1) If you can't afford the power windows and/or power locks option on a new car, is buying a new car really a good financial decision for you?
I work at a full-service car wash right now, and many cars (primarily among the entry-level bracket) come in with manual windows and/or (less commonly) no power locks. Why? Why do people buy new cars without these options?
I can see the point if your going for sportiness and don't want the weight, but that is not a realistic concern when buying an Echo or a Caliber or a Cobalt or an Aveo etc.
Make you life simpler, get the power options.
If you can't afford those, buy a used car.
Look at it this way: a new car is automatically a money-losing investment. Most cars depreciate about 20-30% in their first year. If you have a 5-year payment plan, that means that after one year, you owe more on your car than it is worth.
If finances are so tight that you cannot afford the power options, why on earth are you buying new? For the warranty?
Buy a car that's a year or two old. It'll still be covered by warranty, and be considerably cheaper, allowing you to shop for a better class of vehicle than you otherwise would be able to get.
2) If you can't turn your vehicle around in a street/parking lot/driveway, either destroy your license or learn to drive.
Twice in the last two weeks I've seen pathetically bad attempts at turning around. One was by a kid in a friend's driveway (my friend's driveway, not the kids; we haven't the foggiest notion who the kid was, all we knew was that he was attending a part next door to the bonfire at my friend's place). It was so bad we left the bonfire to watch, cheer, jeer, and direct the hapless teen.
He got halfway around (it took him 18 shifts between forward and reverse), and started turning back the way he'd come in. We took pity on him after 6 more direction changes, and directed him. He then backed down the (rather long) driveway, and tried again near the street. It took him a long time.
All this to turn around so he could head North on the street instead of South. He could've turned into the driveway, backed out the other way, and been on his way. Instead, his attempt was so bad I very nearly pulled him out of his truck and did it for him. Unfortunately, I, like my friends, was laughing to hard.
Suffice to say most people could've made the turn-around in 3-4 direction changes, depending on where down the driveway we did it.
The second was just tonight, in a parking lot at the university. This brainiac was attempting to turn around using the following process:
- turn steering wheel quarter-turn to right
- back up 3 feet
- turn steering wheel quarter-turn to left
- drive forward 3 feet
- repeat.
I directed him at one point, informing him that he a) could turn the wheel more than just a quarter-turn, and b) could move more than 3 feet (about 10 feet, actually) in either direction.
He listened when I cajolled him, but after telling him thse (seemingly obvious) pointers, I figured he would be fine and went back to my car (which I'd just parked) to get my laptop. As soon as I left, he was back to his inital procedure.
I noticed this, and started laughing. Loudly.
His friend, in the passenger seat, understood well the source of my mirth. Said friend also took over coaching this guy's attempt at turning around.
Look: If you don't know how to turn around in a space 10 feet wider than your vehicle is long, you need to practice your driving.
3) Why are so many people do not know how to:
a) check their vehicle's fluid levels and add fluid if necessary?
b) open their hood? (seriously)
c) open their hatch? (seriously)
d) install wiper blades?
e) check tire pressure and add air if necessary?
f) change a wheel?
e) operate a turn signal properly? (i.e. before you turn, not while you turn)
g) change bulbs?
h) put gas in their car? (seriously; and obviously this one does not apply to areas where pumping your own gas is illegal)
i) control speed using the throttle instead of the brake?
j) perform a safe emergency stop?
k) understand when/why their vehicle is skidding, and how to correct it?
And why aren't these things a mandatory part of basic driver education and testing?
This ends my thoughts for the day. I'd appreciate yours.
__________________ The preceding post brought to you by Rabid Monk (TM). Rabid Monk: informative, irreverent, interesting, random and downright odd posts, done with pride since 1983.
I personally like having all manual stuff, or at least a manual option. Sucks when you can't close your windows because of a fuse, flat battery or system malfunction.
I find it shocking that there are actually people who don't know how to drive stick or operate a motorcycle.
__________________
Does it sound logical that I would talk about the mother of a big white guy with a gun?
1. I had a rag-top miata for several years. I didn't need power locks.
I never left anything of value in it and never locked it. Doing so would only tempt a thief to cut through the roof. Once a thief emptied my car of all my spare change... but no other damage or loss occured. 3 other cars were hit that night.
I am, however, a big fan of AC and cruise control.
2. Meh. ok.
3. Some people are really old or otherwise addled, Many simply have no confidence to try that stuff. Some are just afraid to get their hands dirty and can always ask me to do it for them.
__________________ When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
NOTE: All of the people driving on that show have valid licenses.
