# Don't experiment on rental cars **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391 "2010-01-10T14:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/61 "2010-01-11T17:37:43Z")
Yes it can, but to make the statement that negligence and/or intentional tort are illegal would get a big spanking for a 1L. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/62 "2010-01-11T17:40:22Z")
That’s hot. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/63 "2010-01-11T19:22:51Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Yes it can, but to make the statement that negligence and/or intentional tort are illegal would get a big spanking for a 1L. Good thing I’m not a 1L. Besides, the distinction is lost on laymen, especially idiot laymen. I’m not going to take the time to present a treatise on the various terms pertaining to legal culpability when “illegal” conveys to the layman just fine that yes, you have to pay for that vase you just drop kicked out the window. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/64 "2010-01-11T19:25:06Z")
So you bitch at Mr. Krebbs for his mention of “fine” and then make equally glaring errors yourself. That’s not very professional of you. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/65 "2010-01-11T19:34:49Z")
> [@villa](#): > > So you bitch at Mr. Krebbs for his mention of “fine” and then make equally glaring errors yourself. That’s not very professional of you. actually, that was me. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/66 "2010-01-11T19:41:10Z")
It seems that sparky did too, even quoting Black’s Law Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/67 "2010-01-11T19:47:02Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Good thing I’m not a 1L. Besides, the distinction is lost on laymen, especially idiot laymen. I’m not going to take the time to present a treatise on the various terms pertaining to legal culpability when “illegal” conveys to the layman just fine that yes, you have to pay for that vase you just drop kicked out the window. For all practical top level discussions of right vs wrong and getting in trouble vs not IMnonlawyerO the loose definition of “illegal” is quite adequate…with “illegal” meaning you could well be paying fines handed out by the legal system or find youself in small claims or other court and the legal system telling you what to do should you be found “guilty”. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/68 "2010-01-11T22:01:26Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Don’t experiment on rental cars. How about cars your company leased? Could one experiment, say to see how far an '81 Cutlass would fly after hitting a raised railroad crossing at speed? ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/69 "2010-01-11T22:10:03Z")
Did anyone mention the fact that, currently, Diesel is just as costly as gasoline? ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/70 "2010-01-11T22:59:49Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > How about cars your company leased? Could one experiment, say to see how far an '81 Cutlass would fly after hitting a raised railroad crossing at speed? Only if you work for the Mythbusters. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/71 "2010-01-12T00:04:57Z")
I like to rent cars because they give me a quiet roomy place to indulge my electronics hobby. I used to practice on planes, but for some stupid reason they kick up an ignorant fuss when anyone with a brain can see that all my little wires and such are perfectly harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Silverstreak\_Wonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Silverstreak\_Wonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silverstreak_Wonder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/72 "2010-01-12T00:06:34Z")
You do have to consider if he rents the car to experiment, he may use other parts of the car less too than other renters such as mileage that others put on. Just like renting a motorcycle to jump over barrels for a prize, hey I put just 2 miles on it and the tank is still full and all that. A cross country trip would just have worn different parts down they would have to replace sooner. There may be some value to him making a discovery that helps us to use less gas later too. I mean someone injected a sick person with old bread mold and hey it worked, discovered penicillin you know. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/73 "2010-01-12T00:13:49Z")
> [@Silverstreak\_Wonder](#): > > You do have to consider if he rents the car to experiment, he may use other parts of the car less too than other renters such as mileage that others put on. Just like renting a motorcycle to jump over barrels for a prize, hey I put just 2 miles on it and the tank is still full and all that. A cross country trip would just have worn different parts down they would have to replace sooner. The whole point of his experiment, if it is to have any validity at all (and of course he is too fucking stupid to realize it really won’t) would be to put as many “piss in the fuel tank” miles on the doomed rental car under as many conditions as possible. So, no, your point has virtually no validity, with perhaps thefpossibility that the back seat may suffer less mileage due to his lack of hiring hookers to ply their trade in the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/74 "2010-01-12T00:13:57Z")
> [@Silverstreak\_Wonder](#): > > There may be some value to him making a discovery that helps us to use less gas later too. I mean someone injected a sick person with old bread mold and hey it worked, discovered penicillin you know. Penicillin was discovered in a [petri dish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin), not by direct injection. > [@](#): > > Fleming recounted that the date of his breakthrough was on the morning of Friday, September 28, 1928. It was a fortuitous accident: in his laboratory in the basement of St. Mary’s Hospital in London (now part of Imperial College), Fleming noticed a petri dish containing Staphylococcus plate culture he had mistakenly left open, which was contaminated by blue-green mould, which had formed a visible growth. There was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth around the mould. Fleming concluded that the mould was releasing a substance that was repressing the growth and lysing the bacteria. He grew a pure culture and discovered that it was a Penicillium mould, now known to be Penicillium notatum. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/75 "2010-01-12T00:31:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I like to rent cars because they give me a quiet roomy place to indulge my electronics hobby. I used to practice on planes, but for some stupid reason they kick up an ignorant fuss when anyone with a brain can see that all my little wires and such are perfectly harmless. When I read this I shrieked out loud, slammed my laptop shut, tied a chain around it and threw it right into the Ganges River. I then gouged my eyes out with a fork so I wouldn’t have to read anything like it ever again. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/76 "2010-01-12T01:08:58Z")
Has that fuckwad revealed which rental company he got the car from? Do we know his location? I would love to tip them off about what this criminal is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/77 "2010-01-12T01:31:45Z")
> [@Silverstreak\_Wonder](#): > > You do have to consider if he rents the car to experiment, he may use other parts of the car less too than other renters such as mileage that others put on. Just like renting a motorcycle to jump over barrels for a prize, hey I put just 2 miles on it and the tank is still full and all that. A cross country trip would just have worn different parts down they would have to replace sooner. > > There may be some value to him making a discovery that helps us to use less gas later too. I mean someone injected a sick person with old bread mold and hey it worked, discovered penicillin you know. You might be the stupidest person on this forum now. I just wanted you to know that. I’m sorry Starving Artist. No one wears the crown forever. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/78 "2010-01-12T02:21:02Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > You might be the stupidest person on this forum now. I just wanted you to know that. > > I’m sorry Starving Artist. No one wears the crown forever. what you talkin, willis? He’s doing the rental car company a favor. By screwing up the engine and nothing else, he’s given them a bunch of spare parts! duuuuh. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/79 "2010-01-12T02:21:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Has that fuckwad revealed which rental company he got the car from? Do we know his location? I would love to tip them off about what this criminal is doing. No, but Bah… He isnt going to even do it cause the panhandlers union aint going to be able to scrape up enough cash. And if he does do it most likely it won’t do any damage or it WILL and they WILL catch his ass. I suppose there is a narrow range where it would do damage but he won’t get caught. But between the probablility of him never trying it and the low chance he will do damage but not get caught it aint worth going all internet CSI on his ass IMO. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391/80 "2010-01-12T04:15:58Z")
> [@villa](#): > > It seems that sparky did too, even quoting Black’s Law Dictionary. Only (by request) because I have Westlaw and it’s easier to cut and paste from there. Also because the stockboy was being dickish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-experiment-on-rental-cars/524391.md?page=5)