Category: Articles & Commentaries

Discussions on topics of interest to drivers concerning things they may not understand about their vehicles as well as articles on the future of the auto industry.

U.S. Cars Sold Overseas Leave Drivers in the Dark

Drivers in the Dark, Part 1

Over the last several months we have been contacted by two drivers of U.S. cars sold and likely built overseas who could not find a back-up spot to drop the key fob in the event of the fob’s battery dying. Well, a good deal of sleuthing and a hunch resolved one of these cases.

First, we have to acknowledge the diligent work of one of the vehicles owners. He sent pics of all the spots we could think of that might be used as a back up slot and noted which style key was in use. Then after the hunch, he took the time to perform the test we suggested. The other driver essentially gave, up or possibly found an answer elsewhere and didn’t let us know.

The car in question was a Chevrolet Malibu. The owner’s manual was available and was dead wrong, which is, of course, the true source of the problem. The year, make and model in the U.S. has a back up slot in the center console.

As you can see from the photo he sent (right), the client’s car does not have this slot.

It also uses a flip key, which suggested a spot like that is used in the Cruze (right) or first generation Volt. No such plug in spot exists in the Malibu in question.

Part 2

Then, we got hold of a new, 2017 Cruze. And like a handful of other GM models, the back up slot had been moved to one of the cup holders. And, unlike European cars, the spot goes unmarked.

And while the Cruze did not use a flip key, it suggested a possible solution to our overseas client. He removed the battery from the fob and dropped it into the front cup holder, and was able to start the car (the fob will be recognized from the back up slot in GM vehicles, at least temporarily, even with the battery actually missing). He is relieved to have an actual back-up plan.

The moral of the story for drivers of U.S. designed vehicles sold overseas is this (and we include Ford as well just in case, although we have not seen this come up). If the battery in your key fob is dead, there is still a back up plan. However, your owner’s manual may not reflect it. Try each and every one of the dozen or so back up spots found on our pages. We are pretty confident one of them will get you going.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

M Favreau

The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2017/05/u-s-cars-sold-overseas-leave-drivers-in-the-dark/

Your Floor Mats Could Be Hazardous to Your Health

Floor Mat Safety

Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley of Chrisley Knows Best was seriously injured in a car accident in 2017. She has since recovered. The connection here is that she reported that the accident occurred when her floor mat got stuck behind the pedals of her car and she looked down to move them.

She used the accident as a call to reconnect with her maker. We’ll use it to speak instead of floor mat safety.

That’s right, safety. The lowly floor mat can be a massive hazard if it does not fit the car or is not properly installed and secured.

A poor fitting mat can be carelessly placed over the gas pedal itself. A carpeted mat draped over the pedal could easily get snagged between the pedal and the side wall or simply not allow the pedal to return when foot pressure is removed. And if not placed properly beneath the gas pedal, a mat can snag a the pedal while driving if it has slipped too far up the side.

Look for Mounting Clips

Nearly every vehicle manufactured for the last 15 to 20 years has mounting clips just in front of the seats, front and back. The driver’s location is clearly the most important. Factory-made mats attach to these clips in order to ensure they are placed properly. Many of the more expensive aftermarket mats also use these clips but only if they are made for a specific make and model.

The most common attachment style is simply pressed into place and lock with a snap. Another common style is a hook that needs to be approached from behind. A Nissan we examined used the hook style, but the back side of the mat stuck to the carpet below like Velcro. This made the mat very difficult to position and a user may quit on it. However, that stickiness will likely keep the mats away from the pedals.

You might remember that some years ago Toyota and Lexus were involved in what was a far reaching recall for unintended acceleration. What is not widely realized is the primary fix was to first, raise the gas pedal and second, replace the factory floor mats with new ones cut short of the pedals. The originals needed to be slipped beneath the gas pedal, and unfortunately, they were often simply draped over the pedal itself, something I saw first hand.

To its credit, Toyota never blamed a driver or overzealous car wash employee or anyone else — they simply removed the potential for the problem at a cost exceeding billions of dollars. However, a teaching moment was missed.

So, be vigilant. Stay away from aftermarket mats, particularly long ones that do not attach to the car. If you’re coming out of a car wash, check that the driver’s mat is re-attached — it often isn’t. And when cleaning your own car, be sure to replace the mats properly. They’ll look better and keep you safer as well.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2017/01/your-floor-mats-could-be-hazardous-to-your-health/

View from the Street: Do Salespeople Understand the Tech They Sell?

Salespeople Just Sell

An article appeared recently in Automotive News that essentially asked if salespeople know the technology in the cars they are selling. As someone who was at one time employed at an auto dealer, I can say that the short answer is all too often no. We’ll go with the long answer here.

