Never let anyone else drive your 8
 

I just got my Winning Blue Rx8 w/ GT Package, Navi, Appearance Package, Spoiler, Rotory Accent, etc last weds after a long wait. Today, I decided to leave my baby at home while taking my RSX to work, bad idea. I was planning on washing my car and giving her a fresh coat of wax when I got off work but those plans got canceled. It turned out that my mom took my car to work, which I'm fine with, however, when I got back, I was told that she FORGOT TO PUT ON THE PARKING BRAKES while in the garage. So when she closed the garage door, the car started to roll back and the back bumper hit the garage door... WTF???? How can you drive a manual and not put on the parking brakes???????? :mad: :mad:

God, and it wasn't even 1 week too. The whole thing happened because I decided to stay a bit to help a co-worker which turned out to take forever, it wouldn't have happened if I got home early. :mad: Now I need to get it fixed but it's not a simple touchup... I hope I don't have to replace the bumper to fix it.. it's got some gouges in the bumper.. :mad: :( :mad: :(

MOVE OUT!!! or KICK HER OUT!!! haha jp... that is odd not putting on the parking break but ey she gave you life. HAHA hope the repairs dont cost too much... if you gotta replace get the MS bumper :D

i assume that your mom will be paying for the reparations?

...but even still, the whole situation just sucks... sorry to hear about that man..

The first step is to make sure no one has access to your car keys :)

^ for example, inside the car while it's locked...

let's see if anyone can get access into that! ;)

Well, she says she's gonna pay for it but I'm probably gonna pay for it myself anyways. Just hiding the keys for now on and going to get some car covers on the car so nobody dents it by opening the doors. Sometimes I wish my mom didn't know how to drive a manual, at least she won't be touching my car then.

BTW, anyone know how much a new rear bumper will cost? Plus repainting? And will blue be hard to color match?

Bitch slap her!

thats sucks!

Doesn't sound like you allowed her to drive it. She just took it. That sucks. My wife has the okay to drive my 8 whenever I take her Civic to work. However, I don't take her Civic. Why would I?;) Come to think of it, I could save mega bucks in gas. hmmm Never mind, I'll continue taking my 8 to work. Good luck with the repairs.

So anyone with damage rear bumper repair knows how much it costs?

does your mom know how to drive the stick shift?

And this is why you should ALWAYS use the parking brake, unless it's really cold outside (like the manual says). Sorry your baby got scratched up Nomis- I would be really pissed too.

Man, sorry about your car!

Maybe your insurance would cover it? (Mine would, but I'd have to pay a small deductable.)

You shouldn't be living at your Mom's house. Get out and buy your own garage! :D

regardless of the parking break the dang thing should have been in gear! I always leave my straight drives in second gear when parked. I think the manuals usually say something about using first or reverse... I just always use second.

Before we had state inspections I never even had a parking brake on one of my cars... Just always used the tranny to hold the car in place.

Your mom made a mistake and offered to pay for it; hiding the keys is not necessary. It's just a car. I've let several people drive my RX8 and I always encourage them to have fun with it. I just tell them rotary sports cars require a little more attention and I mention the following:

1) Let it warm up before flogging it
2) Go slow over bumps and avoid potholes since its 18" rims are easy to damage
3) Be careful not to downshift from 5th to 2nd by mistake
4) If you need to shutdown with a cold-engine, rev it to 3k for 10 sec first
5) Tires don't grip well in the cold; don't drive in snow without snow-tires.

Of course none of that has anything to do with applying the parking brake and putting it in gear when parking... maybe I should add that to my list.

If you're going to add obvious things like 'use the parking brakes', you may want to add 'don't run the car into the wall', or use some of the photos from the rx-8 manual where they show what not to do (like rolling the car around on it's roof, or doing huge jumps off cliffs)

What page was it in the manual? Haha, I haven't seen it before but I probably just skipped that section to the ones I may have problems with. So nobody know about the price of a new bumper?

Scared when my wife drives it.
 

My wife is the only person who has driven my 8. Even when she asks, I get this sinking feeling in my stomach. I get all sweaty and clamy. :) Everytime she asks to drive it, I go through the whole spill about where to park... (East Jesus), Don't drive behind large trucks on the highway and keep distance from the car infront of you. Watch the pot holes, and I think all she hears is "blah, blah, blah." By the time I'm finished, shes almost too pissed to drive it. I think it's the fact that I say it each time.
Not to mention when their gone together (my 8 and my wife), I am so nervous and I want to go spy on them to see if they are some place they shouldn't be. Like an upfront parking space at the mall.

I need theropy, I know. :D

LOL. Yeah, I only added the one about downshifting because my first friend to drive my 8 actually over-revved it... I drove the car for weeks without any problem; my buddy gets behind the wheel for 15 minutes and mis-shifts on the highway. :o D'ohhh! :eek:

It's hard to imagine anyone knowing how to drive a manual transmission yet not at least putting it in gear when parked. I'd no more do that than leave the keys in the car with the engine running. Ah well, Moms do rate a little slack. I'm sure by now you 've explained what that handle-thing is near the center console :p

Me too, except I always used first gear (holds better than 2nd). 2nd gear for a push-start if req'd.

However, rotaries - being a different animal - it is said that you should not rely on its compression while not running like you can a piston engine. So, always use your parking brake.

I read it here, somewhere in this forum, a long time ago from a rotary veteran and took that advice to heart.

that's why i didn't bother teaching my wife how to drive Manual. sorry about the mishap!

I always use my hand brakes and I would've thought my mom always did too. Apparently not. I don't usually put my car in gear most of the time in park because I ways let go of the clutch after I start and it would either stall the car and launch the car forward because of that, not a good thing.

Re: Never let anyone else drive your 8
 

Easy!

I spent many years in Alaska and learned to just leave the car in first gear and kill the engine and not use the p-brake! Nothing worse than frozen brakes. You have to push in the clutch to start it anyway so this should not be a problem with stalling because the car was in gear.