needed to make a long drive and needed more room than my miata so rented a vehicle

Post #442,144 by boxley 10/6/22 9:45:59 PM 10/6/22 9:45:59 PM Reply	needed to make a long drive and needed more room than my miata so rented a vehicle vw golf hatchback, seemed ok. Stopped for some supplies and went to load them in the back. Clicked the trunk open thingy on the fob, nothing. Felt all around the smooth finished edges, nada. Searched the drivers console and seat for a latch. Nothing. Got the manual out. It stated open it by the handle. WHAT FUCKING HANDLE! This is about 20 minutes of fumbling, reading, poking etc. Finally the last step was to remove the back seat to get to the latch from the inside per manual. One last check with eyes closed fingertips working all over the back and sides when my hand rode over the VW emblem badge on the back, it was on a swivel. Now that is fucking intuitive, not. "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,145 by Another Scott 10/7/22 12:17:19 AM 10/7/22 12:17:19 AM Reply	:-) When I got my Jetta wagon back from the shop after I was rear-ended on I-75 going 70 mph (several years ago)..., the owner of the shop had me look at the hatch and said he couldn't figure out why it didn't raise by itself on pushing the button on the fob. "It's never done that - it's manual," says I. :-) At least it didn't try to kill you! :-( (Supposedly there are instructions in the owner's manual about how to find the hidden manual interior door handle when the electric latches don't work.) But, yeah, driving or trying to operate an inscrutable car can be aggravating. Cheers, Scott.
Post #442,148 by boxley 10/7/22 9:36:16 AM 10/7/22 9:36:16 AM Reply	you need to take out the back seats per manual to get to that latch "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,171 by CRConrad 10/16/22 4:48:38 AM 10/16/22 4:48:38 AM Reply	Isn't it enough to just flip down the backrests? Also, how dumb does one have to be not to realise "Damn, there's nothing there! No handle at all, just a VW emblem!" Just... A... VW... Emblem. So YTF not try that then?!? Sorry, AFAICS this one is totally on you. -- Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
Post #442,172 by drook 10/16/22 8:26:38 AM 10/16/22 8:26:38 AM Reply	An emblem is not a handle I wouldn't assume that could swivel either. A few minutes feeling under the edge, like for a hood release ... a few minutes digging out the manual and trying to look it up (because somehow the manual never has what you're looking for in the index the way you expect) ... an aborted attempt to go through the trunk ... a few more minutes feeling around the edge of the trunk again thinking, "Handle ... handle... what fucking handle!?" Yeah, I could see spending a frustrating 20 minutes on that. -- Drew
Post #442,175 by Another Scott 10/16/22 11:12:40 AM 10/16/22 11:12:40 AM Reply	For those of us who get different cars maybe every 18-22 years... Having a non-distracted pre-delivery inspection and feature tutorial can be ~~very helpful~~ essential, but rare. Lots of things can change over the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjnHJUhTIc8 - yeah, it's clever and makes sense. It took me a long time to figure out how to open the gas filler door on the Kia Soul I rented about 5 years ago. There are many potential ways to waste a lot of time on unfamiliar transportation devices! One of my favorite grade school teachers had a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix. Huge land yacht! It had door handles with no obvious grips. How to open it? It turns out, one had to use one's thumb to push on the end part of the handle, then the longer lever part would pivot out and give one a place for fingers to grab and swing it out enough to disengage the door catch. I have no idea what one would do for a Tesla and similar things now that have completely flush door handles if the remote dies or there's something wrong with the electrical system and one needs to get inside... Cheers, Scott.
Post #442,177 by CRConrad 10/16/22 1:16:16 PM 10/16/22 1:16:16 PM Reply	I've bought a whopping two cars new (to me; used ones) in the last 11 years... ...and in my life. Both VW Group products, a 2009(?) SEAT Exeo and a 2014 VW Tiguan. (I've also owned, as I think I've mentioned here, an old Volvo for over half my life -- but I never bought that one, got it for Christmas when I was fifteen.) First thing that came to mind looking at that pic was "That looks like you push one end in so the other plops out". Like, how the fuck else would it work? -- Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
Post #442,150 by malraux 10/7/22 11:37:46 AM 10/7/22 11:37:46 AM Reply	I once had to jump the battery on my A8 Used A8, I had no experience with them before. The trunk was electric. The battery was in the trunk. Cue shenanigans. This was in an airport parking garage so tow vehicles couldn't fit. Eventually the jump assist vehicle driver clipped one alligator to the lead of one of the interior door lights, and the other to a long screwdriver that he could barely reach the alternator with. Unbelievably poor design. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #442,151 by boxley 10/7/22 11:54:07 AM 10/7/22 11:54:07 AM Reply	my miata battery is in the trunk, luckily the 2002 has a lot of mechanical featues latch in armrest "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,155 by static 10/10/22 4:47:58 AM 10/10/22 4:47:58 AM Reply	Guess where the battery for a Porsche Cayenne is. Under the driver's seat! You need to remove the seat to get to it; I can't imagine how Porsche says how to jump-start it. (I'm a bit of a fan of Youtuber Tyler "Hoovie" Hoover - he had a Cayenne with lots of problems* some years ago. * Yes, I know, Hoovie always has cars with problems...) Wade.
Post #442,156 by drook 10/10/22 9:16:02 AM 10/10/22 9:16:02 AM Reply	I'm the original VW Beetle it's under the back seat It's easy to pull out the seat, but still ... -- Drew
Post #442,157 by Another Scott 10/10/22 12:45:48 PM 10/10/22 12:45:48 PM Reply	Terminals under the hood. It looks like jump starting it isn't a big deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgipEB8IQCI Replacing the battery probably is, but they probably want you to take it to the dealer for everything anyway. :-/ Wasn't there a Chevy Monza or something that required that you had to take off the motor mount and transmission support to drop/raise the motor enough to change a rear spark plug? Ah yes, yes there was... Cheers, Scott.
Post #442,158 by drook 10/10/22 1:04:41 PM 10/10/22 1:04:41 PM Reply	Other fun ones My wife's Buick Century had rear brakes that had a custom tool to recess the pistons to do a brake job. You literally couldn't do that job without the custom, single-purpose tool. And you had to remove one of the front wheels and driveshaft to access the oil filter. -- Drew
Post #442,159 by boxley 10/10/22 4:17:16 PM 10/10/22 4:17:16 PM Reply	what year model buick ( just inherited one) "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,161 by drook 10/10/22 4:48:01 PM 10/10/22 4:48:01 PM Reply	Century, she had it when we got married, it was used when she got it, probably 90-92 -- Drew
Post #442,162 by boxley 10/11/22 9:10:17 AM 10/11/22 9:10:17 AM Reply	thx mine is a 2003 lesabre fingers xed "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,163 by drook 10/11/22 6:50:11 PM 10/11/22 6:50:11 PM Reply	That's a grampa car, which ... checks out -- Drew
Post #442,164 by boxley 10/11/22 8:37:21 PM 10/11/22 8:37:21 PM Reply	drother have a linckum but the price was right "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,167 by boxley 10/14/22 12:26:38 PM 10/14/22 12:26:38 PM Reply	and learning about the car, the battery is under the back seat with the fuse box there is a positive lead to the engine compartment so that helps. Oil change, radiator flush, and new tires then take it on a short road trip "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #442,160 by static 10/10/22 4:32:42 PM 10/10/22 4:32:42 PM Reply	Nice. So someone actually thought of that. :-) Wade.

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