In the article, a vehicle being test driven was allowed to hit a stopped vehicle because the car’s salesman was sure that the automatic braking function would bring the vehicle to a stop in time. It could not and did not. Unfamiliarity with the specifics of vehicle functions is a common occurrence. Training for salespeople is generally handled by computer courses, and passing requires only the completion of rather unchallenging tests.

I once listened in as regenerative braking technology in a hybrid vehicle was explained to a customer, completely wrong! And by the dealership’s owner!

First and foremost the majority of salespeople are just that, salespeople. Their concern, and that of their bosses, runs to the next commission and it is quite likely they know little about what they are selling, and don’t care to know. These are the same people expected to explain the vehicle’s function to the buyer after the sale.

The Deep End of the Problem

The problem is most prevalent in broad-line dealerships. That is, dealerships that offer stripped down models as well as vehicles with all the bells and whistles. The majority of sales will come from the low-end, and the experience level with new technology suffers. Turnover, cited in the article at 65% for men and 88% for women, contributes to the problems and is highest here as well.

High-line dealerships are not immune, as sales is a numbers game regardless. However, salespeople in these dealerships tend to stay with high-line manufacturers even as turnover occurs and their tech familiarity can be quite high.

In essence the article describes why we chose to create DashboardSymbols.com. We love new technology and despise how it is presented to the buying public. And this goes well beyond salespeople. New functions are incorporated into cars, new warning lights added, new pages printed in the owner’s manual, and training for owners is little more than what salespeople receive – without the poor testing.

So, while the industry struggles with getting their drivers to understand their products, we’ll continue to do what we can to give those drivers a leg up.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2016/12/view-from-the-street-do-salespeople-understand-auto-technology/

Tesla Eliminates Heat Stroke Risk from its Cars

Tesla Steps Up

Innovation continues to at a breakneck pace in the automotive world, and nowhere is innovation more front and center than at Tesla.

In case over the air updates weren’t innovative enough, the latest solves a problem that has stumped the best minds at every auto manufacturer: a car is shut down and left in the sun to overheat, and any occupant unable to exit, human or animal, perishes of heat stroke.

Update version 8.0 allows a Tesla to maintain a temperature of 40C or 105F by automatically venting the cabin and turning on the air conditioning when necessary. And most important, this process works even if the vehicle is turned off.

An updated Tesla can do this for up to a year on a full charge. Currently it stops at a 20% state of charge, a figure that may be adjustable somewhat in a later update.

On the flip side, the car can be made to stay warm on cold days. Cold has rarely been as serious an issue as heat stroke has been during the summer months however.

Practically An Afterthought

Elon Musk tweeted that it is his favorite new “feature”. To him, saving lives is just a feature. Ho hum.

Problem?
Solution.
Done.
Simple

This is the Musk way. The Tesla way.

Leaving everyone else just spinning their gas-powered wheels, yet again.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2016/09/tesla-eliminates-vexing-heat-stroke-risk-from-its-cars/

To Autopilot or Not to Autopilot, that Is the Question

Autopilot Risks

A recent accident involving a Tesla Model S with its Autopilot function engaged cost the life of the car’s driver. Since then, there have been calls to disable the function or as least rename it.

We have cautioned many times in these posts about the advance of technology in automobiles. The advances are racing ahead faster than motorists – and perhaps manufacturers – can keep up. We even came to the conclusion that reaching true self drive mode would resolve these issues by taking the car out of the hands of drivers and relieving them of the responsibility.

But the technology has not yet matured and it remains incumbent on motorists to remain alert and engaged. This goes for backing up with the assist of a camera and proximity sensors, changing lanes while a blind spot monitor is active, and certainly will remain the case with an autopilot engaged.

Nissan will reportedly enlist countermeasures to ensure that drivers remain alert as it rolls out its ProPilot system. A torque sensor on the steering column will determine whether a hand is in contact with the steering wheel. Moving from warning lights through beepers to system disengagement, ProPilot will require driver input, period.

We applaud this from a company that has frankly been irresponsible in its advertising of other driver assist systems.

Tesla cites the fact that in order to engage its Autopilot function, the vehicle operator must pass through and accept a warning that the system requires the driver’s attention. It is essentially the equivalent of reading a software license agreement, which we all skim at best, and is not enough.

Airline Pilots Get Confused Too

Pilot confusion with an engaged Autothrottle system was cited as the cause of the crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 in San Francisco in July of 2013. Pilots with thousands of hours of experience and training still managed to fall on human error. Drivers will never be given training remotely equivalent to that of an airline pilot. Nissan has it right in this case.

