Motoring Discussion > Lack of Car Knowledge Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bromptonaut Replies: 19
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New Thu 26 Dec 24 18:43 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Bromptonaut
Currently staying with my son and his fiance in Liverpool

Son and I arranged today to drive up to the south Lakes to meet my sister and two of her adult children for a walk. Used his car so Mrs B had ours.

He drove up and, being on his insurance anyway, I said I'd drive home. In the course of doing so I noticed his Peugeot's headlights cut off very sharply on dipped, illuminating rather less road than would be optimal. He's had the car three + years and didn't know that like all modern cars it will have a means to adjust the headlights for load.

I'll sort them for him tomorrow.

He also has, and I think I've ventilated this hear before a slack attitude to checking his oil level. Several times when he braked the oil warning light and associated STOP annunciator came on briefly.

Half a litre added at my insistence sorted that.

As my Granny used to say, who'd be bothered with kids.....

A good walk was had but I can't keep up with those in their third decade as well as my sis. But she runs half marathons.
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New Thu 26 Dec 24 19:31 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Robin O'Reliant
A workmate once fitted a set of rear crash bars to his Suzuki. He managed to bolt them to the top and bottom mounts of the suspension struts and wondered why the bikes handling suddenly became suicidal.

Some people just don't get mechanics at all.
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New Thu 26 Dec 24 21:38 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Ted

SWM seems to have been driving around with her below bumper spots on all the time. I showed her where the switch is on the stalk and next time she gets home and pulls into the drive they're on again ! Only been driving the Micra for 6 years !

She keeps the lights on 'auto' and also has the wipers on 'auto' not realising that you can over-ride and speed them up. I sit there wondering why, in torrential rain, we are on intermittent. I don't mention it, of course, in fear of domestic repercussions !

Ted
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New Thu 26 Dec 24 22:42 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Kevin
>SWM seems to have been driving around with her below bumper spots on all the time..

Baseball cap?.... Worn backwards?...
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 08:58 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Bromptonaut
>>
>> SWM seems to have been driving around with her below bumper spots on all the
>> time.

Putting those on improved The Lad's car's frontward lighting a bit. The truncated lighting was livable on the M6 but unfamiliar junctions in foggy Merseyside were a 'mare.
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New Thu 26 Dec 24 23:58 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - CGNorwich
"Some people just don't get mechanics at all."

I understand how a car works and like to knowhow everything works bur messing about with cars or indeed anything mechanical is about the last thing I would want to spend my time doing. I did a bit of basic stuff when I was young but to my mind if stuff needs fiddling about with its a design fault.

I like the idea that most things on a car are automatic, allowing me to do what I do enjoy i.e driving.

Having an electic car now is my idea of what a car always should have been. No gears, no clutch, autohold, automatic lights, automatic wipers, climate control, drive assist. I'm always slightly bemused by the accusation that modern cars are simply "white goods" . That's exactly what I want: stop & go pedals and a steering wheel.
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 08:25 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - martin aston
Load adjustment for headlights is handy. I like to be able to use it during a journey according to changing natural light and terrain, not just load. Also setting off in the light with a load might call for adjustments on the move as darkness falls. Unfortunately many cars have done away with the traditional knob and buried it in the touchscreen menu.
This is the case for my Golf. I set it for our normal two-up load when I first got it. Thats over five years ago and I haven’t moved it since. If I was going on a loaded holiday I would try to remember to reset it but it’s probably buried in a sub-menu. More touch screen non-progress.
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 09:02 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - carmalade
On the subject of opening the bonnet, I’m not sure I like the idea of these “double pull “ opening systems where there’s no external safety catch . Pull the lever twice and it’s ready to open . First seen this on BMW and now Ford have adopted a similar idea.
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 09:21 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - bathtub tom
I've two family members that didn't know the back seat of their hatchbacks folded. One denied it completely.

I've known two people who asked me to put their cars back to how they bought them. One was running very rich and I adjusted it to normal. They complained that before I did anything they could drive it out the garage, onto the road and push the choke in immediately. After I adjusted the mixture they had to go a mile or so with the choke out!
The other couldn't get it started and had fiddled, blindly with the mixture and timing. I set everything back to normal and noticed the kickdown cable was dislodged, so re-fitted it. They complained it never used to do that when they pressed the accelerator hard, and told me to remove it!

