Still don't know much about my new car..........

[CathyA]

I got a new car in August. It's more like a mobile computer. So far, I can almost figure out the ventilation.......for the front of the car...........although the settings for the passenger are different. :0!

I only have one channel on the radio so far. I lost my compass (in the car.........I lost my personal compass a long time ago..:laff:).....anyhow, I can't figure out how to get the compass direction back up on the screen. I've looked through the manual several times and it has nothing about the compass. I did figure out I can get the compass direction by pressing on the end of the turn signal stick momentarily, and it will come up on the screen.
I am able to understand the one small screen that either shows me Trip A, or Trip B., or my gas mileage average for each trip, or how many miles since I bought the car and the percent oil life, or what I ate last, or
when my last B.M. was. :~)

Let's see........I sort of figured out how to lock or unlock the one door, or all the doors.
I can't figure out how to turn those lights out on the front of the car that run all the time I'm driving it.....even in the day. How am I supposed to sneak up on anyone at night if I can't turn all those lights out?

I discovered my remote device has a hidden key in it. But I don't think there's any place on the car to stick it into.

Yes, I have a manual..........but it's like reading an insurance policy. At least it's in english.

I do love my new car, but I only really need to drive it forward and backwards, turn on the lights, honk the horn......you know....the basics.

I just wonder how many older people have major problems with these computers on wheels? I really think it's all sort of unnecessary and silly.

[frugal-one]

I got a new car in August. It's more like a mobile computer. So far, I can almost figure out the ventilation.......for the front of the car...........although the settings for the passenger are different. :0!

I only have one channel on the radio so far. I lost my compass (in the car.........I lost my personal compass a long time ago..:laff:).....anyhow, I can't figure out how to get the compass direction back up on the screen. I've looked through the manual several times and it has nothing about the compass. I did figure out I can get the compass direction by pressing on the end of the turn signal stick momentarily, and it will come up on the screen.
I am able to understand the one small screen that either shows me Trip A, or Trip B., or my gas mileage average for each trip, or how many miles since I bought the car and the percent oil life, or what I ate last, or
when my last B.M. was. :~)

Let's see........I sort of figured out how to lock or unlock the one door, or all the doors.
I can't figure out how to turn those lights out on the front of the car that run all the time I'm driving it.....even in the day. How am I supposed to sneak up on anyone at night if I can't turn all those lights out?

I discovered my remote device has a hidden key in it. But I don't think there's any place on the car to stick it into.

Yes, I have a manual..........but it's like reading an insurance policy. At least it's in english.

I do love my new car, but I only really need to drive it forward and backwards, turn on the lights, honk the horn......you know....the basics.

I just wonder how many older people have major problems with these computers on wheels? I really think it's all sort of unnecessary and silly.

I would go to the place that I bought the car from and have them go through everything with me. I'm sure they would have no problem doing this since they want a "repeat" customer and one who tells others about their great service.

[iris lilies]

I still haven't figured out how to find and use the trip odometer on the car I bought in 2009.

That same car sometimes goes into kilometer mode rather than miles mode, and I have to pull out the damn manual every time to read up on resetting it. The "reset" button doesn't re set that feature.

my dream computerized feature is to have, on each one of my digital devices, a master setting that would always recall past settings by hitting a big red button labelled "Re-set all settings to original"

When I win the lottery I am going to have my own personal programmer build this in to each device. Or maybe I just need a 15 year old boy living here.

[Float On]

A lot of people have that problem. When we were looking at trucks 2 years ago I kid you not, 2 people stopped by the dealer to see if they could get someone to teach them about the computers in their new cars. I wonder if anyone has done any youtube videos for the make/model you bought.

I've been driving an '09 since '11 and just last weekend figured out that I could put my phone through the radio (well, actually my son asked why I'd never set it up and I said "we can?"...so he did it for me).

[SteveinMN]

One wonders why Apple and Google have not done more to integrate their mobile operating systems into other things. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to leverage whatever you've learned about using your phone to operate features in your car? Maybe that's where their mobile efforts are headed. But I would have thought at least some of that would be here by now.

[CathyA]

The guy that sold us the car did go over things........but it was just too much too fast. The dealership is about 45 miles away. I might call him. But you know how some people are.......they just aren't good teachers and they just assume everyone knows what they know.
Float On......I'll check out YouTube. There's a lot to be learned there! I guess you can connect your iPhone to the one screen in this car, and it pretty much shows everything that's in your phone. And you can text (I think), just by talking. But all this just leads to less safe drivers.
I had my last car for 15 years and I'm sure I had things that I never discovered.
DH brought up something........with these side-mirror cameras (actually, I only have one on the right).......think of how much it might cost if you knock your mirror off, as compared to if it's just a plain old mirror.
I'm pretty happy with not using a lot of the functions. Just wish the simple things haven't been made difficult.

