Car alarms

Dear neighbor in the Hilton neighborhood whose car alarm goes off at least three times per day, and usually in the middle of the night when we are all fast asleep, or early in the morning so that it's too early to wake up but too late to go back to sleep:

Get your car fixed NOW or I will take a sledgehammer to the damn thing. What is wrong with you? FIX THAT *****!!!!

I don't know how these things are legal anyway.

Probably more legal than threatening to take a sledgehammer to that thing...just sayin'

Is it illegal to threaten a car with a sledgehammer? It's not like the car is scared.

It is indeed illegal to damage someone else's car with a sledgehammer..or ball peen or claw or MC. In NJ it's called criminal mischief.

That's all I'm saying.

Can a large rock fall from the sky into the windshield?

a Meteor maybe called for!!!!

All I know is, using a small pair of wire cutters to snip the air valves from all 4 tires would be a terribly wrong thing to do. Also quick and quiet.

Call the cops. That will put a stop to it because they don't want to keep coming back every time it goes off.

take the dust caps off the stem, put some crazy glue in cap, and insert a BB. reinstall cap, walk away slowly. NOW use your imagination as to what happens.

locowolfy said:

take the dust caps off the stem, put some crazy glue in cap, and insert a BB. reinstall cap, walk away slowly. NOW use your imagination as to what happens.

awe inspiring

Brilliant in both its simplicity and potential for devastation.

the crazy glue is just a sweet touch.

Twenty years ago when I lived in Sunset Park Brooklyn alarms were a real nuisance. Calling the cops was a waste of time, since they had more pressing matters to handle. If your car was a repeat offender, eventually someone would egg it.

ace789nj said:

Probably more legal than threatening to take a sledgehammer to that thing...just sayin'

Then don't threaten. Just do it.

Friends, neighbors: I apologize for my crankiness. I was up at 4:30am to catch a flight that was cancelled after sitting on the tarmac for some time. We were unable to get another flight out today so we went home to nap. I had just gotten my little one down for a nap and was just about to nod off myself when...

HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK
HOOOONK

I may have overreacted in my grouchitude. However, if this keeps happening I will have to take drastic measures. Whether those measures involve calls to the police, projectile poultry products, vandalism, or straight-up malicious destruction will probably depend on the hour of the day and my current state of sleep deprivation.

Anyway, sorry for being fussy.

No apologies needed when cheap-ass car alarms are involved.

Considering that this thread can serve as evidence, with Jed as the likely suspect, I would suggest calling the police over vigilantism at this point. Next time, cover your tracks.

Someone sounds like she could use a sub.

DaveSchmidt said:

Someone sounds like she could use a sub.

Only if it has shredded lettuce. If you get her one with leaf lettuce you may find a brick through your windshield. It won't be undeserved. ;-)

A whole-leaf place in Philly called Salumeria had this brainstorm: What if -- and this is just a theory, we have no idea whether it will work, it requires extreme caution -- we put the oil or vinaigrette directly on the roll?

In any case, to me the last word in that sentence is more important than the vegetation. Given most hoagies/subs outside the Delaware Valley, you wouldn't need a brick.

OK, so if you can document the frequency and indicate to the owner of the car in writing the effects of it going off - and say it in a way that is polite enough to hopefully avoid them getting defensive, that you will file a police report the next time....? Some people are really tone deaf when it comes to how their noise impacts others, and/or will do nothing until a 'higher authority' is called in. But out of frustration, I wouldn't do anything that could backfire (sometimes the same tone deaf people are very skillful at turning the tables.) And then get a sub.

my neighbor's car alarm was the sensitive variety so last time I saw him I asked him politely to get it looked at it. agreed and now it's fixed. See how I did that?

scott_clark said:

my neighbor's car alarm was the sensitive variety so last time I saw him I asked him politely to get it looked at it. agreed and now it's fixed. See how I did that?

Yes, but I can see several other endings to that story, not all so happy.

scott_clark said:

my neighbor's car alarm was the sensitive variety so last time I saw him I asked him politely to get it looked at it. agreed and now it's fixed. See how I did that?

I guess it's possible the neighbor is deaf and has no idea that their car alarm flips the ***** out every time the wind blows.

Of course I had my bestie Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson with me at the time. So cooler heads prevailed.

Do car alarms actually prevent car thefts anymore or do they just piss-off neighbors and keep people awake?

The adult and probably more proactive thing to do is speak to the owner of the car in a reasonable manner.

It would also be nice if the police enforced the noise ordinances. A summons or three would encourage the offenders to bring their cars in to the shop.

My favorite is the neighbors ride using the car horn as a door bell.

jerseyjack said:

My favorite is the neighbors ride using the car horn as a door bell.

Especially when they start "using" the doorbell half way down the block.