I'm relatively new to this forum and will be purchasing a 3G TL in a few months or so. I had the opportunity to drive a 3G TL for a weekend and man did I get alot of attention!...all types of stares. Is almost like they want to take the car from me or something. Driving an Integra for over five years, I'm certainly not use to so much attention. Maybe I'm too paranoid, but I worried about possible carjackings or anything of the like. Do anyone current TL owners worry about this as well?

 

Me not really....i just worry about people dinging my doors.

Guess it depends on your area.

 

Carry a gun if you are really that concerned.

 

^ I am going to start. I get ALOT of unnecessary attention from the wrong type of people.

 

As sad as it sounds when I go visit my relatives that still live in the 'hood' I leave the TL and wifey's Lexus at home and borrow my mother-in-law's Honda Odyssey. The bad element in my old stomping grounds might not try and jack the car with us in it; but might take it overnight. I come from Jersey City, NJ (not Newport City area).

 

When my TL was stock I did not get alot of attention. There are so many out there now. I see 6 or 7 everyday. Once I started modding it I am getting alot of stares and people asking me about it. It's garaged every night so I think it's safe at night. I am planning to install a good alarm just in case.

 

they are starting to get very popular and our projectors are some of the most sought after in the retrofit world. as with any popular/common car, they are a chop shop's cash cow

 

stares, yes. worried no, because there is nothing i can do if they want the car. which is what full coverage insurance is for.

 

I didnt get much attention at first but now that Ive done some things to it I get some more stares. But not the "I want to take your car" stares. If someone wants it bad enough to put a gun to my head while Im in it, you can have the fuckin thing.

EDIT: I just read your post aw1, Im with you on this one....

 

If someone puts a gun to my head while I'm in my TL and I'm not armed, you can bet that if I am not in a position to escape or run them over, they get the car and anything else they want. If, on the other hand, I'm armed and a gun gets stuck against my head, I would hope that I could find a way to open fire immediately (having never been in this situation, I have nothing upon which to draw). I am a firm believer in the fact that you never know how you will react to such a situation until its staring you in the face... unless you have a similar past experience.

 

No doubt. Driving the TL will get a lot of attention. Some will even race you out in the freeway just because you drive a nice car. I think there's that mentality.

 

Thats why I have gap coverage on my insurance policy. For an extra $10 a month they will pay off my loan amount and I don't have to so much worry about my baby being stolen and chopped up into hundreds of beautiful pieces.

I have recieved alot of stares since I put the rockblocker films on and took the front license plate off and added the insert. I left my car in 15minute parking last night to run in a get some gelato and by the time I came back out there were two guys looking at my tint saying that it has to be a spray on since it looks so good on my car. He had his silver m3 parked next to me and wanted info on where to get the films. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, hearing a m3 owner saying he thinks my car looks good!

 

well I know that if I cant get to my .357 under my seat because the gun is already to my head I will ask him what station does he want XM on...

 

Is risking your own life for a car worth it though... I mean.. the options are:
1.) Attempt to reach for your gun
a.) Kill the thief (deal w/ all that crap.)
b.) Fail in the attempt and leave all your loved ones behind
2.) Call the insurance company, pay your deductible and wait.

Just my

 

Someone holding a gun on you is a VERY serious matter and warrants immediate commencement of extreme prejudice on your part if you are in any kind of position to do this (that means deadly force). At this point, the car is insignificant.. your life is not. If you really believe you are about to receive fire, you have nothing to lose if you initiate hostilities and someone holding a weapon on you satisfies this action.

Best bet.. try to escape the situation. Here in Virginia, we are not required by law to do this (its called a "duty to retreat" and Virginian are not under this obligation). However, prudence dictates prudent action and escape is the best avenue it available when you are at a disadvantage.

As I mentioned in my prior post, you just never know what you're gonna do until faced with it.

 

I've had maybe 5 people stop and ask me about my car. Most of them wanted to know what model Mercedes it was

 

you could always buy a new car but not a your life... i would hand over the keys to the carjacker, wish them happy motoring with THEIR car...

 

Mine stays right next to me in my front cup holder when I'm armed. You don't have open carry in Texas, but here in Virginia, we do (of course, no pesky permits are needed). You can even open carrry into restaurants which serve alcohol (but you cannot carry concealed into one).

If I suspect a pending bad situation, I move it to my lap where it is even more available. But let's face it, this seldom happens, thank God. Out where I live, there are a few places in town (Manassas) where one would do well to go armed, but I generally avoid those areas at night.

