General / Off-Topic I couldn't get out of my Corvette!

Hooplah

Hooplah
I own a 2009 Corvette (the Chevrolet version). I don't drive it much more of an investment than a daily driving vehicle. Maybe sometimes I'll impress a gal on a date but so often I pick the wrong gals in life! Given three dogs they do better in the van. I often think of the van as a Type-7 or possibly a entry Python depending upon all the accessories installed.

It is winter in Indiana, USA so hasn't been driven a lot. Temp today was 30F -1C. Still to keep the battery up I thought to take it to the store. The roads were dry and clear. It took a few tries to get the no-key entry touch pad door to open. That should have been a warning. I'm in, close the door, start the car and click-click-click. OK, push the button to open the door and nothing. Try several times and the car totally ignores me! Hit the unlock button on the key fob and it just resets the timer on all those outside lights dragging down the battery voltage even lower. Reminds me in ED when getting interdicted by a live player and they take out my shields and power plant while I die a cold death in space.

I'm stuck in a cold garage, didn't bring my cell phone and at first think I have a problem geting out. I know there is a manual way to do this (what if one drives it into a lake?) but it has been years since I watched the 'Everything you need to know about your Corvette' DVD that came with it. I also don't have an ED 'Reboot and Repair' button. Maybe Chevrolet should work on this.

Luckily it is a convertible. Pop the top manually getting just enough space to get out rollng down the front windshield onto the hood (windscreen onto the bonnet for the UK folks) and I'm out. Note that there is also a manual way to open/close a convertible top which I didn't remember. I did remember how to manually get INTO a Corvette with a dead battery so the bonnet is up and the battery is charging. All will be OK. Then I Googled where is the manual door release on the inside. But what if I was in a coupe? I didn't have the glass break safety tool which should probably come standard with every vehicle purchase. I'm thinking a lot like playing ED when up against it and didn't purchase the right module needed at the moment. But I'll look for a way out to survive. The only problem in real life is one doesn't always get a rebuy opportunity.

The morale of the story is always know your vehicle and your ship in ED. Owning a Chevrolet Corvette as well as an ED version can cross over at times when we love the game. Someday if I'm lucky I'll die of old age. Maybe not so lucky in a traffic collision. But however my life ends and someone is around I'm thinking that my last words should be, "I should have used more Shield Cell Banks!" That will drive the family nuts fighting over who gets the Corvette! I hope you enjoyed the story.

Best Regards to All

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Darn if it only came in Chevrolet Jetstream Blue...
 
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Raino

Raino
friend of mine had that happen with his chevy

drove right in front of his home and - dead

it was raining, back in the 90s ...
 

AkenBosch

AkenBosch
Having read this, I now have a renewed appreciation for the cheap mechanical handles on the cheap doors of my cheap Fiat. Oh, and cheap manual handbrake too! :D

Some years ago my boss had a Citroen van, all top-of-the-line trim with super fancy electronic stuff everywhere. Going on a highway, for some unspecified computer error the car enters a kind of "safe mode": speed limited to 20 km, steering wheel and brakes servos still working and nothing else: no lights, no indicators, but most fun of all, no electric windows, handbrake and doors lock. He was lucky to find an emergency parking stop on almost level ground and he just had to leave the car there, windows down, doors open, with first gear put in as the only mean of keeping the car from slowing rolling away (there was a procedure to manually engage the handbrake, but as in the Corvette case it was buried in the manual somewhere). Gotta love fancy electronics where they aren't really needed.

By the way Hooplah, your Corvette is still a beautiful car, even if it tried to kidnap you. :D
 
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[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
As you can tell from my avatar, I'm not a GM guy*, but I love the Corvette - in fact, I think the C6 coupe is perhaps to me the most desirable front engined GT ever made. :)
I'm also rocking a predator green one in-game, named 'The Vee Eight'.

The batteries can die in the worst situations. 10 years ago my car (a Mondeo v6, the better looking EU sibling of the Contour) was parked for 2-3 months. It started instantly, just to go out on cold morning one week later in Austria. That mistake cost me about $6-700, as I had no travel insurance, and I decided to have it towed to a local workshop as I was unsure about what caused the issue.

*And not a cop either, I'm daily-driving a '02 Crown Vic, umarked former police car on the Hungarian roads... even though I have access cheap company lease cars via my job., I love it to bits. :)
 

Hooplah

Hooplah
optimal_909 said:
As you can tell from my avatar, I'm not a GM guy...And not a cop either...I'm daily-driving a '02 Crown Vic, umarked former police car on the Hungarian roads... even though I have access cheap company lease cars via my job., I love it to bits. :)
Click to expand...

