The new news 24 thread

[High Jetter]

  On 26/11/2024 at 19:13, grogee said:

Both cars came from a mate of mine who worked at Nissan, coincidentally I start work there on Monday.

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Ooh, I hope there's more about that somewhere ( busy day, still on P3 of notifications)

[Snake Charmer]

  On 25/11/2024 at 11:31, wuvvum said:

Speaking of anniversaries...

18 years ago today I was sat at home idly browsing eBay when I received a message from a user going by the moniker Mouseflakes.  He said that he'd noticed I was bidding on a lot of the same cars as him (this was back in the good old days when you could actually see who you were bidding against), and he thought I might enjoy a web forum dedicated to obscure old cars, called autoshite.com.  I was dimly aware of the site's existence (I think I'd seen it mentioned in Practical Classics) but I'd never visited before.  I had a look at the site, liked what I saw and signed up.

I can't remember exactly what was in the fleet at the time.  I had the Volvo 164, obviously, and I think my daily was a Mk1 Jetta automatic.  There would have been at least one Saab in the mix, a van of some sort and I think I also had a Spacy, although not my current one.  The Mobylette was still in storage in France at the time.

A child born on that day would now be celebrating their arrival into adulthood, which does make me stop and wonder what I'm doing with my life!  Some cars now considered AS fodder weren't even built at the time.  In those 18 years I've had one house move, one new job and probably 400 cars (many of them bought from shiters, many more sold on to shiters after I'd finished with them).  Autoshite has changed almost beyond recognition in that time, but there's still a few of the original members around and actively posting, and there are still enough occasional flashes of the traits which originally attracted me to the forum to keep me hanging around like a bad penny...

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18 years ago I was the full-time carer for my mother-in-law allowing me to spend lots of time in the workshop having given up my job as a Development Engineer. I had completely rebuilt my '95 Triumph Speed Triple, had a '73 Jensen Interceptor lll and my daily was a 51 plate Ford Galaxy with a Brotherwood wheelchair conversion for the mother-in-law. My other halfs daily was our '01 Volvo V40 T4 that we have owned since it was 15 months old and currently sat on the drive SORN"d since '22.

A string of shite has been our daily or dailies, in that time both kids have grown up and have their own list of cars, one of them has an old BMW 740. Cutting a long story short, l spent  over 10 years working on shite self employed and now work PAYE for a classic car company that specialises in AC cars, more shite just expensive.

  On 26/11/2024 at 19:00, Split_Pin said:

Well that was a waste of time:

New Gates thermostat on the red A4 has made no improvement to the protracted warm up times.

This was after about 6 miles of mixed driving from cold.

It warms up well on the motorway and if I had stayed on it would have got to 90 but as soon as I pulled off and back to 30mph roads the needle dived back down to the marks half way between 50 and 90. This was as far as it recovered.

I don't know what else to do, this is the FOURTH thermostat its had.

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Do you use the air conditioning constantly? Has the EGR been deleted?

[artdjones]

A Lebanese Volvo enthusiast returning home after the ceasefire. Hope it works out for him.

[MJK 24]

Are modern cars getting bigger?!

We really need a new S Class for research purposes.  Not a 20 year old one!

 

[artdjones]

  On 27/11/2024 at 08:40, MJK 24 said:

Are modern cars getting bigger?!

We really need a new S Class for research purposes.  Not a 20 year old one!

 

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That S Class was one of the few models to have shrunk, as the previous W140 was criticised for excessive size.

[chaseracer]

Does the old 'Renault 5 thermostat' trick/bodge/semi-permanent fix still work?  Probably not...

[stuboy]

  On 26/11/2024 at 20:09, stuboy said:

splashed out on an 027 battery, 

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Gods sake apparantly I have to code it too the bloody car... looks like I'll be buying a vcds spec tool with battery registration facility. 

[Westbay]

  On 27/11/2024 at 09:12, stuboy said:

Gods sake apparantly I have to code it too the bloody car... looks like I'll be buying a vcds spec tool with battery registration facility. 

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Yes you will need VCDS or similar ...