__________________ In Flanders fields the poppies grow - Between the crosses, row on row, - That mark our place, and in the sky, - The larks, still bravely singing, fly, - Scarce heard amid the guns below. ~John McCrae
Why? Why do people buy new cars without these options?\2) If you can't turn your vehicle around in a street/parking lot/driveway, either destroy your license or learn to drive.
If your car is submerged, you have a better chance of getting out alive if you have a hand crank with which to roll down the window.
Quote:
Suffice to say most people could've made the turn-around in 3-4 direction changes, depending on where down the driveway we did it.
My old car once broke in an odd manner that made it almost impossible to turn the steering wheel in either direction. I had some difficulty getting out of the parking lot and to the nearest auto dealership for repair.
3) Why are so many people do not know how to:[/b]
a) check their vehicle's fluid levels and add fluid if necessary?
[/quote]
I replaced my car last winter and take it in regularly to have the fluid levels checked. At home, I try to check the tractor's oil level, etc. but find it difficult to read. Yes, I wear trifocials.
Quote:
b) open their hood? (seriously)
As stated earlier, I replaced the car last winter and everything is in a differrent place. The GAS GAUGE is on the wrong side.
Quote:
c) open their hatch? (seriously)
d) install wiper blades?
Opening the hatch is easy. Installing the wiper blades is as easy as threading a needle... which I cannot do easily anymore. Note trifocials above.
Quote:
e) check tire pressure and add air if necessary?
There's a guage on the instrument panel for this.
Quote:
f) change a wheel?
The nuts are so tight [get your mind out of the gutter!] that I cannot loosen them.
Quote:
e) operate a turn signal properly? (i.e. before you turn, not while you turn)
This one is not a problem. Turning it OFF when it doesn't turn off automatically is a problem. No, I cannot hear it. I turn it off when I notice it didn't turn off automatically.
Quote:
g) change bulbs?
It requires a special screwdriver and I don't have that type of screwdriver. Yes, I bought one. It fit the last car. Doesn't fit this one.
Quote:
h) put gas in their car? (seriously; and obviously this one does not apply to areas where pumping your own gas is illegal)
I've no trouble with this... as long as I remember that the gas tank is now on the wrong side of the car. For thirty some years, I've been pulling into the gas station in ONE direction. Now I have to change.
Quote:
i) control speed using the throttle instead of the brake?
j) perform a safe emergency stop?
k) understand when/why their vehicle is skidding, and how to correct it?
No problems with any of the above and I have ABS, which requires the exact OPPOSITE response of the one I learned decades ago. I've finally adjusted.
Quote:
And why aren't these things a mandatory part of basic driver education and testing?
High schools no longer offer drivers training the way they did when I was in school. When my children were in school, it was about $600 extra for drivers training. My daughter took drivers training via correspondence school. I kid you not.
I find it shocking that there are actually people who don't know how to drive stick or operate a motorcycle.
My first car was a manual transmission car. My husband drives a stick shift and I can't even start the car, let alone back it out of the garage.
It's a matter of "use it or lose it". I've not had an opportunity to refresh my memory of how to drive a manual transmission anything and my husband keeps putting off his promise to show me how to operate his car.
[Actually, I sometimes suspect that the reason he insists upon a manual transmission car is so we always drive MY car long distances rather than his. After all, I cannot drive his car. I think he also enjoys teasing me about being unable to drive a manual transmission car and if he gives me an opportunity to learn, then he can't tease me about it anymore. Spending a few hundred dollars for a drivers training class to learn how to drive a manual transmission car is NOT worth it at this point in time. If the house catches fire and his car is destroyed because I cannot back it out of the garage, then maybe he will consider gettinig around to taking me for that test drive he promised over a decade ago.]
1. I had a rag-top miata for several years. I didn't need power locks.
I never left anything of value in it and never locked it. Doing so would only tempt a thief to cut through the roof. Once a thief emptied my car of all my spare change... but no other damage or loss occured. 3 other cars were hit that night.
I am, however, a big fan of AC and cruise control.
Miata, huh?
Interesting you would mention that.
It's a sports car. I can fully understand manual windows, if for no other reason that that they save weight. But on a daily-driver family car, I think it's better to go for power windows.
btw: '94-'97 Miata, blue w/ hardtop is my dream car.