I wonder if accidents will go up because of all this extra stuff......especially with older people? I get distracted by just trying to adjust the fan!

[Float On]

I wonder if accidents will go up because of all this extra stuff......especially with older people? I get distracted by just trying to adjust the fan! That is exactly what both older couples said when talking to the dealer. Both stated they hadn't really gone anywhere because they were afraid of their cars!

[CathyA]

I was afraid to go out for awhile too.........but I always have been, when I first get a new car. It's scary to think how much you've spent on that thing, and you might be going out in crazy traffic!

I guess the approach I took was to just use it to drive first.....and not worry about the ventilation/radio/all the computer screens. I figured as long as I knew how to make it go forward and backward and where the turn signals were, I was probably okay.
(But even the front/rear wipers were a bit complicated.) I wonder if someone will come out with an "old fashioned" new car, to meet the demands of the aging? I had considered an older used car, but then you worry about how long it will last.

So now that I have going forward and reverse down pat, I'll try to learn something new every so often. I just want to find that compass though, and can't seem to.

[Dhiana]

One wonders why Apple and Google have not done more to integrate their mobile operating systems into other things. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to leverage whatever you've learned about using your phone to operate features in your car? Maybe that's where their mobile efforts are headed. But I would have thought at least some of that would be here by now.

A friend of mine in Tokyo has been working on just this for the last couple of years. It's coming. Maybe.

[Teacher Terry]

I was laughing so hard when I read this. I replaced my 1999 Volvo 2 years ago with a 2010 HOnda Accord & had plenty to learn. My hubby knows how to do lots of things I don't. If I can use the heat/air, wipers. lights, radio/dvd player, move the mirrors & the seats then I am a happy camper. I can remember when we got our first VCR and my hubby was not home & I couldn't figure out how to program it to record a show & I was reading the manual etc. My youngest son was 8 at the time-took the remote from me & programmed my show. After that I figured I was good if I always had a kid:~). Just like when I get a new phone & have to learn how to use it-ugh!

[pony mom]

On the show Top Gear, they designed a car for elderly drivers. It was the color of a hearing aid, had a giant front bumper and a squeaky ball under the brake pedal so you would know if you hit the brake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6AnXi2N_do

I'm not techie enough for a new car and the power windows in my '03 Forester were a big enough thrill for me.

[freshstart]

I was not old when I got my Prius, certain things I needed to know since I drove around all day, so read the manual dutifully back to front. Then once I opened the manual and a freaking DVD on how to drive the car fell into my lap. If I need a DVD to understand my car, well, right now, that's my limit.

When that got totaled, I got a cheap Accent. I wanted a small car for mileage as I was reimbursed for miles and it had to fit into the world's smallest garage, which it did (when I test drove cars, I somehow convinced the dealer I could go alone and drove to my house and would try to fit the car into my garage, or some said ok, thats not far, I'll come with you, lol). I did not get any fancy features, it doesn't even have a remote to unlock it. And you do not need a DVD because it's just a car, not the Bat Mobile. The only luxury I miss is heated, leather seats. I did not even like Bluetooth tech that made it possible for hands free talk, no one could hear me. It did have this awesome two layer trunk where I could store all my nursing gear on the bottom. But now I'm not working as a nurse so I don't miss that either.

My non-tech car has my favorite thing, an actual right armrest that I am not too short to use, a moveable armrest like on a minivan seat.

I hope there will always be a car like that to fall back on. Unless Apple gets involved, then screw simplicity and put me down for one, lol

[pinkytoe]

I really think it's all sort of unnecessary and silly.
I think this is true of so much of the technology being thrown at us. I am going on nine months with a new to me car. I purposely bought the base model hoping it would be simpler. It irks me continually that I have to use a remote device to open doors and trunk. I like keys not because I'm old but because they are simple and don't require batteries or make noises.

[Williamsmith]

If I were younger, I might actually try to market restored simple cars with low technology to the retiring baby boomers. It is a large demographic and I think a lot of them are like me....just want a car to get from A to B and not a fashion statement or an over priced high tech platform that will be obsolete in one year. Do you realize how easy it would be to restore a vintage car without spending 30K and it would not be reliant on all the electronics and computer systems of today's market.

