Monday, April 21, 2025

What misconceptions did you have about cars / other vehicles when you were younger?

 

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What misconceptions did you have about cars / other vehicles when you were younger?

Engine

I thought the "MAINTENANCE REQ'D" light was Honda's version of the "CHECK ENGINE" light on my Mom's 2001 Honda Accord.

I later figured out it was telling the driver that it was time for an oil change, tire rotation, multi-point inspection and other routine periodic maintenance items. Not because something was going wrong with the engine.

 

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[–][deleted] 4 points  

I've known grown-ass adults who still think that.

[–]leetNightshade 5 points  

Heck, when my car's engine as good as died, it didn't have a check engine light come on. 😂

(Unless my memory sucks that much)

[–]smiler5672 2 points  

One day on my opel astra f i put in the battery for some reason decide ny to close the hood right now

turn on igniton weird the check engine light is on

Oh well i gotta get to the store somehow

I turn the starter and boom oilcork and oil stick are on the other side of the house

I found them put them where they were supposed do go

Car has been sitting ever since i just gave up on it that day ig

[–]prairiepanda 3 points  

The video games I learned from were the arcade games with pedals and shifters. The only problem was none of them had a clutch pedal for some reason, so I was missing a crucial step...

[–]amzlkicks 3 points  

You missed Hard Drivin the only arcade game that I ever played with a clutch pedal that actually worked like a real clutch. Good times of course when I got my first stuck shift car I dumped the clutch like I was a race car driver.

[–]That1guywhere 3 points  

Same. The first time I drove a car, the gas pedal was either on or off.

[–]Wraith_Kink 2 points  

Hah, my gas pedal is still on or off

[–][deleted] 1 point  

I tried explaining to my friend and his wife that her car had a turbo. "But it's not fast" "but it's not that type of car". I let it go.

[–]Live_Free_Or_Die_91 1 point  

This one is funny to me, because the same DOES apply to cars of course. Your younger self had the right intuition, just not the knowledge. Best kind of fuck up imho.

[–]Pit-Viper-13 1 point  

You just have to want to hard enough and have the right pile of random junk 🤣

[–]yepppers7 2 points  

Changing the oil isnt that important

[–]centstwo 3 points  

And if it is important, the changing it late should be okay.

[–]mr_lab_rat 2 points  

All fluids are lifetime fluids. Just the duration of that lifetime varies.

[–]readwiteandblu 1 point  

This was very recent, actually. I thought cruise control worked the same on all cars except maybe newer ones with adaptive cruise control.

All cars I've driven with cruise control: Once it is on, if you keep SET depressed continuously, the set speed will match the speed you're going until you release.

My wifes 2018 Tuscon: If you keep it depressed, the set speed increases PAST the speed you're going. Then, when you release, it keeps accelerating to whatever the set speed was. Example: I was bringing the speed up to a higher speed limit of probably 65 mph. When the speedo said 65, I released. By the time I figured out what was going on, I was probably over 75 mph.

[–]centstwo 1 point  

Police were all over the place and if you sped, you would get a speeding ticket. Not so much.

[–]Pit-Viper-13 1 point  

That Fieros were fast 🤣

[–]gothiclg 1 point  

I figured oil in my coolant (or vise versa) wouldn’t look like coffee like people said. Turns out when it happened to me it looked exactly like the drinks I’d been getting from Starbucks for years.

[–]prairiepanda 7 points  

I was going to say it doesn't look like coffee, but I guess if Starbucks is what you're drinking then it kind of does. Most people compare it to a milkshake.

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