Seriously. To said car, I would:
add 4 wheel drive (there's an old AWD van that has the same wheelbase), lower the suspension (the AWD conversion raises the car)
stiffen the frame (good-bye 85 mph shimmy)
improve the engine (lighter guts, higher compression, better airflow)
supercharge the engine (less top end power, but no turbo lag)
mount the spare tire under the trunk, instead of in it (easy task)
get fat tires
Quote:
Originally Posted by foibles
<2 snipped>
3. Some people are really old or otherwise addled, Many simply have no confidence to try that stuff. Some are just afraid to get their hands dirty and can always ask me to do it for them.
Trying it is one thing. At the very least, they should know how it is done. Most of that stuff is very basic, and could easily come in handy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
If your car is submerged, you have a better chance of getting out alive if you have a hand crank with which to roll down the window.
I'll concede that point.
But I would rather have power windows and take that chance (I figure I'm less likely to wind up in that scenario than I am to want the rear or passenger side window rolled down while driving alone).
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
My old car once broke in an odd manner that made it almost impossible to turn the steering wheel in either direction. I had some difficulty getting out of the parking lot and to the nearest auto dealership for repair.
That sounds like the steering pump. I've had that.
But assuming it's working (as it was in the two cases I related), there's no excuse for being unable to turn around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
I replaced my car last winter and take it in regularly to have the fluid levels checked. At home, I try to check the tractor's oil level, etc. but find it difficult to read. Yes, I wear trifocials.
As stated earlier, I replaced the car last winter and everything is in a differrent place. The GAS GAUGE is on the wrong side.
Opening the hatch is easy. Installing the wiper blades is as easy as threading a needle... which I cannot do easily anymore. Note trifocials above.
To everything above:
You know how to do it. Even if you aren't used to the car et, the process is not a mystery to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
There's a gauge on the instrument panel for this.
Fancy car (actually, we get lots of vehicle with that feature coming through the wash. A startling number of hich either have the "check tire pressure" warning up and ignored, or else are in need of servicing. I hope they're more reliable than they seem).
But I'm referring to the people incapable of using a tire pressure gauge.
And to a lesser extent, those who dont have one in their car and who don't check their pressure regularly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
The nuts are so tight [get your mind out of the gutter!] that I cannot loosen them.
Use a Jimmy bar (CAREFULLY!! You don't want to snap the bolts).
Who put them on last?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
This one is not a problem. Turning it OFF when it doesn't turn off automatically is a problem. No, I cannot hear it. I turn it off when I notice it didn't turn off automatically.
I've had the same problem.
I've taken to approaching it the same way I did on my motorcycle (most bikes don't shut off signalls automatically). Which means, I check it after turning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindajdunn
It requires a special screwdriver and I don't have that type of screwdriver. Yes, I bought one. It fit the last car. Doesn't fit this one.
I've no trouble with this... as long as I remember that the gas tank is now on the wrong side of the car. For thirty some years, I've been pulling into the gas station in ONE direction. Now I have to change.
No problems with any of the above and I have ABS, which requires the exact OPPOSITE response of the one I learned decades ago. I've finally adjusted.
Again, you know how to do these things, you just aren't used to the car yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by migopod
I find it shocking that there are actually people who don't know how to drive stick or operate a motorcycle.
I dunno if it's shocking.
Most cars in North America are automatic. Many people never ever drive a stick, and thus have no need to learn. Although I agree it is useful.
All the cars I've owned have been automatic (and they've all had the shifter on the tree). But I still know stick, even if I don't drive it regularly (unless you count moving a manual 10 feet in the car wash as driving).
regarding motorcycles, most people (in Canada, at least), never ride a bike.
Even if they do know stick, the locations of the clutch, throttle, brakes and shifter can confuse them.
I miss mine. Had to sell it for work on the car.
__________________ The preceding post brought to you by Rabid Monk (TM). Rabid Monk: informative, irreverent, interesting, random and downright odd posts, done with pride since 1983.
btw: '94-'97 Miata, blue w/ hardtop is my dream car.
Seriously. To said car, I would:
add 4 wheel drive (there's an old AWD van that has the same wheelbase), lower the suspension (the AWD conversion raises the car)
stiffen the frame (good-bye 85 mph shimmy)
improve the engine (lighter guts, higher compression, better airflow)
supercharge the engine (less top end power, but no turbo lag)
mount the spare tire under the trunk, instead of in it (easy task)
get fat tires
Yes on absolutely everything you said.
__________________ When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
e) operate a turn signal properly? (i.e. before you turn, not while you turn)
i) control speed using the throttle instead of the brake?
QFMFT. I think the people who know how to do the above comprise a tiny minority of drivers on the road. Argh!