Providing you are replacing 'like for like' i.e same Ah etc(if you upgrade then you need to change the Ah etc also) then all that's needed is to change the last digit on the 'stored' battery details in the car's memory to indicate to the car 'new battery' and it will charge it as a new battery rather than how it was trying to charge the 'old' battery... this is more important if your car's system has an active Battery Monitoring  facility...

[Split_Pin]

  On 27/11/2024 at 08:12, Snake Charmer said:

Do you use the air conditioning constantly? Has the EGR been deleted?

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No as the AC doesn't work and as far as I am aware the EGR is still present.

[grogee]

  On 26/11/2024 at 23:09, High Jetter said:

Ooh, I hope there's more about that somewhere ( busy day, still on P3 of notifications)

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I'm starting a 12m contract as a "Vehicle Evaluation & Customer Experience Engineer" whatever that is. 

AFAICT it's someone who looks at competitor vehicles and qualitatively/quantitavely assesses ease of use for certain features. 

When I was interviewed there were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability. I don't yet know which one I'll be doing, there's a possibility it'll be split between the two. 

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

[320touring]

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually get a can as preparation for collection of this mighty steed

Plan is to get it to the unit tonight and see what it will need for it's next MOT.

Thanks to @Split_Pin for his help in organising.

[Supernaut]

  On 27/11/2024 at 13:49, 320touring said:

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually get a can as preparation for collection of this mighty steed

Plan is to get it to the unit tonight and see what it will need for it's next MOT.

Thanks to @Split_Pin for his help in organising.

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That's a seamless respray on the back end.

[Markeh]

  On 27/11/2024 at 13:02, grogee said:

I'm starting a 12m contract as a "Vehicle Evaluation & Customer Experience Engineer" whatever that is. 

AFAICT it's someone who looks at competitor vehicles and qualitatively/quantitavely assesses ease of use for certain features. 

When I was interviewed there were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability. I don't yet know which one I'll be doing, there's a possibility it'll be split between the two. 

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

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Can you make the electric boots work properly/compare competitor ones that bloody work?

[320touring]

  On 27/11/2024 at 15:10, Supernaut said:

That's a seamless respray on the back end.

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Aye. Think an old owner (not the gent I got it off) was a fan  of painting things.

It's exactly as advertised and drives really well. Pleased with it so far

[Supernaut]

In other news; I got one of those microwaveable dehumidifier thingies yesterday and chucked it in the Megane.

Yep, it definitely makes a difference in this weather.

[IronStar]

  On 27/11/2024 at 15:40, Supernaut said:

In other news; I got one of those microwaveable dehumidifier thingies yesterday and chucked it in the Megane.

Yep, it definitely makes a difference in this weather.

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Dehumidifiers are so underrated. They make life and storing things so much more pleasant. 

[Markeh]

18 years ago I wasn't here and I was probably being a little shit online elsewhere (I definitely appeared on BarryBoys at some point in the late 2000s being a strange child/complete tool for a while until someone realised I signed up with my old NTL firstname.lastname email address, and managed to find me online... never went back!) - We would've just got rid of our Motability Daewoo Tacuma (which my mother still misses) for a doom blue Zafira B (which was universally hated). I'm not sure where dad would've been at this point - he was either at an Alfa service place attached to a large Renault dealer, in his last few months at Nissan, or was at a Fiat/Kia dealer that was just setting up (but I think they started him off at Mazda til this was open). He would've either been in an X-Trail, a Pathfinder, possibly a 159 for a bit, or between a Mazda 6 and a Mazda 5.

I lurked from at least 2012, possibly earlier, but only bothered signing up during lockdown - I didn't think I had anything worthwhile to add before then (and some would argue I still don't!)

[95 quid Peugeot]

  On 27/11/2024 at 08:56, chaseracer said:

Does the old 'Renault 5 thermostat' trick/bodge/semi-permanent fix still work?  Probably not...

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is that the inline thermostat...if needed i've one you can have FOC

[grogee]

  On 27/11/2024 at 15:31, Markeh said:

Can you make the electric boots work properly/compare competitor ones that bloody work?

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Heads will roll as soon as I set foot in the Technical Centre. 

[Split_Pin]

  On 27/11/2024 at 15:32, 320touring said:

Aye. Think an old owner (not the gent I got it off) was a fan  of painting things.

