Things you found on your car, after a period of ownership
Discussion
today I found that on my E46, it has parking lights which leave the headlights on after you lock the car so you can walk up your drive (if you have one) and that you can also use the indicator stalk to control whether the front left and rear left, or the front right and rear right lamps go on.
Just saw this video posted on Facebook and learned from it (after 48 seconds) that an E36 3 Series has a little cradle inside the fuel filler cap door for you to put the fuel filler cap in when you're filling up. Useful to know after having owned my E36 for sixteen and a half years!
haven't you ever wondered what it was whilst filling up?MitchT said:
Just saw this video posted on Facebook and learned from it (after 48 seconds) that an E36 3 Series has a little cradle inside the fuel filler cap door for you to put the fuel filler cap in when you're filling up. Useful to know after having owned my E36 for sixteen and a half years!
Brilliant! 
MitchT said:
Just saw this video posted on Facebook and learned from it (after 48 seconds) that an E36 3 Series has a little cradle inside the fuel filler cap door for you to put the fuel filler cap in when you're filling up. Useful to know after having owned my E36 for sixteen and a half years!
I realised similar on my car.Sadly it took until buying a new one as I left the cap on top of the roof and drive off to realise.
Only had the car 5 years
After a couple of years of ownership I found the switch on my Laguna that folds the mirrors in. Unfortunately i found it whilst on the motorway! I also found it had an alarm. Only after my mates 2 dogs were left in the car and started jumping about and set it off. There was no mention of the alarm in the handbook, I presume it was factory fitted though. No obvious signs and it must have been set automatically when the car was locked.
After a while of owning a Citroen ZX I found it had a rear window blind built into the parcel shelf. It lifted upwards and attached to a hook in the roofline.
Drove my mk1 Fiesta round for months with no brake lights. Only realised when parking in a multi storey car park. Traced it to a connector near the pedal that had came unplugged. Also took me a while to find how to operate the windscreen washers. A small foot pump control near the clutch which squirted the water, you had to operate the wipers separately.
Looking under the bonnet for the VIN number on my Clio before buying it, then discovering after much searching that the VIN details on newer cars were now displayed at the bottom of the windscreen!
After a while of owning a Citroen ZX I found it had a rear window blind built into the parcel shelf. It lifted upwards and attached to a hook in the roofline.
Drove my mk1 Fiesta round for months with no brake lights. Only realised when parking in a multi storey car park. Traced it to a connector near the pedal that had came unplugged. Also took me a while to find how to operate the windscreen washers. A small foot pump control near the clutch which squirted the water, you had to operate the wipers separately.
Looking under the bonnet for the VIN number on my Clio before buying it, then discovering after much searching that the VIN details on newer cars were now displayed at the bottom of the windscreen!
Working on the engine of my Smart is a PITA because the carpet keeps dropping down on my head. For the past God-knows-how-many-years I've been using bungees wrapped around the seats to hold it out of the way.
Today, I found a clip that is only on one side of the carpet. I thought that I will need to order one for the other side as it probably clips the carpet down.
Looking closer I can see that the lonely clip is to hold the carpet out of the way when working on the engine.
I don't know whether to feel stupid because of the last five years struggling (and twanging with bungees), or happy that I don't need to buy a new one for the other side.
Today, I found a clip that is only on one side of the carpet. I thought that I will need to order one for the other side as it probably clips the carpet down.
Looking closer I can see that the lonely clip is to hold the carpet out of the way when working on the engine.
I don't know whether to feel stupid because of the last five years struggling (and twanging with bungees), or happy that I don't need to buy a new one for the other side.
I found out that when you lift the doorhandle, a tiny light comes on in the doorlock to help you find it in the dark. This must have been the work of science fiction back in the early 80s!
Unfortunately, the way in which I found it was by the wire to the lightbulb coming adrift, wrapping itself around part of the window mechanism, then chafing through the insulation, short-circuiting and catching fire. The first hint something was awry was the shared stereo fuse blowing, the second was the cabin filling with actinic electrical smoke
Fortunately, I was nearly home and got there in time to grab some tools and whip off the doorcard before the whole lot went up. How the cocking thing carried on burning even after it had taken out the fuse was anyone's guess 
Unfortunately, the way in which I found it was by the wire to the lightbulb coming adrift, wrapping itself around part of the window mechanism, then chafing through the insulation, short-circuiting and catching fire. The first hint something was awry was the shared stereo fuse blowing, the second was the cabin filling with actinic electrical smoke
Fortunately, I was nearly home and got there in time to grab some tools and whip off the doorcard before the whole lot went up. How the cocking thing carried on burning even after it had taken out the fuse was anyone's guess About 4 months after buying my first 306 I was driving to the cinema with a friend, him having not been in the car before was fiddling around with all the things, and found there was another glove box type thing on top of the dash where an airbag would be on the higher end ones. I didn't know that was there for all that time! It was filled with goodies too - about a quarter of weed, King size papers, cigarettes, £35 cash, a receipt for £800 2 months ago work the previous owner never mentioned, good times I thought! There was also an official letter from the courts I should not have read. Had the poor car destroyed that weekend.
Checkmate said:
About 4 months after buying my first 306 I was driving to the cinema with a friend, him having not been in the car before was fiddling around with all the things, and found there was another glove box type thing on top of the dash where an airbag would be on the higher end ones. I didn't know that was there for all that time! It was filled with goodies too - about a quarter of weed, King size papers, cigarettes, £35 cash, a receipt for £800 2 months ago work the previous owner never mentioned, good times I thought! There was also an official letter from the courts I should not have read. Had the poor car destroyed that weekend.
Why?B'stard Child said:
Checkmate said:
About 4 months after buying my first 306 I was driving to the cinema with a friend, him having not been in the car before was fiddling around with all the things, and found there was another glove box type thing on top of the dash where an airbag would be on the higher end ones. I didn't know that was there for all that time! It was filled with goodies too - about a quarter of weed, King size papers, cigarettes, £35 cash, a receipt for £800 2 months ago work the previous owner never mentioned, good times I thought! There was also an official letter from the courts I should not have read. Had the poor car destroyed that weekend.
Why?Edited by HustleRussell on Monday 8th February 22:13
HustleRussell said:
B'stard Child said:
Checkmate said:
About 4 months after buying my first 306 I was driving to the cinema with a friend, him having not been in the car before was fiddling around with all the things, and found there was another glove box type thing on top of the dash where an airbag would be on the higher end ones. I didn't know that was there for all that time! It was filled with goodies too - about a quarter of weed, King size papers, cigarettes, £35 cash, a receipt for £800 2 months ago work the previous owner never mentioned, good times I thought! There was also an official letter from the courts I should not have read. Had the poor car destroyed that weekend.
Why?Had an Audi A3 with electric adjustable heated mirrors that worked off a switch on the door.
We changed it for another A3, pretty much the same. Several months later I went to select the rotary switch left to adjust the mirror and was horrified as the switch turned right round beyond the stop point.
s
t I thought, I've bust the switch that will be expensive. When I turned the ignition on the mirrors folded in. Ahhh, an optional extra that my previous one didn't have. Not that excited about being able to fold the mirrors in, delighted there was nothing to repair.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff