Features You Forget Your Vehicle Has

[MSCH]

The bad think about VW is it hounds you if the car idles and if you get out with it running it usually shuts you down.

there seem to be alot of bad things about it to me, the more I think about it..

I'll give you one thing that pissed me off about my Dodge Ram... get an active ABS fault, this code disables the cruise control as well as the 4WD... basically if you dont fix it, it makes the truck a real PITA to drive for long periods of time. It sure doesn't have to be this way but they did it that way so you have to fix it..

a nice feature on the Ram is you can turn off the seat belt chime.

 

[KCJeep]

I thought remote start was the dumbest thing ever until I got it. It is really nice to have the AC blasting for a minute or two before you get into the car when it has been sitting in the sun all day at work.

I’m surprised the government allows remote start. They squeeze manufacturers for emissions and fuel economy like crazy and then consumers have empty cars running for comfort (cold, when emissions are at their highest). I’m not for over reaching by any means quite the opposite, but it seems counterintuitive.

 

[Zee09]

I thought remote start was the dumbest thing ever until I got it. It is really nice to have the AC blasting for a minute or two before you get into the car when it has been sitting in the sun all day at work.

I’m surprised the government allows remote start. They squeeze manufacturers for emissions and fuel economy like crazy and then consumers have empty cars running for comfort (cold, when emissions are at their highest). I’m not for over reaching by any means quite the opposite, but it seems counterintuitive.

Didn't Delaware go after remote starting?

 

[Zee09]

It's Illegal to Warm Up Your Car in These States

You definitely don't want to be caught idling in Washington, D.C.

www.goodhousekeeping.com

 

[MSCH]

Didn't Delaware go after remote starting?

I don't know ZEE. You can figure someone has a problem with it, for whatever their reasoning is.. you just hope they don't try to legislate against any of it.

 

[Astro14]

I guess I’m the only guy that reads the owners manual when I get a car…

 

[Astro14]

there seem to be alot of bad things about it to me, the more I think about it..

I'll give you one thing that ****** me off about my Dodge Ram... get an active ABS fault, this code disables the cruise control as well as the 4WD... basically if you dont fix it, it makes the truck a real PITA to drive for long periods of time. It sure doesn't have to be this way but they did it that way so you have to fix it..

a nice feature on the Ram is you can turn off the seat belt chime.

My buddy had an Audi that would completely shut down. Engine off. When a wheel speed sensor failed.

Not just an ABS fault. Intermittent wheel sensor caused the car to stop running and every fault light to come on. Almost wrecked on the highway trying to pull over when the engine quit.

And it happened more than once.

 

[KCJeep]

Didn't Delaware go after remote starting?

If that article is accurate I had no idea! Not surprised, but I don’t think anyone here knows or cares about it.

 

[John105]

The bad think about VW is it hounds you if the car idles and if you get out with it running it usually shuts you down.

The scary thing is when push to start became more common 6+ years ago, there were CO poisonings, and I asked people what does a button have to do with that? Apparently people thought the cars shut themselves off by themselves. I can’t help but to think there are simply x number of things that can be mindless, and we are approaching x quite rapidly. Imagine I have 2 cars still where a twisting motion starts the car, and 1/2 actually had the human decide how long to engage the starter. Funny, it’s the one with the smart key.

The GM without smart key is just a twist—computer decides when to release. It’s very apparent when the starter breaks. I bet only 1/4 people who own this car realize…

 

[Zee09]

I guess I’m the only guy that reads the owners manual when I get a car…

Why would you remember the manual if you forget the features you have?
Be nice

 

[Zee09]

The scary thing is when push to start became more common 6+ years ago, there were CO poisonings, and I asked people what does a button have to do with that? Apparently people thought the cars shut themselves off by themselves. I can’t help but to think there are simply x number of things that can be mindless, and we are approaching x quite rapidly. Imagine I have 2 cars still where a twisting motion starts the car, and 1/2 actually had the human decide how long to engage the starter. Funny, it’s the one with the smart key.

The GM without smart key is just a twist—computer decides when to release. It’s very apparent when the starter breaks. I bet only 1/4 people who own this car realize…

@AutoMechanic will never have to worry about that because he hates push button starts.