[kib]

It took us two years to figure out how to get the navigator to stop bellowing at us. Reminded me of the new Vacation movie. TURN RIGHT! TURN RIGHT! Given the tone of the thing, it might as well have added, 'You stupid idiots! Are you deaf? Where did you get your license, Sears?" There's also some issue with the map, it wants to stay with north up, so if you're driving south, the arrow is pointing down. So it indicates a left turn with an arrow that points right (unless you're looking at it upside down.)

I can turn on the radio, use the lights, and lock the doors. This seems adequate for my high tech car needs, so I'm ignoring the rest.

[freshstart]

There's also some issue with the map, it wants to stay with north up, so if you're driving south, the arrow is pointing down. So it indicates a left turn with an arrow that points right (unless you're looking at it upside down.)


that would make me insane and as soon as I realized it did that, I would be at the dealer saying I want reimbursement for that stupid feature, lol

[kib]

Lol. It says (shrieks) Turn Left!!!, so as long as I don't actually look at it, I'm fine. >8)

[sweetana3]

Well, it took me 2 years to find out our Civic had a handle that if pumped up and down raised and lowered the driver's seat. Hubby did not know either so he bought me a cushion and thought he did good. We just got a CRV and have to learn all the new computer things. At least the simple items like lights and windshield wipers are the same.
Husband wanted all the sensors. He is studying the online manual so he knows something when he picks up the car.

[SteveinMN]

I did not get any fancy features, it doesn't even have a remote to unlock it.
My very first car, a Renault designed in the early 70s, had power nothing. Didn't even have preset buttons for the radio; just a knob to twirl in the desired direction. I miss that car, though I don't miss servicing it. As bad as American cars were in the 70s, the French cars (at least the ones they imported here) were worse.


If I were younger, I might actually try to market restored simple cars with low technology to the retiring baby boomers. It is a large demographic and I think a lot of them are like me....just want a car to get from A to B and not a fashion statement or an over priced high tech platform that will be obsolete in one year.
Thing is, many (most?) retiring baby boomers like the safety of newer cars. That's something that cannot be engineered in afterward. The airbags, the crash management systems (with airbag deployment some cars will pre-tension the safety belts, switch off the engine, cut the fuel flow, unlock the doors, and use telematics to call for help), the better headlamps, etc., were rare in older cars and most likely would be uneconomical to add in.

Neither DW nor I ever cared about things like power windows or garage-door openers or many of those other conveniences. Until we got them. Now it would be hard (but not impossible) to go without them.

[Alan]

Neither DW nor I ever cared about things like power windows or garage-door openers or many of those other conveniences. Until we got them. Now it would be hard (but not impossible) to go without them.
Agreed on the "until we got them" sentiment. The luxuries we were initially reluctant to pay for such as air conditioning, power windows/seats or radio (did you know you used to be able to buy a new car without one?) are now must haves. Now, I'm reluctant to purchase one without features such as Navigation, external camera, Bluetooth, built-in garage door opener, etc.

I'm driving a rental car this week due to an unfortunate run in with a deer. I can't wait to get my amenities back.

[iris lilies]

I consider that I went backwards in my last car purchase.

The most luxurious car I ever had was a 1991 Ford Taurus. It had soft plush fabric seats, air conditioning, automatic windows, and electronic seat adjustment. Those improvements were a huge step up from the stripped down truck I had been driving. It was also a used vehicle and super cheap, we paid below book price.

This last new vehicle has cheap fabric on the seats and no electronic seat adjustment. I don't much like it.

[CathyA]

I'm driving a rental car this week due to an unfortunate run in with a deer. I can't wait to get my amenities back.

Oh no! I hope no one was hurt. I'm sure the deer probably was though. :( Running into a deer can be quite destructive. Sounds like they can fix your car?

Yeah, those manual window levers can get old and tough to use..........causing some bursitis-type issues. I do wish I had the navigation..........but that would have added too much money. Plus, I like the adventure of being totally lost and finally finding my way. :~)

[Alan]

Oh no! I hope no one was hurt. I'm sure the deer probably was though. :( Running into a deer can be quite destructive. Sounds like they can fix your car?

Nope, no one hurt, I'm not even sure that the deer was. It's rutting season and a gigantic buck ran right in front of me in pursuit of a couple of does in a field. I hit it in the rump and did about $3500 damage to my hood, grill and headlight. After I stopped and inspected the damage I went back down the road to check on the deer and it was no where to be found. Should have my car back on Wednesday, just in time for Thanksgiving.

[CathyA]

That's good! (except for the $3500.00) A number of years ago, there was a deer that was jumping over the interstate lane and went right through a car. Didn't turn out so well for anybody. :(
Do the trees get rubbed badly in that woods behind you? We have to put fencing around all our smaller trees if we don't want them rubbed to death.

