Our 2002 car had 150,000 miles on it, so we traded it in. We now have a new car. Oh, joy. I drive the truck, which goes forward, backward, and stops. No bells, no whistles, no messages from the bowels of the engine. Our new car flashes a "hello" message when you start it up. It tells you the outside temperature. This car has buttons, toggle switches, and cryptic messages all over the place. It took me a good ten minutes to lower the driver side window so I could mail a letter in the letterbox! I have a Model T Ford mentality in the 21st century. I'll learn it and probably love it, but meanwhile, the car definitely has the upper hand!
Our 2001 car has almost 140,000 miles on it and will be replaced sometime next year. The headlights come on when you start the engine and go off when you shut it off. It took me years to figure out how to turn them off and on manually. And the windshield wiper lever has about a dozen different settings that confused the heck out of me for quite a while. I really am not looking forward to having to learn even newer technology with a new car next year.
Congratulations on your new car marlingardener!! :-D We traded our big 4x4 for a much smaller diesel car at the beginning of this year. It's so much cheaper to run but I can't get half as many plants in it that I used to with the other one.
Congratulations on your new car! It's nice, isn't it, to get something that won't stop when it wants to and not when you want to. I just got a new one myself, last week. It's a 2001 station wagon, which means I can get more plants in this than in the 20-year-old sedan I had. As for buttons and switches, I'm still getting used to the thing, but it's very similar to the one I had so I'm just having fun with the extras now. I found a cup holder in the dashboard. That was a surprise. The A/C unit is a very good thing, and the same goes for the outside mirrors defroster. I'm planning to keep this car for at least 10 years since I need a car I won't have to worry about. I don't use my cars. I abuse them.
Maybe your car was meant for export. Here all cars do that since rules say we always have to use headlights when driving.
Yesterday I found out how to get the dome light (the light that comes on when you open a door) to come on! Funny how reading the manual really helps . . . . Droopy, enjoy your new car that will transport many plants! Here in Texas right after we ask how much get-up-and-go a car has, we ask how strong the AC is. Rolling down the window and letting the breeze ruffle your hair doesn't work when it's 102 outside!
I agree with Toni, my 2001 SUV has 145,000...the leather seats are just getting broken in and I don't worry about putting dirt and plants in the back. I do no look forward to learning all the new technology. This is what the card my daughter gave me said. "Mom, how about if I program your cell phone to play Happy Birthday everytime it rings? ... You really couldn't do anything about it, could you? When I get a new phone, I have the girls set it up and put in all the numbers. I could figure it out but don't want to read the manual!
OH, Gail, I hear you about the cell phone! We recently got our first and I look at it about the same way I'd look at a cockroach on the kitchen counter. My husband put the pertinent numbers in the address book, and it only had one ring tone available, so all I have to do is call and answer. I refuse to carry it with me outside, and I don't have it with me in the truck. It lays on the sideboard in the dining room and we exchange malevolent looks!
AC in a car down here has to hit sub-zero in less than a minute with the windows down or it isn't going to keep you from melting in the summer. The heater, not so much of a concern. Droopy, I think because some states require headlights on all the time and some don't the manufacturers just add that feature to all the new cars anyway. I'm pretty much the same as you on the cell phone. I have a 'buy the minutes when you need them' that sits in my purse in case of emergency. Randy picked it out and set it up for me. I don't even remember the number.
