General Chat

We took delivery of a new car on Wednesday, or rather my OH did as it is registered in her name.

Now it's only the base model of a not very expensive brand....I'm not talking about a Jag or a Roller; it's not even a four wheel drive, but it is fitted with all the bells and whistles that you could want.

So having spent Wednesday afternoon playing with the new toy and not even being able to save a radio station into memory it was probably time to read the manual.

Said manual is as thick as a copy of 'War and Peace' and just as entertaining. It is also full of incomprehensible words, particularly when it gives guidance(?) on the entertainment unit :-S

So yesterday, with still no clear understanding of how the car functions other than being able to start and stop the thing, OH set off at lunchtime to get a Chinese take-away form a restaurant about 15 minutes drive from here.

10 minutes later I received a phone call from her.... the speedo isn't working :-0

Me: Where are you?

OH: on the drive!

Me: which drive?

OH: Our drive

Me; why the #$$%% O ^%$$ didn't you just come in and tell me!!

OH: I wanted to make sure that the phone connection in the car worked :-| :-| :-|

:-D :-D :-(

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Technology........

When I went out, the speedo was working perfectly well, but the car has two speedos, one a normal analogue type and the other a digital one which gives a precise reading eg 60.2 Kmh.

It was that one that OH couldn't get to work. A simple flick of the 'mode' button brought it up :-| :-| :-|

Fortunately the salesperson who sold the car lives just around the corner so he will pop in on the weekend to give us some assistance.

Obviously, once you turn 70 you begin to lose your marbles :-S :-S

I was hoping that in my case the loss would be more gradual :-D :-D

Allan and Speedo's?

I can't quite get my head around that one!

:-D :-D

Our newer car has all sorts of things that nobody needs in a car, which I would rather not have had to pay for.

What I would really like to see on a car again is a starting handle, that really was a useful addition.

Especially in family arguments, Sharron :-D :-D

Don't worry PH I'm not talking about budgie smugglers ;-)

Phew!!!!

what annoys me, is this stooopid arrangement where a spotlight illuminates, when the steering is not central....

Allan, I have a commercial torque wrench (it's amazing what you can buy cheap off a bloke up the pub) and that comes in just as handy when I need to make a point!

:-D :-D

my wife drove over to my daughter's place and my daughter was most impressed.

I was less so when OH said that my daughter's first comment was 'Wow! Did dad let you buy an automatic?' :-| :-|

I just prefer manual drive cars :-D :-D

Allan .............

you are not alone ............. OH also prefers manual. We've never owned an automatic :-D

I don't drive!

Actually, as the non-driver, I was supposed to be in charge of knowing how to work the radio ............. we had the Subaru for about 10 years now, and I still cannot work out how to tune the radio :-( :-D

I can put a CD into the right space, but that is all :-D

:-D :-D :-D :-Sylvia

Ours is a basic Hyundai i30.

When trying to pair my mobile phone with the car I had to input the code 0000 into my phone. I was just praying that nothing overrode the phone, which was in idle mode, because the emergency number in Oz is 000. :-D

I'm already in the Police bad books as many years ago whilst trying to fix a phone to the wall socket I inadvertently dialled triple zero. The first we knew about it was when two burly coppers turned up at the front door! :-D :-D :-D

is 000 considered easier to dial than 999??

I'm presuming so, Sylvia. It's probably a hangover from the old rotary dial phones when 0 would be the last hole in the dial. so that in case of a fire generating thick smoke you could dial the number by touch. In the case of triple nine there is a fair chance that you could misdial

We've never owned an automatic either, only manuals. My bessie swears by automatics.

We have both driven automatic rentals but neither of us is keen at all.

Anyone with a back problem should drive an automatic as written about by a senior orthopedic doctor many years ago. When my husband started to have back trouble he realised that reaching for the clutch pedal aggravated his problem. We got an automatic after he read the article in either the Telegraph or the Independent.

He is of average height and reach so many people could be having a problem.

I prefer the control that a manual car gives, such as using the engine as part of the braking system, or being able to drop down a gear to overtake on hills (obviously where there's an overtaking lane)

OH used to drive our manual car like an automatic and it made me wild. I became the quintessential back seat driver by reminding her to either change up or down a gear.

With the new car I may have lost control over the vehicle, but hopefully I will regain my sanity :-D :-D

I think it might take more than that Allan :-D :-D