[Redstreblo]

So, in  the past three weeks my car has had several practical jokes played on it. I go to school for automotive technology and the guys there make fun of the fact that it is a 95 Dodge Neon. I have done nothing to the people in the department to make anybody angry.

• They Disconnected my cooling fan electrical connector causing my engine to overheat
• They installed my rear license plate upside down (noticed it before I was pulled over)
• Somebody put a very heavy dose of some kind of ooze material (it smelled sweet and had the consistancy of yogurt) onto the underside of my drivers door handle. Noticed it running down the door before I stuck my hand in it. Took me 15 minutes to clean it all off.

The occasional practical joke is fine with me, so long as it does not cause damage to the car. Disconnecting the cooling fan for example can cause permanent damage to the engine and require it to be rebuilt. This is causing me some distress and I am worried that if these jokes continue at this rate I would have to fix my car on a regular basis.

I do not know who is performing these jokes, or if it is multiple people. Everybody is aware of the practical jokes and my disapproval. And because I am unaware of who is doing this I cannot react as i would like. What I would like is some advice on how to prevent this sort of thing from happening if possible. I have thought about parking my car at a far away point in the parking lot where there are few cars and not much ped traffic to hide it, but I like to be close to my destination.

Use this thread to tell stories about cases where you have had jokes played on you and any practical jokes that you have played onto other people as well as tips on preventing such things.

[Dark RevenantX]

Leave a wide-angle-lens camera on the dashboard of your car (hidden by a newspaper or something), leave it running while you're gone, and catch the culprit that way.  If you do it for long enough, you'll find whoever is causing you this trouble.

[Galemp]

If you've already told the guys in your class that you're taking it seriously, and they're still pranking you... Tell campus security?  If they're doing things to your car that could potentially get you pulled over, then somebody deserves a formal warning.

[Klaustrophobia]

tell them next time something happens, EVERYONE is getting punched in the face.

[esarai]

I concur with Galemp, and Dark RevenantX stole one of my ideas, so here's some more:

Diverse hidden security measures, like four cans of pepper spray mounted under the hood and rigged to spray when the hood is opened without disengaging the system.  You could do the same on the underside in case they target one of those components--probably will have to trigger it with IR sensors of some kind.  I came up with this in response to someone jacking my dad's catalytic converter.  I know that might make a bunch of you go "O.o wtf?" but it happened.  Them foos hacksawed it right out of the car.

[Shivan Hunter]

Hook up a tesla coil inside the car, connected to the outside (if it's conductive), that can be activated and deactivated remotely, so that anyone who touches the car while it's active is electrocuted. When you leave, activate it, and make sure to deactivate it before touching the car!

[BloodEagle]

Put a combination-lock detonator on the car, attached to a pressurized canister (with a wide-angle trajectory) underneath the hood.  Whoever raises the hood without putting in the proper sequence will wind up with a broken neck.  Problem solved.

[Redstreblo]

If you've already told the guys in your class that you're taking it seriously, and they're still pranking you... Tell campus security?  If they're doing things to your car that could potentially get you pulled over, then somebody deserves a formal warning.

Ha! What are they going to do? Put my car under 24 hour surveillance? With no evidence of any kind they will just say something along the lines of "we'll look into it" and do nothing.

Leave a wide-angle-lens camera on the dashboard of your car (hidden by a newspaper or something), leave it running while you're gone, and catch the culprit that way.  If you do it for long enough, you'll find whoever is causing you this trouble.

Yes, this would be useful and I thought of this. But I would need to buy the camera and find a way to keep it on the dashboard which is very slippery and angled while keeping it out of view at the same time. And they might not do it in a while or not from the angle visible by the camera, this is impractical.

tell them next time something happens, EVERYONE is getting punched in the face.

I am not a fighter.

[Sushi]

This seems to me to be crossing over from joke territory into outright vandalism. I echo the recommendation to get in touch with campus security: even if they can't do anything directly, it's worth it to have something "on file" with them about it. They may also have some helpful suggestions.

[Redstreblo]

Leave a wide-angle-lens camera on the dashboard of your car (hidden by a newspaper or something), leave it running while you're gone, and catch the culprit that way.  If you do it for long enough, you'll find whoever is causing you this trouble.

Yes, this would be useful and I thought of this. But I would need to buy the camera and find a way to keep it on the dashboard which is very slippery and angled while keeping it out of view at the same time. And they might not do it in a while or not from the angle visible by the camera, this is impractical.

Found a "dashcam" that can be used in this situation nicely... for $300!! 

[Klaustrophobia]

in the meantime you might try just checking in on your car when you can throughout the day.  you MIGHT get REALLY lucky and catch someone, but it'll probably deter whoever is doing it if they know you keep checking it.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Just activate the cloak of invisibility and hope no one else tries to park in the same spot. 

[Dilmah G]

Well, since no one else has told any other practical joke stories, I'll start with the first one that comes to my mind.

So, as mighty fine fourteen year olds, Dilmah and co. spent a summer's day walking around suburban Perth, wreaking havoc and cleaning several McDonalds outlets of their triple cheeseburger patties as well as frequenting the local cinema.

After retreating to the house of a mate living close by, about half a dozen of us got the okay from our folks to spend the night there, playing Halo to loud hip hop whilst consuming the contents of the host's fridge. After the majority of them had decided to doze off at around three in the morning after an epic game of CS, a mate and I checked the host was fast asleep before raiding his bathroom and returning with toothpaste, a bar of soap and a cup of water.

As my mate squirted toothpaste carefully into the host's right hand, I used the bar of soap and cup of water to moisten the wooden floorboards next to the couch he was sleeping on. Giggling with anticipation, we turned on the lights to see him work his newest tube of colgate all over the left side of his face and through his hair. Realising that something was amiss, he attempted to open his eyes whilst placing a foot on the ground, only to slip forwards as he stepped out and fall face first onto the back of another mate of ours who was dozing off on the carpet.

lulz were had.

We also ran very, very, fast down his stairs.

[Klaustrophobia]

australians are assholes

[Dilmah G]

For the record, it wasn't my idea.

[CommanderDJ]

australians are assholes

Hey, now that ain't fair! 

[ssmit132]

australians are assholes

Oi!

[newman]

Any coffee shops near the parking lot? If so, park as far from it as you can so the car is still on the lot where it'll get vandalized and you can still see it, without it being too obvious you're there looking at it. Arm yourself with a lot of coffee and patience and wait it out. Once someone starts messing with it, confront them. Stakes are different when the identity of the culprit becomes known, 10 to 1 the guy will stop once you catch him in the act. If you're not a fighter you may want to have that tear-gas spray on you, or something like that - just in case he turns violent

[Enigmatic Entity]

Infrared sensors in strategic locations that make a mobile (use a crap, pre-paid mobile) call your phone ...

Or use the phone as a camera, it should have a micro SD card. You could hack it into something that looks like a speaker, or a bag of some sort.

As for practical jokes...Once some of my friends cable tied another friend's wrists to the bed while he was asleep...don't ask me how he didn't wake up...

Not a practical joke, but our college dorm room had a pillow fight at 1am, it lasted a while until the supervisor came in!

[StarSlayer]

It's quite obvious the solution is to drive something other then a 95 Dodge Neon.