I used to have deer whistles on my car. Not sure if they worked or not. Glad you weren't hurt.

[Trimatty471]

I got a new car in August. It's more like a mobile computer. So far, I can almost figure out the ventilation.......for the front of the car...........although the settings for the passenger are different. :0!

I only have one channel on the radio so far. I lost my compass (in the car.........I lost my personal compass a long time ago..:laff:).....anyhow, I can't figure out how to get the compass direction back up on the screen. I've looked through the manual several times and it has nothing about the compass. I did figure out I can get the compass direction by pressing on the end of the turn signal stick momentarily, and it will come up on the screen.
I am able to understand the one small screen that either shows me Trip A, or Trip B., or my gas mileage average for each trip, or how many miles since I bought the car and the percent oil life, or what I ate last, or
when my last B.M. was. :~)

Let's see........I sort of figured out how to lock or unlock the one door, or all the doors.
I can't figure out how to turn those lights out on the front of the car that run all the time I'm driving it.....even in the day. How am I supposed to sneak up on anyone at night if I can't turn all those lights out?

I discovered my remote device has a hidden key in it. But I don't think there's any place on the car to stick it into.

Yes, I have a manual..........but it's like reading an insurance policy. At least it's in english.

I do love my new car, but I only really need to drive it forward and backwards, turn on the lights, honk the horn......you know....the basics.

I just wonder how many older people have major problems with these computers on wheels? I really think it's all sort of unnecessary and silly.

i thought it was just me. I bought my car early November. I do not know how to use the radio yet. Bluetooth? Nope. Had to pull out the manual to figure out how to defog the widows. Never got the hang of locking and unlocking the doors. I am 40 years old. Young enough to know better.

[Trimatty471]

The guy that sold us the car did go over things........but it was just too much too fast. The dealership is about 45 miles away. I might call him. But you know how some people are.......they just aren't good teachers and they just assume everyone knows what they know.
Float On......I'll check out YouTube. There's a lot to be learned there! I guess you can connect your iPhone to the one screen in this car, and it pretty much shows everything that's in your phone. And you can text (I think), just by talking. But all this just leads to less safe drivers.
I had my last car for 15 years and I'm sure I had things that I never discovered.
DH brought up something........with these side-mirror cameras (actually, I only have one on the right).......think of how much it might cost if you knock your mirror off, as compared to if it's just a plain old mirror.
I'm pretty happy with not using a lot of the functions. Just wish the simple things haven't been made difficult.

I wonder if accidents will go up because of all this extra stuff......especially with older people? I get distracted by just trying to adjust the fan!.

I never mastered the ability to drive and change the station. I got friends who can text and drive. Reach behind them and drive. I am so ashamed!

[Trimatty471]

I was afraid to go out for awhile too.........but I always have been, when I first get a new car. It's scary to think how much you've spent on that thing, and you might be going out in crazy traffic!

I guess the approach I took was to just use it to drive first.....and not worry about the ventilation/radio/all the computer screens. I figured as long as I knew how to make it go forward and backward and where the turn signals were, I was probably okay.
(But even the front/rear wipers were a bit complicated.) I wonder if someone will come out with an "old fashioned" new car, to meet the demands of the aging? I had considered an older used car, but then you worry about how long it will last.

So now that I have going forward and reverse down pat, I'll try to learn something new every so often. I just want to find that compass though, and can't seem to.

Yep. This is my first car in over 17 years. I am still intimidated. I got it so bad that I only drive to work and back and in my own neighborhood. Outside, I take the bus or the train.

[Trimatty471]

I think this is true of so much of the technology being thrown at us. I am going on nine months with a new to me car. I purposely bought the base model hoping it would be simpler. It irks me continually that I have to use a remote device to open doors and trunk. I like keys not because I'm old but because they are simple and don't require batteries or make noises.

Yes. But this is the world we live in...

[jp1]

I have to rent cars for work probably 15 times per year, so I've gotten to experience a variety of different models of new cars. Some have been easier to figure out than others. My biggest dislike are the ones where they have a big touchscreen for controlling most, or all, of the radio. I much prefer the radio to be controllable by feel of the buttons rather than having to look at the screen. I also prefer that the basics like climate control be as basic as possible. I never found it particularly difficult to adjust the heat when there were 3 buttons to modulate which vents the air comes out of, and a couple of dial controls for temperature and fan speed, plus two more buttons for a/c and rear defrost. Anything more complicated than that is not an improvement it's just a hassle.

