I’m all for reading the manual, but on a rental you don’t hav3 time to read the manual until you get to your destination. I’ve sat in the car looking through the manual trying to figure out how to release the parking brake. And that’s when the manual is in the glove box. Now on one car it was in the trunk with the inflation kit, if you can figure out how to get the trunk open.
In my own car, of course i have a handle but my doors lock when taken out of park. If I by mistake shut the car off first, then put it in park, the doors are still locked. Couldn’t find th3bunlock button so just started the car again and shut it off after putting it in park.
I do also carry a glass breakage tool. Holy cow though, do the side window not the windshield. I just put a windshield in. Any idea how expensive they are?
I’m not saying people shouldn’t read the manual but it is more for reference after paging through th thing. I got a condensed printed manual and the rest of it on dvd. So doesn’t everyone have a dvd player in their glove box just in case?
I read the emergency release procedure for the Lexus NX 18 months ago and I didn’t remember the exact process. I don’t think people are going to remember every bypass in their vehicle.
The Tesla glove box won’t open without battery power. The Lexus LC has an emergency release for the glove box door, but the passenger door must be open to access it.
Her 2023 Letsuck RX350h has a 30-page? quick reference booklet and the big book.
Her 2021 RX350 has a CD player.
We have purchased many CDs athrift stores and garage sales, cheap.
Buthe 2023 RX350has no CD player!!
Was nice hearing a recording of my playing Bach on a cathedral organ in live acoustics.
My playing is not nearly as bad as it sounds!
I’m betting the owner’s manual will soon be a QR code on a label in the glove box.
You don’t have to read the entire manual, do you? That’s why there’s an index. Read about the things you need to know first.
Let’s put a big flag on the release, paint it flourescent yellow and have the infotainment system alert you to it everytime you get in…for something you may never use…
Reminds me of the guy that locked his keys in the car…couldn’t get his family out for a week…
I suggest that everybody here who says “read the manual” do the following three things:
Reread your own manual and tell us what you learned.
Give your spouse or SO a quiz on the “unusual” items in the manual’s contents. Did they get 100%?
Give us a brief summary of the Cartalk Terms and Conditions that we all know you have read.
Bottom line: the engineers at Tesla know perfectly well that many people will not read the manual, and the people who do read it will forget many, many items. Is the AutoPilot designed for those drivers who do not read the AutoPilot manual? We see many, many postings here on Cartalk from people who have no mechanical skills/knowledge whatsoever. Shouldn’t a car design take them into account?
Keep one thing in mind regarding the Tesla. The manual is in the glovebox. Tesla locks the glovebox if the battery dies so there is no way to look up the procedure to exit the car. Design failure mode analysis fail.
The TPMS light came on in my wife’s car. She stopped and looked it up in her physical manual that resides in her glovebox to see what that meant and if it was safe to drive.
I don’t own an all electric vehicle. If I bought one, you can bet I would read the manual for it. Lots of things are different than a conventional vehicle. The Owner’s Manual is laid out pretty well. How do you open the doors? Maybe the salesperson tells you but the manual writers thought it was important enough to have at the beginning of the manual:
Then, the emergency release is explained a couple paragraphs after the basics:
I’m not sure who buys a Tesla but I don’t really know anyone that does not have a cell phone. The manual is locked in the glovebox? Google Tesla Model Y Owner’s Manual- that’s what I just did…
What do you do when your smartphone is in the dash pocket?
Since the manual says “don’t pinch your fingers!” I guess somewhere it also says “don’t put your phone in the dash pocket!”
It is interesting that the “read the manual” people don’t want to see the bigger point that even such a minor design change (door locks) can have consequences. Does a collision in the battery area cause the doors to lock followed by a battery fire? Do you want to be in the backseat when that happens? Now, project the basic design problem to an AutoPilot system!! I read that only 1% of commercial plane landings are is an auto mode. I don’t think AutoPilot can solve the complex problem of driving in San Francisco, or anywhere else.
How about the blonde who called the locksmith and said it was an emegency the keys were locked in the car and itl looked like rain and the convertable top was down.
The endless “what if” scenarios can also be applied to older design cars. Frankly, I don’t want to be in the backseat of any car involved in an accident. What if it’s a gasoline fire? Does that make it any less frightful?
We haven’t agreed it’s a design problem. It’s an education problem and not for lack of trying on the part of the manufacturer.
It’s a complex machine not a coffee maker. It requires some educating oneself to safely operate it and to understand how to respond in the event of an emergency. The issue is car technology by and large hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Now it’s changing dramatically and people have to keep up with the evolving technology associated with it.
Maybe if they assigned a cost to the mechanical door opener it would help people accept the change? Imagine sitting at the sales desk- now this car has electronic locks. In the unlikely event of a water landing…I mean complete loss of electrical power, you have to use this lever right here. If you prefer a mechanical solution, we can add that back in for $1500. Which one do you prefer? How many people would opt for it?
What if it’s a gasoline fire? Does that make it any less frightful?