something I am grateful for today
Mar. 4th, 2011 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johncomicMy new car is smart.
It's not a smart [which I still have a crush on, BTW], but it's still smart.
Others my age may recall when you could accidentally leave your car lights on and drain your battery. Even later, when dingers reminded you that the lights were on, it was possible to tune out their warning and it could still happen.
Plus, the first time I drove at night in my first car, I forgot to turn my lights on. (It was in the city, and there were so many streetlights etc. that I didn't notice right away that my car wasn't making any light of its own. It was only the once, OK?)
So, those are my points of contention: you can forget to turn your lights on when you need to, you can forget to turn your lights off when you need to.
Neither of these is possible with my new car. As soon as you start it, the low lights come on. And once you turn it off and take the key out, the lights go off. You can't turn the headlights on if the car isn't running. The only lights that work when the car isn't on, are the emergency flashers, and c'mon no one accidentally leaves them on.
Maybe this doesn't sound like so much, but: this car is about fifteen years newer than the newest car I ever owned before. None of my previous cars could do this sort of sutff, so to me this is all like cool magic!
PS: another thing I love about my new car -- when you lock it after you park it, the lights make a little flash, but the horn doesn't honk. I've always found those lock-honks particularly annoying and was afraid I would get stuck with that in my new car -- but no!
It's not a smart [which I still have a crush on, BTW], but it's still smart.
Others my age may recall when you could accidentally leave your car lights on and drain your battery. Even later, when dingers reminded you that the lights were on, it was possible to tune out their warning and it could still happen.
Plus, the first time I drove at night in my first car, I forgot to turn my lights on. (It was in the city, and there were so many streetlights etc. that I didn't notice right away that my car wasn't making any light of its own. It was only the once, OK?)
So, those are my points of contention: you can forget to turn your lights on when you need to, you can forget to turn your lights off when you need to.
Neither of these is possible with my new car. As soon as you start it, the low lights come on. And once you turn it off and take the key out, the lights go off. You can't turn the headlights on if the car isn't running. The only lights that work when the car isn't on, are the emergency flashers, and c'mon no one accidentally leaves them on.
Maybe this doesn't sound like so much, but: this car is about fifteen years newer than the newest car I ever owned before. None of my previous cars could do this sort of sutff, so to me this is all like cool magic!
PS: another thing I love about my new car -- when you lock it after you park it, the lights make a little flash, but the horn doesn't honk. I've always found those lock-honks particularly annoying and was afraid I would get stuck with that in my new car -- but no!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 06:24 pm (UTC)And I worry about how much I lust after a Smart Car. If I could decide which color, and there was a dealer closer than 30 miles from here, I'm afraid I'd buy one this afternoon. One of my neighbors has one and he says you can buy interchangeable panels so the color thing is maybe a faux issue.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 06:40 pm (UTC)... ever since I saw a news item online about how any vandal with one or two friends can tip a Smart over on its side because they're so light, and so there was a rash of Smart owners returning to find their cars snoozing at the meter. And of course, more often than not, the owner is alone and therefore can't right the car by himself. And once it is on its feet again, then there's all the scratches and whatnot on it.
And of course, since I read this on the net, so did every other joker on the planet who needed to get the idea put into his addled little head. So I now feel like I'd be tempting fate if I bought a Smart...
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 06:44 pm (UTC)