What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[ZaphodB]

auto wipers. I think they are a good safery feature and would love a retro kit for the Panda if there were one.

If the model had several different spec/trim levels, they often just nobble features with software on the lesser models,...

So if a car has rain sensing wipers on the more expensive variant, it's just nobbled (ignored/disabled via software) , but the hardware is still present...

My previous car had rain sensing wipers as an option package when buying the car, and as I'd already spent a grand extra for DCT gearbox option I'd run out of money lol

A couple of years later and I discovered some free russian software (a little like MES) .... you just needed to buy the auto wipers stalk , enable it via the software , et voila you had rain sensing wipers!!

Serial production means its cheaper to order 10,000 windscreens with the rain sensor fitted, rather than 5000 with and 5000 without, with all the hassle of stock management that comes with 2 SKU's rather than just one.

I did the same with auto lights (which was in the same option package), just bought the auto lights stallk and turned on the feature in the software.

Then you will only have yourself to blame for forgetting the lights one night. Relax and trust it its one system Ive always found works.

There'll be a warning buzzer (when you remove the key) on the non auto setting most probably , if not it's easily added.

 

[The Panda Nut]

If the model had several different spec/trim levels, they often just nobble features with software on the lesser models,...

So if a car has rain sensing wipers on the more expensive variant, it's just nobbled (ignored/disabled via software) , but the hardware is still present...

My previous car had rain sensing wipers as an option package when buying the car, and as I'd already spent a grand extra for DCT gearbox option I'd run out of money lol

A couple of years later and I discovered some free russian software (a little like MES) .... you just needed to buy the auto wipers stalk , enable it via the software , et voila you had rain sensing wipers!!

Serial production means its cheaper to order 10,000 windscreens with the rain sensor fitted, rather than 5000 with and 5000 without, with all the hassle of stock management that comes with 2 SKU's rather than just one.

I did the same with auto lights (which was in the same option package), just bought the auto lights stallk and turned on the feature in the software.



There'll be a warning buzzer (when you remove the key) on the non auto setting most probably , if not it's easily added.

Cruise control is just a case of addin the stalk on some VAG cars not even software needed. Our Seat Leon was case in point.

 

[ZaphodB]

Wait they make cars without Aircon? I've not owned a car without Climate control for a decade..so I'd forgotten people do without.

Cruise control is just a case of addin the stalk on some VAG cars not even software needed. Our Seat Leon was case in point.

Talking about Seat , I had a client yesterday who turned up in a Seat something or other..... he had to put the key in the door to unlock

 

[StevenRB45]

One of my mates went through a big puddle on a back road. The water and mud thrown onto the screen meant he could ot seeand by the time he got the wipers on he was off the road with a very bad result.

Ive had times when water thrown over the central reservation barrier by HGV's would ahve been very scarey indeed without auto wipers. I think they are a good safery feature and would love a retro kit for the Panda if there were one.

Auto wipers really depends on the implementation as to if they are worth having.

The Mazda ones you could leave on auto for months, the Citroën ones need to be turned on when you start the car each time. Both have advantages and disadvantages, the Mazda way is good...until they are frozen on the window one morning and you reach in at 6am to fire the car up to defrost and forget to knock the stalk off. The Citroën way avoids that but unless you activate them every time you start the car...is no good for surprise incidents.

That and both ways have a very erratic intermittent function and are just plain a menace if something gets on the window that smears as they just immediately go to max speed...and so max smearing. Same applies if the blades are a bit marginal.

Toyota despite auto lights and high beam has manual wipers...and being able to just set an appropriate intermittent speed is underrated after years of a computer taking a stab at it and usually guessing wrong.

 

[ZaphodB]

Auto wipers really depends on the implementation as to if they are worth having.

I seem to remember when I went in to simply flip the enable button in the software, there were dozens (and I'm not exaggerating) of preset (but adjustable) value parameters related to the rain sensing ... I thought whoah.. I'm not adjusting any of those ! lol
Just enabled them and they were great

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Talking about Seat , I had a client yesterday who turned up in a Seat something or other..... he had to put the key in the door to unlock

Mrs j is the main driver of Becky, our 2010 Panda. She always uses the remote key fob to unlock the doors. I, pretty much always, use the key in both the driver's door and in the boot lid for unlocking. When we bought her the locks were just about unusable - partially seized due to lack of use, especially the boot lock - occasional squirts of silicon oil and me using the key in them keeps them nice and free. Occasionally the boot lock will fail to release with the remote but does work with the key and after opening with the key will then work with the remote again for quite some time. I guess the solenoid which the remote activates is less powerful than me twisting the key? Been like this for several years and doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I probably should take the inside trim off and see if the mechanism would benefit from some lubricant?

