15-03-2014, 02:21 PM
(This post was last modified: 15-03-2014, 02:23 PM by AlanBeckett.)
On the subject of needless complexity SWMO just got a new Car. It's a modified Berlingo - rear Ramp and that sort of thing. It is of course Automatic.
Now I know that French Cars can be a bit whimsical as we've had them before, but this is beyond the pale. It has two Displays, 4 Stalks on the Steering column and two Paddles. The Radio/CD Player/Bluetooth thingy has it's own set of Controls and Display. There's no Gear Selector as such, just a rotary Knob on the Dashboard. I was grateful to discover it has a conventional Handbrake. I decided my only hope was to RTFM. By Page 50 I'd lost the will to live and I still hadn't got to Driving.
Anyway, having got the measure of it, or so I thought, we decided on a local Test Drive. All went reasonably well initially until I had to stop to make some adjustments. So, I opened the Tailgate - lift up type - did some jiggery-pokery and got back in. On switching on the Display said 'Rear screen open'. Errrr. So, round the back to check. As far as I could tell everything was OK except I couldn't open the Tailgate. Next I tried all the usual things - Off, On, Lock, Unlock, etc, etc, none of which made one iota of difference. We'd just about decided that our only hope was to drive round to the Citroen Garage - SMBO was trapped in the back -when I decided I'd better have a last look at the Manual. On the Page after the Tailgate Instructions it tells you about the 'Rear Screen', which is a little top hinged Window at the top of the Tailgate, and indeed it was open - S**t. Although it doesn't say so in the Manual you apparently can't have the Screen and the Tailgate open at the same time. After that everything went pretty smoothly.
It was wonderful to get back into the Freelander this morning. Foot on Footbrake, Gear Lever in P, Turn Key to start up, select D, let off Handbrake and Drive.
Alan
Now I know that French Cars can be a bit whimsical as we've had them before, but this is beyond the pale. It has two Displays, 4 Stalks on the Steering column and two Paddles. The Radio/CD Player/Bluetooth thingy has it's own set of Controls and Display. There's no Gear Selector as such, just a rotary Knob on the Dashboard. I was grateful to discover it has a conventional Handbrake. I decided my only hope was to RTFM. By Page 50 I'd lost the will to live and I still hadn't got to Driving.
Anyway, having got the measure of it, or so I thought, we decided on a local Test Drive. All went reasonably well initially until I had to stop to make some adjustments. So, I opened the Tailgate - lift up type - did some jiggery-pokery and got back in. On switching on the Display said 'Rear screen open'. Errrr. So, round the back to check. As far as I could tell everything was OK except I couldn't open the Tailgate. Next I tried all the usual things - Off, On, Lock, Unlock, etc, etc, none of which made one iota of difference. We'd just about decided that our only hope was to drive round to the Citroen Garage - SMBO was trapped in the back -when I decided I'd better have a last look at the Manual. On the Page after the Tailgate Instructions it tells you about the 'Rear Screen', which is a little top hinged Window at the top of the Tailgate, and indeed it was open - S**t. Although it doesn't say so in the Manual you apparently can't have the Screen and the Tailgate open at the same time. After that everything went pretty smoothly.
It was wonderful to get back into the Freelander this morning. Foot on Footbrake, Gear Lever in P, Turn Key to start up, select D, let off Handbrake and Drive.
Alan
