Got a new car

The other day I got a new car. Well, I should say, the company got me a new company vehicle to replace my old pickup. It's a 2020 Ford Escape. I've only driven the thing about 400 feet so far.

The first time I got in it I drove up to a gate I had to badge through to gain access. When I stopped the car stalled. WTH?? So I restarted it. Pulled up to another gate, and the dang thing stalled again! WTH??? So I restarted it again. Pulled up to where I was going to park and the damn thing stalled a third time!! This time I pushed on the gas to get some gas in the injectors and the car magically starts again, on its own, and lurches forward. WTH???

Well, it's supposed to do this I guess (reading the manual). Never had one of these cars which shuts the engine off every time you stop.

Weird.

I'm thinkin' my drag racing off the line days are over now.

Then I locked the doors and left it parked, or I "thought" I locked the doors. So I walked back to it to check, and sure enough the doors are unlocked. Did this about two more times and every time the doors were unlocked...after I'd certainly locked them. WTH?? Then I figure out if you get near the car with the key fob the doors automatically unlock! Gee!

Oh, and the car doesn't have one of those normal shifters like we're all used to; it has a dial on the console. And then I'm looking for where I insert the key. Wait a second, there IS no key! WTH? So after you get it started, and it stalls, how do you turn it off?...because it's already off???

So I just said to heck with it, parked it and locked it (I hope) and left it there to figure out some other day.

But hey, when I get in it I get asked if I want to connect to about 3,000 available bluetooth devices. So what the heck, I connected it to my livingroom wireless speakers while the wife was watching some chick flick inside (Steel Magnolias or something she's probably seen about a thousand times)...and blasted some AC/DC into the living room! (Watching her animated gestures from outside trying to figure out what was going on in the living room was priceless! LOL! Then she looks out the window and sees me cracking up in the car. LOLOL!). So, I guess I got that goin' for me.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

But hey, when I get in it I get asked if I want to connect to about 3,000 available bluetooth devices. So what the heck, I connected it to my livingroom wireless speakers while the wife was watching some chick flick inside (Steel Magnolias or something that she's probably seen about a thousand times)...and blasted some AC/DC into the living room!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

LOL Im picturing your 6'4" 250lb. arse squeazed into that cute lil "truck" ahem*

a reply to: BlueJacket

LOL!

Hey, did I go on a diet and not know it? COOL! I thought I still had about 15 lbs. to go! Awesome!

Yeah, it is tight though. Wife says it looks kinda like a clown car with me in it. At least it will be easier to park at work where there are very few available spots for my old truck.

Glad to know you got your own back on the missus mate 👍👍👍

Beats the deep well any day 😳

And a happy new year all the way from France.

Lags

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You get used to it.
When I first got my current vehicle, it was all amazing, and it made life easier for I guess 'normal' car things, but it becomes ingrained into your daily life, carrying more then you can handle to the car because it unlocks automatically, pushing a button to start, lane assists, back up cameras. Then you go to a normal car and it's this weird awkward inconvenience in every little aspect that used to be the standard for operating a vehicle.

Next car I am getting will be bare bones, heated seats and wheel will be the only bell and whistle I'll opt for.

This entire Op just reinforces my reasons to never EVER buy a new truck. I can do all the work on my old truck, but with today's stuff you have to be an Electrical Engineer, a computer specialist and probably have a Ph D in Astrophysics to work on the damn things.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Back in Black...baybee!

LOL!! Wife's inside runnin' around breakin' stuff and bouncin' off the ceiling...I'm outside in the car chuckling and singin' along. LOL!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm still not convinced that starting and stopping an engine at a stop light saves gas...it just wears out starters faster.

That tech has been on golf carts for years so it's not ground breaking..

Anyway, I have heard that there is software that allows you to make modifications to new vehicles.
Engines can be tuned for better performance.
The auto start cam be turned off.
I think you can even mess with the lighting settings.

This is all just one big step to self driving cars.

Oh dear, dear, dear. These are the easiest cars to steal. Question:- how does the car know it's you? Answer:- it doesn't, it recognises the fob. In the UK people are resorting to putting their fobs in the refrigerator or any Faraday cage like device. Cos you can get readers to read the fobs output, even outside your house, or even when you're walking back to your car with the shopping. Got your code, got your car. Easy aint it.