The Scala, when you first look at it, seems to have no provision for using the key to unlock the doors. However the passenger door has a, not very obvious, cover which can be levered off with the key blade thus exposing a key slot. Why the passenger side door? I presume because many more will be made left hand drive so It's not worth them making a special door handle just for RHD production vehicles?

 

[ZaphodB]

However the passenger door has a, not very obvious, cover which can be levered off with the key blade thus exposing a key slot. Why the passenger side door? I presume because many more will be made left hand drive so It's not worth them making a special door handle just for RHD production vehicles?

A whole lot of LHD designed cars have that, and it is simply that, there's little reason (or need for the expense) to make a special RHD version of the door lock , leave the mergency one of the side it was designed on and make those RHD owners suck it up.

(My smart had one there under a little flap too)

 

[StevenRB45]

Mrs j is the main driver of Becky, our 2010 Panda. She always uses the remote key fob to unlock the doors. I, pretty much always, use the key in both the driver's door and in the boot lid for unlocking. When we bought her the locks were just about unusable - partially seized due to lack of use, especially the boot lock - occasional squirts of silicon oil and me using the key in them keeps them nice and free. Occasionally the boot lock will fail to release with the remote but does work with the key and after opening with the key will then work with the remote again for quite some time. I guess the solenoid which the remote activates is less powerful than me twisting the key? Been like this for several years and doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I probably should take the inside trim off and see if the mechanism would benefit from some lubricant?

The Scala, when you first look at it, seems to have no provision for using the key to unlock the doors. However the passenger door has a, not very obvious, cover which can be levered off with the key blade thus exposing a key slot. Why the passenger side door? I presume because many more will be made left hand drive so It's not worth them making a special door handle just for RHD production vehicles?

Out of interest is the bonnet release in the passenger side footwell and only operable with the door open?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Out of interest is the bonnet release in the passenger side footwell and only operable with the door open?

Hmm? Yes the release is on the passenger side just in front of the door in the footwell. Couldn't say if it only works with the door open as I've always got the door open when operating it. Why?

 

[StevenRB45]

Hmm? Yes the release is on the passenger side just in front of the door in the footwell. Couldn't say if it only works with the door open as I've always got the door open when operating it. Why?

I believe it's one of a myriad of safety rules...the door must block operation of the bonnet handle when shut.

The reason I ask is my employer had much consternation with the Ford Focus a few years ago where they moved to the key barrel to the drivers side for UK cars but left the handle passenger side.

Those with a flat battery are usually not best pleased when someone turns up to fix it and starts by pulling bits of the interior out so they can release the bonnet.

 

[ZaphodB]

The Scala, when you first look at it, seems to have no provision for using the key to unlock the doors. However the passenger door has a, not very obvious, cover which can be levered off with the key blade thus exposing a key slot. Why the passenger side door? I presume because many more will be made left hand drive so It's not worth them making a special door handle just for RHD production vehicles?

Cabin fuse boxes are also often LHD derived too, manufacturers are like "why bother swapping the fuse block over to acommodate those pesky RHD people".... "leave it where it is ... but move the glove box over obviously and make the fuse block difficult to access for them

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I believe it's one of a myriad of safety rules...the door must block operation of the bonnet handle when shut.

The reason I ask is my employer had much consternation with the Ford Focus a few years ago where they moved to the key barrel to the drivers side for UK cars but left the handle passenger side.

Those with a flat battery are usually not best pleased when someone turns up to fix it and starts by pulling bits of the interior out so they can release the bonnet.

Well that was interesting. I just went out and tried Becky (2010 eco dynamic 1,2 Panda 169 model) Unlocked the driver's door, got in and closed the driver's door, leant across, pulled the release and the bonnet popped.

Tried exactly the same thing with the Scala, but the way the door card is molded round the speaker blocks the release lever so it's manually blocked.

Well, that is interesting. I'll not be happy until I've had a look at all the other vehicles in the "family fleet". Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[StevenRB45]

Well that was interesting. I just went out and tried Becky (2010 eco dynamic 1,2 Panda 169 model) Unlocked the driver's door, got in and closed the driver's door, leant across, pulled the release and the bonnet popped.

Tried exactly the same thing with the Scala, but the way the door card is molded round the speaker blocks the release lever so it's manually blocked.

Well, that is interesting. I'll not be happy until I've had a look at all the other vehicles in the "family fleet". Thanks for pointing this out.

Think it's about a 2016-7 crossover, oddly enough me and Andy discussed it a while ago. The Citroën has the new style with the bonnet in the door jamb on a 2017 plate. As does Andy's wife's Mini countryman, however the 2016 Toyota and Andys golf (which is either 15 or 16) have the traditional handle under the steering wheel.

This is all useless information...but this is what rattles around my head replacing birthdays and things my wife has asked me to do..

