What to do if you are stopped by the police.

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Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get into your house, just push the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: it's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. "Test it". It will go off from most everywhere in your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or your garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won't sti ck around....after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This tip may save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Great tips, thanks!

This thread is priceless. Thank you so much.

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New car and/or tire buyers. Read the following from Tire Tech, it could prevent/save you from wrapping around a pole!


Tires are comprised of many layers of rubber, steel and fabric. Due to these different components, your new tires require a break-in period to ensure that they deliver their normal ride quality and maximum performance. As tires are cured, a "release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mold". Some of the "lubricant stays on the surface of your tires", "reducing traction until it is worn away". Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mold release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tire components to begin working together. It is also important to note that your old tires probably had very little tread depth remaining when you felt it was time to replace them. As any autocrosser or racer who has tread rubber shaved off of his tires will tell you, low tread depth tires respond quicker."Don't be surprised if your new tires are a little slower to respond (even if you use the exact same tire as before). Their new, full depth brings with it a little more tread squirm until they wear down.

NOTE: Be careful whenever you explore the capabilities of your new tires. Remember that every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance.

Car dealers can use your drivers license to access your credit report!

Considering all the time we spend fretting about protecting our Social Security numbers, this may come as a shock: Your SSN isn’t necessary for a car salesperson to surreptitiously peek at your credit report. He or she has the technological ability to unlock your file using only the information on your driver’s license.

“An auto dealership checking a consumer’s credit through TransUnion is not required to have the individual’s social security number (SSN) in order to submit the request,” says Steven Katz, a TU spokesman. Does the dealer need your permission to do that? “The dealer does not need ‘permission’; rather, it needs only certify a permissible purpose (such as extension of credit),” says Katz.

Equifax told us the same thing about the ability to get your credit report without your SSN, but stressed that anyone who pulls your file must get your permission to do so.

Experian did not respond to our query.

TransUnion prefers to get the SSN, because it more reliably helps locate your exact credit file, but it’s not absolutely necessary. The credit report access keys on the license are your name, address, and date of birth, all of which are essentially public information. The driver’s license number itself is not relevant, since the credit bureaus don’t use that as an identifier.

Car dealers commonly ask for and photocopy your driver’s license before they’ll let you take one of their cars out for a test drive, says Charles Cyrill, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association. If you encounter this situation and are worried that your privacy may be compromised, explicitly tell the salesperson that you are not authorizing use of your license to pull your credit report.

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a car dealer must always get your permission to look at your credit report. He or she can get that permission in writing—when you sign a release or a loan application—or by implication, without your signature, if there is a “legitimate business need.”

What does that mean? According to the FTC, simply shopping around, checking deals, and even taking test drives does not constitute a legitimate business need by itself. Rather, it’s only when you’ve gone further along into an obvious purchase transaction that your actions qualify as business that possibly involves a need to check your credit, according to a 1998 FTC staff opinion letter.

“Only in those circumstances where it is clear both to the consumer and to the dealer that the consumer is actually initiating the purchase or lease of a specific vehicle and, in addition, the dealer has a legitimate business need for consumer report information may the dealer obtain a report without written permission,” says the FTC opinion.

Defects and Safety recalls:

ODI - Office of Defects Investigation

came across this certain auto repair online. would just like to ask if this is similar with the other shops i've seen around this forum? i heard this also a good site for car repairs and services. thanks for any response.

It's the 350Z, not the 370, but not bad info., nor good!

http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4204.pdf