Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !

[steveo3002]

yep OMG never buy a xxx brand car such rubbish , still wasnt her fault

scary thing is buying a used car thats been owned by one these lot ....oil light been on once a fortnight for years and only new parts they get is what fails the mot

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Craikeybaby said:

The thing that scares me are people who openly admit to being crap drivers, as if it is something to be proud of! If you know you are a crap driver you should be making an effort to improve that, not boasting about it.

It doesn't matter a jot to road safety if you're a crap driver or a great driver. The danger comes when people aren't as good as they think they are.

I'd rather be driven by a crap driver who knows they're crap, than a good driver who thinks they're brilliant. The latter is far more likely to crash.

[Evanivitch]

steveo3002 said:

g/f's mate was laughing away that the oil light had been on for over a week and couldnt be bothered to put oil in , eventualy topped it up and a few months later its grenaded itself . now all over facebook "im so angry 5 year old car is now scrap"' all could have been avoided with a 2 min check once a week or so , im sure the replacement will go the same way too

my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now

I can't remember how many cars my cousins have killed through engines seizing up due to lacking one fluid or another. And it's never their fault.

[carlove]

I saw a lady in a Hyundai setting off from Tesco with four flat tyres, not completely flat but clearly needed some air, she then drove straight past the petrol station with a pump, so at the lights I pulled alongside her, pipped the horn and signaled her to lower the window, she then drove through the red light, maybe she thought I was a predator. I would imagine in her ownership that car's bonnet has never been opened.

[silverfoxcc]

Jodyone said:

I don't understand why you correlate mechanical curiosity with driving skill. Good road driving is primarily about giving a damn about other people, surely. Being capable of viewing things from their position, and so on: driving is a social skill.

The technical knowledge to understand how an engine works, and the instinctive skills to control a careering car on its limit, are useful enough elsewhere, but not much to do with road driving, no?!

EDIT: AVV 'EM:

Edited by Jodyone on Wednesday 20th July 19:31

I am willing to be corrected ,but if you went for your pilots licence some basic mechanical knowledge and how to react to warning lights etc do come into the training. Whilst i agree it isnt on the 'ignore this and you will die' level, it a a bit comparable. Whether you are male or female, some basic knowledge helps, and if you read my first post on this i did ask the guy if he was joking.

[Mercky]

RizzoTheRat said:

w00tman said:

How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?

Buy a motorbike. To gain extra experience make it an old British one.

No. An old British one will put him off. An old Jap engine will inspire him.

[ClaphamGT3]

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

Seriously, this is a good place to start for the basics:

Presumably the young lad in the Christmas jersey is saying "what c*nt put a lorry battery in my Dad's Wolsely?!"

[Mr Snrub]

ClaphamGT3 said:

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

Seriously, this is a good place to start for the basics:

Presumably the young lad in the Christmas jersey is saying "what c*nt put a lorry battery in my Dad's Wolsely?!"

That battery is bigger than the engine

[ambuletz]

chrisb92 said:

What exactly should people know about their cars? I know the phone number for my break down company and that is good enough for me? In fact, I bought a new car yesterday and Audi have stuck something on the windscreen with a number for me to call should I break down in the next 2 years that my car is in warranty. My girlfriends Mercedes has a similar number to call and they come and fix your car.

How did you pass your test? This basic things you need is everything covered in the "show me tell me" part of the test

[Evanivitch]

ambuletz said:

How did you pass your test? This basic things you need is everything covered in the "show me tell me" part of the test

Like most people, learnt, passed, forgot.

[VUB]

Mr Snrub said:

ClaphamGT3 said:

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

Seriously, this is a good place to start for the basics:

Presumably the young lad in the Christmas jersey is saying "what c*nt put a lorry battery in my Dad's Wolsely?!"

That battery is bigger than the engine

It's a hybrid

[carinaman]

VUB said:

Mr Snrub said:

ClaphamGT3 said:

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

Seriously, this is a good place to start for the basics:

Presumably the young lad in the Christmas jersey is saying "what c*nt put a lorry battery in my Dad's Wolsely?!"

