I miss the dimmer foot switch the most, especially nice when your making a turn and have a car coming at you... no hurrying to get your hand over to the switch while trying to turn.
Old Car Features That Went By the Wayside
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I once had to drive a Ford the county leases to a meeting in another city. First, I'm not a fan of the hybrid. Shuts off at a stop. I got to where I would hit the gas pedal after stopping at a red light just to make the engine kick back on so I could hear it idle while I waited. The other thing was when I was driving down the highway, the steering wheel started shaking back and forth - vibrating. At first I thought - what a POS that this thing needs front end work with only 10k miles on it! Then I noticed a little coffee cup symbol on the dash and realized the car thought I was falling asleep at the wheel when I got too close to the center line. LOL
Last Friday I helped shuttle a brand new Ram squad from the dealership to work. When I was backing it into a stall, I opened the door to see how close to the line I was. Suddenly the truck stopped moving and made a noise that sounded like I backed into something. I though what the hell? There's nothing back there for me to hit, but I thought I hit something. Then I put it in drive (I don't like the goofy dial shifter on the dash, btw) to pull ahead and it wouldn't move at all. What the hell? I then realized there was a safety feature preventing the truck from moving while I had the door open. Ugh. The newest vehicle I've ever owned so far is a 2009 and that even seems space aged to me.
Last Friday I helped shuttle a brand new Ram squad from the dealership to work. When I was backing it into a stall, I opened the door to see how close to the line I was. Suddenly the truck stopped moving and made a noise that sounded like I backed into something. I though what the hell? There's nothing back there for me to hit, but I thought I hit something. Then I put it in drive (I don't like the goofy dial shifter on the dash, btw) to pull ahead and it wouldn't move at all. What the hell? I then realized there was a safety feature preventing the truck from moving while I had the door open. Ugh. The newest vehicle I've ever owned so far is a 2009 and that even seems space aged to me.
Bad B-rad
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Very close to your story.
I sold a 2004/2005 ram 1500, after deal was done guy comes knocking on my door, "the truck wont go into gear"
I never had any issue with that, so I figured he wasn't pushing down on the brake petal hard enough.
I go out and jump in driver seat, and sure enough it wont go into gear.
WTF I was thinking, now this guy thins I sold him a POS!!!
Anyway, It was the driver door being open, that stopped it from coming out of park!!!
I am getting sick of some of the STUPID "saftey" features, they prevent you from doing some things that you may NEED to do, under some situations.
I sold a 2004/2005 ram 1500, after deal was done guy comes knocking on my door, "the truck wont go into gear"
I never had any issue with that, so I figured he wasn't pushing down on the brake petal hard enough.
I go out and jump in driver seat, and sure enough it wont go into gear.
WTF I was thinking, now this guy thins I sold him a POS!!!
Anyway, It was the driver door being open, that stopped it from coming out of park!!!
I am getting sick of some of the STUPID "saftey" features, they prevent you from doing some things that you may NEED to do, under some situations.
The Hellcat is ripe with this Nanny ****.
Next. When you floor it a voice will ask "Are you sure".
Bad B-rad
Well-Known Member
On Saturday, my wife's 2016 Charger R/T would not start.
She comes in screaming like life is over, and how it says service power steering on dash.
I know the PS has nothing to do with why it wont start.
So I go out and sure enough car turns on, but when you hit the start button, it doesn't start, no click, nothing, yet the gauges do there full sweep thing as if it did start, and then about 10 seconds later service power steering, then service electronic stability control, then the service engine messages comes up.
I figure all this is due to the car, being "on" in the "run" position of the button, and it is thinking the engine is running and it isn't getting the correct feedback from the sensors, so it trips the messages I am seeing.
So I check the battery with load tester, its ok.
I move on to the fuse/relay box. Fuses are good, so I pop out starter relay, and swap it with ABS, car fires right up.
So if this car is so smart why cant a relay throw the correct code/message, and not throw 3 FALSE codes???