On the topic of driving manual, it was such a production for me when I wanted to learn. Lots of people know how to drive stick but apparently almost no one owns one, and definitely no one rents them. In the US, that is -- I read that whereas in the US, manual transmissions are in < 15% of the private cars on the road, in Europe these statistics of auto vs manual are reversed.
The nuts are so tight [get your mind out of the gutter!] that I cannot loosen them.
O.o When you read this, go find a torque wrench and check the ft lbs of torque on those nuts. If it's over, what? 100 ftlbs? too tight :/ (There should be an actual rating for your rims, but I don't know where to find that... unless it's in the manual...)
__________________ In Flanders fields the poppies grow - Between the crosses, row on row, - That mark our place, and in the sky, - The larks, still bravely singing, fly, - Scarce heard amid the guns below. ~John McCrae
O.o When you read this, go find a torque wrench and check the ft lbs of torque on those nuts. If it's over, what? 100 ftlbs? too tight :/ (There should be an actual rating for your rims, but I don't know where to find that... unless it's in the manual...)
Also
Quote:
Use a Jimmy bar (CAREFULLY!! You don't want to snap the bolts).
Who put them on last?
The dealership.
My father taught my older sisters how to change the tire and required they rotate the tires once because "Everyone should know how to do these things."
There's an eight-year gap betwen my middle sister and me and when it was my turn, Father said that HE couldn't get the tires off and if he couldn't, I couldn't.
I have the tires rotated regularly and carry a can of FixAFlat with me.
e) operate a turn signal properly? (i.e. before you turn, not while you turn)
They learned to drive in Boston where using the turn signal is simply letting the enemy know your next move.
__________________
Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. ~ Albert Einstein
I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. ~ Rita Rudner
btw: '94-'97 Miata, blue w/ hardtop is my dream car.
Seriously. To said car, I would:
add 4 wheel drive (there's an old AWD van that has the same wheelbase), lower the suspension (the AWD conversion raises the car)
stiffen the frame (good-bye 85 mph shimmy)
improve the engine (lighter guts, higher compression, better airflow)
supercharge the engine (less top end power, but no turbo lag)
mount the spare tire under the trunk, instead of in it (easy task)
get fat tires
Why the AWD? Personally I liked the front rear set up on the miata. I drove one for a few weeks (Family owns a car lot, so I just had to try it when we got one)
I say 1 inch lower on sport suspension with sway bars etc to stiffen frame, intake/exhaust, wheels & tires, Roll Bar (because I consider it required on these things) rebuild engine, twin turbo or supercharger.
but really as much as I liked the 1st body style 89-97 (I think) I liked the 2nd style even more 98-2004-5?
Anyway, back on topic.
I think people are too lazy or too stupid to be bothered to learn, and that's why they can't do anything with cars.
In august we had 3 customers trash the engines in their cars because they overheated and they decide that it wouldn't hurt for them to continue home. We're talking melted metal bits inside the block, head bolts melted, etc.
The worst part is 2 of the 3 claimed to be mechanics, and the 3rd was the wife of a mechanic.
I also yesterday had a lady whose car wouldn't start. She called me holding the phone by the hood and had her son crank it, so I could listen and tell them what was wrong with it...
We've had people get stranded an hour away and when we get down there with the truck to tow it back it's out of gas, people run them without oil, people get a flat and drive 20 miles on the rim so we could change it for them.
My brother got in a wreck where a lady merged into his lane (really into the side of his truck) and then proceeded to cuss him out for not getting out of her way because he "Was supposed to move over and let her in."
Also a lady who transferred her plates to a new car, and somehow lost both copies of the temp registration that lets her do so.
She got pulled over and the tags ran as belonging on a different car, so it was impounded and the tags were sent off to be destroyed.
She expected me to get our copy of the form, go to the DMV, buy her new plates, drive 45 minutes to where the car was, show the form to the cops to get her ticket erased, pay to get her car out of impound, pick her up from her house, and drive her back to the police to get her car.
All on a saturday where I was the only one working at the dealership, so I'd have to shut down to do it.
It's this sense of entitlement that seems to be so common now, the idea that they deserve to get what they want without doing anything for it, and everybody else is supposed to do what ever is needed to get it for them.
BTW, we repossessed the car after she got 6 months behind (she hid it by keeping it at a friends and telling us she was living in another state)
And she threatened to sue us for taking her car, and stealing all the stuff in it. (We boxed the stuff up for her to get, but after she didn't come to get it for 4 months, we tossed it in the trash)
Really think it should be required that you learn to check fluids, change tires, refuel, etc. Before you can get a license. I wouldn't mind a requirement of learning stick.
