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[Subprime]

I was hoping for more serpentine legal logic.

 

[ReBurn]

Problem...Gas Lock...Solved!!!

Don't take the time of trying to "catch" them. I'm sure its your roomates. But gas gets stolen all the time. Just take it in your own hands and stop it by buying a lock.

Yes. Locking gas cap will solve this problem. If someone tries to break it off then you'll know for sure.

 

[Skiptastic]

Rig it to explode. That way not only do you get them back, but as a bonus you'll make the news. And they will make a movie about your heroism with the theme of fighting greed. And then later when you forget about the explosives and try to get some gas, they'll make a sequel about hubris.

1. They'd be making the movie about your heroism while you're in jail, since rigging your car in this fashion is illegal.

2. I definitely lol'd at the sequel.

 

[daw840]

Those distance to empty monitors are not very accurate. If you park on a slope it will not read right when you first start the car in the morning. That said, probably not a bad idea to get a locking cap. Although, doesn't that car have a release inside the vehicle to even open the fuel door?

 

[Futureman]

I have a shitty little Hyaundai from 2001 and you can't open the gas door unless you flip a little switch inside the car. Surprised a 2010 Ford wouldn't have this.

and I'm honestly pretty blown away by the guy saying his gas tank was DRILLED. Why would the criminal not just move onto the next car that didn't have a lock?

 

[NIGHT-]

Those distance to empty monitors are not very accurate. If you park on a slope it will not read right when you first start the car in the morning. That said, probably not a bad idea to get a locking cap. Although, doesn't that car have a release inside the vehicle to even open the fuel door?

You would think it would, but it doesn't :/

 

[fnmore1]

i dont have any neighbors accross the street, and the house on my right was empty(forclosed) so, ya ..alittle secluded..as far as a vendetta, i dont know..anything is possible..apparently its not that uncommon to happen..it happened around the time of this article



http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/28/business/fi-gastheft28

 

[Chris R]

Problem...Gas Lock...Solved!!!

Don't take the time of trying to "catch" them. I'm sure its your roomates. But gas gets stolen all the time. Just take it in your own hands and stop it by buying a lock.

But my car doesn't have a gas cap! And the fuel door is manual too.

I bet my gas is being stolen all the time then :|

 

[NIGHT-]

Got me a gas lock. We will see what happens!

 

[crazygambit]

People getting shot, and the person who set up the device going to jail.

In one case a dude owned a remote cabin in the woods, set a shotgun to blast anyone walking in the door. Someone pryed open the door, got shot, owner went to jail for a long time.

I wonder why this is. If the guy had done the shooting himself I doubt he would have gotten much time or any at all. If you outsource your shooting to a mechanical contraption suddenly you go away for a long long time?

 

[teruterubozu]

You'd smell gas around the car if you were being syphoned.

 

[Weenerz]

Loving that my car only lets you open the tank latch with the remote on the key.

 

[Yaboosh]

I wonder why this is. If the guy had done the shooting himself I doubt he would have gotten much time or any at all. If you outsource your shooting to a mechanical contraption suddenly you go away for a long long time?

Yes.


Booby traps have no discretion. It makes sense to me.

 

[Limedust]

Those distance to empty monitors are not very accurate. If you park on a slope it will not read right when you first start the car in the morning. That said, probably not a bad idea to get a locking cap. Although, doesn't that car have a release inside the vehicle to even open the fuel door?

Came to say this. Monitor your gas usage the old-fashioned way (trip odometer versus gas to fill tank). If you travel the same general routes but the gas usage varies wildly, then you have a problem.

When I shut my truck off, the fuel gauge always comes up lower on a restart because I park on a hill. After I get on the road, it slowly moves back to a true reading.

 

[zwerg]

I keep track of my gas purchase and mileage on the Numbers app. Pretty useful.

 

[NIGHT-]

You'd smell gas around the car if you were being syphoned.

Wouldn't I smell it if it was leaking gas? And I've never noticed the gas being off during the day or after work

 

[Wolfe]

You'd smell gas around the car if you were being syphoned.

Not necessarily, too many factors that could go one way or another such as how well the person is at doing it, weather, etc.

 

[Osiris]

Wouldn't I smell it if it was leaking gas? And I've never noticed the gas being off during the day or after work

Not necessarily, my leak was under the hood and I still didn't smell gas with the air vents open.

 

[Salmonax]

Just get a motion sensitive flood light and train it on your car. Usually drives off the roaches who want to touch it.

This seems like a pretty solid approach to me.

 

[RotBot]

More.

I remember reading about a case where a teenager broke into an amateur HAM radio operator's house and was electrocuted trying to steal the radio.

The teen's family sued the homeowner for wrongful death, but they lost due to the big electrical hazard warning stickers the teen ignored.

 

[NIGHT-]

Not necessarily, my leak was under the hood and I still didn't smell gas with the air vents open.

Interesting. Though it doesn't explain why it would only leak during the night

 

[Osiris]

Interesting. Though it doesn't explain why it would only leak during the night

Are there any other times of day where you leave the car unattended/unused for long periods of time? (8-10 hours+) - In my case that was the only time I noticed the drop in fuel and why I assumed it was being syphoned off. (1/4 of a tank in 10 hours)

 

[Slayer-33]

Damn son.

Source? Fuck.

 

[ThLunarian]

I wonder why this is. If the guy had done the shooting himself I doubt he would have gotten much time or any at all. If you outsource your shooting to a mechanical contraption suddenly you go away for a long long time?

I'm actually learning about this in a law class Im taking. The reason he is at fault is because a reasonable person would never expect that a possible consequence of breaking into a house would be getting shot in the face by a booby trap. That makes him civilly liable, and I'm guessing the same logic is used for criminal charges as well.

It might be different if you rigged it like that and also posted a clearly noticeable warning, but even then I'm not sure, since I'm not a lawyer or anything.

 

[andycapps]

OP, are you parking your car on a hill? That could cause the readings to be messed up when you first start it, and until the car works it all out.

 

[BakedPigeon]

But my car doesn't have a gas cap! And the fuel door is manual too.

I bet my gas is being stolen all the time then :|

That is a damn good way to get water inside your tank.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Damn son.

Source? Fuck.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462276&highlight=psa

Spoiler

The guy lived. His jacket was not so lucky lol

 

[GaryD]

I can't get over the fact you guys don't have either switches inside the car to pop the fuel door open, or locks on the fuel door. That's be standard in Australia for about as long as I can remember.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

That is a damn good way to get water inside your tank.

Uh...most Ford vehicles these days are capless.

 

[daw840]

I can't get over the fact you guys don't have either switches inside the car to pop the fuel door open, or locks on the fuel door. That's be standard in Australia for about as long as I can remember.

Yeah, I'm kind of shocked about this as well. I have a 2000 Nissan and it has that....

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Yeah, I'm kind of shocked about this as well. I have a 2000 Nissan and it has that....

My dad's Golf 2 had a key lock and it was from... I'm not sure, but, I think Hitler was alive? What kind of cars are these people buying?

 

[weekend_warrior]

I should also note that my roomate had a huge glob of spit on his windshield the night before last( he has a locked cap).

I'm thinking about getting a locked cap as well, just afraid of getting my tank drilled.


Edit. I have a 2010 ford focus and it averages about 30

Doubt it, Modern cars have anti-siphon systems.

 

[CliqWriter]

My father had this problem also, he shot the guy with a bb gun. Funny as hell.
But I have never heard of a locking cap...