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98% of drivers don't know their dashboard


Still Waters

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Britain’s motorists are becoming a nation of ‘dashboard dunces’ baffled by the increasing array of warning lights in their cars, new research has revealed.

More than nine in ten people failed to recognise one particular warning.

The study identified 99 separate dashboard light warnings in 15 of the UK’s most popular cars ranging from the humble Nissan hatchback to Mercedes-Benz executive saloons.

http://www.dailymail...ard-lights.html

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well im not surprised most people dont know them, how many can change a tyre? not many is the answer, anyway you have a car manual to tell you what all these warning lights are. how many times have you been behind someone whose left their indicator on. they can go for miles without noticing the flashing light on the dash or the audible sound of tick tick..............

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99 drivers and 98%?? how does that work,

It must mean that no one knows their dashboard. In the usa that would be a good number, seeing as none of them can read the speedometer.

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well im not surprised most people dont know them, how many can change a tyre? not many is the answer, anyway you have a car manual to tell you what all these warning lights are. how many times have you been behind someone whose left their indicator on. they can go for miles without noticing the flashing light on the dash or the audible sound of tick tick..............

The ones I like are those who just have to be in front of you to make a turn no matter how close that turn is.

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I couldn't name all the ones on that page and I do vehicle diagnostics and ECU reprogramming as paid work now.

Some are ludicrous and mean very little. More than 50% of cars I see with the engine light on just need the fault reset, a bit like rebooting a computer. Garages are pretty terrible and expensive at diagnosing these faults as well.

I had one the other day which was a flashing oil light. The car had not long been serviced and the owner panicked and had the car low loaded to me as they feared a major component failure. It turned out to be a timed oil degrading warning light. Basically the garage who serviced it didn't know it had to be reset.

The owner did the right thing not knowing, I was always told if the oil light comes on turn the engine off immediately. Now it seems the manufacturers are changing the goal posts.

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I'd only know the more common ones like oil, battery etc. That's why I carry my car handbook in the pocket behind my seat.

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You pass your test in a built up area with a 30/40 m.p.h. speed limit,and the next day you are on your own ("in control, HA HA), of a ton or more of lethal machinery,do you creep around the built up area ?,hell no you head for the nearest Motorway to see how fast you can go.Do you watch your speedometer ? rev counter ? I guess not ,you are to busy trying to overtake the big Merc, in your clapped out banger.I must be too old and cynical but I do know my dashboard,and all the 30 different lights and signs which pop up in the facia.some people dont even know how to change radio channels.

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Worst with all this over done electrics is people now rely on them rather than carry out basic maintenance inspections.

BMW are one of the worse which rely solely on service lights and computer readings to determine what needs inspecting. I am thankful I am old school and can feel changes in the car and it's performance and carry out basic safety checks.

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Worst with all this over done electrics is people now rely on them rather than carry out basic maintenance inspections.

BMW are one of the worse which rely solely on service lights and computer readings to determine what needs inspecting. I am thankful I am old school and can feel changes in the car and it's performance and carry out basic safety checks.

The big problem these days is the "Chip", I used to do my own decokes,battery changes oil changes etc,years ago,but now you daren't lift the bonnet in case you disturb a Chip.But Chips can also go wrong, and repairs are very expensive.I guess its called "progress".
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You pass your test in a built up area with a 30/40 m.p.h. speed limit,and the next day you are on your own ("in control, HA HA), of a ton or more of lethal machinery,do you creep around the built up area ?,hell no you head for the nearest Motorway to see how fast you can go.Do you watch your speedometer ? rev counter ? I guess not ,you are to busy trying to overtake the big Merc, in your clapped out banger.I must be too old and cynical but I do know my dashboard,and all the 30 different lights and signs which pop up in the facia.some people dont even know how to change radio channels.

I saw a guy n the freeway once. He was pushing his little hondea to hard. The car looked like it was over stressed.

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I saw a guy n the freeway once. He was pushing his little hondea to hard. The car looked like it was over stressed.

Well you cant expect any more if you buy Jap Crap.
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Well you cant expect any more if you buy Jap Crap.

Can't blame the car on this, tge gent was huge and doing eighty.

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I'm not super shocked by this. Some cars are loaded up with all sorts of stuff. For example, my in-laws decided it was time for a new car, and they always have loaded cars. So they gave us their Audi- that thing has all sorts of crap on it. Some of it completely unnecessary IMO. Like do I need a special function that tells me I've been driving for 2 hours? Or a control panel just for seat adjustment?

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I think the control panel for seat adjustment is a good idea. Everyone needs to have the seat adjusted for them.

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Mercedes-Benz executive saloons.

Wait, what?

Benz is making rolling bars now?

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Can't blame the car on this, tge gent was huge and doing eighty.

He must have been pedalling like mad,hahahaha
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Who has time to read the dashboard? Everyone is too busy texting to worry about silly things like knowing your car or....driving it safely.

One thing that really kills me is people who rush to change their oil every 3,000 miles. They don't even know why, they just do it because about 20 years ago, someone decided they weren't selling enough motor oil. Not unlike Debeers who wanted to reap more profit and decided to start the 2 months salary for an engagement ring promotion. Now, most people don't even know why or where that came from, they just believe it's a set in stone thing to do.

By the way, changing your oil every 8,000 to 10,000 miles is more than adequate. How do I know? I used to make the motor oil and guess what? All standard motor oil is basically the same. In fact, when we were low, we'd by a few tankers from Mobil and just change the color or lower the viscosity slightly. Before oil gets to store shelves it's got all sorts of things removed from it. Tons of wax and resins. I can't speak on synthetics as they came along after my tenure.

My mothers dash light came on and she happen to have a friend with a diagnostic box. He plugged it in and it ended up being a $5 fix.

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I'm glad that I kept my old Mustang. :) Some dashboards and objects contain too many indecipherable symbols that don't match their uses. There's no obvious connection. Technology has grown, but common sense hasn't.

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Come on people don't tell me you don't want to know ho many miles your getting at what speeds.

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