The nuts are so tight [get your mind out of the gutter!] that I cannot loosen them.
Possibly accidently tightening the nuts instead of loosening?
Some cars have reverse threads on the lug bolts. If that's the case with your car, the lug bolts will be stamped with an "L." Turn the nuts in the opposite direction for reverse threads.
__________________ When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
I personally like having all manual stuff, or at least a manual option. Sucks when you can't close your windows because of a fuse, flat battery or system malfunction.
I find it shocking that there are actually people who don't know how to drive stick or operate a motorcycle.
I've been driving for 10 years in the UK and the first time I ever drove an automatic, let alone in the US, was when I picked up the keys to some kind of chevrolet at Reagan airport. I literally didn't know when to put in drive, 1 or 2.
But that was nothing compared to driving from DC to Charlottesville in rush hour...on the wrong side of road!
__________________
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots"
I could make similar complaints about computers. The bottom line is that we've become used to things working. We never wonder if the electricity will be working when we wake up in the morning (unless there was a storm overnight) and we expect the car to start, the computer to boot up and connect to the internet, etc.
We also expect the sun to rise every morning and set every night. [And yes, I know that it's the Earth rotating, not the sun.]
Yesterday, a woman called my daughter's COFFEE SHOP and asked if they had wireless. Thinking this was a potential customer, she replied "yes." The woman then proceeded to explain a CELL PHONE problem she was having, which she thought was related to her neighbors not keeping their WIRELESS inside their house (because their kids said they could connect to the neighbors' wireless if they were outside). Since her cell phone didn't work in her garage....
I kid you not... the caller looked up a number for a coffee shop and called to ask for tech support. My daughter suggested she call her ISP but she said that she'd called Comcast and they didn't understand what she was talking about.
I've been driving for 10 years in the UK and the first time I ever drove an automatic, let alone in the US, was when I picked up the keys to some kind of chevrolet at Reagan airport. I literally didn't know when to put in drive, 1 or 2.
But that was nothing compared to driving from DC to Charlottesville in rush hour...on the wrong side of road!
I presume you mean that you were on the correct side of the road it just didn't feel like it? It is much easier to drive on the US/European side of the road in a left hand drive car than it is in a right hand side car.
I presume somebody eventually explained that you only ever need to be in Drive? Did you try left foot breaking in it?
Most people in the UK learn to drive on a manual gear box car and then are allowed to driver either (if you take your test in an automatic, you only get a license to drive automatics). Given the difference in driving an automatic I am surprised you are allowed to just get in one and drive away.
__________________ I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
I've been driving for 10 years in the UK and the first time I ever drove an automatic, let alone in the US, was when I picked up the keys to some kind of chevrolet at Reagan airport. I literally didn't know when to put in drive, 1 or 2.
But that was nothing compared to driving from DC to Charlottesville in rush hour...on the wrong side of road!
When I was learning to drive I practiced extensively on a manual before taking the official drivers' education class where they only had automatics. I went for the clutch and floored the brake at about 35mph with the instructor and two other students in the car.
Good times.... Good times....
__________________
Does it sound logical that I would talk about the mother of a big white guy with a gun?
I presume you mean that you were on the correct side of the road it just didn't feel like it? It is much easier to drive on the US/European side of the road in a left hand drive car than it is in a right hand side car.
I presume somebody eventually explained that you only ever need to be in Drive? Did you try left foot breaking in it?
Most people in the UK learn to drive on a manual gear box car and then are allowed to driver either (if you take your test in an automatic, you only get a license to drive automatics). Given the difference in driving an automatic I am surprised you are allowed to just get in one and drive away.
Yes, I think they would still be scrapping me off Interstate 95 had I actually been on the wrong side of the road!
My general observations of driving in the US
1) people drive more slowly than in the UK
2) they drive much bigger cars but can't park or turn them around
3) drivers are on the whole more considerate but less patient than in Europe.
4) you don't seem to like roundabouts
5) I wish that we could turn right (or left in our case) on a red light.
It was left hand drive and I lost count of the times I tried to get in the wrong side of the car. I didn't really know what to do with my left foot.
Nobody explained anything (gears, lights, indicators, how to pop the bonnet or petrol cap), but yes I figured out drive was best except for hill starts. I'll be honest and say it was a few laps around the carpark and airport before I figured this out. I'm amazed they let me out of the place- but when I had initially asked for a manual I might have well been asking for keys to the manager's own car with his wife in the passenger seat.
In the UK, those with only an automatic license are ridiculed as either severely dyspraxic or in some other way malcoordinated.
__________________
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots"
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