Sorry, you can't listen to the radio

[bigstraight6]

Today I had to collect a company owned Citroen DS4 from being serviced, and had to sit in the car for a while waiting for ATS to show up to repair a tyre, so I thought I'd listen to radio 2 to pass the time.

 

After about 5 minutes the radio switched off and a message appeared on its screen stating 'Economy mode' and the only way I could get the radio back was to start the car, but again you only get 5 minutes before it decides to shut down again!

 

 

I collered a passing salesman to see if there was anyway of overriding this fantastic feature and no was the answer, I said that's extremely irratating and he said all their customers think the same!

 

It's a bit of an ironic 'Economy mode' where you need to be burning fuel just to listen to the radio, all modern cars are shit!

[jonny69]

Same in Peugeots. It's just another thing on a very long list of stuff that makes me hate it and my piss boils every time I get in it.

 

I'd rather drive mine which involves being completely unsure if I'm actually going to complete a journey and arriving shaken up with a sore throat and stinking of exhaust fumes.

[dollywobbler]

Came across this on a Peugeot 206. Though that at least came back on again when you pressed the button. Infuriatingly stupid and the start (contrary to Junkman's beliefs) of things going entirely wrong.

 

I was almost in tears when I discovered our Peugeot Boxer minibuses can't receive Long Wave. No Test Match Special for me that day (especially as I couldn't get any stations at all on Medium Wave).

[sierraman]

Are they having a laugh? How much do they think the radio will use? It's only a 7.5a fuse so it can't be a lot can it?

[UltraWomble]

The radios in my early cars were all LW and MW ( GO PO) only. I used to yearn for FM.... Still Atlantic 252 wasnt bad

[hairnet]

Came across this on a Peugeot 206. Though that at least came back on again when you pressed the button. Infuriatingly stupid and the start (contrary to Junkman's beliefs) of things going entirely wrong.

 

I was almost in tears when I discovered our Peugeot Boxer minibuses can't receive Long Wave. No Test Match Special for me that day (especially as I couldn't get any stations at all on Medium Wave).

exactly the reason why i will never buy a post 02 vauxhall.....

 

having had to use a combo van without this for 3 years - i rejoiced when they bought nemos and they have am only too

[steve_earwig]

I'm not sure if it varies from car to car but, with a decent (oversize) battery in my Pug, I get substantially more than 5 minutes (half an hour maybe? I've never timed it). With a knackered battery it's likely to be much shorter.

 

I forgot the Toyoyo doesn't do this the other week while I was cleaning it and when the time came to pick t'wife up from work I had to shove it out the way to get the Pug out..

[twosmoke300]

Isnt it fords that the radios stay on for an hour with the ign off with one press of the power button and 1.5 hrs with 2 etc . Always thought that was a good idea but being a ford I expect the radio will rust out at some point

[Junkman]

Infuriatingly stupid and the start (contrary to Junkman's beliefs) of things going entirely wrong.

 

Correct. Junkman believes the start of things going entirey wrong was the very first time someone put a radio into a car.

[hairnet]

Isnt it fords that the radios stay on for an hour with the ign off with one press of the power button and 1.5 hrs with 2 etc . Always thought that was a good idea but being a ford I expect the radio will rust out at some point

mk 5 fiesta does that with ign off you get an hour but you could set it to mins if you wanted apparently

[tooSavvy]

... opposite to 'cut out'.... I have passed cars in carparks where the radio is ON... blaring away and not a soul nearby.

 

Might that be a car with a 'not switching thru IGN' radio... running out a CD (lol... tape with silent end) but it ends and the radio then comes on..??

 

I would say I have seen this more than once or twice....

 

...... unless the owner knew me and was hiding under the dash..... 

 

 

TS

[Squire_Dawson]

Very soon you won't be able to listen to any radio unless it's digital, because the Government want to switch the FM signal off.

[steve_earwig]

You make it sound like DC's sitting with his finger poised over a big OFF switch, I suspect it'll be a deal harder to arrange than that.

 

It'd be good if they did that here though, I don't think they even have any digital radio, perfect.

