Parking Scam at MEL

[harvyk]

I would go with opportunistic staffer out for a joyride over some of the other conspiracy theories here. Whilst burnouts and other hooning activities are not exactly good for the car, the car would not have sustained any actual damage with only a few hundred km's. A bigger concern would have been had the police caught the culprits in the act of hooning and thus impounded the car or had the act of hooning wrapped the car around a tree.

As others have mentioned the amount of alleged abuse done by the car park staff is probably similar to what the mechanics do to the car when they take it on their "testing" drives.

I used to be a member of a car forum, and I still remember every so often hearing about people catching their mechanics out. One of the most memorable posts was one when a person was on his way to the mechanic to pick up his car, he was waiting at a set of traffic lights going to pick his car up when his car entered the intersection sideways and then did a massive burnout (which stopped the second the mechanic realized the cars owner was watching on). Needless to say the junior mechanic knocked off work the second he returned the car to the workshop (and probably got out of there quick smart). There was other accounts where mechanics had taken cars on 30km drives to "test" if the indicator lights was working.

So whilst this is hardly a good situation, I would take a guess that this would not be the first time (or at least will be the last time) the car has been driven in a wild way without the owners consent.

 

[anat0l]

Great. This is fantastic for those who use parking lots or valet to park their cars.

First it started with rental cars where you walked around the vehicle at least twice noting every single ding or even hairline crack to make sure you weren't pinged for it; take photos, even.

Now with parking lots / valets you actually have to take photos of your odometer, fuel gauge and tyre wear to make sure it hasn't gone for a ride? Nuts...

 

[dandandandan]

This is the main reason I take a taxi or chauffeur to and from the airport these days. I wonder if there is a possibilty for modern cars with built in navigation to record its position data in the background?
I suppose this is a scenario in which if you value your car, invest in cameras, GPS trackers etc. Any measure to ensure that if there is an issue, you have the proof.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

This is the main reason I take a taxi or chauffeur to and from the airport these days. I wonder if there is a possibilty for modern cars with built in navigation to record its position data in the background?

I suppose this is a scenario in which if you value your car, invest in cameras, GPS trackers etc. Any measure to ensure that if there is an issue, you have the proof.

Someone needs to invent a coughpit voice and flight data recorder for cars.

 

[harvyk]

Someone needs to invent a coughpit voice and flight data recorder for cars.

They already exist, some parents get them installed in their cars before letting their teenager borrow the car.

 

[Denali]

If its a short trip (for battery power), get a spare phone and download a tracking app and hide the phone in the car.

My husband has one of the stalking apps on my phone and its scary what it tells him (he downloaded it as I was picking him up in the city and he wanted to know how far away I was).

 

[OzEire]

They already exist, some parents get them installed in their cars before letting their teenager borrow the car.

Can you recommend one?

 

[TomVexille]

They already exist, some parents get them installed in their cars before letting their teenager borrow the car.

I know of certain employers who have installed them in their work vans as well.

 

[harvyk]

Can you recommend one?

Don't have any recommendations myself, but a quick google search brought up quite a few devices, starting from a couple of dollars up to hundreds.

 

[dandandandan]

Someone needs to invent a coughpit voice and flight data recorder for cars.

Unfortunately it'll be more embarassing for the owner of the car capturing every road rage outburst and slip of the tongue.

 

[Denali]

Unfortunately it'll be more embarassing for the owner of the car capturing every road rage outburst and slip of the tongue.

Tell me about it. Not road rage but talking. My husband showed me a recent trip where I don't think I stopped to take a breath and he definitely didn't get a word in! He threatened to put it on youtube

 

[harvyk]

Unfortunately it'll be more embarassing for the owner of the car capturing every road rage outburst and slip of the tongue.

Quite a few of the guys at work have dashcam's which record all their driving. For one of them speed limits are merely a suggestion to be ignored, and he quite proudly shows us footage of him driving along the Hume at 160+.

I always wonder what would happen if coppers wanted to take a look at that footage.

 

[Denali]

...I always wonder what would happen if coppers wanted to take a look at that footage.

I think it only becomes a concern if he uploads it to youtube and A Current Affair gets hold of it :evil:

 

[anat0l]

Don't have any recommendations myself, but a quick google search brought up quite a few devices, starting from a couple of dollars up to hundreds.

Funny that I was reading NoNews and this article came up pointing to this device:

https://thetrackr.co/

I don't have one myself, but it looks interesting enough. There are other products like it (i.e. use a small tag that can be searched via GPS).

It doesn't quite do the job to prevent this kind of activity, as it doesn't actually set up a live tracking system. You need to actually "poll" for the location of the tag (and then, say, if you were on holiday and the tag were not at the parking lot, you might have a case that something is wrong). The original article pointed out it was supposed to be useful for people who can't find their parked car in a huge lot.

Anyway, it's an idea.

 

[wandering_fred]

Quite a few of the guys at work have dashcam's which record all their driving. For one of them speed limits are merely a suggestion to be ignored, and he quite proudly shows us footage of him driving along the Hume at 160+.
I always wonder what would happen if coppers wanted to take a look at that footage.

I wonder what the coppers would do if a number of good drivers with dash cams started forwarding the clips of drivers passing them at excessive speeds? Especially if tied to GPS which showed the speed of the "good guy" and the other guy's license plate details were visible...

Would it cut the road toll?

Happy wandering

Fred

PS Parking charges are not the only reason I never use the airport for parking unless doing a drop-off/pick-up.

 

[harvyk]

I wonder what the coppers would do if a number of good drivers with dash cams started forwarding the clips of drivers passing them at excessive speeds? Especially if tied to GPS which showed the speed of the "good guy" and the other guy's license plate details were visible...

Already happening, earlier on in the year a video of a dangerous overtake on the Kings highway went nowhere with the police, but just a week or so ago a video of a dangerous overtake on the Monaro highway got the dangerous driver hauled in front of a magistrate.

I think it depends on the actual police person on the day.

 

[G00r]

I know of certain employers who have installed them in their work vans as well.

Can you recommend one?

I don't know if they're available for individuals, but a coach company I do work for uses BigMate.com.au
It is a little box about the size of a matchbox that is installed behind the dash.
It connects to the vehicle's power supply and has its own battery (which charges whenever ignition is on).
A Telstra sim in it lets it phone home and upload data

Tracks:
- Speed
- Acceleration
- deacceleration
- velocity of turns
- Speed zone compliance
- Engine on/off
- Location

Newer models have digital and analog inputs to track what ever you like.. power antenna up/down? Or boot opened

 

[chrisjohnson]

Such a bad act

 

[Simo]

I am not a Fan of Andrews Airport parking.

My new car had less than a 1000kms on it and had been run into another vehicle.

I picked the car up and didn't notice the damage early the next morning I noticed it and rang the place and they said that the car was noted with general scratches and wear tear.

I not so politely informed them of the amount of milage on it and general wear and tear would not be a big deal at all.

After an hour arguing with the manager and him reviewing footage did see it.

When they saw the vehicle they did check the Odometer.

 

[por930]

I am sure if the police wanted to, they could find cctv of the car in the area. But, as no one is "missing", they see it as a civil matter, and one of those things. Several years ago my Porsche had a surveillance GPS system which could have the engine imobilised by a central controller if the car was used by an unorthorised person. If I was away, I would advise the controller as to cars location.