Sorry you feel that way. Funny that I get many more kudos than not. Guess having an opinion other than yours is not welcome.

 

Enough already!

 

First, the locking "option" can be turned off if it scares you so much. And Second, I would lock my doors on all my cars before my MINI manually for safety so nobody could open my door to attempt a car jacking while sitting at a light.

In my wife's Murano we manually lock all our doors when we get moving. And it always troubles me that no matter how many times I pull on the door handle that door isn't going to open when I need to get out of the truck quickly. I have to go fumbling for the door lock button and hope i hit unlock. If someone needed to get me out of the Murano they would have to do the same. If someone had to get me out of my MINI and they had already broke the glass they would just pull on the door handle twice and the door is open.

My MINI is one of the most logically designed cars I've ever driven.

Double pulling my doors have become such second nature in my MINI that I have no doubt its the first thing I would do if I had to get out in an accident. Also, what do most people do if they pull on a door handle and it doesn't open on the first try? They pull again and again, and on the second pull the door would be open. You don't need to flick any switch to get out of a MINI, just pull the door twice.

 

There should be a standard across the board on how doors are unlocked when they're locked either automatically or manually. My Jeep locks the doors automatically but all it takes to unlock the door is one pull. I think this is ideal because the door opens when I'm ready to get out not when I turn off the engine. I might want to sit in the car safely locked until I'm ready to get out. My 350Z would also lock the doors automatically but would unlock the doors when I pulled the ignition key out, that also seemed ideal. The NTSB should dictate a standard for all cars to follow, it is a safety issue after all... Just my opinion...

 

Another thing that should be noted in that the MINI will automatically unlock the doors in the case of an impact hard enough to set off the airbag(s). Obviously that didn't help in this situation, but it is an important safety feature to note.

 

You are entirely missing my point. I am well aware that the locks can be programmed out, and also that a double pull unlocks the doors. Heck, I've had BMWs for 15 years that do the latter, not mentioning the current MINI. My present stable-mate BMW 5-series locks by the time I'm 100 feet from my driveway, and I have deliberately programmed the MINI to do the same. And it's obvious that someone not opening a door on the first pull will instinctively pull again, especially when panicky, and it will then release.

I am NOT afraid of the locks! They do NOT scare me!

What I AM stating is that a person who has to pull up next to the guardrail, as in this case, may have a hard time finding another person able to rescue the driver if the passenger door (the only one accessable) is locked. And if there is a fire, this will be a problem because there may not be enough time to to effect a rescue. In the particular accident I cited I would not be (and was not) able to help by leaning over to unlock the door, due to my injury. Fortunately, in my accident the first person on the scene was able to pull the jammed driver's side door open. (I would add that this was not possible on the right side, due to the damage.)

I might also add that not all people would be able climb over the console to exit through the passenger door, even if open. I probably couldn't--I'm well past middle age, and the notable middle age spread has been generous to me.

It's something to think about, and there's no good answer--no answer at all, really, when there is a fire. Fortunately there aren't many cases of fires starting like this, or because of a crash--they are probably as rare as the car jackings you cited.

 

Do the locks only unlock when the airbags go off or are there other circumstances that would trigger the unlocking?

 

The mods/admins dont receive complaints for 'kudos', or positive postings. It's the problematic posters that accumulate tallies of complaints from others, complete with links to the posts in question and eventually patterns become discernible.

Postings that result in positive feedback are always encouraged! And yes, I've seen quite a few of yours that have done so. All opinions are welcome here, but there will always be those that will end up either in a distinct minority, excessively negative or no longer adding to the discussion as a whole, and those should not bear constant restatement.

 

Gee and I thought you were done with me.

Thanks for the heads up.......

 

Your comments would be welcome if they were constructive - but since they are counterproductive, they are unnecessary and not welcome.

If you have an issue with this please feel free to PM myself or Mark.

 

Scottinbend, I have a question. While some of your posts are helpful, many seem to just want to get folks knickers in a knot, why is this

Another question, sorry to take up your time, but why is it you think it's a good idea to badger Moderators/Administrators If it's to prove something, I can't figure out what it may be, except to have us all watching you, and that gives you some satisfaction in know you are taking up our collective time.

Mark

 

2 posts above yours....

 

Thameth, that doesn't explain whether they only unlock when the airbags go off. I think ScottinBend was interested in what other circumstances would unlock.

