Driving standards

[Kickstart]

Hi

 

Had a hire car a few weeks ago with the 3 flash indicators. Hated them. Too short most of the time and way too long when you don't want to indicate anymore. And all that to just save me from having to either gently hold the switch or switch them properly on

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Guest]

Don't mind the three flash thing, but I can't abide indicator stalks that don't move. I like a stalk that stays up or down so you know what the indicators are doing.

[Baby Deltic]

No it damn well is not, and how dare you presume that it is something I will come to like. i have driven thousands of miles in rental cars with this feature and every mile I drive with the things I detest them even more. As mentioned before it prevents me doing the left/right/left thank you, but worse than that it forces me to make erroneous signals - often is the case when I am about to overtake something on the motorway, but they then suddenly decide to pull out also just at the very moment I hit the indicators thus causing me to abort the overtake, Can I cancel it? no I can't. I have to do three flashes for a maneuver that I am no longer going to carry out whether I like it or not. My attempts to cancel it just resulted in three left flashes following the three right, possibly followed by another three right flashes as I tried to cancel the subsequent three left... 

 

I just had to live with it and telepathically apologise for the disco impression the car was doing...

 

The only use is for the crap blink and you would miss it one flash drivers - and as I find it easy to give an appropriate signal like any half decent driver can - including three flashes if required, then not only is it of no use to me whatsoever, it is a hindrance!!

It sounds like the indicator switch on you car is a tad sensitive so if you flick it a bit too hard it goes over centre and triggers the other indicators.

[Baby Deltic]

My favouritetrick used to be flicking up the cruise control stem thinking it was the indicator one above and not signalling at. Took a little while to get used to that being there.

[jjb1970]

If there was a market for tech free cars just like in the olden days then a manufacturer would fill that void. Dacia come close with their entry level models. The market would indicate that most buyers do like modern cars and car tech. And in the case of engines, despite what people might wish for, there is no way a manufacturer could meet emissions requirements and achieve competitive performance and economy without using electronic engine management and all the trickery of modern engines.

[newbryford]

No it damn well is not, and how dare you presume that it is something I will come to like.

 

 

I'll alter my post

 

It's what you get I've got used to (and come to like)

 

Is that better?

Edited January 2, 2017 by newbryford

[jjb1970]

There has never been an era of low tech cars. From the begining the automobile industry has been one of the principal engines of innovation and technology development. If Ford had been in a position to fit ABS, traction & stability control, air bags, infotainment systems, park assist etc to 1970's Cortinas they'd have done so. They used the technology of the time.

[Kickstart]

Hi

 

There is a difference between hi tech cars, and cars with technology that makes the car worse in day to day use to many buyers.

 

There are plenty of things I do like. For example a half decent 4wd system. ABS brakes I am quite happy with (even it technically it is possible to out brake it, in the real world when ABS is needed there is no chance I will manage it). Quite happy with fuel injection systems.

 

But these are very different to things that do things I am quite capable of doing myself, and doing a better job of. 3 flash indicators. Auto windscreen wipers. Self dimming rear view mirrors.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Titan]

It sounds like the indicator switch on you car is a tad sensitive so if you flick it a bit too hard it goes over centre and triggers the other indicators.

 

It was worse than that - it was a sprung to centre type. If you wanted more than three flashes you had to hold the stalk against the spring otherwise it would return to centre and stop. If you forgot it was like that and tried to cancel by moving the stalk one click like you would in a normal car, you got three flashes in the opposite direction, since the stalk had already sprung back to the centre position, which again you could not stop!!! 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Titan

[kevinlms]

It was worse than that - it was a sprung to centre type. If you wanted more than three flashes you had to hold the stalk against the spring otherwise it would return to centre and stop. If you forgot it was like that and tried to cancel by moving the stalk one click like you would in a normal car, you got three flashes in the opposite direction, since the stalk had already sprung back to the centre position, which again you could not stop!!! 

How horrible!

[Horsetan]

I remember when Citroën insisted on fitting non-self-cancelling indicator switches to their cars because they wanted the driver to think about what (s)he was doing.

[Jenny Emily]

The thing that annoys me is the check engine light. It came on, I checked, and it turns out the engine was still there under the bonnet so I kept going.....

