auto technology | DashboardSymbols.com

Stress Dangers

In our last post, we discussed the gap in the knowledge of automotive technology in first responders, as represented by a video from truthaboutcars.com and YouTube. It featured a man pulled over in his Tesla for having a computer mounted on his dashboard. The item is linked here.

But as we thought more about this, the video painted a very clear picture of how people tend to react to stressful situations.

The driver pulled over describes the computer as “his only center console” when he clearly meant something else and stated that it handles his air conditioning.

In truth, it is the car’s entire instrument panel! The screen offers control of everything, as well as a view to the functioning of the car, and mapping, etc. The center console is simply not in play.

A Thank You

Some weeks earlier, we had received this thank you (right) for one of our videos, covering a Mini in this case. We’ve transcribed it here, ‘as is’.

“Thank you 73 year old lady, 2013 mini nervous and panicked in parking lot with dead FOB yesterday. Your video heloed get everything up and running. Hard to read a manual with out reading glasses in stress situation. Thank you again.”

She describes perfectly the difficulty people face solving a problem and reading a manual while under stress. And stress is the central theme.

She identifies herself as 73, and the stress is due to the all too common key fob problem that we put a great deal of emphasis on here at DashboardSymbols.com. The video we discussed earlier puts the stress of being pulled over on full display.

Is Age the Issue?

But first we also get to once again dispel the ageism myth. The driver in the video is clearly quite young and still stutters and stammers his way through his interactions with the police officer.

This reaction to stress happens to us all irrespective of age, and returns us to our primary thesis. The relentless increase in automotive technology continues to outpace driver knowledge. And for those of you tempted to blame the driver for lack of effort, we will repeat that all of us learn by use and repetition, and if a new problem crops up, it will make little difference whether or not the driver has read about it in the manual months earlier.

And it is all too often the little things — and things that could easily be removed from the equation, taking us back to key fobs. If the battery in the fob dies, there is a back up plan, but there is no standardization. We know of and have documented exposing hidden keys holes from 15 manufacturers, a dozen variations for retrieving the standard ‘hard’ key from the fob, and over 50 distinct starting variations.

The hidden key holes are a particularly pointless exercise intended only to make a square inch of the car prettier. What it does in truth is leave drivers with dead key fobs vulnerable outside of their cars, fumbling for a mechanical key and trying to expose a lock cylinder. Will it happen on a warm summer day at home? Most likely it will be dark, rainy, cold, snowy, or in a parking garage with cell service blocked.

Make no mistake, these are safety issues and the responsibility lies with the manufacturer to make getting in to the relative safety of the car as easy as possible, and the majority of manufacturers are failing.

At the very least, once inside a manual can be consulted to get help to get the car started, but remember that stress is still in play.

Only a few manufacturers give a useful message if starting the car fails as shown to the right. And while we had at one time hoped that the industry would move to make this clear in every vehicle, most still simply refer the driver to the manual.

Unfortunately, it will take someone getting hurt or worse, or a manufacturer getting sued before this will change, and even if it does, there will be millions of vehicles already on the road holding tight to the old ways.

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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.

Marc 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

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.