Ultrasonic parking aid

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun May 04, 2003 7:45 am

I'm interested in buying some ultrasonic parking sensors to fit to my Honda
Odyssey. Anyone know where they can be bought in New Zealand. I want to fit
a set to the front of the Honda so I don't rear end my MX5 (to keep on
topic!) as it's impossible to see the front of the Honda from inside the
cabin.

Thanks,

Grant in Blenheim. Another MX5 sunny day here again!

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Sun May 04, 2003 10:50 am

Both "Dick Smith" and "Jaycar" in Auckland should have
the kits available. they use two sensors and mount on
the back bumper towards the corners, they have an
adjustable threshold so you can alter the distance the
beeper goes off. look to pay about $150 from memory.

You might find them on their respective on line catalogs. Hope this helps.
Glenn "SLYDIT"

--- The Simpsons <grant@simtronics.co.nz> wrote: >
I'm interested in buying some ultrasonic parking
[...]

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun May 04, 2003 11:32 am

Thanks, Glenn.

Just checked Jaycar and they have some 2 sensor packages for $120.00. Found
someone on Trademe with 2 and 4 sensor units. Might get one from Jaycar and
try that. Dick Smith don't appear to have them anymore.

Grant.

lou Girardin · Post by **lou Girardin** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:32 am

We sell them at Mongoose NZ, $199 inc GST. Fitting is easy, you do need to
drill the bumper though..
The only problem for you will be activating them. They're designed for rear
warning and turn on with the reverse lights. For front use you'll have to use
a manual switch.
Lou

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon May 05, 2003 9:13 am

Thanks for the info, Lou. I see some of them have 4 sensors and others have 2.
I assume the 4 sensor models give more accurate coverage towards the corners
of the vehicle as well as directly ahead (or behind).
Is there somewhere on the Internet I can find any information on the ones you
have?
A manual switch would be ok. If I could locate the signal to the electronic
speedo, should be able to arrange automatic switch on when the speed drops
below a set amount.

Thanks again,

Grant.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon May 05, 2003 12:15 pm

... or you could one of those little bumper flagpole-marker things. K.I.S.S !

Jeff

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:17 pm

Thought of that, and the price appeals. Would have to be quite long though,
and besides, I'm a gadget junkie!

Grant.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:28 pm

The Audi/Mercedes genuine units will be available soon in NZ.
They are the best I have come across.
A ping pong ball on a piece of string works well.
And the tech involved is huge.
Colin

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:37 pm

actually I'd like something like that for the front, but be able to leave it on when parked and connect it to the horn for the benefit of those touchy-feely parallel parkers who always back into me. Like we don't have enough gadgets already, right ?

lou Girardin · Post by **lou Girardin** » Mon May 05, 2003 3:07 pm

Go into mongoose.co.nz. You could trigger off the speedo or off the drive
position on the shifter. It means that it will be live all the time, but
current draw is low and they only beep at 1.5 metres or less, so it shouldn't
be a problem.
Our 2 sensor model will give full coverage across the front of the Honda. It's
debatable if you should have coverage beyond the vehicle sides. You may get
too many spurious warnings.

From Kleo.Zois@telecom.co.nz Fri Apr 27 16:30:20 2007
content-class: urn:content-classes:message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: Insurance Claim Question....
Date: Mon, 5 May 2003 18:31:56 +1200
Thread-Topic: Insurance Claim Question....
Thread-Index: AcMS0AZe6fPbin60EdeCJwABAkzLBw==
From: "Kleo Zois" <Kleo.Zois@telecom.co.nz>
To: mx5list@mx5club.org.nz
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <c9i2RD.A.Ox.DAYMGB@L733>

Hiya,
I have a question about an insurance claim...

I was stopped at lights and hit from behind into the car in front of me...
Anyway, after "repair" the paint doesn't match the paint that I previously had
on the car and I was hoping that someone from the club knew the legalities /
where to go from here.

