Topic: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

I feel official now. I just opened a letter from my landlord about the inoperable vehicle that's in violation of my lease!

Oops. I didn't know that was a violation. At least I haven't caught my kitchen on fire again. That's a plus.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Um, no.

Never.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

"It's less suckie than your last car."

This space for rent.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Nearly every lease I ever sign says something about not working on vehicles on the premises & all cars must be registered and operable. Its pretty much boiler plate. Its just a matter of renting a place with an absentee landlord and nice neighbors.

Constructor/Owner/Driver - Billy Beer Ford Futura

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Not yet, but the car and dolly are parked out on the street right now, so you can't say I'm not trying.

Former chief proprietor and lead bad idea generator of Binford "More Power" Racing, 2010-2013: humbly self-proclaimed the best Chevy Beretta in Lemons history.

6 (edited by OnkelUdo 2013-08-01 07:38 AM)

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

I have owned my houses since I was 21 to avoid things like this.  Even if I could afford it otherwise, I buy in aging blue collar neighborhoods and not gated communities or even post-80's subdivisions.  More folks to drink beer with on the front porch and more clutter to hide my Lemons in.

My elderly neighbors, one a 5'3" ex school teacher and the other a 6'6" 340# ex steel worker, are fascinated by my car.  Donna even climbed into the drivers seat...almost took the paramedics to get her back out.

My other neighbor are mostly deaf and prefer to sleep in their basement.  Across the street are renters.  Not many folks around me complain as long as I don't use the loud tools until after 8 AM.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

I made sure to buy my house in an area that doesn't do Safety or Emission testing, so my Lemon is registered for the street.
I drive it to work and park next to the Boss just to piss 'em off!
I'm still worried that HR is going to make me do sensitivity training due to "Homersexuals" painted on the back of my car

'ported, relieved, with bored-out arm rests, and oversize seat covers.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Ya, after every stint. big_smile

It Ain't My Fault

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Dave wrote:

Ya, after every stint. big_smile

LOL!

After the Marina's debut at Summit, we discovered that we had pretty much worn away the outer exhaust mounting (side exit behind driver on driver's side) due to "excessive cornering forces" causing contact with the ground (can you say body lean???). 

So what does one of my teammates complain? 

"We need to add a dual exhaust so that we have an outrigger on the other side too!"

Problem is, I think he was serious....

Jamie Palmer  tr6driver@yahoo.com
Austin Powerless Racing  '75 Austin Marina, 44th/IOE Summit Point '13, 35th/1st Class C CMP Fall '13, 23rd/3rd Class C CMP Spring '14, 83rd/14th Class C CMP Fall '14 (blown engine/swapped mid-race to finish), 3rd Class C CMP Spring '15, 2nd Class C CMP Fall '15
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-Po … 3187341573

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

No complaints so far but did have a cop stop for a chat one day and let me know that my trailer is violating some city law because it is in front of the house.
He wanted to know if I raced for profit and I explained the concept of Lemons, after a quick look at the car he told me that as long as no one complains then he is fine with it and was never there.
Helps that we live in an older non gated subdivision and one neighbor is an ex drag racer and the other have had their kids over to sit in the car. As much as I would like too upgrade to a closed in trailer I think that it would push things too far.

Apocalyptic Racing - Occupy Pit Lane racing
Racing the "Toylet" Toyota Celica powered by Chevrolet Ecotec.
24x Loser with the Celica. 16x loser in other fine machines
Overall winner Gingerman 2019

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Only from my wife.

Jim C.
If God meant for us to race, we'd all have baggy Nomex skin.
08TMS.09NL.10GM, SP, NL.11SP, NL.12SP, VIR, NL.13GM, NJ.14NJ, VIR, WGI.15AB.16GM.17NCM.18GM.19...

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

I got kicked out of a car show for bringing something that wasn't unique, special or interesting. This, coming from a guy who drove a 56 belair while about a dozen people interrupted to take pictures and ask questions about the car.

dead rabbit society: cultured 'n shit.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Our retired neighbors to the east are Canadian snowbirds and go back to Vancouver basically from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Miriam always tells me to feel free to use their driveway and trash can if I need it, and we keep an eye on their house, of course. 2 summers ago when the SIMCA was in mid-build, somehow we were in possession of 4 non-op vehicles and one running junker at the same time: 2 MR2 chassis, 1 SIMCA, a Miata tub, and a 91 panther Crown Vic (I think). The Crown Vic was sitting on the street in front of the house and we rolled the Miata tub into Miriam's driveway.

My neighbors are generally great and accepting of the automotive hijinks, despite the occasional earache of the grinder or cutting wheel. We don't have a mandatory HOA (that wasn't by mistake), so there's no private nazis breathing down my neck, and I'm friendly with all of them. And they all know that when they need a tool, some help, or some advice, I'm glad to help. So it all works out, usually.

