EVs are already required to emit warning sounds, in order to prevent blind people (or those who are inattentive) from stepping in front of them:
My PHEV emits an electronic warning noise if I have it in EV mode. Some owners refer to it as “the angels’ chorus” because of its high-pitched tone. The warning noise stops at–I think–around 20 mph, but thankfully I can’t hear it inside the car’s cabin.
The first time that I drove slowly past a neighbor, he immediately walked over to my driveway to tell me that I needed new brake pads (on my 4 month old vehicle), and I explained to him that he had heard the required electronic warning sound. He thanked me for that info because he is already on the waiting list for an E-Vette.
Back in April a customer had an early release 2024 PHEV, happened to be the first year for this model. He brought the car back because "there’s something wrong with the transmission, it grinds on the 2-1 downshift.
After some digging we found that the noise happened only under 20mph, the noise (a mechanical type sound similar to a running engine) happened to coincide with the downshift, and that it was actually coming from the outside speaker that operates the pedestrian warning system. Car operating as designed.
Customer says “I’m paying over $60K for a brand new car and I expect it to be quiet. Fix the noise.”
Can’t say I disagree with him. However, we can’t disable a safety device. But I have a feeling he unplugged it himself.
Ironically, that too is where I see the interest happening.
I’ve seen a number of youth who had no interest in cars during their school years. But once they graduate and are off on their own where they have to pay for repairs, all of a sudden their interest in doing their own car repairs grows.
I’ve helped a number of those in their 20s and 30s do brake jobs or related repairs. I enjoy doing it because they’re so interested in learning.
My daughter was helping me (learning) when she was 14yo, she got her 1st car 2002 Corolla with over 190K miles on it when still 15yo… She replaced motor mounts, rear struts, front brakes, cooling fan assembly, washer bottle and probably a few other things before she bought her next vehicle 17 Corolla in 2019… She has also helped me do an axle when still an early teen as well as countless other repairs, she has always been willing to hang out and help me when ever she was not busy doing something…
But she also at 15yo had 2 jobs in the summer time, and at least one during school, and worked every chance she could… She is not your normal Gen Z and can’t stand most of the young people, but ALL her teachers loved her as well as most every manager she has ever worked for… So basically she is a Lady that is NOT afraid to get her hands dirty…
She pays good money for her hair cuts and makeup and nails, but will get oil under her fancy nails in a heartbeat if needed and not think twice about it…
Like I said before my 12 year old grandson is now interested in cars. True the more exotic varieties, but cars none the less. We wen5 over various engine sizes and configurations and what the parts do and so on. I bought him a subscription to classic cars to provide a little more back ground. Maybe he’ll be interested in patch panels or something and can do a little welding. He will not have the benefit of go carts and mini bikes or boats or talented neighbor adults like I had, but there is some interest anyway.
The dealer might get a Demo or early build that they can’t sell yet but If I recall correctly a new generation of the Mazda 6 was shipped to dealers in December but they couldn’t do test drives or put up a Monroney Label until Jan 1st but they could display in the showroom.
A high school friends dad owned the ford mercury garage so we would get a peek preview of the new models before they were displayed in public. It was always fun. There is no point to this now since not much changes from year to year.
I understand the economics of frequent model changes but still this has left dealers with having to sell new doo dads and electronic features instead of new designs. We had a winter oarade last night and the Gm dealer showed off the new corvette. They didn’t drive it but instead was on a trailer with the engine sounding off. Lots of enthusiasm from the crowd. Couldn’t see the window sticker but I rest my case. Build an exciting new car and desire will be generated. There were no electric cars.
I recall my WWII generation parents telling me that they felt sorry that my generation doesn’t have as much fun as they did. When I asked them what they did they thought was more fun, didn’t seem fun to me … lol … maybe something like that is going on.
Teenage me used to play pinball for hours and hours. I don’t regret that time spent, or the money spent at all, very fun times. But not many teenagers playing pinball now as far as I can tell.
I was born in 1980, so I grew up with these excellent cars, but by the time I started driving (1996) the most common cars for young people to drive were the Chevrolet Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird, Chevrolet Corsica, Chevrolet Beretta, Ford Escort, Ford Tempo, Ford Probe, Dodge Shadow/Plymouth Sundance, Dodge Spirit/Plymouth Acclaim, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla/Geo Prizm, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Celica. Of these, my all-time favorites are the Corsica, early 90’s Corolla, mid-90’s Corolla, and the Shadow/Sundance. The Cavalier/Sunbird from the early 90’s has styling which has aged well, and I still see them on the road every now and then, but they weren’t particularly reliable, even when new.
I was walking to my car in a shopping center last week when a late model Audi A5 or maybe S5 passed me. When he let off the accelerator it backfired repeatedly. I guess he had it remapped to run rich and cause the backfires. Seems like an odd thing to do to a $40,000+ car.
Im about 30 years older than you. The first car i bought with my own money was a 1950 chrysler New Yorker 4 door sedan that was very tired for $75.00. The daily driver i used while i fixed up the Chrysler was my family’s 1962 Olds Jetfire with factory turbocharger. I apparently liked having power under my right foot, as i then ordered a new 1968 Dodge Dart GTS with a high performance 383. So far, nothing normal for someone my age. Next was a 1972 Audi 100LS, 1974 Olds Cutlass Salon, 1974 Olds 98 Regency, 1978 Chrysler Town and Country wagon, followed by the wonderful 1980’s. They started with a 1981 Chevy Citation. I followed that idiotic decision with an even worse one, a 1983 Renault Alliance. Next was a 1986 Chrysler New Yorker with a factory turbocharged 4 cylinder engine. At that point my wife got her own car, a 1987 Plymouth Caravelle which was an enlarged K car. She had it for 14 years and 140,000 miles.
What a great car! I picked up a 1989 Dodge Aries a couple of years ago, which is basically the same car. I did a lot of work to get the Aries in tip-top shape, but then my in-laws needed a car, so I gave it to them. It would be silly for us to have four vehicles for two people, while they have just one vehicle to share for two people.
Parents bought a 1983 Dodge 600 new in Dec 1982, we had it about 10 years… It was my 1st rack-n-pinion job I ever did on jack stands…It was also one of my 1st engine rebuilds, I forget why I had to build the engine, brother probably borrowed it and killed it…
Yeah he is the middle brother and not mechanically inclined at all, very hard on vehicles, the oldest brother did in fact blow an engine (different vehicle years later) by not changing the oil in it that dad was letting drive, and knew better, he came over and said, hey what is this sound, I said a rod knock, then I pulled the dipstick and it was very clear and new oil, so I removed the oil filter and turned it upside down while glaring at him and maple syrup would have dripped out faster… lol
Now the time my own son came to me with his Civic and asked what this noise was and I told him, he then said what does that mean, I simple said it means you will be walking for a while son, hope you enjoy it… That one REALLY ticked me off… same thing, hadn’t changed the oil in over 10K miles, and topped it off and came and asked me what the noise was… He learned a hard lesson and now takes much better care of his vehicles…
Now the high schools are all about college prep and no longer offer manual skills courses, so the graduates are somewhat inept at things like fabrication and repair. You have to drop out and attend a trade school to learn those skills.
Yeah I agree with the schools favoring academics instead of life skills. Maybe that will be changing a little now. I still remember looking at a cook book and finding it too complicated for my kitchen skills. Still I had mechanical things to work on as a kid and help from relatives plus working a few factories in school helped. Some is aptitude but others is step by step learning and having the guts or need to try things.
