Miata Mailing List: November 1995, Message #244
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   From: mott@flory.mit.edu (Dr. Peter H. Mott)
Subject: Re:  New Car Scratch and Headlight Reminders
   Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 18:06:23 -0500

Lynette Arceneaux (LArceneaux@uh.edu) writes:

> Should I go back and demand they re-paint the entire hood to remove the
> slight defect or would all of that re-painting simply do more harm than
> good? 
>
> Fix it or live with it?  Please help and give me your opinions!

Nothing less than perfect will do.  Now I was not very good at 
dealing with my dealer, and I am sure there are other people on
this list that can give better advice, but since the car is NEW,
I would expect them to either a) replace the entire hood or b)
fix it so that you can't tell that it was ever dented.  It should
be perfect.

> Also, lately I've been reading posts about headlight buzzers and how they
> might be necessary to remember to turn off your parking lights.  A buzzer
> would be great if you can find one and want to spend money, but if you want
> something quick, easy, cheap (and a little silly), here's a tip (Thanks to
> Heloise!):  Keep a clothespin in your console, and every time you use your
> lights (parking or head) during the day (or night, if you like), take the
> clothespin and clip it to the ignition key.  You will never forget to turn
> your lights off, when you try to remove your key and there's a big
> clothespin clipped to it!  I use a big, obnoxious, plastic, yellow one, and
> have never forgotten my lights yet!  (I can't help you if you forget to clip
> it on in the first place!)  Anyway, it's a bit silly, but it works!

Your idea gets an "A" for simplicity, but I don't think it fully
addresses the problem.

I have found the worst happens when I flip the parking lights on
accidentally.  If I am flustered in heavy traffic, I can unknowingly
twist the headlight switch halfway while signalling for a turn, thus
turning on the parking lights.  This is all too easy to do, and there
is no obvious sign except the very subtle dimming of the time
displayed on the radio, and on a sunny day you can't really tell that
the parking lights are on if you happen to glance back at your miata.
If I don't notice it, I will park the car and I'll come back hours
later to dead battery.  The first time I did this, I scratched my head
for quite a long time--while waiting for AAA to appear--before I
noticed that the parking light switch was on.

The liteminder switch from K-Mart is only $5.

Peter Mott