But the folks across the alley from Miriam must have had enough when that junk Miata tub was across from their driveway. There was, of course, no question about who it belonged to. Now I don't know who called it in, but one day I got a certified letter from code compliance about basically not running a private junkyard in my driveway. My bride is basically a very good girl and the thought of The Man saying that she was Breaking The Rules was a nightmare for her. She's not calloused to the legal oppression on The Man like her husband. In other words, as I lounged in the pool, she flipped out. That was not the reaction she was looking for.

Short version is that Hoonatic John took the Miata tub, the Panther went to a friend's farm for storage until Dave bought it back from me, and the SIMCA and the spare MR2 chassis got the torch and scrapped, all within the 7-day grace period. And I erected the walls on the portable carport to put everything remaining out of the eyes of the Code Compliance Officer. Two phone calls later and that was all worked out.

If we can ever finish a race without needing to overhaul a motor, the plan is to erect a permanent fence and gate around and across the driveway, then a permanent carport roof over the top of the driveway. Out of sight, out of mind.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

14 (edited by BoB 2013-08-01 07:28 AM)

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Like the others that don't seem to have problems I live in an older, blue collar area.  A bunch of people work on cars, and at most people are just curious on what you are doing.  I try to be courteous and not do anything particularly loud early in the morning or late in the evening.  The conversations normally start with me explaining it isn't a demolition derby car.

I did get some strange looks when I first painted the car.  I don't think most of my neighbors could figure out why anyone would paint a car bright purple, once it got a number on the doors, they seemed to understand a little.

Racing 4 Nickels - 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
2011 SHOWROOM-SCHLOCK SHOOTOUT  IOE Winner
2012 The Chubba Cheddar Enduro Class C winner
Facebook Page

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

So far, no problems. We keep our car in a garage though in a big city (Chicago), not some swanky suburb. The next door neighbor complains if he doesn't hear us grinding, sawing welding, etc.  He says he knows we're okay as long as we're making noise. We just make sure to go quiet at 10:00.

The first time we went back to the garage after I set the car on fire we noticed that the neighbor on the other side put a fire extinguisher out in front of his garage after we got there. He claimed it was for a barbecue he was having. Yeah, right.

Newest member - White Trash Racing
Owner of the Traveling Hat

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Older blue collar neighborhood, etc.  The retired cop, forklift mechanic/carpenter, and nice old lady that used to have a Checker are all amused by the goings on at Rocket Surgery.  In the neighborhood I'm known as "the car guy" and fixing the occasional skateboard or what have you goes a long way.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

No real complaints yet, but I'm waiting for it.  For the last 2-3 years we have kept everything in my backyard.  No HOA, so no worries there.  I do live inside the city, so the rule is no unregistered vehicles for more than two weeks in plain view.  I did actually have an issue with an Accord I was selling a few years back.  The first time I parked it such that the lack of license plate was visible from the street, I got a code violation notice.
It has rained like hell here for the past two months and my backyard is a literal mess, so I moved our CRX to the driveway and tossed a car cover on it when we aren't working on it..  So far no problems, but I did notice the code enforcement guy giving me the evil eye as he drove by one afternoon.  The car was uncovered at the time and I was taking measurements for theme improvements.  I suspect that since I was actually working on it at the time he couldn't say anything.

Apparently my name is really "Craigers".  Who knew?
We might be yellow, but at least we are slow
I'm a WINNER!

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Our car got a code citation because we stored it outside under a tarp next to a couple of engineless (and non-tarped) parts cars. We eventually just stripped the parts cars and sold them for scrap like we'd intended, and the cops were happy enough when the LeMon started up. Pretty sure the D-baggy neighbor across the street phoned it in a few times before the cops dropped by the first time.

Eric Rood
Everything Bagel, 24 Hours of Lemons
eric@24hoursoflemons.com

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

FJ40Jim wrote:

Only from my wife.


+100

Silent But Deadly Racing-  Ricky Bobby's Laughing Clown Malt Liquor Thunderbird , Datsun 510, 87 Mustang (The Race Team Formerly Known as Prince), 72 Pinto Squire waggy, Parnelli Jones 67 Galaxie, Turbo Coupe Surf wagon.(The Surfin Bird), Squatting Dogs In Tracksuits,  Space Pants!  Roy Fuckin Kent and The tribute to a tribute to a tribute THUNDERBIRD/ SUNDAHBADOH!

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

My neighbor across the street calls on me.  I ended up having to get an antique license plate for one of the cars and I keep the other two hidden from view (garage and trailer).  The trailer needs to be kept behind the front of the house.  In my area, cars don't need to run but need to have current tags.  The wife doesn't give me grief for the cars, only that she can't pull into the garage.

--Rob Leone Schumacher Taxi Service
We won the IOE at Southern Discomfort.
We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

My one neighbor tried to give us shit for having "broken down pieces of shit" that never moved.

The police showed up for his complaint and I promptly showed them the titles, registration, and current inspection on both of our racecars.  I even started them up.

The neighbor got a warning for calling the cops for no reason.

It was sweet!

