Yaris, Scion xD, Honda Fit - no water temp gauge

Why not?

Why do the auto makers care how enthusiastic people are about cars?

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff
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It's not harmless at all--as described earlier in this thread, with fluctuating gauges simply reflecting normal operation. But, the ignorant people seeing the fluctuation immediately assumed "something's wrong," and took the car in for service.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

That's right. In another few years, they'll eliminate ALL the instrumentation. No more speedometers, since automated governors linked by radio to the electronic highway system will make it impossible to speed. No more temperature gauges, voltmeters, or oil pressure gauges.

In the new era, there will just be one light on the dashboard, that says "REPLACE CAR" and when it comes on, the GPS system will print directions to the nearest GM dealer that you can give to the taxi cab driver that Onstar will dispatch.

Oh, actually, I take that back. They'll still be selling automatics with a tachometer, because everybody knows tachometers are cool.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

you've never worked in customer support then...

Reply to
jim beam

Permit me to summarize this thread.

Mr. Nagel points out that having realtime information from gauges permits one to predict possible impending failures.

Mr. Beam points out that most drivers are drooling mouthbreathers who should never be allowed behind the wheel of a car.

Both of these statements are true. However, the second statement does not invalidate the first one.

Most drivers don't watch the gauges, it's true. But most drivers don't stop at stop signs or signal turns either. Does that mean we should take all the signs down and stop requiring cars to have turn signals? I do not believe so.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

but what he doesn't say is that these gauges do absolutely /nothing/ to prevent them!!! a gauge may tell you your tire is flat, but it does nothing to stop that nail puncturing it.

that's not true. i merely point out that because the geeks that design these things /know/ what they're doing, they /know/ that the vehicle remains in spec, given correct maintenance, for its lifetime. the instrumentation that does their initial homework is /not/ necessary for the consumer to operate it. just like elmo's refrigerator analogy.

heck, /i'm/ mr anal retentive when it comes to my car, and /i/ don't need gauges to run the thing. test it, sure, but not run it.

Reply to
jim beam

What you get in the dash is a function of industrial design and marketing. The engineers who developed the product have practically nothing to do with those decisions.

As far as what those 'geeks' do, well, the ones I know tend to add the gauges they want even if they are hacked in and laying on the floor ;)

Reply to
Brent P

HAhahahahahahaha! you've never owned a GM car then have you.

Their engineers may know what they're doing, but they don't get to do the *right* thing. Their cars are crap.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Well worded Scott!

One probably shoul reap what they sow...

\ JT

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

"One" is singular. "They" is plural.

One should reap what he sows.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

(Just saw this post over a week late...)

I'm sorry, but which Toyota would that be that has an annoying upshift light? Seems that's more of an 80's piece of crap domestic brand kind of thing.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

I don't know about your memory getting bad, because I have yet to see one either. Of course I didn't drive in the 80's, but have seen many an 80-up between working at home and being in the dealer for so long. It would be difficult to substantiate short of a well kept owner's manual or an actual model still up and running. They've been long gone from salty snowy MO for some time now.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

I don't know about your memory getting bad, because I have yet to see one either. Of course I didn't drive in the 80's, but have seen many an 80-up between working at home and being in the dealer for so long. It would be difficult to substantiate short of a well kept owner's manual or an actual model still up and running. They've been long gone from salty snowy MO for some time now.

Toyota MDT in MO

********** It's good to know that my memory wasn't THAT bad! An upshift light is something that would have been pointed out in the New Car Features, and since I am not a fan of such lights, I thought I would have remembered it. The poster must have been thinking about his VW or something.

Welcome back!

Reply to
Ray O

God you're dumb.

I've already given you two instances, one by a COMPLETE NON-TECHNICAL driver (my wife) where a gauge saved an engine.

And in the other case where I (an engineer) was able to detect a failed filter by abnormal (but still technically in-spec) pressure behavior.

Debate over, proof presented, no question remaining.

Reply to
Steve

Weird. Here it seems like you're supporting the argument I've been making all along.

and then in another post, you write:

maintain their cars, can suddenly see the gauges and know what to think about them.

got on Daddy's computer come bombing into a newsgroup where (Lloyd notwithstanding...) we've all had pretty informative, intelligent, and rational conversations for years... and presume to tell us that we don't have a clue.

I'm so confused.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

And you expect that the car buying and car using public at large--who are not engineers, and who can barely find their way to the bathroom--would benefit from such a gauge.

Would buy such a gauge.

You're an ignorant asshole. That's all there is to it. You show it every time you open your mouth.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

and the so-called "idiot light" would have served exactly the same purpose!

so you say. but if you'd used a decent filter in the first place, with the correct change interval, that wouldn't be an issue.

what kind of "engineer" are you? we used to have some guys run about our place only barely smarter than the 10lb hammers they carried - they called themselves "engineers" too.

Reply to
jim beam

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