It's exactly as advertised and drives really well. Pleased with it so far

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Good news. Had it not been for a chance conversation with my neighbour last week then this would have been scrapped. It seemed a waste as neither the current or 2 previous owners had any bother with it and I'm glad I asked on here.

Good luck on the MOT!

 

 

[Zelandeth]

  On 27/11/2024 at 15:55, grogee said:

Heads will roll as soon as I set foot in the Technical Centre. 

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Sod electric boots...get the buggers to stop deleting physical buttons in favour of increasingly overcomplicated touch screens would be priority one in my view.

No VW, using little touch sensitive things vaguely shaped like buttons doesn't count.  That's just as stupid.

Touch screen is fine for satnav, entertainment (so long as most common controls like volume and skip have a physical alternative on/near the wheel), and vehicle options you're only ever likely to need to change while stationary.  

Anything else, especially anything you're likely to need to change on the move - HVAC controls for example - absolutely should not require poking at a bloody screen.

[Split_Pin]

  On 27/11/2024 at 08:56, chaseracer said:

Does the old 'Renault 5 thermostat' trick/bodge/semi-permanent fix still work?  Probably not...

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The top hose is too small for that. Only works in the 75 diesel as the equivalent hose has a large diameter.

[grogee]

  On 27/11/2024 at 16:18, Zelandeth said:

Sod electric boots...get the buggers to stop deleting physical buttons in favour of increasingly overcomplicated touch screens would be priority one in my view.

No VW, using little touch sensitive things vaguely shaped like buttons doesn't count.  That's just as stupid.

Touch screen is fine for satnav, entertainment (so long as most common controls like volume and skip have a physical alternative on/near the wheel), and vehicle options you're only ever likely to need to change while stationary.  

Anything else, especially anything you're likely to need to change on the move - HVAC controls for example - absolutely should not require poking at a bloody screen.

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I think I'll find the backlash has already begun over the loss of buttons. It was discussed during my interview. Same noises coming from JLR customers who have lost physical HVAC controls. 

Tesla has a lot to answer for. 

[Jazoli]

  On 27/11/2024 at 16:56, grogee said:

I think I'll find the backlash has already begun over the loss of buttons. It was discussed during my interview. Same noises coming from JLR customers who have lost physical HVAC controls. 

Tesla has a lot to answer for. 

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Tesla’s system is by far the best though and intuitive, Hyundai have committed to keep buttons for safety reasons which is refreshing, the modern car swayed my decision to buy something recent but not brand new and blighted by everything being on a screen, it has one but has proper knobs and buttons also and is ergonomically excellent.

All the important controls can also be managed while wearing gloves, which is a huge plus at this time of year.

[Zelandeth]

  On 27/11/2024 at 17:09, Jazoli said:

Tesla’s system is by far the best though and intuitive, Hyundai have committed to keep buttons for safety reasons which is refreshing, the modern car swayed my decision to buy something recent but not brand new and blighted by everything being on a screen, it has one but has proper knobs and buttons also and is ergonomically excellent.

All the important controls can also be managed while wearing gloves, which is a huge plus at this time of year.

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I think the most laughable one I've seen from VW was switching to "touch zones" rather than buttons on the steering wheel on the Arteon.  Hilarious how many times they got randomly activated while parking, turning corners, moving hands on the wheel etc...What an utterly daft idea.  They'd done the same for the (near microscopic) "physical buttons" for the couple of dozen buttons below the touch screen, which were utterly pointless as anything you brushed against on the way to the one you were aiming for (which given that it rode precisely as well as you'd expect for something with R-line badges on was most of the dash as you were trying not to bounce off the roof half the time) were also activated.  It's a good thing that car wasn't mine or I'd probably have ended up setting fire to the damned thing out of frustration.  No, none of those worked with gloves either unless they were those touchscreen compatible ones - Yes I tried because I was curious myself.

VAG really do seem to have just lost the plot in the last five years or so with regards to human interface.  They've always been fans of unnecessary touchscreen complication, but the last three or four company cars that we've had through here have just been getting ridiculous.  The satnav on the Multivan at the moment is *shockingly* sluggish and fiddly to use.  It's also flat out refused to give audio guidance for about the last three months for reasons that none of us (nor the dealership) can figure out.  I'm sure the other major companies are just as bad, I just SEE (and get to laugh at) what VAG are up to as that's where the company car someone else in the household has comes from.