 

Depends upon the severity/escalation of the threat. A "simple" car theft.. give them the keys and have your cry. A weapon used denotes an entirely different set of "rules" from turn over the car to using deadly force. It really depends upon your perception of the threat at the time and your level of fear and of being in grave danger.

Too many variables to make blanket statements.. that's why I say, you just don't know what you'd do until it actually happens.

 

i thought my statement was obvious but guess i was wrong. well anyways, yes, i agree there are to many variables. each situation will have different responses from me. however, if there are any threats of death or serious bodily harm to me or if my family was with me, they can take the damn car. i'll just get a new one. why risk fighting it out with some low life who cant earn the money to buy their own. use common sense and good judgment on the situation.

 

In my case, I would likely say "here are the keys," drop them to the ground, turn tail and run like heck since I don't carry or own a gun (even with Los Angeles freeways...). :surrender

I feel safe and happy in the TL, which is more capable performance-wise than any other I've owned and nicer than any other I considered. Fortunately, the only people who have stopped to stare at my car (bone-stock & silver) were friendly non-threatening people who were admiring it, contemplating buying one or current 3G TL owners.

 

there was a thread from this guy who wanted to bulletproof his TL; you might want to look into that.

 

I'm with Trancemission,,,,

I'd just say: "excuse me while I get the door for ya.. Send me an address and I'll forward the other set of keys".....

Sure it would suck letting someone get the better of you but my life is more important. I pack "heat" every once in awhile on family road trips. If someone already has a gun pointed at you, the chances of you positioning yourself for defense would be near impossible. Time to swallow the pride, be a real man and live for another adventure.

I would have more worries of actually getting the car back after the perps joy ride. - I wouldn't want it at that point - I would just pray it crashed and burned up,, with the perp in it!

Like Southernboy stated: "you really wouldn't know how you would react",,. I definitely know one thing,,,, I would be reacting in a manner that would hopefully keep me and anyone else in the car unharmed!!

Stay safe all.

Smitty

 

Gentlemen;

Please understand. I am not at all advocating deliberately putting your life, or those of your family, in danger when there could be an alternative from giving up the keys to getting the heck outta Dodge. The point I am trying to make is that if someone has you under a weapon and you perceive that it is more than the car he intends to take, then you have nothing to lose by trying to turn the tables. In other words, if he's going to try to injure or kill, then you might as well go down fighting.. IF there is no other avenue of escape. Anytime someone puts you in immenent danger, you are entitled to use deadly force to defend yourself, so if at all possible (and as I said, you cannot get away) be the first to open hostilities.

The best bet is to avoid such situations in the first place. Barring that, look for ways to get away. Barring that, look for cover and ways to respond. The rest from there is hell.

Once again, I am not at all, and in no way, advocating doing something foolish or stupid. That only works in movies and on TV.

 

... then they shoot you anyway to eliminate a witness, or because they're hopped up on drugs.

Southernboy hit the nail on the head with all of his thoughts on this subject.

 

Thanks for all the input. I tend to worry about what other folks may think if they see me driving such a car. They may think this guy's got money which brings along alot of negative attention hence the title of the thread. I like to keep a low-profile, not letting alot of people know what I have. Been like that all my life.

 

i feel like i live in one of the safest neighborhoods in the US lol. In fact, a TL is a poor man's car here. Nobody looks at my car everyone else has a better one...which I love because if im parked to a bunch of expensive cars, who would want to break into the cheap one.
everyone leaves their door unlockes and windows down.

 

Your 19, and you are talking about the TL being a "poor man's car"... that is crazy. But everyone to their own.

 

Thanks so much for the vote of confidence, Wid-TL. I can see you understand where I'm coming from with this.

There's a concept known as threat escalation. A simple car theft you can do little or nothing about. A carjacking, which means you are in the car and present during the attack, is far more serious. Add to that the display of a weapon on the part of the BG, and the threat has just been elevated a considerable amount.

If a BG holds you under a weapon (or if there are multiple BG's), and for some reason, you perceive no grave danger (you do not believe you are going to be injured or killed - not sure how you might imagine this), and there is no avenue of escape, MOST DEFINITELY give up the keys and then try to get away.

If on the other hand, you believe the BG(s) are of a mind to complete the act (as in eliminating you and yours), your options are as follows: succumb to the threat and hope/pray for the best; try to get away and this means running your assailant(s) over if need be; attack your assailant(s) with extreme prejudice - multiple taps to cease the threat. I would recommend #2 if at all possible since you at least have a measure of protection in your vehicle.

