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I'm changing cars, and the "new" one is due for delivery early tomorrow.
Only I've just had a call to say that the valet company has soaked the passenger seat and destroyed the seat occupancy detector, so it now doesn't recognise the seat belt is plugged in, and the airbag is disabled.
And the replacement part has to come from Germany, so it'll be sometime next week before I get it.*
Dammit! I was starting to get excited about this ... 
Still, at least I get a tank full of fuel as a "thank you for your patience".
Modern cars have too many computers ... ands that's quite something coming from me! 
* I just watched a YouTube video on swapping it, and it's pretty ridiculous how much you have to remove to do the job. And you need a suitcase full of specialist weights and their holder, plus a computer to calibrate the new installation.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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I'm hoping to enjoy it, never driven a DCT before, just manuals and a short drive in a CVT decades ago.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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Just learn to manspread while driving, otherwise you will learn a new way to do an emergency stop when you use the brake as a clutch.
My car has a footrest for the left foot, and that is where my left foot stays.
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Quote: The average car has 30 to 50 different computers, and high-end cars have as many as 100, and they're accompanied by 60 to 100 different electronic sensors. And it's not just the hardware that's ballooned, but the software too.
And it's only going to get worse.
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - A updated version available!
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It is absolutely stupid. I was chatting on a plane ride with my neighbor once and he was in that industry. He was rolling his eyes as well. I think he said some cars had a computer to open and close the windows, or something.
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It shouldn't be a thing. But bad engineering is making it so.
The only valid excuse I've heard of for needing programmable window opening is for those windows that lift up at the very end, to seal the window. So when the door is open, the window is down about 1/4" or so. But that is still bad engineering. What happens when the battery dies, and someone opens the door?
A power source, a motor, and a switch is all that should be needed to operate a window.
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Volkswagons used to be pretty simple, even had a spare engine in the trunk.
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I have to admit that my new Skoda Fabia, bristling with sensors and gizmos, is not as reliable as my previous one. The orange "EPC" light (Electronic Powertrain Control) has lit up twice since I purchased it begin this year. Since the last visit to the Skoda dealer things seem better, and there were no flashing lights during my vacation in Denmark luckily.
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Quote: Since the last visit to the Skoda dealer things seem better, and there were no flashing lights
...that's because they just removed the lightbulbs. 
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I did that with a motorcycle once: when you changed into neutral, the main fuse would blow. Took out the neutral indicator bulb and that stopped it. Lasted for years like that ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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Zo relaxen, und watchen das blinkenlichten!
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Exactly how my (very) old Skoda Octavia passed its MOT year after year... Multiple garages could never work out why it was coming on.
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OriginalGriff wrote: Still, at least I get a tank full of fuel as a "thank you for your patience".
Is this no longer a standard thing for all dealers? My dad worked for a dealer for over 4 decades, and owners of brand new cars wouldn't be allowed to leave the lot until the tank had been filled.
OriginalGriff wrote: Modern cars have too many computers ... ands that's quite something coming from me
I've been saying that for years, which surprises some people because I'm a software developer. I tell 'em it's because I'm a software developer that I don't want a crap-ton of computers in my car.
It's not an entirely horrible idea. It's just all horribly integrated.
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I don't buy new cars - I'd rather someone else took the huge initial depreciation! 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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But look at it this way - they get a full tank of gas...which these days is adding up :-p
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OriginalGriff wrote: I don't buy new cars - I'd rather someone else took the huge initial depreciation!
Normally my mantra too, but lockdown was a superb time to look for bargains. We got a car which the dealership had bought as a demonstrator but had never been demonstrated and was sitting there depreciating. Currently the second hand value, 18 months later is several £k more than we paid for it!
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I think @den2k88 has experience with software in the automotive industry. It would be interesting to get his take on this thread.
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I don't have any particular take, the only thing I can say is that 60-100 computers in a car is lowballing, the new average is about 130.
Are they necessary? Some of them yes, for example the ECUs that manages the towing hook manages the brakes and signaling lights for the towed vehicle or trailer, making it a far safer experience.
Some ECUs are there simply to reduce costs and prolong the life of components: an ECU that knows when and how to go in deep sleep will make your car battery last much longer (and i'ts a huge thing in automotive, I had to work three montsh with other 20 people to reduce sleep consumption by 20 microamperes).
Most ECUs are needed to prevent fires, 99% of the work the components I am developing these days is to properly cool the engine, ensure proper cooling and in case of malfuction issue a red alert to the engine to either stop the functioning or activate a low heat "limp home" mode.
Other ECUs are needed due to always more stringent laws: in the US newly manifactured cars are required to automatically issue an emergency call when a crash is detected, which sends the GPS location of the car. That means having to integrate a Internet connected ECU to the car, with usually two different processors on the same board segmented in such a way that a breach on the Internet facing one will not become a source of commands in the main bus of the car, which is also (but only recently) segmented to accept certain messages only from certain sources.
So yes, too many ECUs with too much cost cutting and a production culture that has zero capability of managing complex computer system make for cars that as of now are quite rickety, with the caveat that while rickety old cars killed people new cars kill themselves first.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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OriginalGriff wrote: Still, at least I get a tank full of fuel as a "thank you for your patience".
That's probably worth more than the car at this point!
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Guess it's the last thing you ask a builder for! (8)
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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ESTIMATE = Guess but beyond that not really sure why... first thing, surely?
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You are up tomorrow!
An estimate is the last thing you ask for when you are trying to select a builder.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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