I am a mechanic, (for a living, not a parts changer, as there are a bunch of guys who say they they are mechanics, and they just change parts till its fixed)
And I thought my wife knew this, but as I am looking over her car, and it only took me five mins, including walking to garage to get wrench and load tester, she is on the web looking up what service power steering means.
"Hey siri, what is a steering wheel symbol on my dash mean. Hey siri ....."
I told her 5 times that I cant see how that message would prevent her car from starting.
But she was insistent that MUST be what is wrong, as the car told her so.
I bet this happens all the time, the avg joe, who is not mechanically inclined goes off in the wrong direction because of a message/code displayed by the car.
I worked for a Link-Belt dealer, and when the new series of excavators first came out, A message "electric problem with a lightning bolt" would flash, on the screen, and continue to beep.
It took a couple of HRS for me to it figure out it. It was the primary fuel filter, beginning to get dirty.
That would cause the electric fuel pump to work harder, and draw more current then throw the electric problem message.
The other thing that we learned was the primary fuel filter would NEVER make the factory recommended 250hr filter change interval, it would only make half of that, I think because of the red dye used on the off road fuel.
She comes in screaming like life is over, and how it says service power steering on dash.
I know the PS has nothing to do with why it wont start.
So I go out and sure enough car turns on, but when you hit the start button, it doesn't start, no click, nothing, yet the gauges do there full sweep thing as if it did start, and then about 10 seconds later service power steering, then service electronic stability control, then the service engine messages comes up.
I figure all this is due to the car, being "on" in the "run" position of the button, and it is thinking the engine is running and it isn't getting the correct feedback from the sensors, so it trips the messages I am seeing.
So I check the battery with load tester, its ok.
I move on to the fuse/relay box. Fuses are good, so I pop out starter relay, and swap it with ABS, car fires right up.
So if this car is so smart why cant a relay throw the correct code/message, and not throw 3 FALSE codes???
I am a mechanic, (for a living, not a parts changer, as there are a bunch of guys who say they they are mechanics, and they just change parts till its fixed)
And I thought my wife knew this, but as I am looking over her car, and it only took me five mins, including walking to garage to get wrench and load tester, she is on the web looking up what service power steering means.
"Hey siri, what is a steering wheel symbol on my dash mean. Hey siri ....."
I told her 5 times that I cant see how that message would prevent her car from starting.
But she was insistent that MUST be what is wrong, as the car told her so.
I bet this happens all the time, the avg joe, who is not mechanically inclined goes off in the wrong direction because of a message/code displayed by the car.
I worked for a Link-Belt dealer, and when the new series of excavators first came out, A message "electric problem with a lightning bolt" would flash, on the screen, and continue to beep.
It took a couple of HRS for me to it figure out it. It was the primary fuel filter, beginning to get dirty.
That would cause the electric fuel pump to work harder, and draw more current then throw the electric problem message.
The other thing that we learned was the primary fuel filter would NEVER make the factory recommended 250hr filter change interval, it would only make half of that, I think because of the red dye used on the off road fuel.
YY1
Well-Known Member
It took almost 10 years before I realized my 2000 Dakota wouldn't let me lock the doors with the PDL button if the key was in or the lights were on.
On older cars I use the following to describe the door locking procedure-
Anti-stupidity device- must push button on handle to lock door (causes you to think about where your keys are)
Anti- idiocy device- must use key to lock door (physically not possible to lock keys in car).
On older cars I use the following to describe the door locking procedure-
Anti-stupidity device- must push button on handle to lock door (causes you to think about where your keys are)
Anti- idiocy device- must use key to lock door (physically not possible to lock keys in car).
I just bought a 2019 Laramie, yes that feature sucks! I like to open the door when I'm backing a trailer into a tight spot or in a wooded area to better see what's close.. not anymore! Outside of that I absolutely love the truck.
