General Chat

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

we also have outside lanes on highways AND in the city that are marked Straight On / Turn Left


We've had 2 Hundais, both manual. The first was a Hyundai Stellar sedan, bought in 1984/5 and kept until 1998, then passed on to our daughter who drove it across Canada in 1999 and then drove it for another 2/3 years before selling it.

The second was a Hyundai Elantra station wagon, bought in 1998 and traded in for the Subaru Forester in 2008.

We liked the Stellar. It was a good solid car, withstood 2 accidents with little damage. One accident was a guy who tried to do wheelies in his mother's old Plymouth wagon and slammed into the side of us. The Stellar just sort of shook itself, and then was fine apart from the front passenger door being dented ..... no other damage.

The second accident was when OH hit black ice on a hill and we turned circles until turning and falling onto the passenger side in a ditch. Strangely enough, the only real damage then was to the windshield and the sunroof. No structural damage. We were given permission by the police to drive it all the way back to Vancouver because there were no dealers in the north ............ there was no damage to the windshield for the driver, but the passenger couldn't see out. It was also the passenger (me!) who got dripped upon from the sunroof!

The Elantra was a bit "tinny", didn't feel as solid a car.

The Stellar was the one and only sedan that we have owned in 50 years, always had station wagons.

The Elantra we kept for the second shortest time! Most of our cars have been kept for 13/14 years.

The shortest time was the American Rambler station wagon 1964 model, bought secondhand in 1967, and traded in in 1972 for a Toyota Corona station wagon. The Toyota was a superb car, and we ran it until trading for the Hyundai Stellar in 1984/5

AnninGlos, we've had Hyundai cars for nearly twenty years now and they have all been manual. My last car, a Hyundai Elantra was purchased in 2006, was automatic.

Prior to that I always drove vehicles provided by my employer. These were all automatics. OH had permission to also drive them but very rarely did unless we had been to an event where I was expected to socialize with people associated with my employer (I lived up to expectations :-D :-D)

I gave my car to my son last year as his 'work' car. He works in an environment not very conducive to being kind to cars.

So this is OH's first automatic :-D :-D

Bob in West Oz, even if you are in a dedicated turning lane you have to indicate. More so if you are turning right as many outside lanes on dual-carriageways are actually marked for Straight on/ Right Turn.

Nothing more frustrating, particularly at traffic lights, where you are second in line in the outside lane and the car in front doesn't start to indicate until the lights turn green!

Bob ..........

many drivers here do NOT indicate which way they are turning whether they are in a dedicated lane, a junction, entering or leaving a car park etc etc etc.

I believe you are taught here to indicate when you move into a dedicated lane and WHILE you are in it, until after you have made the turn.


After all YOU may know where you are going, others do not ......... and it is not unknown for people to get into the dedicated lane when they don't want to be.

Ever seen someone attempt to go straight on from a dedicated left turn (I guess right turn for you ....... ie, across the oncoming traffic), and try to get back into the correct lane on their side for going straight on?

Bloomin' amazing!

I DID say dedicated lanes not normal traffic junctions
where the designers engineer a third or fourth lane
Ie Car parks exits from supermarkets etc....

I usually indicate to get into a lane but once I'm in it, i know where i need to go....

Bob

We have two cars. Mine is the same as your wife's Allan albeit manual and older and from what you say minus some of the newer gizzmos. It is my car but I rarely drive it, I hate driving, OH likes it, we use it as the local trips car and when we need to use it as a van for DIY stuff etc. It is a good second car. OH's car on the other hand is automatic, he finds it better for motorway travel. I have never driven an automatic and have no wish to. I think this is the 4th or 5th auto he has driven. He recently changed his auto merc two door for a Lexus 2,500. He felt the Merc was getting to be too poweful for him to handle (he will be 80 this year) and he realised that he was going too fast in it up and down the motorway for safety. He is a good driver and I have never felt unsafe with him driving but I know what he means. We none of us know our reactions have got slower until they are tested too late.
The Lexus is a good car, it is not a new car (2007 I think) but is very low miliage. It too has lots of things we have not worked out what to do with yet. :-D :-D

Caroline ...........

same here.

It seems that someone sitting in the near lane or the far one seem to believe that just being IN the lane will tell every other driver that they are going to turn right or left across the oncoming traffic :-S

No signals.

We had one the other day who suddenly turned left in front of OH. Good job he's a good driver!

Indicators flashing...they still make cars with them because most days I see scant use of indicator lights!!

Hmmm ,

regarding the braking system....I reckon the that most modern cars have dispensed with the hand brake( I understand why auto drivers do it)
BUT
judging by the amount of brake lights illuminated in traffic stops......Unnecessarily(in my opinion..

and why oh why do drivers in dedicated turn lanes have their indicators flashing(unless by mistake they are in the WRONG lane...and need to get out of it..)

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

At least I didn't start my career so long ago that we went by the original title 'Inspector of Nuisances' although OH would probably still regard me as that; at least as far as the nuisance part goes :-D :-D

that's a misnomer, surely? :-D

Well, despite several name changes in the profession, I did start my career as a Sanity Inspector :-D :-D

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

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

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.

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.

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

is 000 considered easier to dial than 999??

:-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

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