 

[John105]

@AutoMechanic will never have to worry about that because he hates push button starts.

I am late to the joke so you guys know I’m just kidding.

Maybe if he spent less time trying to score Taylor Swift tix, he’d be more in tune with these modern conveniences!

 

[Zee09]

The scary thing is when push to start became more common 6+ years ago, there were CO poisonings, and I asked people what does a button have to do with that? Apparently people thought the cars shut themselves off by themselves. I can’t help but to think there are simply x number of things that can be mindless, and we are approaching x quite rapidly. Imagine I have 2 cars still where a twisting motion starts the car, and 1/2 actually had the human decide how long to engage the starter. Funny, it’s the one with the smart key.

The GM without smart key is just a twist—computer decides when to release. It’s very apparent when the starter breaks. I bet only 1/4 people who own this car realize…

The VW will turn off everything in short order.
You could park my 2016 Cmax in a garage and walk away and it would cycle all night long between gas and hybrid mode- very dangerous.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I forget my Ford has cruise control cause I don’t ever use it lol. My truck doesn’t. I don’t forget it has overdrive though because I have to turn that off going downhill to avoid riding the brake.

 

[CKN]

I forget my Ford has cruise control cause I don’t ever use it lol. My truck doesn’t. I don’t forget it has overdrive though because I have to turn that off going downhill to avoid riding the brake.

Most newer cars will sense you are going downhill and will downshift automatically. When out on the desolate roads in "The West" cruise control is something you use frequently.

 

[John105]

The VW will turn off everything in short order.
You could park my 2016 Cmax in a garage and walk away and it would cycle all night long between gas and hybrid mode- very dangerous.

But my thinking is that with cars as long as I've driven them, the user turns it on, and the user turns it off. This notion has changed, for real.

It was mentioned that many treat driving like a video game. There was actually a lot inherent in that statement. If I learned to drive literally today, and you give me a 2007 BMW 3, which to me has very excellently weighted steering, I'm going to think what is going on the steering is broken on this car. I can't begin to attempt to turn it at 0 mph with my pinkie, and I'm on the lacrosse team. With mommy's RX350L, my 7 yo baby brother could turn the wheel while playing Super Mario Bros 2.

Perhaps push to start implied, we'll take it from here? My car that has it does say, STOP.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

The remote windows down function in my 2017 Ridgeline was initially a totally undocumented feature. One day I went out after a rain shower and found all my windows half way down. My first reaction was a computer glitch, but after thinking about it a few minutes I seemed to remembered that our other Honda car, an Accord from 25 years earlier, allowed us to put the windows down when we got close enough to use the key fob. I scoured my owners manual looking for the instructions but there was no mention anywhere of key fob operation of windows. Google to the rescue, however, and there was a REVISED owners manual issued a few months after my truck was built that included the instructions. Had I not owned a Honda previously I wouldn't have had a clue what was going on.

 

[Zee09]

The remote windows down function in my 2017 Ridgeline was initially a totally undocumented feature. One day I went out after a rain shower and found all my windows half way down. My first reaction was a computer glitch, but after thinking about it a few minutes I seemed to remembered that our other Honda car, an Accord from 25 years earlier, allowed us to put the windows down when we got close enough to use the key fob. I scoured my owners manual looking for the instructions but there was no mention anywhere of key fob operation of windows. Google to the rescue, however, and there was a REVISED owners manual issued a few months after my truck was built that included the instructions. Had I not owned a Honda previously I wouldn't have had a clue what was going on.

VW in the very old days had commercials on that feature.
Honestly I never use it so I would forget it.
Just like turn signals... nobody seems to remember that it's a standard feature these days

 

[John105]

I totally do not remember that my LS has power tilt and telescope wheel, power headrests, and power seat belt adjustment (in the B pillar), and power rear sunshade.

these are all totally mindless and useless, but I guess in 2001-2006 they were showcasing the ability to do that....

 

[John105]

On the BMW, I never knew it had "auto limp mode" where the car could decide to go into 1/2 power all by itself (my car got a new DME, the MSD81 that cured it).