Ghetto motorsports - Car #555 1980 Mazda RX7 (3x winner of BFE GP / 1x 2nd place of BFE GP...BOO!)
Car #350 78 Chevy Malibu (Least horrible Yank Tank, Heroic Fix) (Gone)
Car # 556 1987 Mazda RX7 (6th place MMC 2013) (1st place Capitol Offense 2013)

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

wvumtnbkr wrote:

My one neighbor tried to give us shit for having "broken down pieces of shit" that never moved.

The police showed up for his complaint and I promptly showed them the titles, registration, and current inspection on both of our racecars.  I even started them up.

The neighbor got a warning for calling the cops for no reason.

It was sweet!

Wait... I have driven through "New Alexandria" all the cars I saw were broken down pieces of crap. wink

It Ain't My Fault

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Most of the complaints we get are from other Lemons racers who are JEALOUS of our Rotary Powah, Racing Prowess, and Sweet Siren Song Exhaust Note.

Really I only got one complaint from the law enforcement type last year.   I suspected that the number of cars had reached the tipping point when the driveway was stuffed with:

1.  M35A2 Deuce and a Half
2.  My Personal FD
3.  My Daily Driver RX8
3.  A Team Mate's RX7 that needed the engine rebuilt
4.  Our retired Pink Camouflage FC LeMon
5.  The Pink Zebra FC LeMon
6.  The RX2
and
7.  My girlfriend's RX7 that she started stripping

I also had about 100 feet of chain link fence covered in failed LeMon's parts.   My art project that I was creating to block my neighbor's view of all my cool shit!.   Old rotors, housings, body parts, exhaust systems... you name it.

The cop that gave me the ticket was kinda nice.   We kind of made a deal that I would get rid of most of the stuff (and the art projects on the fence) and she wouldn't make a big deal about a lemon or two.   Usually she said she would give 10 days to clear a problem... but she figured I would need more time.

Dangerous Banned Technology (NOLA 09), Judges Choice (Houston 2010), Organizers Choice (NOLA 2010), Most Heroic Fix (Dallas 2010), $100 from Jay's Pocket (Dallas 2010), Dangerous Homemade Technology (NOLA 2010), Ununhexium Legends of Lemons Status,  Index of Effluency (Dallas 2011), Most Heroic Fix - (Houston 2011), Index of Effluency (TWS - 2012), Organizers Choice (Dallas 2013)

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Team Sensory Assault wrote:

Most of the complaints we get are from other Lemons racers who are JEALOUS of our Rotary Powah, Racing Prowess, and Sweet Siren Song Exhaust Note.

Really I only got one complaint from the law enforcement type last year.   I suspected that the number of cars had reached the tipping point when the driveway was stuffed with:

1.  M35A2 Deuce and a Half
2.  My Personal FD
3.  My Daily Driver RX8
3.  A Team Mate's RX7 that needed the engine rebuilt
4.  Our retired Pink Camouflage FC LeMon
5.  The Pink Zebra FC LeMon
6.  The RX2
and
7.  My girlfriend's RX7 that she started stripping

I also had about 100 feet of chain link fence covered in failed LeMon's parts.   My art project that I was creating to block my neighbor's view of all my cool shit!.   Old rotors, housings, body parts, exhaust systems... you name it.

The cop that gave me the ticket was kinda nice.   We kind of made a deal that I would get rid of most of the stuff (and the art projects on the fence) and she wouldn't make a big deal about a lemon or two.   Usually she said she would give 10 days to clear a problem... but she figured I would need more time.

PIcs of the girlfriend stripping?

Team Lost in the Dark
Winner " I got screwed" and "Jay's dream car"
2012 Gulf region champs

Re: Have you received a complaint about your Lemons car?

Parkwod60 wrote:

Nearly every lease I ever sign says something about not working on vehicles on the premises & all cars must be registered and operable. Its pretty much boiler plate. Its just a matter of renting a place with an absentee landlord and nice neighbors.

Yeah. I'm kind of kicking myself for not leaving a seat in, giving it a bath, and throwing on some spare plates, haha. I think I got busted for it being move-in season and the car being obviously covered in dirt. It might've passed as long as she didn't walk around to the front and saw the subframe on the ground. Eh, it's leaving this weekend.

Then again, since I'm surrounded by UT kids and they're all back from summer break, I'm pretty antsy about getting my daily driver back in that carport. (And that's pretty much the biggest understatement in the history of understatements. GET OFF MY LAWN!)

The last older apartment building I lived in didn't care at all. Someone's project car was up on blocks for most of the time I lived there. I felt right at home! Haha. So, I guess I didn't think about it being fairly standard. I figured most small buildings couldn't care less--that was more of a big corporate complex thing. (Shoot, those types of joints make me nervous about just parking my OWN daily, registered, running, not-horrible car on their lots.)

Usually the car lives at the track, but since there's currently three 944s floating around in the cocoverse, one of 'em ended up at home. Grrrr. I need THAT off my lawn, too.