Might be working correctly, the intermittent wipers can be adjusted with the dial on the stalk (right above the + in the photo below) on the way home tonight i tried various settings and with it all the way down the wipers are close to the slowest regular setting and if you move it up they become more intermittent. At least on my '15 Forester that’s how it works.
Both my Camry and the Sonata have the stalk adjuster that increases/decreases the speed in the intermittent mode. Quite handy since the rain speed is never steady!
It seems sad but in the day of increased technology we run into lack of useology. (made up word for stuff that no longer works as well as they used to)
In Minnesota we had Al Franken’s radio program until it went off the air. It was one of the worst talk programs I’ve ever heard and very boring.
It seems sad but in the day of increased technology we run into lack of useology.
I think the “backside” of this discussion is the decreased ability we all have to function normally unless everything is just so. I love technology as much as the next guy, and convenience and comfort are important to me too. I find value in most of the things that make our lives easier and to which we don’t give a second thought.
But on the other hand I think it has given rise to unneeded and unrealistic expectations. Who cares if the wiper speed isn’t just right? Turn the wipers on low and just drive. They’re just wipers. The heater or a/c doesn’t work as well as you want? So what? Open the window or put on a jacket. Your bluetooth won’t sync with your car? There are people out there with real problems.
I have a guy at work who is always complaining about the temperature. If it gets over 75 in the shop, he’s putting up fans and carrying around a jug of water. If it’s below 60 in the shop he’s putting on extra layers and constantly warming his hands in front of the heater. Finally one day I asked him to forget about the climate of the service bays and just work on the cars.
I have a toaster with an electric motor to gently lower and raise the bread. I can use my phone to change the TV channel. I have as much “useless” technology in my house as anyone else. But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to live without it.
Like the little mom & pop diner near me. If the fancy electronic cash register goes out, they can not figure out they can use a calculator. Or these stupid auto parts counter monkeys that can not even make change without the register. Maybe I just never realized how difficult it is/was to count back change.
@db4690 - My Mazda6 also has automatic headlights, although using a different sensor than the wipers. I actually leave my headlights in the automatic position but shut off the wipers when it’s not raining since I live in snow and ice country and don’t want the wipers to try and wipe if they are frozen to the windshield in the morning.
@asemaster - I understand what you are saying but keep in mind that every generation is critical of the one’s following and, in the end, we have always turned out ok. Just because YOU can deal with all of those supposed discomforts with no issues does not mean that other generations have to do so. They have lots of other crap to deal with that we never had to worry about growing up. I lead a company with many millennials and, now that I understand them, I get great productivity out of them. One thing I have had to do is retrain my baby boomers and gen X’ers to interact properly with the millennials (and pretty soon the boomlets). Remember, different is not worse. It’s just different.
We could all learn to be more tolerant.
@bloody_knuckles Two questions. What in the workplace is different about the millenials? Do you also teach/require the millenials to properly interact with their more experienced elders?
My impression is millennials seem to think that there should be some technology that should do almost everything for them, and if that certain tech does not happen to be there it is some one else’s job. Just my personal opinion.
That has also been my experience
To some degree, they seem upset to have to deal with older technology, which is efficient, but not to their liking
They also expect to find all of the answers on a computer screen
They do not like looking for information in a service manual or parts catalog
However, there are some instances when that information isn’t online, or the search engine doesn’t recognize what they’re looking for
Myself, I like both
Sometimes, it’s nice to be able to take the service manual out to the truck. That way, you can just quickly flip from one page to another, as needed, versus having to go back to that website and printing out yet another page.
There are other instances where the shop computer is tied up, and it’s quicker to just grab the service manual
Sometimes I feel millenials think there should be an app that does all the car diagnosis for them. There are some apps that let you look at the live data pids. But you have to be able to interpret the data. That’s where training, common sense, and experience come in
@bloody_knuckles I don’t necessarily think it’s a generational thing. In fact, I sometimes think it’s the opposite. I’m 45 years old, and I think that many a 20-something would find it outrageous to by a $120 toaster with an electric motor in it.
My complaint was simply that we come to rely so much on technology and convenience that often the lack of it (when things break down) creates far more stir than it ought to. This isn’t new, it’s been going on for as long as I can remember.
asemaster
"… I think that many a 20-something would find it outrageous to by a $120 toaster with an electric motor in it."
What is it about your toast that it needs a “…toaster with an electric motor to gently lower and raise the bread” ?
What the heck Man, my toast can withstand some pretty rough handling (I even drop it occasionally … and besides that, moments later it gets chewed up and swallowed.
You’ve got my interest. What am I missing?
Am I out of touch? Should I go shopping for a more gentle toaster?
CSA
See, that abrupt spring action when the toast pops up tends to throw crumbs around on the black granite countertop, necessitating a clean up after every toasting session. And without the gentle closing of the the grates to keep the bagel perfectly vertical during toasting there may be hot spots or uneven warming of the food.
