Posted on 03/26/2011 7:49:43 AM PDT by chickadee
Re-Boot fixes everything! LOL
you shoulda bought a bmw.
No more long vacations!
i would file this under unintended consequenses of software design
they thought they were doing something good (saving the battery is a good idea) but locking the car down was not a good idea
As a car’s “systems” to make things “easier” become more and more complex, it can also make the car more fragile - capable of problems.
Have you never owned a car before? Batteries do not hold charge forever. The car needs to be started and driven on occasion, otherwise the battery will lose charge and go dead, especially in cold weather. If you’re still having winter weather you’re in a colder climate. Simple common sense.
Maybe you should trade your Ford in for something else. Maybe a Prius. They have a bunch of batteries. Maybe you can leave it sitting for months in the winter and have it fire right up, since there are so many in it, lol.
and pay several hundred a pop for oil changes?
SOFTWARE! I hate those guys in software. They think they can just do anything they want with code.
Is it still possible to buy a normal, non-computer car?
Ain't that the truth. I was telling a kid the other day--in the old days, if something wasn't working right, you just pounded on it a couple of times. Now, you just reboot.
I predicted long ago and probably on this forum that bad software design would eventually start to kill people. I’m sure that is already happening but fortunately not in this case. Of course high blood pressure is still a dangerous thing.
Interesting. It would be nice if they put that in the owner’s manual, but the blasted things are an inch thick these days and I bet 10% of people read them cover to cover.
I have a second car which I won’t let sit longer than a couple of weeks. I’ve seen 2 weeks become 4 weeks become 6 months become locked brakes and shot seals, so I just get in the habit. I know that properly prepared they will sit a long time, but I don’t like surprises.
A rather unpleasant comment on your part.
I thought I made it obvious in my opening paragraph that I knew I needed to drive the car.
And, if you read all the way through - the battery was not dead. It wasn’t even low.
It was a programming issue . . . but don’t let the facts interfere with a good rant.
Oh, yeah: lol
Stop being a bonehead
“...software design would eventually start to kill people...”
STUXNET ?
;-)
“Meanwhile, two service calls to the house and the car had been loaded on a flatbed and towed across town.”
Just nuts! It reeks of Obamacare for an analogy does it not?
Sure, Ebay is full of them listed under "vintage". However, be advised, they will reqire a real tuneup every 30k miles. (unlike todays 100,000) I love the computer controlled fuel control, etc. I really don't miss the days of timing lights and a tach/dwell meter plus flooding carburetors.
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