Bad B-rad
Well-Known Member
Back in 2009 ish I was sent to a construction site to do a service on some equipment.
They has installed the man holes, and gutter drains, but had not yet paved the road so the man hole assemblies were like 3-4 feet above what the current road was.
A contractor was backing up in a BRAND NEW F150 and a co worker and I watched him smash into one, trashing his new bumper and tailgate. We shouted to warn him just before he hit it, but he didn't stop until the man hole made him stop.
He gets out, and starts screaming how this truck is not even a week old, he pulls forward, and as we are looking over the damage with him, and repairing damage to man hole, he tells up how it has special sensors in the bumper to let you know if you are going to hit something, so he ignored us, as he didn't think we were yelling for him, his new truck told him he was all clear.
His truck hit the assymbly 100% dead center of one of those "sensors".
I am not sure what happened when he brought it back to dealer, if it was driver error, or the sensor not working, but it was very funny he hit that thing RIGHT on that sensor!!!
That was first time I ever became aware of that system.
They has installed the man holes, and gutter drains, but had not yet paved the road so the man hole assemblies were like 3-4 feet above what the current road was.
A contractor was backing up in a BRAND NEW F150 and a co worker and I watched him smash into one, trashing his new bumper and tailgate. We shouted to warn him just before he hit it, but he didn't stop until the man hole made him stop.
He gets out, and starts screaming how this truck is not even a week old, he pulls forward, and as we are looking over the damage with him, and repairing damage to man hole, he tells up how it has special sensors in the bumper to let you know if you are going to hit something, so he ignored us, as he didn't think we were yelling for him, his new truck told him he was all clear.
His truck hit the assymbly 100% dead center of one of those "sensors".
I am not sure what happened when he brought it back to dealer, if it was driver error, or the sensor not working, but it was very funny he hit that thing RIGHT on that sensor!!!
That was first time I ever became aware of that system.
Not sure but those sensors don't warn you about stationery objects.
Bad B-rad
Well-Known Member
If that is the case, I bet dealer is off the hook, and he had to handle that crash!(OUCH!!)
Also in his defense, they are almost impossible to see when you are close to them, as they cant be seen in your mirror with tailgate on the truck.
We just got a huge laugh(cause no one was hurt) and he hit it right on sensor, again I have no idea how they work, and this was first time I even heard of such a thing.\
Now most cars have back up cameras
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As a flatbed operator,too many cars I open the door to take out of park. Open the door and it goes back into park
Me/Be,BMW and others,,,,,when the air bag deploys the car will not come out of park
Me/Be,BMW and others,,,,,when the air bag deploys the car will not come out of park
I guess you just have to hang your head out the window, now!
When I told our chief deputy the story (it was his squad we picked up), he asked why I didn't just watch the backup camera. "It does have one, doesn't it?" LOL - I said I don't even know - I never even looked - I just watched the mirrors and opened the door at the end. Man am I old! And we even have a backup camera on our '09 Jeep!
Mine has a very nice backup camera but damn are they deceiving!!! I backed into a spot, looked like I had 4ft to spare, walked around to see and had maybe a foot. It's great for hooking onto the boat trailer but it could get me in trouble, guess I just have a tough time not using my own eyes.
Slap Stick
Well-Known Member
My son's F150 has a button on the dash to disable the auto stop feature on the engine.
Makes no sense when it's 100° and you are is a traffic jam and the engine shuts off, turning off the ac
Makes no sense when it's 100° and you are is a traffic jam and the engine shuts off, turning off the ac
Pity the owner if a tow operator has to yank their Hellcat out of a ditch. Automatics CAN’T be put in neutral with the engine off. Requires panel removal and pulling the secret red ribbon near the shifter. Who the hell does that during emergency conditions. Good luck getting underneath too. I’m installing a tow hook for when I run out of gas on track day. WTF. Nanny.
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Photon440
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They do on all the vehicles I use at work. Curbs, garbage cans, other vehicles...they beep when you back too close to them.
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