Hey, I’m fine with a $25 toaster from Target, but my wife makes decisions here too. And I don’t know what it’s like at your house, but around here if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
Been happily married for 19 years, plan to stay that way.
One of the symptoms of Geezeritis is wanting things the way they used to be and not adapting well to changing technologies. I find it increasingly more difficult to adapt to some new technology. My wife insisted that I exchange my cell phone for a smart phone. She pushed for a high definition television. What is difficult for me is to separate what are truly technical advances from passing fads. There are conveniences in cars that are nice, but I don’t find a necessity. For example, our 4Runner has automatic temperature control where our Sienna,doesn’t… I do just fine without it. On the other hand, the Sienna,allows me to pair my smartphone to the audio system… I find it a real convenience to push a button on the steering wheel to answer the phone as opposed to finding a,place to pull off the road and talk on the phone.
I bought a toaster 15 yrs ago for $6 and it is still going strong, no plans to replace it but my wife hides it when we have guests over 
Once in a while, I turn the wifi in our house off without telling the kids about it. It is an amusing experiment.
I have been trying to teach my teen driver how to manage without all the gizmo’s in the car. She expects the brakes to always be there when she taps it. I told her that is not necessarily going to be the case and unfortunately if it happens, you don’t have time to google it either.
My cheap Kenmore toaster does not spray crumbs all over my countertop, when the toast pops up
I bought it on sale, so I’m apparently a cheapskate
@db4690
"My cheap Kenmore toaster does not spray crumbs all over my countertop, when the toast pops up"
But, have you checked to see if your bagels are out of plumb? My toaster had to shimmed. My infrared non-contact thermometer found a couple of hot-spots on the bagels that I consider more than just a little bit uneven. Fortunately,I was able to adjust the heating element wires with needle-nose pliers, laterally, and evened it up quite a bit. If you try this be sure you unplug the toaster, FIRST! Don’t ask how I know.
Fortunately, being a base-model, my toaster’s springs don’t have enough giddy-up to spray bagel crumbs, but I do make a little mess eating the bagels. I bought a $120 dust buster that picks up the crumbs without causing excessive pull on textile fibers and comes with a HEPA filter! Also, I find that my 49-cent kitchen sponge makes short work of crumbs on the counter.
Now I need to find some better tasting bagels. The ones I buy taste awful. Either that or I just plain don’t like bagels. However, my Consumer Reports top-rated $25 Mr. Coffee makes a wicked brew! Problem is coffee drips on my white counter top when I dribble while pouring…
CSA
When my parents were married in 1938, one of their wedding presents was a single slice pop up toaster. It had a spring mechanism. When you pressed the lever down, it wound up the timer spring. At the end of the time, the timer releaed the pop up mechanism and the one slice popped up. This was a rather expensive wedding present. Most toasters back then weren’t the pop up type–you lowered a hinged panel on either side of the toaster and dropped in the bread. When you thought the bread was toasted one side, you opened the panel, flipped the bread over, and toasted it on the other side. When I moved into a trailer in graduate school, my parents bought a new toaster and I inherited the single slice pop up toaster. It worked great, but I got too uppity and bought a thermostatically controlled 2 slice toaster and gave the single slice toaster away. I wish I had kept it. I also purchased a 1954 Buick from my dad in my second year of graduate school. Like the toaster, when I got out of graduate school I replaced the 1954_Buick with a 1965 Rambler. I sure would like to have my faithful friends–my single slice Toastmaster and my 1954_Buick back again. I’ve had at least 8_cars and 6 ,toasters since that time.
My cheap Kenmore toaster does not spray crumbs all over my countertop, when the toast pops up
What are you toasting? White, wheat, honey oat, bagel, english muffin, spelt, some items are more crumbly than others.
Does your toaster offer defrost option? Reheat? Toasting only one side of your bagel or both? Does the backlit digital display countdown the time remaining until your tasty morsel is ready? Does it emit three pleasant beep tones when the toast is rising slowly out of the slots?
All these options plus the added benefit of smooth and quiet operation make it a nice toaster. With a price much higher than what yours cost. And I guarantee that my wife did not consider the cost of maintenance or repair when buying it.
Sound any different from buying a nice car?
My toaster cost $5. And it makes perfect toast every time. And it accommodates English Muffins and/or thick frozen waffles.
Now, back to cars and the original question… if the OP is still around.
Many functions of new cars are controlled by the Body Control Module (BCM). And many new cars come to the dealer with “Initialization procedures” to set up the functions of the car during prep for the customer. These procedures are not forwarded to the customer, but of you ask the guy at the local Subie dealer parts window he should be happy to print a copy of Initialization Procedure to set up the BCM for the wipers, if there is one. Asking is free.
I’ve had occasion to “reinitialize” both my sliding glass roof and my powered windows over the years. Fortunately, at the time I had access to the Toyota documents including the initialization procedures.