 

No problems, just posting my thoughts. And I would argue that these are not counterproductive.

I took an exception to greatbears post about being afraid to park his car in his garage w/o taking precautions first. This is in my opinion a very inflammatory post. Being a mod his posts probably are taken a bit more seriously than most. By stating that he felt afraid of his MINI lends too much credence to the very rare problem of fires. I would not like to see a lot of readers simply read his post and determine that there is an inherent problem with our cars catching on fire while parked and thus becoming overly concerned with them.

If he took offense at my post fine, but he also took some shots at me. This is not a one sided story.

 

What mods have I been badgering?

To tell you the truth I tend to hold the mods to a higher standard than the rest of the members. And with good reason. Mods should be more aware of their standing and post accordingly.

 

 

QQ more. This argument is meaningless and is wasting space.

 

double post.

I'll use this opportunity to say, . "Why are you being mean?" "Why do you think its good to yell at him?" "He Yelled at me too"

You guys are totally ruining this thread. Its about the car, the fire, and the person involved, not your immature fighting. Get over it and park your car in the garage or wherever the hell you park and lets get back to what this post should be about. Finding the cause of the fire.

 

Once and for all, my statement about parking my MINI in storage with the battery disconnected is my own diong and my own opinion. Maybe I was not clear about it in the first case, but it's done not only for 'fire prevention' reasons, but also (and mainly) because of parasitic draw that wears down the battery. Besides, I am only presenting my own situation, not as a recommendation for anyone else. I could prefer to park the damn car on it's roof for whatever reason I have to do so, but unless I state otherwise, it's not a recommendation for anyone else to do the same. Simply something that I do.

As for this,
It adds to the discussion, um, how?

 

none of the posts in this thread have added to the discussion. there hasnt been any discussion other than yelling at each other. my post was trying to end this infantile squabble. i knew better but posted anyway. whatever, its not my problem.

 

Good idea, keep down on water spots

Mark

 

The OP has not reported back with any new details, so as is normal with lots of threads, things are wandering away from the topic. It happens, not always for the best, so lets all maybe wait till we see some updates from the OP before we move on.

Mark

 

I know in this case it might not have been helpful, but it's a good time to reiterate that if you love your car, you should buy it a present that could save its life someday:



Now about those car fires, where do I start?
'76 VW Rabbit - engine fire while trying to add oil to a hot engine in the dark - used pan of water from kitchen before it burned my Bunny and my friends '69 Firebird parked next to it.

'80 Triumph Spitfire - engine fire during last mile of maiden drive home. Oil leaked onto headers. Extinguisher saved it.

'79 Yamaha 650 - rear brake dragged and caught on fire while riding. Beat it out with my backpack

'80 Triumph Spitfire (seeing a pattern here) - engine fire several years later after a full rebuild. The cause was the brass screws on the Zenith Stromberg Carb backing out of the choke unit and spilling fuel on exhaust. Put it out with extinguisher.

'80 Spit one more time. This time I was on a drive with friends and got a call on the radio. "Karl, your cars on fire......" "What?" "Karl, your car's on fire". Same problem with Zenith Stromberg brass screws that pass through a fueled portion of the carb. This time I reached for my extinguisher and it was dead. So I ran to the trunk, pulled out a 2nd extinguisher and put it out before any real damage occurred. They were all driving modern sports cars, and the concept of carrying a fire extinguisher seemed totally foreign to them, much less two! We shortened a burned fuel hose, rigged a burned throttle cable and I drove it home.

I also had the good fortune of being able to save two other vehicles from burning to the ground with one of my extinguishers in my car. The last time it was during our recent San Diego fires, and I was evacuated from my home while the fire spread towards our house. I was waiting on the side of the road 50 miles away in a neighborhood listening to the radio for news on the fires, when the pickup across the street from me experienced a spontaneous combustion of an aresol can in the sun in the bed, and the explosion caught towels and other flamable stuff in the bed on fire. I jumped out and this time I had my home extinguisher with me because I'd feared I'd encounter burning cars during our evac.

Anyway, trust me these things are a great investment. I now use car extinguishers with a gauge so I have a better assurance that they'll work when needed.

 

No offence mate but if you offered me a ride I'd rather take the bus, especially if my Nomex underwear was in the dry cleaners

 

You seem to attract fires, like Scouser says. If you're going to keep having them, I'd go with Halon. My 356 buddies say it's easier on the engine.