If your dream is a Crown Vic with all the latest greatest additions starting out with a Police Interceptor from the factory and every option from lights to comms gear I know a place in Atlanta, GA that can do that. I'm very close to this family and they would do it for me even if the state I live in wasn't legal. Your only problem is how to get it shipped to you in Hungary.

In the USA I did test drive a few used Police Crown Vics. Other Police waved at me. You decide what is important. But don't ever cross the line between what you drive versus being a Police officer. Go for being a Police officer and they will give you a much better car than the Crown Vic...or not knowing Hungary maybe having one shipped over is better than what they have. You do the math.

Regards
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
Hooplah said:
If your dream is a Crown Vic with all the latest greatest additions starting out with a Police Interceptor from the factory and every option from lights to comms gear I know a place in Atlanta, GA that can do that. I'm very close to this family and they would do it for me even if the state I live in wasn't legal. Your only problem is how to get it shipped to you in Hungary.

In the USA I did test drive a few used Police Crown Vics. Other Police waved at me. You decide what is important. But don't ever cross the line between what you drive versus being a Police officer. Go for being a Police officer and they will give you a much better car than the Crown Vic...or not knowing Hungary maybe having one shipped over is better than what they have. You do the math.

Regards
Click to expand...

Appreciated, but I prefer it as it is, an unmarked car. This wasn't even a patrol car (no spotlights, for example), nor it is a plush detective car - the spartan interior is perfect with little kids. :)
I may look into buying another one later as this has more rust than I prefer, but for now the frame is cleaned/coated and most of the stuff that was exposed to rust (all running gear, starter, etc. with the exception of the cables and relays) have been replaced already.

Since the Vic is regarded as poverty sh*t therefore being abused and crushed, I do fear that in a few years it will get very difficult to find decent cars at a reasonable price... you'd be shocked to know how much money, time and effort went into having it imported and on the road, the final bill was around $16k, and I overpaid for the car at $4k.
 

Hooplah

Hooplah
optimal_909 said:
Appreciated, but I prefer it as it is, an unmarked car. This wasn't even a patrol car (no spotlights, for example), nor it is a plush detective car - the spartan interior is perfect with little kids. :)...
Click to expand...

Yes, many Police spartan interiors can be hosed down when a suspect throws up in the back seat. Perfect for kids.

In the USA there was no such thing as a 'plush' detective car. While the Crown Vic was engineered for high speed chase for years most all of them have an AM only radio in the dash! Still if you want a totally unmarked car with with all the hidden flashing lights, sirens, weapons locks and advanced communications in the center console these guys near Atlanta can pull it off. They will build any Police version you desire. It is up to you to be legal using it.

Regards

Martel EVS on FaceBook.
 
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Hooplah

Hooplah
Thanks for all the great replies. Per ED I hope my story helps those who finally purchase a Corvette watch the DVD that came with it! Oh, we don't have one? Darn.
 

Hooplah

Hooplah
starman said:
Buying a real corvette might be cheaper in time too.
Click to expand...

It is often a lot less frustrating than flying a ship in ED. Heck, any vehicle you love to drive no matter the cost is worth driving. I actually miss cheaper cars with manual transmissions taking on the hills of San Francisco. That was a challenge and thrilling. No ED ship could really compare with that.
 
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MottiKhan

MottiKhan
Those pesky electric locks.

My wife's Jaguar is similar. All electric locks, including the trunk lock. Even if you use a key, it's just a switch that electronically opens the trunk. Guess where the battery is? Yep, in the trunk. So, in order to supply power to unlock the trunk, you need to unlock the trunk with a powered lock. Really good engineering there.

Luckily, there's a positive post behind the right wheel well. You just need to remove the wheel and wheel well panel to get to it. Seems like a little door would be in order down there.

My Jag is a few years older and the trunk has a mechanical lock. That's how it should be.

<edit> Oh, and the Vette should come in British Racing Green. </edit>
 
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Para Handy

Para Handy
Interesting to see these are still a "thing" -

- the very first car I drove in the USA was during a deployment to Jacksonville in 1975 - it was a woman's blue Corvette Stingray - it was also the first automatic transmission I had driven and I must have left streaks of rubber during the first few times moving off.

Lovely car, thought about importing one to the UK in 1976 but the costs involved were just crazy.
 
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CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Nice car. :)

I do love proper American cars.
To hell with the environment!

Speaking of being locked in a car, the driver door handle on my 1991 MR2 broke.
Instead of just winding down the window, and opening it from the outside, like a normal human being, I decided to try and climb over the rather tight center console and go out the passenger side in the most ungraceful of ways.
 
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