you and I are both aware that they happen. But most people see a car parked all by itself as a statement that you think you're too good for the rest of them. Your car is special and can't be cavorting with the serfs. They hate that sh**.

I used to try that with my first meaningful car and it never failed. There was always some cheap POS parked right next to me every time I did it.

I just gave up. Can't change human nature right? So instead of parking with *obvious* concern for my paint/doors/etc, I now look for subtle ways to protect my car. These are things you can do which won't offend anyone but will minimize your chances of a ding or a scratch...

* A wide spot with 2 cars already parked on each side. This is far superior to a spot that is empty on one or both sides. In a spot like this, you know where the others are parked and they've already given you room. Plus, there is a chance you'll return before they will.
* A spot where one car is backed in so that you've got passenger doors on both sides of you. There is always a driver, not always a passenger.
* A spot that is on the end if and only if the lot is full enough that it's not obvious you are going out of your way. In this situation, creep toward the outside line but do NOT cross it. Remember, you are trying to go unnoticed. A lot of people see you going over an outside line and judge you as the kind of turd that would actually use 2 spots as your own. Everyone hates that guy.
* If the lot is empty and all of the end spots would be obvious, look for spots that are separated by columns. Crowd the column - even so much as sliding in so that the mirror overlaps with it. Just remember to back out carefully.
* The number 1 spot is not in the back corner! The number 1 spot in any lot is an end spot closest to the store/business such that the adjacent spot will face you on the passenger side. It says you parked there for convenience. You don't mind parking with everyone else. You're not a discourteous jerk. And you're not overly worried about your sweet sweet car. But remember, to pull it off, never cross the line.
* Another good spot choice is a spot that is between a handicapped spot and a regular spot. Favor the handicapped spot but not so much that it looks rude. The odds are it will remain empty -- especially if there are several empty handicapped spots as there normally are.

[LARRY]

Great ideas!

And a thick car cover protects against dings from car doors and keeps away prying eyes.

I saw a "rental" Lotus whose dashboard had MELTED form constant sun.

A car cover prevents that too.

It takes 3 minutes to put it on.

They will ignore your car if you cover it.

Mine is covered whenever it is out and about.

[XPcarguy]

Originally Posted by LARRY

[b]No one pays any attention to my Lotus under the silver car cover out in front of my office.

It's a different world out here, Larry. I grew up in Texas and I heard many people say they go out of their way to mess with cars that are covered. One sociopath liked to brick windshields of any car that was covered. I called him dorm mate.

Anyway, I was reading the "get a car cover" posts and I was starting to feel a little better about the world. Then I saw the post from jlj3394 and I was brought back down to earth. Of course, he's from MO and that's really not far enough away from TX so maybe that's all it is.

[BULLETTIME]

Yeah, my Elise was vandalized a few months back. Nothing too serious, but costly still. I guess some people can't stand seeing anyone in a nicer car, or with nicer things than them. It absolutely kills them, so they try to ruin or destroy it. It doesn't matter that we work hard to get what we've got (well, most of us). But you're lucky they bothered taking the temporary tag off before they burned it.

[driven]

I was out of town in Pheonix on a long trip cross country. I made all my arrangement on Price Line and when we arrived in Pheonix I was in a pretty bad part of town so we just went to the downtoewn Marriott and the valet parked in right in front, I mean in plain sight of the door man, not 20 yards from the door.
In the morning when we left someone had left a burning cigarette on the hood. Yes there are a lot of angry people out there.

[Z-dculus]

answer: They're democrats.

[Audiophile]

Originally Posted by Z-dculus

answer: They're democrats.

I've never met a democrat who was not willing to give you the shirt off someone else's back.