[HH-R]

This annoys me immensely about the work van, not for the radio, but trying to write the mileage down and the display keeps changing, then says ECONOMY MODE and you can't see it. Right, so I have to start it and leave it idling for 30 seconds while I write it down? Sounds economical.

[HH-R]

exactly the reason why i will never buy a post 02 vauxhall.....

 

having had to use a combo van without this for 3 years - i rejoiced when they bought nemos and they have am only too

 

I can think of bigger reasons not to own a Vauxhall than that...

 

... opposite to 'cut out'.... I have passed cars in carparks where the radio is ON... blaring away and not a soul nearby.

 

Might that be a car with a 'not switching thru IGN' radio... running out a CD (lol... tape with silent end) but it ends and the radio then comes on..??

 

I would say I have seen this more than once or twice....

 

...... unless the owner knew me and was hiding under the dash..... 

 

 

TS

My Punto's radio sometimes used to come on if it was thunder and lightning outside.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I don't have a radio in my car

[twosmoke300]

We had a xantia once that used to put the radio to max volume instantly if you touched the steering wheel controls . Used to love not telling people about it and listen to them describe the near heart attack they had .

[Cavcraft]

Still Atlantic 252 wasnt bad

 

Atlantic 252 was only 'not bad' if you had some incurable mental disorder where the voices in your head told you to listen to 'Bird House In Your Soul' by They Might Be Giants several thousand times a day. Ideally via the medium of some Harry Moss car speakers during a thunder and lightning storm, in a corrugated iron shed in the Outer bastard Hebrides.

[twosmoke300]

^^^ that's what a252 sounded like on a top notch sound system anyway !

[Vin]

Brava and Marea give you about 20 mins radio without the keys in and then turns off...I always assumed it was to stop the battery draining if you locked up and left the car...

[Junkman]

I don't have a radio in my car

 

In my cars usually is a rectangular hole puking wires where the radio once was. Interestingly, both of my current on the road cars have radios, and both of them work.

The one in the Rover is without a doubt the better one, because it has no short wave, so it saves me from the meaningless noise broadcasted on this band altogether.

If I set it to long wave, I can receive French radio stations once I'm south of Birmingham. If I ever listened to mainstream media, that is.

[beko1987]

I picked up some french station on the m6/m5/m42 (cany remember now) heading to shitefest thinking about it.

 

Was funky and im sure my car ran better listening to iy. The music finished, they started talking french so i seeked some more and found a drum and bass station that ran out on the a5 (may have been why i pulled ahead for a bit semi c, get a bit of a heavy foot if a bit of d&b comes on...)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Atlantic 252 was bollox

[HH-R]

I have good memories of recording the dance muzak off Atlantic 252 on one of these in the early 90s:

 

That baby had SW, MW, LW AND FM.

[forddeliveryboy]

Two options: wire in a proper old radio or fiddle with your phone. I hate digital radios anyway - the sound quality isn't as good as FM (which isn't as good as it was 25 years ago, since the BBC has dumbed down) and they use shed loads of power to run compared with a good old one.

[richardmorris]

I recently bought an iTunes whatsit of French music called from. Paris to Provence. Mostly for an Edith Piaf recording of the Marseilles( for a 2cv convoy next month). Listened to it a lot over the last weekend. My favourite is probably Maurice chevalier singing la mer. Went down well in arromanches with the roof off the fiat!

 

Ps. For those lacking fm for test match special, try 720 ( I. Think, could be 620?) medium wave. Modern mw do however go low enough to get 198.

[TimothyClaypole]

Atlantic 252 was the bollox

 

[Aston Martin]

Isn't it normally 15-30 mins?

[RoadworkUK]

You can recreate Atlantic 252 very easily by playing Talking Heads "road to nowhere" with the treble turned right down, ideally on on a ferric tape but with the selector set to chrome, having first asked everybody in your car to whistle a constant e minor.

[Taff]

Beamer has the 5 minute cut-off feature but its easily over ridden.

 

I'm firmly in the A252 = dog toffee camp, as well