[jjb1970]

The sort of things that annoy people can normally be switched off so they don't bother you, or sometimes avoided by buying the entry level basic spec model. If you don't like auto wipers, headlights etc then turn them to manual. If you don't like overtaking lights then de-activate that function.

[newbryford]

I say bring back the man walking in front with a red flag.......................................

 

That'll solve it all.

[jjb1970]

One thing I would say about modern tech is that whilst active cruise control and collision avoidance systems are great, it is worth checking the probable susceptibility of the sensor to damage when buying a car. On the VW Golfit is very exposed and when something hit the sensoron my wife's Golf it was very expensive to have the system re-callibrated and reset with a new bracket.

[chris p bacon]

 As mentioned before it prevents me doing the left/right/left thank you,

As someone that lets others in I can't stand it when drivers do that. half the time they carry on up the road with either the left or right indicator on completely oblivious to their dashboard.

 

Indicators....it's all in the name. 

[The Bigbee Line]

First outing after the new year. Leaving a 30mph into a stretch that floods after rain I accelerated to 40mph Not the absolute limit of 60mph. I spy the driver behind gesticulating because I'm not going fast enough.!!!! Two words and the second is "off". Once past the risk stretch I accelerate and the car behind trails away. Only to catch up when I slow to the 30mph for the next village. Speed limits not for them.

Must be getting old.

Edited January 2, 2017 by The Bigbee Line

[Horsetan]

.....Indicators....it's all in the name.

 

There are some drivers who don't use 'em at all....

[New Haven Neil]

First outing after the new year. Leaving a 30mph into a stretch that floods after rain I accelerated to 40mph Not the absolute limit of 60mph. I spy the driver behind gesticulating because I'm not going fast enough.!!!! Two words and the second is "off". Once past the risk stretch I accelerate and the car behind trails away. Only to catch up when I slow to the 30mph for the next village. Speed limits not for them.

Must be getting old.

That's usual here - 45 regardless of the limit.

 

Odd about 3 flash indicators - my current and last Ford have them, I use them.  The 2011 Fiat Ducato campervan has them, they drive me nuts. Must be something about the timing of how long you have to make the contact to get one flash or three - the camper is too sensitive.

[MJI]

The thing that annoys me is the check engine light. It came on, I checked, and it turns out the engine was still there under the bonnet so I kept going.....

 

I don't like the fact you then have to pay £100 and up for a suitable code reader to get the actual error.

 

My latest code reader cost £300, but has paid for itself already

[Kickstart]

I don't like the fact you then have to pay £100 and up for a suitable code reader to get the actual error.

 

My latest code reader cost £300, but has paid for itself already

While the code should be standard, there seems to be some effort gone into hiding some of the codes in manufacturer specific ranges. Wish something could be done to prevent that.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Jenny Emily]

I don't like the fact you then have to pay £100 and up for a suitable code reader to get the actual error.

 

My latest code reader cost £300, but has paid for itself already

I built my own code reader out of parts from Maplins for a couple of pounds as a last ditch attempt to find what was the real cause of the 'generic mystery fault' light that had come on. Strangely, no garage I had taken it to had been able to read any of the fault codes because of its age.

[peanuts]

I don't like the fact you then have to pay £100 and up for a suitable code reader to get the actual error.

 

My latest code reader cost £300, but has paid for itself already

some vauxhalls you dont ned a reader just learn the "pedal trick " 

[Kickstart]

I built my own code reader out of parts from Maplins for a couple of pounds as a last ditch attempt to find what was the real cause of the 'generic mystery fault' light that had come on. Strangely, no garage I had taken it to had been able to read any of the fault codes because of its age.

What car is it? On a lot of older cars there are codes available but with very variable ways of doing it.

 

For example the instructions for doing it on a 16V Alfa 33:-

 

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/ml41sd.php

 

The modern OBD systems are a lot more standardised

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Jenny Emily]

What car is it? On a lot of older cars there are codes available but with very variable ways of doing it.

 

 

1996 Volvo 850. This was a couple of years ago. It has an OBDII port, but outputs flash codes through it. I soldered an LED and dippers to allow them to be read. Turned out to be a faulty camshaft position sensor.