Alarming
I am very happy with my new car.
I love driving it and frankly the chance to drive it is the only reason I am persisting in my quest to torture myself half to death in a gym in the name of health.
It does have one worrying feature though and that is the number of alarms.
When I fire up the ignition the dashboard display lights up like a fucking Christmas tree. There are warnings and alarms for all sorts of things such as whether a door is open or whether I have forgotten to switch off the headlights. I think it also monitors tyre pressures and whether the roads are slippery but I’m not too sure.
Recently I got into the car and immediately an alarm sounded. I checked the display and it told me my battery needed recharging. What the fuck? I had just started the engine so how the fuck could my battery be flat? On further investigation I realised it was talking about my mobile phone [which incidentally had a 40% charge] which was in my pocket!
So what next? Was it going to count my cash to make sure I was solvent? Was it going to suggest a change of underwear? It’s a fucking car and should have no business commenting on other devices or aspects of my life.
Yesterday I was coming home from my Monday Torture session and stopped in the village as I wanted to get some milk. No problem. As I pulled away to continue my journey a really load alarm sounded. This wasn’t the quiet reminder I get if the handbrake isn’t fully released or that I was accidentally indicating. No, this was a load and strident alarm. I checked the display – nothing! Something was pissing the car off but I didn’t know what.
I drove home with the alarm blaring. The car was driving perfectly well so I just put up with the noise.
Once home I tried RTFM. I looked up the index for “strident loud alarm” but there was no mention. In fact there wasn’t a mention of alarms anywhere in the manual. They must be so confident that nothing will go wrong?
It wasn’t until later in the evening that I had a flash of inspiration. The only thing that was different about that alarming drive was that I had put a three litre jug of milk on the passenger seat. So either the car reckoned that the jug should have a seatbelt on, or maybe it just thinks I’m buying too much milk.
That car is getting a bit uppity.
Thanks for the laugh!
I had one of those. It would scream abuse at the slightest "problem", but often failed to tell me why. Got rid of it and bought a South Korean car which assumes your native language is not English and spells everything out carefully (and usually correctly). Why can't Ford learn?
Ah, but it's not Ford. It's a Dacia which I believe is Romanian? I have a Romany car!
I thought Dacia was a "No Frills" brand! You've put me off considering them…
You want to take a look at the VW Take Up. That still offers manual window levers. The rear ones are pop opening.
And the Dacia Sandero entry level. Go for the 1 litre version to experience the joy of momentum driving.
However if that appeals then the new Micra beats everything – almost 17 seconds to get to 62 mph. Is fun when joining a busy motorway.
(My buggy's a 2011 Aygo and the only door that triggers the interior light is the driver's, same with central locking and there's no glove compartment, just a shelf. Oh and going up steep hills is a scenic experience.)
Grandad has a rather flash upmarket Dacia Logan, though he's never told us the size of its engine, nor the fuel it uses.
It's a petrol 1Liter [I think].
My criteria at the time of purchase were low mileage, affordability and very important – a LOT of luggage space. It's amazing how much room a wheelchair uses!
It's a nice car to drive and it packs enough punch for my needs. It can take the local hills in third, where the Focus needed second. I didn't realise it's upmarket!
My car tells me off if I don't turn the headlights on when it thinks I should, tells me off if I park to close to another car, tells me off if I don't put petrol in when its 1/4 left, it is a bit of a nag to be honest. I tried to turn all these things off butit wouldn't allow it
The one thing I would like is a rear reversing yoke, either a buzzer or better still, a camera. I have backed into things a couple of times so far!
Under both the driver and passenger seats, there is a small electrical connector – this is the weight-sensor. If you disconnect each of those, it stops the seat-belt bleeper in its tracks. It doesn't have any negative effect on any other functions of the car. First job with any new car.
Heh! I'll keep that in mind. I'll leave it for now though as the dog still refuses to leave the back seat.
Sorry, not a Dacia. The first Dacia was a complete disaster, with at least three new steering racks needed, which had a major delay problem with our vist to both areas of the Island of Ireland. Now its an Hundai Santa Fa, bought because we had a caravan and this was the best towing choice. Over 12000mls and only a new battery needed, and still going well.
To date I have heard nothing but good reports on the Dacia. It's a make I had never heard of until I saw mine advertised. So far I have had no problems but then I haven't had a chance to do some really serious driving. Now, if I had a chance to drive down to the Dordogne……….
My brother's Mazda SUV has a back up camera. When shifting into reverse, it displays a message, saying essentially,don't look at this display. Very helpful. Riding today in a friend's Subaru Outback, there was a loud beeping noise, indicating "Are you SURE you want to do that?" I declined a ride home on her new motorcycle, as my tool bags were not suited to that vehicle.
Dacia was originally French so I have read. I believe at one time the marque was bought out by Renault and they built a factory in Romania. If you check out http://www.hubnut.org his youtube channel is all about fairly obscure cars and cheap, and I mean cheap, motoring. He had an adventure where he and a pal drove to eastern Europe to buy a Dacia and the story of how they got it back…
Me? I put up with the expense and buy 10 year old German cars…
Yup – I have heard the same [that it's a rebranded Renault manufactured in Romania. Personally I don't care where it came from. I'm very happy with it.
Thankfully The Wife's old 2005 Ford mini-van has just the standard alarms on it, nothing fancy but seriously loud when tripped (there's one that screams out if I forget to buckle my seat belt for instance). My 2012 Jeep Liberty however has more damn alarms and readouts than I can count–even after 5 years of owning it. One time a cat got underneath the thing just as I was leaving and managed to trip every single alarm, idiot light and readouts it had. I simply shut it down and took the old mini-van instead.
Now the Smart Car (For Two) that we bought this year (to replace the old mini-van since we don't need a rig that big any longer) has very few alarms on it and what it does have results in just a gentle chiming. However, being a European vehicle, we have yet to figure out how to work all the controls on the thing as it differentiates somewhat from it's American cousins. It also assumes that you know how to drive unlike newer American vehicles.
Sure you lot can't even manage a gearbox!
As far as the younger set is concerned that's true enough. But almost all my generation cut our driving teeth driving a manual. I even recall a time when an automatic transmission was the option, not the default. I can honestly say I've probably owned/driven as many vehicles with a gearbox as I have an automatic…if you count the 3 Harleys that I’ve owned.
I have only once driven an automatic, and then for only a few miles. I didn't like it as I felt the car was in control of me. I like to be in control of the car!