The thing I try to tell people who come to me with questions such as this is to work backwards from the threat. This means to imagine and prepare for the worse case scenario, then work backwards from that. If you work UP to the worse case, you are already behind and stand an excellent chance of becoming a victim - perhaps a dead victim. Another thing I tell them is to try to think like a BG. This ain't easy, folks. Good people do NOT wish to hurt other people - bad or good. They hesitate when they should act. And this frequently gets good people injured or killed. And this is the most difficult thing to teach good people - the idea that sometimes, it's necessary to be "bad".

 

Hey, y'all.. I would just like to say that this has been a very good thread and discussion, and on a topic sadly missing on this site. We talk about tires and intakes and interiors, but the most important ingredient is missing - us! Perhaps discussions such as this might one day save a member's life. I see that as a good thing.

 

Depends on the situation, but I would likely run(drive) if I was alone (nobody else in the car to get shot at). Chances are the perp knows that a shot up car isn't gonna get him as much and he will have left evidence all over it and if he kills the guy in it hes got some serious problems. However carjackers tend not to be too bright.

Would a .357 with normal ammunition be able to penetrate out your door and into his leg or torso, basically get him without him seeing it?

On another note, as far as safety around here I would have to say my situation is similar to that of tempest, this car is common, but still somewhat of a poor mans nice car. I live what was ranked the safest city in the US and most around here drive a nice car, On my street alone we have an E320, saab 93, audi A6, landcruiser, ES330, S80, and our TL, and hopefully a new G35 or MDX too. So cities like that do exist.

Mike

 

I also live in a small town where such things are virtually non-existant (never heard of a carjacking where I live).

Yes a .357 Magnum with "normal" ammunition (not sure exactly what is meant by this) will penetrate a car's door and more. While not an overly-powerful handgun cartridge (again, overly-powerful is relative), a .357 Magnum is a decent defensive caliber. I have killed deer with this caliber, though they were handloads.

 

Since I debadged, I get a lot more stares...people trying to figure out what it is

 

By normal I mean what the average person keeps in their gun, not hollow point, different jacketing, etc.

The most action my town has ever seen was a shooting 10 years ago, someone robbed a pet store, or it may have been a vendetta against the owner, lets just say the robber lost his mind. We get the occasional suicide or freak accident. The cops mainly deal with the kids around here.

Generally aren't car jackings more for the immediate need of a vehicle than for the car itself? In any case, I like to keep the doors locked when in the car, on those pursuit shows the purp usually simply pulls open the door and pumbles the driver for the car.

I would also like to add as far as safety in terms of accidents is concerned this car feels quite sturdy, also the high doors, long hood, and bulky A piller(at least as it appears) are re-assuring.

Mike

 

If you have a mt car and someone tries to carjack it, you have a slightly better chance of getting your car back b/c not everyone knows how to drive a stick. Very small point to bring up, but there have been times when a carjacker went to jack someones car, the car was a manual, the idiot who was trying to take the car didnt know how to drive a stick, so he was easily caught.

 

For .357s, the "normal" load varies. Most people probably buy semi-jacketed hollow points or semi jacketed slugs, a few probably use .38 Special wadcutter target loads, a few probably have Glaser Safety slugs and very few handload full lead bullets or full metal jacket silhouette loads.

Regardless, DO NOT shoot through the car door!!!
First, your aim would likely be off unless you have practiced with the gun you use-- you would literally shoot from the hip or waist across your body depending which hand you use. You may miss, and bad things happen thereafter.
Second, shooting through a car door might result in deflection of the bullet to god-knows-where (like, into a bystander) due to the door frame, reinforcement beam, window mechanism and glass. This is an issue particularly with Glasers and hollow points-- they may shred inside the door. Again, bad things will happen if the bullet(s) wander away from the target.
If you have a gun out, let an assailant open the door for you to aim and pull the trigger. If the assailant is unarmed, you should be driving away rather than shooting.
I live in Los Angeles, and prefer not to be the proverbial "innocent bystander" if someone tries to shoot through his own door to stop a carjacking instead of handing over the car or running.

 

it really is a whole different world. it wasnt till i left and graduated from college that i found out what the world is really like.....

 

Is that before or after he ruined the tranny?

Mike

 

well said

I am never looking for a fight. I carry because it gives me peace of mind. But like you said you never know what you will do. I will protect my family the best way I see fit at that very moment. I will not let anyone else decide for me how it should go down. I will make my decision and live with it. But I hope and pray that I will never have to. But you just never know what or when it will happen.

As for .357, I carry a magnum with a 2' barrel. Holds 7. If I ever have to squeeze one off believe me, a car door is that last thing Im going to be worrying about.

 

I have lojack in my car.