A friend had a car for eighteen months. I was out with them on a hot day and asked why they didn't use the a/c. They replied the car didn't have it, until I asked what a certain button was for!
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 10:20 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - zippy
>> I've two family members that didn't know the back seat of their hatchbacks folded. One
>> denied it completely.
>>

Mrs Z refused to believe that her VW Touran had a 5th gear (and probably a 6th)!

(She drove the thing like a rally car!)
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 10:10 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - zippy
>> On the subject of opening the bonnet, I’m not sure I like the idea of
>> these “double pull “ opening systems where there’s no external safety catch . Pull the
>> lever twice and it’s ready to open . First seen this on BMW and now
>> Ford have adopted a similar idea.
>>

I'm with you on that. There is something comforting about a mechanical latch. Plus of course, the five minutes fiddling in the freezing rain whilst you remember exactly which way it has to be moved to open :-D
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 12:47 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Zero
>
>> I'm with you on that. There is something comforting about a mechanical latch.

It is a mechanical latch, just on the end of a cable. And before you say "ah what if the cable breaks" then if it breaks you are in the same boat as the traditional latch cable breaking.
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 12:10 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Zero

>> these “double pull “ opening systems where there’s no external safety catch .

Have it on the beemer, cant see its a problem usability wise or safety wise,
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 09:28 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Bromptonaut
>> Unfortunately many cars have done away with the traditional knob and buried it in
>> the touchscreen menu.

In both the 'lingo and the Skoda it's a rolling switch that falls easily to hand.

Couldn't find it in the Peugeot without stopping and searching.

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New Fri 27 Dec 24 10:17 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - tyrednemotional
>> >> Unfortunately many cars have done away with the traditional knob and buried it in
>> >> the touchscreen menu.
>>

...or, if you've got "proper" headlights, they auto-adjust ;-)
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 12:44 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Zero
I like the automation on the beemer, It works well, extremely well, its all perfectly integrated and matched, but if I want manual control all I dont have is a clutch, frankly something I can live without.


As for DIY car mechanics, the car will tell me the oil level, I check and top up the two coolant reservoirs, but I cant be bothered to get messy and change the oil so the indy does it on its annual service. I could change the air filter and cabin filter, but he might as well do it while its there and parts costs for genuine BMW parts are as cheap as I can get them for. Plugs, six of the b*****s are expensive, and a bit of a faff to change, so, yes you guessed it the indy might as well do it while its there.

I know the location and theory of everything in the car, I know its weak spots, its potential long term issues, Its working well noises and feel, so I know I wont get ripped off. At the end of the day paying someone else to do my labour, someone I can talk to, at a reasonable rate is fine by me.
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New Fri 27 Dec 24 13:01 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - zippy
>>At the end of the day paying someone else to do my labour, someone I can talk to, at a
>>reasonable rate is fine by me.

Agree.

Especially when they can do the job in a fraction of the time that I can.
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New Sat 28 Dec 24 20:13 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - BiggerBadderDave
I went to a meeting with my art director and the deputy in the 90s, I don't remember why, probably to meet an author somewhere. He drove a Honda, I forget the model too, I seem to remember it being known as the poor man's Lexus LS. But it was an automatic and it was always, always left in third despite it having a fourth speed. After a few minutes of listening to an engine at high revs, the deputy said, ffs just put it in fourth and leave it there, and the deputy actually shifted it himself. The director said something like, oh, is that what you're supposed to do?

So for about a minute, everything was fine until the director discreetly shifted it back into third and the stressed engine screaming returned. Can you imagine buying a car from a guy that did that for probably three years?
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New Sun 29 Dec 24 15:21 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Bill Payer
>> ...or, if you've got "proper" headlights, they auto-adjust ;-)
>>

I thought all Xenon / LED lights auto adjusted, but looking at the handbook for daughter's new Kona EV it says there's a thumbwheel ajuster for the lights, although I haven't physically seen it.

That car is very complicated though - one dealer told us they offer handovers on two stages, first to show how to drive an EV, then another 2 weeks later to show how all the other stuff works.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Sun 29 Dec 24 at 15:24
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New Sun 29 Dec 24 16:40 
 Lack of Car Knowledge - Zero
>> >> ...or, if you've got "proper" headlights, they auto-adjust ;-)
>> >>
>>
>> I thought all Xenon / LED lights auto adjusted,

UK Xenon lights should self adjust by law. The Kona has LED's and not subject to that law
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