To be completely fair, 100 people die on average every day on U.S. roadways and a single fatality after well over one million miles driven on Autopilot has everyone shouting to the rafters.

For the foreseeable future however, autonomous driving system designs need to keep the driver in his or her seat – unlike this early Tesla example from a year ago – as well as engaged in the driving process. It may defeat the spirit and purpose of autonomous operation from the driver’s perspective, but safety is the ultimate goal.

Perhaps as vehicles became more computerized, a second seat could be given the driving responsibility at times.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2016/07/to-autopilot-or-not-to-autopilot-that-is-the-question/

Is Anyone Ready for a Self-driving Car?

Ready for a Self-driving?

Evidently, according to reports, only a very few drivers are ready for a self driving car.

In a recent newscast from Automotive News, Bloomberg was cited as a source saying that one half to three quarters of all drivers do not want a self-driving car. Parts supplier Robert Bosch stated that drivers will need to be persuaded. They noted that we all have experience with computers crashing, phone apps misbehaving, and there is understandable alarm at the thought of software being in control of our cars. We’ve been saying this for a while now…

But these statements, and those of Automotive News commentator Krishnan Anantharaman, fail to truly grasp the real disconnect between drivers and technology. He stated that driver behavior says that they do want self-driving technology – on everyone else’s cars, since we all overstate our own abilities behind the wheel and yet continue to cause accidents. He’s absolutely right about this. But these folks themselves exhibit a real disconnect from drivers as well as another set of their behaviors.

The Tech We Want

In the showroom, driver’s want automatic braking. They want blind spot monitoring. They want sensors to help them park and back up cameras with collision warning, etc., etc., etc.

These shoppers simply don’t recognize that these are all technological elements that lead directly to cars driving themselves. They don’t eat, breath and sleep cars and technology – we do.

As has been the case for at least a decade, technology continues to advance faster than driver’s can assimilate. Not because they are stupid, lazy or out of touch. But simply because they have full, busy lives that leave little time to learn what auto manufacturers take for granted their customers will take the time to learn.

Once the industry grasps this, it will have a far easier time moving its customers to self-driving cars. They will be free to focus on what’s necessary in their lives and not what they are told is necessary by their car’s manufacturer.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2016/05/whos-ready-for-a-self-driving-car/

Three Things to Know about Automatic Braking

Automatic Braking

The news in March 2016 is that 20 auto manufacturers and counting have agreed to roll out automatic braking in their cars by the 2022 model year. These are terrific systems and a technology we love and we only argue that there is little reason other than cost to wait a full six years for full roll out.

Regardless, here are three things to know about these systems.

1) Naming

Pre-collision System, Auto Braking, Automatic Emergency Braking, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Collision Avoidance – these are all names for the same thing and serve only to pump up the egos of manufacturers. There is simply no reason for multiple naming schemes that confuse the average driver who has more than enough to remember about his or her car. Anti-lock brakes has satisfied everyone from the start and never needed embellishment. The trend that somehow allows each manufacturer to give its own moniker to every new safety system is senseless and needs to stop.

Standardize on one name. Period.

2) Presentation

Subaru gets a gold star here. It has been advertising its Eye Sight system for some time, using unmanned cars aimed at static obstacles. By contrast, Nissan and Infiniti have been advertising their systems using drivers in traffic who are simply not paying attention. Hyundai went this route with its Super Bowl ad featuring Ryan Reynolds and Volkswagen has recently got into the distracted driver act. Mercedes has gone both ways, using an obstacle course in one ad and a driver who actually puts a child in the driver’s seat of a fully autonomous vehicle in another. Have the airbags been removed??

We’ve taken Mercedes-Benz and Nissan to task for their advertising in the past. Safety systems are no substitute for paying attention while behind the wheel and certainly not an excuse for essentially teaching drivers that their new car doesn’t need them to pay attention to the road or to the safety of their passengers.

3) Liability

A self driving Google car, with a driver on board but not in control, was recently involved in an accident in California while in testing and Google said a very funny thing. Its car turned into a city bus and the company said “In this case, we clearly bear some responsibility…”. Some responsible? Who else is there to blame?

The industry says that liability issues surrounded autonomous systems have yet to be ironed out. Months ago, Volvo said flatly that it would take responsibility for any accidents that result from a failure of its autonomous features. The roll out of automatic braking is underway and there is no more time to decide. If auto manufacturers are going to install systems that they will claim will stop a vehicle before a collision, then those manufacturers have placed themselves in the path of liability.

This is a collision that cannot be avoided.

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M Favreau

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2016/03/three-things-to-know-about-automatic-braking/