It's not my fault, I was stopped when he hit me, and I kinda want my car in
the condition it was before I took it in. The panelbeater has suggested I
take it back in for another assessor to look at it, but it's SUCH an
inconvenience cuz I'm a student... and I miss my baby so much when she's
gone... . .. . . .

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Kleo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-

Post by **zorruno** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:05 pm

mine's a small stuffed cow on a string. when the cow sits on the
windscreen, that's far enough... make sure you adjust it when you change
out your shocks and/or springs though (been there!)

On a variation of the 'ultrasonic sensor on car' theme, and if you're only
wanting it for the home garage, I have seen ultrasonic sensors and light
beam distance devices mounted in the garage itself, rather than in the car.
Activated when the auto garage door light is on.

cheers
H.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:02 pm

Garaging is not a problem. I have two small concrete blocks on the garage
floor so the car stops when the wheels hit them . I want the sensors mainly
for parking away from the garage. The Honda Odyssey has a very steeply
sloping bonnet so it's impossible to see the front of the car from inside.
When parking in town, where there are many rubbish bins very close to the
curb, I don't want to add to the many paint scrapes on the bins! I'm not
used to a 4.8 metre long vehicle where you can't see it's extremities.

Grant.

carl.halvorsen · Post by **carl.halvorsen** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:45 pm

The Warehouse have a yellow plastic pad that is fixed to the garage floor.It
has a large hump and a small hump, You drive over the small hump and feel
the tyre hit the larger hump and you are parked in the correct place. Our
local WH has them on special at $7.50. I have seen the same advertised in
the Miata mag at US $15 - $20.

carl

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon May 05, 2003 11:35 pm

I'm either blind or stupid (probably both) but I can't find any referance to
the parking sensors on the site. Where would I find the info? Curious now...

Grant.

lou Girardin · Post by **lou Girardin** » Tue May 06, 2003 8:35 am

I'll send it via post, what's your address.

Don Warrington · Post by **Don Warrington** » Tue May 06, 2003 8:58 am

mine's a small stuffed cow on a string. when the cow sits on the
windscreen, that's far enough...

Another non-sonic-at-all parking aid, restricted to use in one fixed location:
I have mounted a smallish (150 x 100?) mirror on the garage wall, about
where I want the front of the car to stop, and angled so that when I look at
it from the driver's seat, I see the view downwards and across the front of
the car.

(No claim for superiority of this method - I just didn't happen to have a
stuffed cow in my junk box ...)

Don

carl.halvorsen · Post by **carl.halvorsen** » Tue May 06, 2003 5:34 pm

That reminds me. I bought one of those half sphere mirrors ( anti
shoplifting ) from a closing down shop and mounted it on the garage beam so
I can see every corner and clearance as I drive in.

Carl

From Kleo.Zois@telecom.co.nz Fri Apr 27 16:45:04 2007
content-class: urn:content-classes:message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: RE: Insurance Claim Question....
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 17:49:46 +1200
Thread-Topic: Insurance Claim Question....
Thread-Index: AcMTR0LfbXhSYg23T6iQZ1luh1WAogARrsQw
From: "Kleo Zois" <Kleo.Zois@telecom.co.nz>
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <GyNoKD.A.zx.DAYMGB@L733>

Hiya,
Thanks for the advice. My car's actually been (after market) painted an unusual red colour. The new paint is more of a brown.

As there were different colours all over the car, he did tell me that he'd match the colour to the back... I agreed as long as you couldn't see the difference. But, you can see the difference. And it might be just me but the paint doesn't seem as deep.

I don't want a huge insurance fight, I want my car fixed... I've bitten the bullet and booked it in to be looked at on Tuesday... aparently they'll call out the assessor again... see if IT's worthy.

I've been told SO many horror stories about insurance claims...

My understanding is that legally they have to get the car back to the condition that it was before the guy hit me, this is right, right?

Who is online