That battery is bigger than the engine

It's a hybrid

I think Clarkson tested one of those recently.

I doubt he checked the oil, battery or crossplies.

[iphonedyou]

coppice said:

BMC A Series with a single SU . Can't remember the last daily driver I owned where I could even see the engine - just endless tubes and wires and acres of plastic covers.

Yep. Better off having the kids taught Cantonese or something, unless simple bonding / spending time together is the real primary aim.

[carinaman]

Given the sort of data available from an OBD2 port via a dongle to an 'App' surely it's possible for the 'Car needs care' App to tell users that the windscreen washer fluid needs topping up?

I didn't know you could get these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/303-Instant-Windshield-Wa...

[p1stonhead]

Ive spent so much time here;
https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/top...

Its fantastic.

85k miles without an oil change.


genius


uh....


my car is making a clonking noise - brilliant prank.

[motco]

carinaman said:

Given the sort of data available from an OBD2 port via a dongle to an 'App' surely it's possible for the 'Car needs care' App to tell users that the windscreen washer fluid needs topping up?

I didn't know you could get these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/303-Instant-Windshield-Wa...

Oh the fun that can be had when three hundred and three tablets do not arrive as advertised! Plus, what of the headlight washer spray? Will the tablets come out of solution as the water evaporates? No thanks!

[Shakermaker]

ambuletz said:

chrisb92 said:

What exactly should people know about their cars? I know the phone number for my break down company and that is good enough for me? In fact, I bought a new car yesterday and Audi have stuck something on the windscreen with a number for me to call should I break down in the next 2 years that my car is in warranty. My girlfriends Mercedes has a similar number to call and they come and fix your car.

How did you pass your test? This basic things you need is everything covered in the "show me tell me" part of the test

Not when I took my test it wasn't....

[Steven_RW]

Best recent example from a lexus owner we know: "I don't need to check the tyre pressures or add any air, they do that when it is in for a service"... yep, every two years...

[jamieduff1981]

Mike_Mac said:

steveo3002 said:

g/f's mate was laughing away that the oil light had been on for over a week and couldnt be bothered to put oil in , eventualy topped it up and a few months later its grenaded itself . now all over facebook "im so angry 5 year old car is now scrap"' all could have been avoided with a 2 min check once a week or so , im sure the replacement will go the same way too

my mrs has it drummed into her oil light = stop now

Cause and effect does seem to be a really tricky one for a lot of people. I bet her Facebook Friends are similarly outraged on her behalf #It's always someone else#s fault!!

There is certainly a large body of life's underachievers who continuously complain that life is tough / they have no money / something else needs an expensive repair yet they're all too thick to realise that they bring their "bad luck" on all by themselves through their negligent attitude.

Going back to the OP and the young girl's assertion that the rain was the cause of her crashing - I believe that is something psychologists call an "external locust of control" whereby people prefer to attach all influence and responsibility to external factors. They didn't crash the car - the car crashed because of the rain. I didn't lose my job - I was fired by an asshole boss. I didn't lose a load of money in a stupid purchase of an utter dog of a car - I got f##ked over by an unscrupulous dealer. And so on.

Ultimately, if you prefer to believe that everything in your life is caused by others then so be it, but the bad things will not stop happening to you.

[carinaman]

motco said:

Oh the fun that can be had when three hundred and three tablets do not arrive as advertised! Plus, what of the headlight washer spray? Will the tablets come out of solution as the water evaporates? No thanks!

I was imagining the 'Car needs Care' App informing the driver which flavour screenwasher tablet they used last time and recommending a different flavour screenwasher tablet this time.

Or a spring loaded dispenser that drops replacement screenwash tablets into the water washer tank dependent on screen washer use or water level?

Or how about the drain tubes for the sunroof running into the windscreen washer tank like a water butt? Harvesting the rain to top up the washer fluid?*

• Inspiration may've been provided by the Rover 75 plenum.

Edited by carinaman on Friday 22 July 09:37