Seems no-one reads the manual any more.....
- Thread starter Most Easterly Pandas
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Seems no-one reads the manual any more.....
Whats worse is the amount of people who don't know how to change a wheel when they get a puncture so they call at the AA or whoever. Should be included in the driving test.
Fine when you are young and fit. I could change any wheel once upon a time, but now wheels seem to be heavier and tyres wider, and I'm not sure I could lift a wheel onto the studs safely, let alone safely jack a car up.
Which is one of the reasons I have a comprehensive AA membership
Not to mention many modern cars don't come with a spare wheel as standard any more
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or its an optional extra.....
08 jag comes with a ****ty space saver....
09 Citroen c1 has a fulled size spare (thank god!) And that cars TINY!
I think doing basic checks SHOULD be a test
A practical driving
A Practical Thoery
and a Thoery Test
The practical thoery is changing a tyre, physically checking engine oil, Brake lights etc etc
Number of people who dont know how todo half of these!
ziggy
Our mini has run flats so which is fine as long as the tyre is intact with a simple puncture but no use if its shredded.
My dads Volvo c70 has a compressor with a port to plug in a can of tyre weld the compressor then inflates the tyre and pumps in the weld again no real use if the tyre is badly damaged. Again no spare tyre
I don't really have a problem with people calling the AA to change a tyre, at the end of the day they pay their money for that service.
Basic checks are (and have been for some time) part of the driving test "show and tell"
Interestingly I had a know it all friend who wrote off his celica because he thought the low oil pressure light was a low oil level light and carried on driving for a week before the engine seized, though he had meant to get some oil he just "forgot"
My dads Volvo c70 has a compressor with a port to plug in a can of tyre weld the compressor then inflates the tyre and pumps in the weld again no real use if the tyre is badly damaged. Again no spare tyre
I don't really have a problem with people calling the AA to change a tyre, at the end of the day they pay their money for that service.
Basic checks are (and have been for some time) part of the driving test "show and tell"
Interestingly I had a know it all friend who wrote off his celica because he thought the low oil pressure light was a low oil level light and carried on driving for a week before the engine seized, though he had meant to get some oil he just "forgot"
It's a good point you make.Fine when you are young and fit. I could change any wheel once upon a time, but now wheels seem to be heavier and tyres wider, and I'm not sure I could lift a wheel onto the studs safely, let alone safely jack a car up.
Which is one of the reasons I have a comprehensive AA membership
I can manage the Punto, and the Panda is a piece of cake, but to change the wheels on my old beemer with 255x45 18's rears, I have to get help to lift it on to the hub!
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For those who cant physcially lift the larger tyres
Most Emergency jacks are adjustable
Just lower the car a height suitable for fitting the wheel on....
Ziggy
Most Emergency jacks are adjustable
Just lower the car a height suitable for fitting the wheel on....
Ziggy
And how, if you are weak, do you free the nuts with a simple wheelbrace when they have been fitted with a power brace in the workshop?
No, just call out the AA.
Which isn't to say we shouldn't all check our levels and tyres regularly, and understand what the warning lights mean, or at least look at the handbook when one comes on.
98% of daily mails are made up
My 07 Jag also comes with a ruddy front wheel off a moped
I used to write, design and produce technical manuals in a previous life; and two of my biggest gripes of all time are...
One of my design heroes will always be Margaret Calvert: a purveyor of very keen design skills and common sense.... :worship:
- Most people can't be *rsed to RTFM; and then blame someone else when something goes wrong, or they can't work out what something does (which, I admit, is no excuse for poor interface design: but responsibility does come with ownership...); and :bang:
- Some designers can't be bothered to design an interface, in the first place, that is intuitive -- and there is usually no consistency across brands/marques for commonly-used signs and symbols.
One of my design heroes will always be Margaret Calvert: a purveyor of very keen design skills and common sense.... :worship:
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There are many posts on this forum that could be answered by reading the handbook. Are there really that many used Fiats without them?
Sad that the Mail article twice mentions a warning lamp for a faulty catalytic converter, but fails to show it. Not sure I've seen that one on any car. Perhaps they mean the engine management light, which may mean one of many things. So the writer is included in the ones who do not read the book. Pot? Kettle?