Agreed with finding myself surprisingly not annoyed by the screen in the one Tesla I drove (we're going back to about 2017 I think) - Though granted the HVAC system seemed smart enough that aside from picking the temperature I wanted when I got in and hitting "auto" I just left it to itself.  Have to admit that's a car that I went into really quite prepared to dislike, but aside from the ride being unnecessarily jiggly for such a big barge of a car I have to admit to having really liked it.

[EspenO]

  On 27/11/2024 at 13:02, grogee said:

were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability

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You will either be raising awareness that All Diesels Are Shit or pointing out it’s no wonder that thing won’t play videos, the cable’s got no Definition. Gotcha. 

[IronStar]

  On 27/11/2024 at 17:39, Zelandeth said:

I think the most laughable one I've seen from VW was switching to "touch zones" rather than buttons on the steering wheel on the Arteon.  Hilarious how many times they got randomly activated while parking, turning corners, moving hands on the wheel etc...What an utterly daft idea.  They'd done the same for the (near microscopic) "physical buttons" for the couple of dozen buttons below the touch screen, which were utterly pointless as anything you brushed against on the way to the one you were aiming for (which given that it rode precisely as well as you'd expect for something with R-line badges on was most of the dash as you were trying not to bounce off the roof half the time) were also activated.  It's a good thing that car wasn't mine or I'd probably have ended up setting fire to the damned thing out of frustration.  No, none of those worked with gloves either unless they were those touchscreen compatible ones - Yes I tried because I was curious myself.

VAG really do seem to have just lost the plot in the last five years or so with regards to human interface.  They've always been fans of unnecessary touchscreen complication, but the last three or four company cars that we've had through here have just been getting ridiculous.  The satnav on the Multivan at the moment is *shockingly* sluggish and fiddly to use.  It's also flat out refused to give audio guidance for about the last three months for reasons that none of us (nor the dealership) can figure out.  I'm sure the other major companies are just as bad, I just SEE (and get to laugh at) what VAG are up to as that's where the company car someone else in the household has comes from.

Agreed with finding myself surprisingly not annoyed by the screen in the one Tesla I drove (we're going back to about 2017 I think) - Though granted the HVAC system seemed smart enough that aside from picking the temperature I wanted when I got in and hitting "auto" I just left it to itself.  Have to admit that's a car that I went into really quite prepared to dislike, but aside from the ride being unnecessarily jiggly for such a big barge of a car I have to admit to having really liked it.

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A very good friend of mine bought a Cupra Formentor some 2 years ago, and I drove it and was driven in it many times. 
I have never seen something so unnecessarily complicated, non-intuitive, difficult to use and generally shit, but needed for every single thing as that car’s infotainment. Like last 50 years of UI/UX never happened, and someonee crammed a touchscreen on top. Cherry on top of insanity is the touch zone ABOVE the icons under the infotainment. After two years, I still go for the icons not the unmarked zone. Why? Just why VW? 
Car drives great for what it is, but infotainment is so bad I’d never even consider buying it over it.

[hairnet]

  On 27/11/2024 at 13:49, 320touring said:

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually buy all the snacks in the picture

 

 

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[High Jetter]

  On 27/11/2024 at 13:02, grogee said:

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

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I hope the commute home will be in a different vehicle each week. For evaluation porpoises, obs.

[stuboy]

  On 27/11/2024 at 10:09, Westbay said:

Yes you will need VCDS or similar ...

Providing you are replacing 'like for like' i.e same Ah etc(if you upgrade then you need to change the Ah etc also) then all that's needed is to change the last digit on the 'stored' battery details in the car's memory to indicate to the car 'new battery' and it will charge it as a new battery rather than how it was trying to charge the 'old' battery... this is more important if your car's system has an active Battery Monitoring  facility...

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bit the bullet and ordered this, be usefull for mrs stuboys seat and my ford galaxy in drag ( vw sharan really ) i did try using free vcds but i just got too confused.