UPDATE: More Car Details

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Cole Wyeth

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Dec 17, 2024, 8:10:03 PM12/17/24
to Sherlockian Abduction
Hi everyone,

The following is an entry from user NoCommunication7 on reddit which I don't see how to easily verify. It contains various details to look for when examining someone's car up close, let me know what seems accurate / inaccurate (beyond baby seat not implying marriage):

"Great list, you should consider adding some stuff about car keyfobs, through the study of keyfobs you can tell what make and year someones car is, and maybe even narrow down a specific model based on other factors, an example is when i deduced that someone drove a Ford made prior to 2009, because of the distinctive shape of the key and bow.

Some other car stuff i can share:

Drivers side door handle, if there are scratches on the back of it or on the bodywork behind it, it's a sign of possible marriage as it could be witness marks from a wedding ring

If there's a baby seat in the back that's a surefire sign of both marriage and a child

If there's pinholes in the rear seat (if it's a leather seat) it's a sign of a dog owner

If the rear seat is covered, that's also a sign of a dog owner trying to protect the rear seat from a dog

Chew marks are another sign of a dog, they often appear on things like locking tabs and baby seat anchor covers

Someone getting into a newer Rolls Royce, if they close the door by hand they are either not the owner or not familar with the vehicle (possibly a new owner), the doors on RR's have an auto close button

Alternating field-like pattern in the carpet is a sign of a recent detail or valet

On pre-2009 jaguars you can get an idea of the driver or passengers fingernail lengths as the boot popper is the growler button, lots of scratches might be long finger nails

If there's a haynes or other service manual on display, often means the owner does their own work, if it's an older or lower end vehicle it also could mean the owner has fallen on hard times

Mismatched parts are an obvious sign of an accident, some are dead easy like mismatched doors and panels, but others are harder to spot, especially by casual observation, and professional accident repairs are basically impossible to spot"

Other updates:
I incorporated Novy's entry. Bonus points to anyone who can ID the tattoos on the woman's arm in her photo (a crucifix?).
Considering adding an entry for fork / knife use habits by geographic region / culture.

Best,
Cole Wyeth
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