[sputnik]

I've owned my beautiful Insight for 3 months.

There has never been a single moment of boredom... first an ailing IMA; Next a dash for the rare 0w20 oil. Then a door ding in the parking garage. And now, just this morning, a police officer pulled me over. :shock:

A big Chevrolet Something was tailgating scary close. Thinking of self-preservation, I pulled off the parkway onto a 3-lane frontage road and then returned to the parkway once Scary Chevy was gone. The officer told me this was using the road as a passing lane and gave me a warning. I did not know it was wrong.

Has anyone devised a Turbo Rear Wiper Squirter? Something that squirts out about 15 feet? If I cannot gracefully escape from a truck breathing down my neck, then maybe I could squirt them.

Also, is Insight ownership always this busy? Will it calm down?

 

[Roger]

never a dull moment

I have been driving my used insight for about a month now and the most excitement I get is when I go though a drive in window at a fast food place, sometimes they ask "What kind of car is that?" I live in a small city and people here are usually civilized.

I like the idea of the rear windshield washer that squirts backwards.

 

[ElectricTroy]

A big Chevrolet Something was tailgating scary close. Thinking of self-preservation, I pulled off the parkway onto a 3-lane frontage road and then returned to the parkway once Scary Chevy was gone. The officer told me this was using the road as a passing lane and gave me a warning.

Didn't you tell him about the Tailgater? The officer should get off his butt, and go ticket THAT guy, instead of you.

troy

 

[Aaron Cake]

We've had a few threads about modified squirters, and liquids to use them in. A search for "squirter" should turn them up...

 

[Rick]

I thought someone said if you stick a tooth pick in the rear nozzel you can angle it up... I could be wrong, but I'm not liable for any damage you may cause :wink:

I do know on most cars it's pretty easy to rotate the front windshield nozzels to the side so you can squirt people... but you might just want to use water if your doing that.

 

[Resist]

Didn't you tell him about the Tailgater? The officer should get off his butt, and go ticket THAT guy, instead of you.

Obviously he didn't see the tailgater or he would have pulled him over instead. Police Officers are only people and they can't see everything. And I'm sure we aren't getting the whole story.

 

[b1shmu63]

If you use a toothpick in the nozzle, you will soon need to get a piece of wood out of the sprayer. Hmmmmmm, perhaps a hat pin of the appropriate size?

 

[figgy]

I have used an old toothbrush and some soapy water.

 

[sputnik]

This sounds intriguing. Presumably the old toothbrush is used for cleaning the rear squirter, rather than handled in some way to confound unhygenic Tailgaters.

The link is neat, really assembled well with many helpful photos. I did not find the squirter mod, but the cooling fan and other modifications are good future references.

 

[sputnik]

Obviously he didn't see the tailgater or he would have pulled him over instead. Police Officers are only people and they can't see everything. And I'm sure we aren't getting the whole story.

I told the police officer that a vehicle was tailgating so that's why I'd exited the parkway. He said my mistake was staying in the off-on lane to get back onto the parkway. This constituted using the off-on lane "as a passing lane". Honestly it hasn't made complete sense, but responsible gal that I am, I will certainly comply.

If Scary Chevy returns, snapping at my tail, it looks like avoidance options are limited. I could leave the parkway entirely (many lights & poor MPGs). Could stay in place and hope Tailgater finds a new meal. Could seriously follow-up on the Turbo Rear Wiper Squirter mod. If it works, Resist probably deserves at least one squirt for sportin' a 'tude.

I hope I'm never tailgated again, but if it happens, it would be good to have a safe strategy.

 

[Resist]

I told the police officer that a vehicle was tailgating so that's why I'd exited the parkway.

But you see lots of people give them excuses. Not that yours wasn't the truth. If the Officer actually saw what happened then you might have gotten a free pass.

 

[Big D Insightman]

"sputnik" where did you find a 2000 model with only 21k on it.? That's only 4K a year. And I thought mine had low mileage for a 2000 model (44K). Yours had to be stored for quite a while which can lead to some problems. I am betting you or your spouse works for NASA in Huntsville AL. I have lived there twice 66-74 and 89-90.

 

[sputnik]

"sputnik" where did you find a 2000 model with only 21k on it.? ...
Yours had to be stored for quite a while which can lead to some problems.

We bought the car through a dealership (cars.com web site) and it had one previous owner, a married couple from the Chicago area, before us. I think they took excellent care of the car...extended warranty, regular service records, recalls fixed and also they left the floor mats, CD player, keys/remotes and Owner's Manual , for which I thank them.

When my husband picked the Insight (yup, to drive to Huntsville) he said it was beautiful and that it looked "like a jewel". The previous owners probably rarely drove it. Maybe they were understandably anxious about getting it out into traffic. Possibly it was stored during icy Chicago winter weather.

I've always thought low milage was good, but I guess it can be hard on the IMA if that translates into not regularly recharging the battery. Six weeks after we brought the car home, the IMA got sick and IMA battery plus BCM/MCM computers were replaced. Thankfully, this was covered under the Honda warranty.

Thanks for asking. It's easy to talk on and on about the Insight!

 

[Wayne M]

"Carry before squirting!"

Kathleen
If you've got redneck tailgaiters in AL like we do in GA, and you 'squirt off' one of these pinheads, you might be well advised to have a carry permit on you, cause you might have to use it. If there's room / places for these goons to get by, then I'd slow down and let them go on by. Confrontations between big tailgaters and little cars never seem to turn out too good.

 

[bfivelover]

I completely agree with Wayne M. You never know what will set off some of these idiots on the road, and a squirt from your car might do it, especially if they think it was on purpose. Slow down and the idiot will eventually pass you, even if it's a no passing zone, or if you have a cell pnone, call the police and tell them about a dangerous driver on the road. I have done that before for drivers zigging in and out of traffic at high speed and saw them pulled over.

 

[sputnik]

Hi Wayne M. and Bifivelover,

Thanks for the advice. I never ended up w/ a "turbo-squirter" mod...I'm just not as mechanically capable as I wished I was, and I could accidently yank off the sprayer completely or at the least probably spray myself (you don't even want to hear about the time I changed a leaking faucet valve in the bathtub! )

My tactic was to get off the road and escape the tailgater, but in this particular instance a police officer saw me and he thought I was using the frontage road as a right passing lane. He nearly ticketed me. When I explained why I left the parkway and then got back on, he gave me a warning, but no ticket, for which I am grateful. Do wish he had seen the big Chevy Something though.

I guess just slowing down so much that tailgating bubbas leave in frustration is a better strategy. In this instance the guy was so close to eating my car up, that I just wanted to escape as fast as possible...I had the impression he would have run right over me and gone on, probably laughing.

 

[Guest]

Re: "Carry before squirting!"

Kathleen
If you've got redneck tailgaiters in AL like we do in GA, and you 'squirt off' one of these pinheads, you might be well advised to have a carry permit on you, cause you might have to use it. If there's room / places for these goons to get by, then I'd slow down and let them go on by. Confrontations between big tailgaters and little cars never seem to turn out too good.

I also would advise against squirting anyone... someone did that to me way back when I was 16 and I almost decided to give them a little tap with my bumper. Don't pick fights you can't finish... and in the Insight you are going to be fighting as a Bantamweight vs almost anyone else on the road.