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Think it's about a 2016-7 crossover, oddly enough me and Andy discussed it a while ago. The Citroën has the new style with the bonnet in the door jamb on a 2017 plate. As does Andy's wife's Mini countryman, however the 2016 Toyota and Andys golf (which is either 15 or 16) have the traditional handle under the steering wheel.

This is all useless information...but this is what rattles around my head replacing birthdays and things my wife has asked me to do..

Golf is like jocks scala the bonnet release is in the footwell and the handle blocked when the door is closed

Mini is the same. I don’t actually remember the last car that I owned that had the release under the steering column, the mk2 Punto had it sort of under the dash but more towards the steering column than being near the door.

I seem to recall the Punto Evo had the handle up next to the door but you could still open the bonnet with the doors closed

 

[StevenRB45]

When I say under the wheel... imagine general vicinity rather than the massive orange handle on the column old Ford spec.

Both the Mazda and Toyota have it drivers side...but they are both right hand drive native designs so no idea if it's in the passenger side on a left hooker.

I know the Mazda there was much consternation in left hand drive markets about the cabin filter being an absolute mission it was a nice change...

 

[The Panda Nut]

Talking about Seat , I had a client yesterday who turned up in a Seat something or other..... he had to put the key in the door to unlock

It must have been broken. Ours had central locking and it was a 2002 base model. Anything newer or better would be equipped. Having said that its Central locking failed around 17 year old due to faulty lock micro switches. Maybe that had too and they had trouble as I did trying ebay locks. The master door lock for RHD could not be sourced on the net and had to come from Seat. Once fitted it was restored, It too weeks to sort it though.

 

[porta]

Well just got back from RoI, what a difference…their roads are smooth, very little litter, everyone is friendly, it’s generally cheaper, the stocks and ranges of food are better than here, tractors and hub/buses pull over to let you pass, even well used services are clean…as soon as we got off the ferry in Holyhead, first thing we hit is a bloody great pothole, I say pothole but it was almost a chasm
It is nice to be home though!
On a Fiat and other related motoring news from across the Irish Sea, as of old, they get more colours and spec than we do. The new Panda (first I’ve seen) isn’t that bad, like a derivative of the Jeep avenger more than the PSA stuff. It’s NOT a real panda, too big. As for other cars, I’ve seen Nissans, Toyotas and others that we simply don’t get, Kia/Hyundai are everywhere and that new little Kia thing isn’t quite as good as first impressions…wehn you walk round it it got elements of Ignis, juke, micra and a few others that don’t gel as a whole, it also has very limited rear space for passengers and luggage. If I need to replace the newest panda I really don’t know what I’d go for

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Well just got back from RoI, what a difference…their roads are smooth, very little litter, everyone is friendly, it’s generally cheaper, the stocks and ranges of food are better than here, tractors and hub/buses pull over to let you pass, even well used services are clean…as soon as we got off the ferry in Holyhead, first thing we hit is a bloody great pothole, I say pothole but it was almost a chasm
It is nice to be home though!
On a Fiat and other related motoring news from across the Irish Sea, as of old, they get more colours and spec than we do. The new Panda (first I’ve seen) isn’t that bad, like a derivative of the Jeep avenger more than the PSA stuff. It’s NOT a real panda, too big. As for other cars, I’ve seen Nissans, Toyotas and others that we simply don’t get, Kia/Hyundai are everywhere and that new little Kia thing isn’t quite as good as first impressions…wehn you walk round it it got elements of Ignis, juke, micra and a few others that don’t gel as a whole, it also has very limited rear space for passengers and luggage. If I need to replace the newest panda I really don’t know what I’d go for

Don't know about the small KIA - which model is that? The Dacia Spring interested me for a while but I think it sacrifices too much to reach it's very low price point. The Hyundai Inster looks interesting if I were to be looking for an all electric runabout (which I'm not) but is spoiled by the look of the front, which I think looks "weird". I was very keen on the Ignis for a while but have found out a few things about it I don't like - for instance it's got individual "in wheel" tyre pressure sensors. Kia? Still don't see anything which I would buy in preference to another Panda! I must admit I've been VERY impressed by my older boy's RIO 1.4 diesel. It's just about to go out of it's 7 year warranty and has been "depressingly" reliable. The local agent keeps messaging him reminding him how old it now is and wouldn't he like a deal on a new one? Unfortunately a neighbour has a less than 6 month old Kia massive SUV type thing which has been suffering ongoing intermittent electronic problems - with it's dashboard tech especially. He's not a "happy Bunny" as it's seems to be spending more time in the garage than outside his house! So my boy has decided he's just going to run the Rio until something too expensive to be worth repairing goes wrong with it.

 

[porta]

Inster, that’s it…it’s a mash up of all sorts but looks disjointed wehn you walk round it