Don't you want to know why we keep starting fires?

[venta]

As some of you already know, our much-loved car recently got to the stage where you either need the time, tools and expertise to do a lot of wrangling yourself, or you have to be prepared for one garage bill after another. Serious car maintenance is not readily compatible with living in a second-floor London flat, so Susan has gone to live with a hairdresser in Wales who's going to restore her to her former glory.

We've acquired a new car, via the lovely people at Palmdale.  Not a new car, obviously, but a newish second-hand one. It's a Hyundai i30 if you care about that sort if thing.

Last Tuesday, I galloped back from work, dropped off my laptop, leapt in the car, turned the key... and nothing. Not a thing.

Well, it's not a flat battery. All the dashboard lights are on (and I do mean all... it's like Blackpool on a Saturday night in there). There was no noise from the starter motor, no indication of problems. Just... nothing

I figured there was probably an immobiliser I hadn't turned off, and experimentally messed about with the various buttons on the key fob. Nope.

We'd taken the car out for a quick spin when it was delivered; ChrisC had started it then. I rang him to ask if there was a knack to it. Yes, he said, put the key in the ignition and turn it. Funny, I tried that. Anything else? No.

I rang Ash from Palmdale: no answer. It was well after 7, so fair enough.

I cancelled rapper practice, and perused the instruction manual. It is immensely thick and immensely tedious. It didn't help.

Ash called me back. Is there a trick to starting this car? Yes. Put your foot on the clutch when you start the engine.

That simple. In fairness, the manual does tell you to throw the clutch out when starting, but it also tells you to adjust the headrest, wear sensible shoes, etc. It doesn't say anywhere that the car won't flippin' start without the clutch down.

Thus far the world has divided into people who say "I'd never have thought of that", and people who say "why on earth are you starting a car without the clutch down anyway, you idiot?" ChrisC apparently steps on the clutch so automatically he hadn't thought to mention it.

My first car was a geriatric Peugeot with a malfunctioning manual choke. Starting it was a black art of balancing pedals (and revving like a bastard). Since my parents (fearing my death, I think) replaced it with their retired Vauxhall I have taken great delight in starting cars by just turning the key. When it was a novelty, I remarked loudly and often about "just turning the key". No one queried it.

Was I taught to start a car with the clutch out? I'm not sure. The only reason I've ever heard is "in case it's in gear". I always check before starting, so I know it's not. Apparently it also reduces strain on the engine, so I should do it anyway.

So, yes. New cars apparently commonly have this feature. Be warned :)

Comments

[shermarama]

Although I regularly get to drive a wide selection of hire cars and works pool cars, I still haven't come across that one yet. But, I always put my foot on the clutch before I start a car (for aforementioned engine strain reasons, and with dodgy Minis in damp conditions that was sometimes the fine line between starting or not) so I don't know how I'd know. (I think most automatics require you to have a foot on the brake pedal before they'll start, and despite the moment of 'what no clutch' when I go to turn the key, I still sometimes forget this. And then remember and feel quite stupid.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think this is the problem... so many people are auto-clutchers that they never realise a car has this feature.

However I've just had dinner with a friend who had exactly the same issue with his new car, so I don't feel so bad.

[lnr]

Danger danger? Dunno if I'd have thought of it or not, can't actually remember if I was taught to do it that way, and haven't driven since I passed my test mumble years back now. I do sometimes wonder if I should get round to a but more practice!

[venta.livejournal.com]

One high-voltage kudo for you :)

[hirez.livejournal.com]

That's just weird.

Mind, when I was given a new Golf to beetle around in while the insurers worked out what to do with the remains of a Saab 9000, I had to stop and read the manual because electric handbrakes are massively counterintuitive for people who grew up with rusty Minis.

Yon VW would also manage that modern thing of shutting itself off at the lights if you put it in neutral. So one would pull up, the automagic electric handbrake would come on as you pulled to a halt and then you'd sit there like good little children with your hands in your lap, waiting for the green light.

It was massively wrong and confusing, since the early 80s driving tutors were careful to point out that you waited at lights and junctions with the handbrake on, clutch down and vehicle in cog so you would not roll backwards in case of crap clutch control or cannon forwards in case of crap driver approaching carelessly from behind. (Ooer, etc.)

Mind, I've never had to double-declutch (much. SIIa LR boxes are non-sync on the first two gears) or heel-and-toe (much. Bloody Renault 'handbrakes') or attempt left-foot braking.

(This post is middle-aged-person clickbait isn't it.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

This new car is slightly alarming. It's so quiet and the steering so light that it barely feels like driving. It also expresses opinions about what gear it thinks you should be in.

And there's the bonging. If it isn't the it-might-be-icy alert, it's the you-appear-to-be-parking warning. I have yet to discover if it is as overly needy as the Sharan/Galaxy which also bongs when it wants petrol, screen wash, a service, a cuddle, etc. Or that Vauxhall I borrowed once that bonged if you put the handbrake on too soon after stopping (at least, I think that was what it was telling me. Possibly there were three children stuck down a well.)

I like modern safety features and reliability and all, but I wish cars would stop trying to help quite so much.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Possibly there were three children stuck down a well.

*smirk*

[ebee.livejournal.com]

Our landrover won't start without nor will large renaults. I now do it as default.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I was taught it as a default and it's automatic to me. However, the reason I was given is "it might be in gear". So interesting to hear there's other reasons for it too.

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

Well that' a new one on me!

May your new car give you many many miles an years of trouble free travel

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tigerfort.livejournal.com]

I'll confess to a hard-line opinion (acquired, I'd note, from my driving instructor) that if you don't know whether the car is in gear before starting the engine, you should get out again and give the keys to someone who's paying attention. (If you're starting with the clutch down because you know that the car's in gear, that's fine. But "is car in neutral" should definitely be on your checklist, and if the gearbox isn't working properly that's something you want to know before you start moving!)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well indeed, that's why I never bother starting with the clutch down. But apparently there are other reasons why it's a good idea, just my instructor never mentioned them!

[glittertigger]

I had this problem with the last hire car I drove, much to the amusement of my then-colleagues.