I have a 2018 V8 Ram pickup which I have to manually select 7th gear to do city driving 45mph or below, otherwise it runs rough & in too high a gear on only 4 cylinders & is constantly switching between 4 cylinder & 8 cylinder mode, which cannot be good for the engine. It still shifts properly when 7th gear is selected but runs on all 8 cylinders instead of just 4. The 4 cylinder mode is only good on the highway when using cruise control. Its because of government regulations vehicles are built like this now. There are aftermarket tuning options to help eliminate this B.S. as well. There's a piggyback computer called Pulsar for Ram Hemis which has an option to turn off 4-cylinder mode. One can also upgrade the cam/lifters and have the ECU professionally dyno-tuned to permanently eliminate 4-cylinder mode plus get more horsepower.

Don't ever get into a Tesla... it will blow your mind.

My buddy bought a Tesla Model 3 Performance and he let me drive it around.

First off, the car is so fast it is straight up retarded. It accelerates faster than practically any car on the street. It is literally like being shot out of a cannon. What makes it crazy is that it is so effortless and the silence makes how fast you are going deceptive. You hear a slight whine of the electric motors and it sounds kind of sci-fi like.

There aren't any gauges of any kind like a normal car. Just a big ipad stuck on the dashboard that shows everything. It kind of takes a bit to get used to it.

The tech is pretty amazing. It has the 360 degree above cameras so when you park you can literally see around the car and above it. The cameras somehow can make a picture that looks down on the car from above. So when you park you can clearly see where you are in relationship to every thing around the car.

You can even play videos games. When parked, you can load up video games on the center screen and control the characters with the steering wheel.

If you've never driven a car with adaptive cruise control it will trip you out. The car accelerates and slows down and will keep a set distance from the car in front of you....

The tech in cars is bonkers now.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: BlueJacket

Wife says it looks kinda like a clown car with me in it.

Were you listening? She said it looks like a clown car WITH YOU IN IT. Without you in it, it looks normal.

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Next car I am getting will be bare bones, heated seats and wheel will be the only bell and whistle I'll opt for.

No, you won't. You won't have a choice. In a few years all cars sold will have federally mandated gizmos to save you from yourself, including auto-driving. And most likely it will be electric. Ever tried to buy a car with a manual transmission. Less than 2% of the market. They are basically no longer available.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Does it beep when you walk away? Mine does, it lets me know the doors are locked. If it doesn't beep there should be a setting for that. Oh and make sure the fob is on a timer. You will be putting gas in the car and when you go to close your gas door it may not close as the system is already locked. You will have to unlock it. It may runs on the same system as your doors.

Anyways congrads on your new car. You are an intelligent dude...…...you got this.

Yeah, the modern tech on cars seems so utterly ridiculous. It saves about 1 second and there's more to go wrong.
I got a new car earlier in the year. It is loaded with everything - even an infrared camera which enables so called night vision that highlights pedestrians and animals in the road or on the side of the road. Gimmick.
Parked it in a field at an event recently. It got stuck in mud. To get it out I had to use sticks under the front wheel and ask 4 other people to help me push.
All that tech, but in the end it was muscle power and sticks that I needed when it really mattered.

The engine stalling isn't really stalling it's some eco-BS. There should be a button or setting to turn it off.

Look for a button with an A and an arrow circling around it.

Alternatively, you should be able to pump the brakes to kick the engine back on.

The doors probably are locking, but the annoying thing is that those of us who are used to pulling on the handles to check will be met with a door that opens.

That's apparently because the brilliant persons who came up with these ideas thought it would be convenient to just be able to pull on a locked door to open it. You know keyless entry and all that jazz.

It's why I stick to cars that are early 90s or earlier.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Did it stall....or is it equipped with the start/stop technology???

a reply to: schuyler

No, you won't. You won't have a choice. In a few years all cars sold will have federally mandated gizmos to save you from yourself, including auto-driving. And most likely it will be electric. Ever tried to buy a car with a manual transmission. Less than 2% of the market. They are basically no longer available.

Toyota and GM still offer cars with cranks windows, my current car had manual option available, they actually advertised it with a manual transmission.

The mid sized pickups also have a barebone package. They just don't advertise them to the consumer because it doesn't bring in money.

a reply to: strongfp

What you said. A lot of cars do still come with bare minimum packages. You just have to be willing to deal with the salesman trying to convince you otherwise and you may have to wait a little longer for them to ship the car.

My wife rented an Escape last week, her Four-runner was in the shop for body repairs, she backed through the garage door again. 3rd time. The Escape really bugged me. It shut off at traffic lights. I’m usually driving my F-250 diesel, so it was quite a downgrade.
All in all I was unimpressed by the Escape.