Modern car technology rant

[Jamin]

Those that know me know I like older cars, they're well built, easy to repair, involving to drive and cheap so you can have lots of them at the same time.

My Mum's friend had some problems with her 03 Passat estate, a leak into the passenger footwell (she bailed several litres out the other month), the drivers side rear door won't unlock and the tailgate won't open on the button meaning using the key but the keyhole is hidden in a awkward place and she has dogs, so it gets used several times a day.

The leak was a standard Passat defect of blocked drain holes in the scuttle below the windscreen causing it to fill up and pour into the heater box then into the cabin, I cleaned out the soil and no more leak the Passat forums say clean out your scuttle once a year or problems start to happen.....

The locked door problem is because in each door there is a module that controls the doors locking and window functions, these modules are controlled along data lines by another module called the comfort control module, this ccm as it's know also controls the tailgate opener :g: it also controls the interior lights which I noticed were not working plus the alarm and some other stuff.
Where did VW think the best place to locate the ccm is? ......under the carpet in the passenger footwell :doh:

After lifting the carpet, I dived into several cm of water and lifted out the black box which contained lots of water and another box which contained more water and the ccm circuit board, some wires had corroded and fallen off and some connector contacts had dissolved away. I fired 12v up the wire to the tailgate release and it opened.... why the flip couldn't they have just used a normal switch button to do this instead of a computer deciding that if you touch the tailgate release button you must want the tailgate to open so it will open the tailgate for you? my old Audi estate has a handle that's connected to the lock by a steel wire, you pull the handle and the lock pops open.... are people too weedy these days to be able to pull a handle?

Technology gone mad I say.
It was hot and the car stunk of dog fluids. :ranting2:

[BrotherTobious]

But you did a good deed and thus, you will be forgiven for some  of the body's you have hidden

[Tutonic]

Hilarious.

I think we should all consider ourselves fortunate that Microsoft haven't tried to build a car yet

[sheepy]

Hence why Ive gone back to Jap cars, for some reason I don't tend to have as much go wrong with them. Got myself this a few weeks ago, started to do a few bits n pices to her already
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[Gandalf]

Hence why Ive gone back to Jap cars, for some reason I don't tend to have as much go wrong with them. Got myself this a few weeks ago, started to do a few bits n pices to her already
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ok you can go away now :angry:

Seriously though, nice car! And I agree, Jap is the way forward. Of all the cars I've owned, 80% of them were Jap and I've never had a problem with them at all.

[Snokio]

To be fair, the blocked pipes and water in the footwell is common on all manufacturers, BMW, Audi, Ford, Vauxhall, Suburu etc, especially if you park under trees

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[faust82]

I drive a 21 year old beamer, and I've never even heard of such a problem...
The only problem with my car is the standard norwegian one. Road salt is causing some rust along the side channels. Should be an easy enough sandblast&weld job, just need to find space and time...

[Benny]

, especially if you park under trees.....

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I park under a tree and I don't get water in the wells, it keeps it cooler, stops the leather fading, but it does restrict rear visibility.

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[Jamin]

I think someone from Top gear read this thread as they had a bit of a rant about car gizmos on last nights show, mostly moaning about electric tailgates.

[Gandalf]

I don't park under trees as this time of year you get sap all over the car! Plus birds sit in trees and bird carp is nasty, nasty stuff for the paintwork. Park in full sun

[Toxteth]

You'll love it when the Apple touch screen dashboard comes in then...

[Snokio]

You'll love it when the Apple touch screen dashboard comes in then...

Oh god no! I'm glad Apple did go into car production, the seat-belts, airbags, wheels would have patents

What I meant was that when you park under tree's leaves and debris fall onto the windscreen and into the scuttle drains, when blocked water gets through the air-vents and into the interior foot wells.

It's a common problem across all manufacturers, even bimmers :flirty:

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f17/1997-e36-323i-m52-wet-flooded-passenger-side-t124858/

[kregoron]

Jap cars works, i still miss my trusted old colt from 1992, drove like a dream. So much fun to drive

[Tutonic]

As a Honda owner, I've nothing but praise for Japanese cars.... despite the fact that the worst car I've ever driven happened to be Japanese

A 2006 Nissan Bluebird, with an automatic gearbox from hell. Trying to get it up some of the Coromandel Peninsula roads in New Zealand was not for the faint of heart.

[Lameduck]

Love Hyundai's reliability. Had an Accent 120k miles, Sports Coupe 115k miles and currently on a little i10, now 4.5 years old and a whole 11k on the clock. According to its MOT, I did a massive 800 miles last year and so far I've done 70. Should be a good buy for somebody when I go!
The only thing I had to replace on all 3 cars was a wiper coupling arm on the coupe, which broke whilst returning from the LAN!