[Yossarian]

One wonders why Apple and Google have not done more to integrate their mobile operating systems into other things. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to leverage whatever you've learned about using your phone to operate features in your car? Maybe that's where their mobile efforts are headed. But I would have thought at least some of that would be here by now.

Don't know if you can access this:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/is-apples-carplay-aiding-gm-sales-1449864225

[SteveinMN]

Don't know if you can access this:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/is-apples-carplay-aiding-gm-sales-1449864225
Thanks! I have to sign in or subscribe to see the article. Let me see if someone else has cached it on the Internet...

[Yossarian]

Thanks! I have to sign in or subscribe to see the article. Let me see if someone else has cached it on the Internet...

Here's a trick- if you take the headlines from paywalled articles and google them often times you can access the whole article through the google results link.



CarPlay, Apple’s software that displays an iPhone’s screen on a car dashboard and gives access to applications, including Apple’s mapping application, became available on 27 GM models this fall, far more than any other auto company.
Some auto makers, including Honda Motor (http://quotes.wsj.com/HMC) Co. and Volkswagen (http://quotes.wsj.com/VLKAY) AG, offer the software on a few models, and virtually every car company plans to introduce it and competing software for Alphabet (http://quotes.wsj.com/GOOGL) Inc.’s Android operating system in coming years.

[jp1]

Here's a trick- if you take the headlines from paywalled articles and google them often times you can access the whole article through the google results link.

Often that is the case, but apparently the wsj thinks this is a super duper valuable article.

[Yossarian]

Often that is the case, but apparently the wsj thinks this is a super duper valuable article.

It works for me on this one. Googled the title, comes up as the first hit and I can click through to get the full article. Odd that it works different for you. I wonder how Google decides which searches work that way and which don't

[jp1]

Supposedly everyone's google searches are different, even if searching for the same thing. One of the variables that have an effect is one's location. Perhaps since I live in an expensive city google thinks I'm more willing to pay for a wsj article...

[SteveinMN]

It works for me on this one. Googled the title, comes up as the first hit and I can click through to get the full article. Odd that it works different for you. I wonder how Google decides which searches work that way and which don't
I knew about that trick (thanks for the tip, though!), so I tried it this morning. I use DuckDuckGo instead of Google, so it does not surprise me that the search results were a bit different. One thing I wish DDG did that Google did (does?) is to cache the page. I used to see a lot of older/paywalled pages that way. Without a cached version, though, WSJ wants $$.

I think I'll keep the DDG search page bookmarked and see in a couple of weeks if someone carries the article after WSJ decides it has milked it financially for what it can.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea "duck duck go" but having given up on some searches in hopelessness, I resorted back to google. I still didn't find what I was looking for. But EVEN SO I have to admit the google searches were *better*. I was looking for some old essays I remember reading, and the "duck duck go" searches really didn't seem to bring up pages that combined the full string of words I had entered (I was not looking for an exact string in a certain order), but seemed to hook on to the most prominent word(s) and present mainstream search results based on that, whereas the google search understood that putting in a bunch of words meant I was looking for things that would involve the interaction of the various words, which is to say interaction of the concepts, and brought up much more obscure stuff where the interaction was there. Now maybe I somehow could have used "duck duck go" better ... I don't know.

[Yossarian]

I knew about that trick (thanks for the tip, though!), so I tried it this morning. I use DuckDuckGo instead of Google, so it does not surprise me that the search results were a bit different. One thing I wish DDG did that Google did (does?) is to cache the page. I used to see a lot of older/paywalled pages that way. Without a cached version, though, WSJ wants $$.

I think I'll keep the DDG search page bookmarked and see in a couple of weeks if someone carries the article after WSJ decides it has milked it financially for what it can.

I think it is more complicated than that. There is a limit to the number of times you can jump the paywall. I think for the WSJ it is 3 a day. So it isn't just accessing the cached version, the WSJ is implicitly endorsing, up to a point, the access for non-subscribers.

[SteveinMN]

I'm sorry; I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. If you're meaning there's a number of stories you can look at before the paywall kicks in, that's the first time in a while I've hit the WSJ site. I have a friend on another forum who sometimes posts links to WSJ articles and they seem to be usable for a few days before they go behind the paywall. Unless maybe the link you posted has a session ID that WSJ counts each time it's used and that usage hit the paywall...

[Yossarian]

It must be something like that. I was double checking the story was still available and could not this time, got a window that popped up and said I had hit my max 3 free stories, would I like to subscribe. I think the NY Times has a similar system.

When I checked the availability from another computer (again though Google) it let me in free again so there must be some kind of counter in the system.