“Doesn’t anyone actually read an owner’s manual any more?”
If I interpret this correctly, its a lot like a joystick on a video game. It always go back to the same centered position. So, for park, the driver bumps it forward 3 times, and looks for a light.
“A light shows which gear is selected, but to get from Drive to Park, drivers must push the lever forward three times. The gearshift does not have notches that match up with the gear you want to shift into, and it moves back to a centred position after the driver picks a gear”
Then there’s this:
“But investigators found that the push-button start-stop feature doesn’t shut off the engine if the vehicles aren’t in Park,
‘This function does not protect drivers who intentionally leave the engine running or drivers who do not recognize that the engine continues to run after an attempted shut-off,’ investigators wrote.”
So if I fail in bumping the joystick the right number of times, and push the engine stop button...I’ve really left the car in gear with it running.
I would never buy this car.
I’ve driven the BMW suvs with this system and find it “different” to use until you really get used to it. If you’re only an occasional driver in one, very easy to see how it can be confusing.
Wow! That's a terrible design.
If the shift is electronic, then they should be able to rig it so that hitting the stop button shifts to Park, and THEN turns off the engine.
Bad engineering.
No, thank you. I like being able to determine what gear is selected by feel.