A site dedicated to Twichels, and things they (ok mostly me) are interested in. |
New Toy Panic!!
New toy, run it up through the gears, try a lane switch or two,
Keep it legal on the public road, but push the edge a little to enjoy those
new tires. Then you see the flashing red and blues. Did you push too far? Is
it because you don't have tags yet? With great dejection you pull it on over.
It is then that you discover that you have been busted by the phantom squad.
What you saw was is just a 'feature' of your new car. The lights are embedded
behind the glass in your rearview mirror, and the flashing is an effect of the
rattling of the mirror when the stock radio is turned on.
Who was the rocket surgon of an engineer who thought this would be a good idea?
A secondary issue with this 'feature' is everytime the mirror is adjusted, a disembodied voice asks "what do you want" or " state the nature of your emergency" or something like that. This thing can't be turned off and it follows the car whever it goes.
What can be done?:
For my copy of this car, I tried asking that the satellite spy thing not be
turned on. That did not work for me, your milage may vary (though probably
not).
The dealer should be able to tighten up the mirror. Steady lights are better
than flashing. The mirror also makes headlights behind you blur oculting their
distance behind you. I plan to ask when I bring mine in for service. Check
this before buying one for yourself.
To hide the spooky lights, TAPE. A simple piece of electrical tape will hide
the lights. of course it needs to look good so:
Measure carefully:
Put a piece of Electrical tape on a piece of waxed paper so you can peel it off later, Print a paper template from your measurments, scotch tape it over the electrical tape, and cut around the edge of the template.
Peel off the template and wax paper, carefully apply over the lighted area of the mirror.
Here is a link to the template I used to cover the lights for
a 2015 Camaro LS2. I would not be suprised if the same mirror was used in
other vehicles.
No, It did not fix the problem, but, outta sight, outta mind.
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last updated 8-17-15