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Car thoughts
I swear to you, I was behind a car with the number plate "CANHAZCHZ" on the way back from work today. But I suppose "TWAT" would be too short for a vehicle registration.
I also finally worked out how to use the cruise control on the car - to cut a long story short, I had been pressing the wrong button every time I'd tried it before. Once you've got it on, you really feel it - it's weirdly like being tugged along on an invisible rope for the first few minutes, and it's nice not to have to worry about accidentally drifting either over or under the speed limit. I'm aware that everyone else has probably had this as standard for the last ten years already, but the last vehicle I drove was a Ford Fiesta from about 1995, and this still hasn't got any less like driving a spaceship by comparison - even having a working headlight alarm frankly feels like a whole new world.
It occurs to me that I've never done anything to the car at all apart from filling it up with petrol occasionally - the last one regularly needed its evaporating brake fluid reservoir topped up or lights replaced. But our current vehicle always tells you exactly how much longer it is before it wants serviced or an oil change, and you can hardly open the bonnet up without getting the dealership to do it for you if you want to keep your warranty - it's not so much driving as moving a computer about, and if that analogy holds true, this one's definitely a Mac.
I also finally worked out how to use the cruise control on the car - to cut a long story short, I had been pressing the wrong button every time I'd tried it before. Once you've got it on, you really feel it - it's weirdly like being tugged along on an invisible rope for the first few minutes, and it's nice not to have to worry about accidentally drifting either over or under the speed limit. I'm aware that everyone else has probably had this as standard for the last ten years already, but the last vehicle I drove was a Ford Fiesta from about 1995, and this still hasn't got any less like driving a spaceship by comparison - even having a working headlight alarm frankly feels like a whole new world.
It occurs to me that I've never done anything to the car at all apart from filling it up with petrol occasionally - the last one regularly needed its evaporating brake fluid reservoir topped up or lights replaced. But our current vehicle always tells you exactly how much longer it is before it wants serviced or an oil change, and you can hardly open the bonnet up without getting the dealership to do it for you if you want to keep your warranty - it's not so much driving as moving a computer about, and if that analogy holds true, this one's definitely a Mac.
no subject
If you need brake fluid (which, FYI does not evaporate in anything less than years- you had a dangerous leak somewhere that should have been found and fixed) you can use any fluid you want as long as it meets the manufactures rating of DOT3, DOT4, DOT5, etc.
Same with oil- you can use what ever you want as long as it meets the required GL SAE spec. Oil filter, the same. EVERYTHING under the hood that is not covered directly by the warranty can be fixed by you or any mechanic using quality parts and they cannot claim otherwise or deny you warranty service.
In order to not cover a repair the dealer and manufacturer must PROVE that the use of a item or repair was the sole and full cause of the failure. They cannot claim your brand of oil caused your engine to fail. for example, unless they can 100% prove the engine suffered ONLY and SIMPLY an oil caused failure. If you toss a rod yet the rest of the bearings are fine, that was not oil related. Same if a headgasket blows- they cannot claim the use of non dealer antifreeze was the cause if the engine does not show signs of severe corrosion.
no subject
The brake fluid issue always seemed more worrying to me than it seemed to my parents, who actually owned the car I used that year - not even their mechanic thought it was worth fixing, and just said to top it off a bit every 200 miles(!) I think I must have left a trail of brake fluid all the way from my parents' house to university and back...