Seriously One in five drivers can't open their own bonnet

[obi_waynne]

This is very worrying indeed....

http://cars.aol.co.uk/2014/05/30/one-in-five-drivers-can-t-open-their-own-bonnet/

So most people don't check their tyre tread depth and many can't even open the bonnet let alone check the oil and fluid levels?

 

[T9 man]

I must admit to never checking my tyre depth, everything else on the otherhand under the bonnet gets a check up once a week or once a fortnight at the absolute latest.

 

[davalav]

I normally give my car a good checking over at least once a week. I find it very funny how people simply cannot open a bonnet! I personally blame the German car manufactures. People now depend solely on no maintenance motoring. Whereby the Audi, BMW or Merc they drive will go thousands of miles without a hiccup so they don't bother. Then when it does go wrong, oh well, my finance plan has a 4 year warranty and free servicing.

 

[HDi fun]

Look at it the other way. Four out of five drivers - that's 80% of us - DO open the bonnet and check our cars. Let's not let Torque Cars get all 'tabloidy sensationaly' !!

 

[st24]

Look at it the other way. Four out of five drivers - that's 80% of us - DO open the bonnet and check our cars. Let's not let Torque Cars get all 'tabloidy sensationaly' !!

More than fair comment.

 

[obi_waynne]

Nicely put hdi! It got me thinking though, can our partners and families all open the bonnet and do these checks or does it always fall to us-the car nerds!

We could unwittingly be adding to this statistic by taking over all car related things and doing them ourselves.

 

[st24]

I normally give my car a good checking over at least once a week. I find it very funny how people simply cannot open a bonnet! I personally blame the German car manufactures. People now depend solely on no maintenance motoring. Whereby the Audi, BMW or Merc they drive will go thousands of miles without a hiccup so they don't bother. Then when it does go wrong, oh well, my finance plan has a 4 year warranty and free servicing.

You can,t really blame people for this why not use the warranty etc.
However i agree they should lift the bonnet now and then at very least to check screenwash which will not last thousands of miles.

 

[herb]

I'm part of the 20% and I'm not embarrassed to say so!
BUT I service my own vehicles annually and cause I do it myself I know the fluids and levels are correct! So the levels should be good for a year! Unless an issue occurs but isn't that what the sensors and warning lights are for?

 

[Yugguy]

Not really. You could have a head gasket issue or coolant leak causing serious issues way before you see any light.

What gets me is people who drive round with basically flat tyres. How can you not tell???

 

[herb]

Not really. You could have a head gasket issue or coolant leak causing serious issues way before you see any light.

What gets me is people who drive round with basically flat tyres. How can you not tell???

I'd soon notice if the temp gauge was doing anything out of the ordinary

Also concerning tyres I think lower profile tyres e.g. 30,35 are harder to spot from just looking at them but it should be easy enough to realise something isn't right while you're driving!

 

[T9 man]

Also concerning tyres I think lower profile tyres e.g. 30,35 are harder to spot from just looking at them but it should be easy enough to realise something isn't right while you're driving!

A fact I can confirm this afternoon (35 profile) after I picked up a nail at some point, it was the car wash chap who pointed it out to me and I got the puncture repaired straight away, not a bad price £19.95 all in.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

I'd soon notice if the temp gauge was doing anything out of the ordinary

Also concerning tyres I think lower profile tyres e.g. 30,35 are harder to spot from just looking at them but it should be easy enough to realise something isn't right while you're driving!

I see semi flat tyres on a regular basis and on occasion I have been able to inform to the driver??at the lights.and then drive on past the next service station without a care in the world. They seem oblivious to the real possibility of the tyre rolling off the rim in an sudden lane change or fast corner speed that loads up the under-inflated tyre.

IMHO it seems that many drivers? motorists have little/no feel as to how the car is responding when turning.
In many cases if they were to do a simple long way walk around to arrive at the drivers door they would /might see a tyre that looks a bit low and would also see if there were no kids toys,bikes etc to run over at the same time.

 

[HDi fun]

Most cars now have enough monitoring stuff under the bonnet that it shouldn't really be necessary to manually check levels. However, I'd rather add oil if necessary before the min level light comes on during a journey which creates the hassle of finding the correct oil and paying a fortune for it at a fuel station.

Same with washer fluid. Why wait for the warning light? Easier to top it off than run out on a dark greasy night and wind up totally unable to see.

 

[old-git]

On the other hand, I would have to find the instruction manual in order to make the washing machine work.

 

[T9 man]

^^ For shame OG :sad2:......

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

On the other hand, I would have to find the instruction manual in order to make the washing machine work.

Move over and make room for another passenger on the boat Steve :embarrest:

 

[HDi fun]

Washing machine is doable lol.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

^^ For shame OG :sad2:......

We have different fields of expertise She is proficient with all the appliances in the house while my field is the car,rider mower,hedge trimmer,wipper snipper,taking out rubbish hedge clippings and tree pruneings to the council tip checking her oil,tyres etc

 

[T9 man]

We have different fields of expertise She is proficient with all the appliances in the house while my field is the car,rider mower,hedge trimmer,wipper snipper,taking out rubbish hedge clippings and tree pruneings to the council tip checking her oil,tyres etc

I can see how the division of labour could work

 

[old-git]

I can see how the division of labour could work

Absolutely.

Garden - Gardener
House - Butler
Cooking - Cook
Vehicles - Mechanic
Children - Nanny
Other - Maid/Au Pair

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Absolutely.

Garden - Gardener
House - Butler
Cooking - Cook
Vehicles - Mechanic
Children - Nanny
Other - Maid/Au Pair

OG is that a list of your personal household staff or T9's

 

[old-git]

Mine. T9's list would be a lot longer.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Mine. T9's list would be a lot longer.

Nothing quite like a bit of good natured banter to bring a to my face.

 

[gummy]

a lot of people dont know a spanner from a screwdriver so its just as well they cant open the bonnet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[obi_waynne]

I've known people to put water in the oil filler and vice versa!

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Over here we call the lights in the dash "idiot lights"

 

[HDi fun]

Do you have idiots over there then?

 

[thexav]

There are idiots all over the world. Not just drivers. Thankfully the driving test sorts out the worst of the bunch ..... or does it.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Idiot lights are generally there to warn people who who are clueless but still drive with RED warning lights showing until the car stops.
I prefer proper gauges for Amp,boost, oil pressure and water temps.

 

[obi_waynne]

Idiot lights are generally there to warn people who who are clueless but still drive with RED warning lights showing until the car stops.
I prefer proper gauges for Amp,boost, oil pressure and water temps.

I like that "idiot lights" I think I'll adopt that phrase. People still ignore them.

I have 3 friends driving around with engine warning lights on and 1 of them is clearly in limp home mode but they still won't do anything about it.

 

[thexav]

And when they do open the bonnet they can't find any of the filler caps or fluid check areas!