Sad that the Mail article twice mentions a warning lamp for a faulty catalytic converter, but fails to show it. Not sure I've seen that one on any car. Perhaps they mean the engine management light, which may mean one of many things. So the writer is included in the ones who do not read the book. Pot? Kettle?
If they got rid of surplus warning lights it might help matters...or at least standardised them. The micra has a cold coolant light...whats the need?
Never seen a cat light either...my dads old Peugeot had a cat fault but it had a general caution light followed by a written message on the dash telling why the stop light was on.
Never seen a cat light either...my dads old Peugeot had a cat fault but it had a general caution light followed by a written message on the dash telling why the stop light was on.
One of the higher percentages (taking any DM article with a pinch of salt here) is the fog lights. The amount of people who "accidentally" drive with their rear fogs and sometimes front fogs on is quite amusing. I assume some use the front fogs, because they think it makes them look "cool", then are those on the older cars who drive in the dark with sidelights and front fogs on...
A friend of mine used to accidentally drive his skip of a Corsa with the rear fogs on as his knee used to knock the button (design fault?) and he didn't know what the fog light meant on the dash... Something I find really annoying - following a car and being dazzled.
If these people take so little due care and attention at the wheel then I hate to imagine the lack of effort they put into everything else.
A friend of mine used to accidentally drive his skip of a Corsa with the rear fogs on as his knee used to knock the button (design fault?) and he didn't know what the fog light meant on the dash... Something I find really annoying - following a car and being dazzled.
If these people take so little due care and attention at the wheel then I hate to imagine the lack of effort they put into everything else.
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OP
OP
Glad I wasn't the only one to be thinking this.
The Yaris is the same. Very handy IMO, enables you to see when engine is upto temp, and when you can wack the heat on full in the winter. I assume also it would tell you if running to cold due to a faulty thermostat also.
Glad I wasn't the only one to be thinking this.
The Yaris is the same. Very handy IMO, enables you to see when engine is upto temp, and when you can wack the heat on full in the winter. I assume also it would tell you if running to cold due to a faulty thermostat also.
Unless its the temperature sender that's faulty
tbf micra has climate control so it automatically leaves heater at lowest level then once coolant is up to temp turns it up so of very very limited practical use..then again its not like the temperature gauge in mine is of any use 99% of the time other than letting me see it takes 10 mins longer to warm all the way to normal in winter then not budging ever (and long may it continue not to do anything interesting).
OP
OP
Unless its the temperature sender that's faulty
I doubt many Micras have climate control though tbh.
Perhaps manufacturers could/should do away with this stupid, cluttered arrangement of warning, information & hard to read dials in favour of something more up to date?
Some months ago I mentioned, on here, about using an OBD plug with bluetooth coupled with a smartphone as a digital dash.
If all car companies did away with the old dash & simply used a large tablet, the driver could have as much or as little info on display as he/she wishes.
Any problems arise & the warning could simply be displayed along the bottom of the screen in written format.
This would surely solve a lot of problems?
For me, I could position the tablet so I could actually see all of the display (even with my steering wheel adjusted I still cannot see through the top of the steering wheel!). I could have it display a very large, green, indicator arrow (and maybe have sound as well) - the current ones are mostly hidden behind the steering wheel & the relay isn't audible.
I would be able to read my speed more accurately - my dash only displays 20, 40, 60, 80mph (with tiny marks in between), not really much use in a country where the main speeds seem to be 30, 50 and 70!
It would also mean that, instead of a general warning light (EML, for example), the display could give a more accurate indication of what is wrong.
Some months ago I mentioned, on here, about using an OBD plug with bluetooth coupled with a smartphone as a digital dash.
If all car companies did away with the old dash & simply used a large tablet, the driver could have as much or as little info on display as he/she wishes.
Any problems arise & the warning could simply be displayed along the bottom of the screen in written format.
This would surely solve a lot of problems?
For me, I could position the tablet so I could actually see all of the display (even with my steering wheel adjusted I still cannot see through the top of the steering wheel!). I could have it display a very large, green, indicator arrow (and maybe have sound as well) - the current ones are mostly hidden behind the steering wheel & the relay isn't audible.
I would be able to read my speed more accurately - my dash only displays 20, 40, 60, 80mph (with tiny marks in between), not really much use in a country where the main speeds seem to be 30, 50 and 70!
It would also mean that, instead of a general warning light (EML, for example), the display could give a more accurate indication of what is wrong.
