My car shocks the crap out of me every time I get out of it. It's really really annoying. It’s done it since I picked it up. Any ideas on how to cure this problem?

 

switch the carpet floormats to those cool rubber ones. worked for me

 

When I first read the post, I was thinking cloth seats... But yeah, carpet will do it too. Or wear insulated gloves when you get out.

 

hold the metal part of the door, then step out.

 

Wear a ballon on your head

Sorry couldn't resist. Rubber mats FTW

 

every day, every time

 

maybe your car is trying to tell you something.

 

I think every car I get out of shocks me - and not some little zip - it's always a big ZAP!!! To the point that it practically hurts!

I have rubber mats in two of our cars, carpet in the third. Leatherette in the MINI and cloth seats in the others. I'll have to start paying closer attention to when and how.

 

I tried to be smart one time and use my knee to push the door handle to close the door I didn't get shocked.. but when I when to open my gate, my gate shock the crap outta me...lol.

But what KenChan said about holding the door handle before you get off your seat works just fine.

 

Touch the door with the back of your forearm first. Hurts a LOT less (in fact I find it doesn't hurt at all) than getting hit at the tip of your finger/fingernail. Just take the zap on a larger, bare portion of your body, will be a lot easier =)

I've had to get in the habit of doing that with my truck on the odd day it's really cold here (actually been a tad chilly here a lot lately).

 

I have the rubber mats and you still get shocked.

 

Try not wearing any nylon / polyester clothing?

 

Try wearing different shoes. I used to always get shocked with a particular pair of running shoes, and the shocks stopped when I changed them.

Also a painless way I found of discharging myself is to hold one end of an all metal key (not like the Mini key that has plastic at one end) and touch the other end to whatever normally shocks you. You get a spark between the end of the key & the thing you touch, but no shock pain!

 

I've used Static Guard, usually in the evening when I'm done for the day I"ll spray some inside and shut the door because the fumes are a little rough on the nose if you stay in close quarters when you do it. Then the next day the shock is usually gone. You might try putting some dryer sheets in there too, but they don't seem to work as good as the Static Guard.

 

I have rubber mats and peeps complain they still get shocked. I see it happen to my passengers more then me.

I have the cloth/leather seats

 

Wear a hat that should help,by covering most of your hair that transfers static electricity.

 

Yea, I get shocked all the time too, I wear sandals all the time, so I just touch my toe to the ground before I close the door... Kinda goofy, but oh well.

 

Yup, same here. I have the cloth seats and the rubber mats. I hold onto the door sill when I get out.

 

It could be your mini is trying to tell you it wants to be driven more

 

I get shocked all the time. Pretty bad too. Rubber floor mats and cloth seats...

But i've gotten so used to it, i kinda like being shocked

 

I had huge shocks from my previous car (peugot 407) The only way I would close the door was with my arm, never my hand. My idea is that the static builds up while you are driving and as soon as you try to get out you get zapped on the hand. Just try closing the door with any part of your body that is clothed.

MINI in Greece

 

yep, this is the only option that works with consistency.

all the other suggestions are pretty funny though.

 

It's your clothing. Jacket, socks... Whatever you wear thats fluffy... As well as your dry weather conditions.

The zap is your body discharging the charge that built up from those items gently rubbing against you, under dry conditions.

The solution would be to somehow ground yourself. Such as getting a simple grounding strap from an electronic workbench (like $4 @ radioshack), and ground yourself to a metal part of the car... Maybe the shifter? Grounding straps usually have break-aways...

And while that may sound silly, the rubber mats only prevent you from generating static electricity from the Mini's carpet. If you have other fabrics generating it, the mat won't help, and any time you touch ground (pretty much any piece of metal) you'll get shocked.

I get shocked every day at work because we have metal door ***** which are isolated from the rest of the metal parts on the door. So I always touch that **** with the back of my hand, middle knuckle, before going out, because it doesn't bother me much getting shocked there.

And one last thing. Touching someone else may discharge it too... And probably make you feel better about the whole thing as well.

 

 

My mini shocks me when I get out


That's how Sparky got his name.