Is it me or are auto wipers the stupidest thing ever to be invented for a car? I've had three cars with this extra and all of them never work properly. This is a good example, it's starts to rain a little so I put my wipers onto what would be intermittent but it's not because it's got the auto option and they start to wipe fast. Then the rain gets heavier and they decide to stop or it stops raining and the wipers keep wiping.

Is there anyway of disconnecting the auto wipers on my mondeo ST TDCI and just have the old fashioned but reliable intermittent wipe instead? Can I just disconnect the rain sensor on the wind screen?

 

I find the auto wipers work fine in my focus

 

feeling your pain mate, the auto wipers on my 08 Mondeo drive me nuts in exactly the way you describe. there's no way of regaining any sensible level of control of the what the bloody things do.

 

When it rains I hope it's moderate/heavy so I can have them on constant. Glad it's not just me.lol

 

its the same in the wife pug 206. mental

 

Same here on the wifes Qashqai. If left on auto (which they usually are) on a frosty morning they kick in, as soon an the cars started. Then destroys the wiper blades

 

Had auto wipers on 4 cars and never had one that works properly. Either warp speed during light mist or slow intermittent in a storm. Nothing in between!

 

I hate the extra wipe you get after you have used the windscreen washers, that spreads shit everywhere again.

 

Especially on a hot summers day!

 

I've got them on my 2010 golf and I have an option to turn them off but they work fine )))

 

They work well on my Merc. The auto main-beam on the other hand...

 

Often wondered how good they'd be!? Had my suspicions they might be a shit idea...
Cos flicking the wipers to the speed you want when you want is so difficult!?
Although, round here it seems every fucker in oncoming traffic waits till they're 3feet from you before they turn main beam off, so maybe operating a small lever is beyond some! lol

 

Was just about to say something like this . If switching lights on or wipers is too hard for people, or having to have sensors to reverse then u shouldn't be on the road in my opinion lol. Like someone said that extra bloody wipe they do is so irritating, it smears the bugger again lol

 

They work fine on my focus and the last 2 cars i had also.

 

Got them on my 07 Focus ST and 04 Bora and they are both shite, even adjusting the sensitivity seems to make no difference at all.

 

I don't know anybody who likes them. It's a bit like the bloody annoying electric handbrake, what was wrong with the good old trusty handle?

 

Don't get me started on electric handbrakes! Why why why! You can tell car designers are fresh out of school now and have no true technical background

 

Had an insignia with one,bloody nearly rammed my next doors car pain ((

 

I love my auto wipers a electric handbrake on my Passat CC.
They all work faultlessly but that's the Germans for you.

Rich

 

Keyless entry, epb, auto moving seats, seatbelt warnings, tyre presssure warning systems all boil my piss.

 

got auto wipers on my kuga and connect and hate them with a passion
also hill start on my connect thats a pain in the arse so thats been turned off

 

Auto wipers on my 5 series are perfect, had them on a megane that were shit

 

In the Merc S Class (and probably others) the auto moving seats are there as a safety feature - if the car feels like a collision is imminent the front seats slide the occupants into line with the B-posts for maximum side protection while the front edge of the rear seats lift to stop passengers submarining under their seatbelts. At the same time, the sunroof will close and windows will either wind up or down so they are open just an inch or so to stop limbs flailing about outside the car and to allow the air displaced by the airbags to escape instead of hurting your eardrums.

Having the seats glide back and fore to make extry/exit easier is just a bonus.

 

This thread makes me chuckle. In all my years fitting screens, I've only ever had two people complain about rain sensors - one was because someone had fitted the wrong screen into his Transit Custom, meaning the sensor was on the wrong side, and the other was a faulty sensor which caused the wipers to work erratically after replacement. No other customers has complained that they are shit, don't work properly, or are a nuisance.

Hill start is wicked, I love it in my Transit and wish my own car had it. Brilliant for pulling away on hills.

Electric handbrake I'll give you, they're fucking pointless to me, and recently went to a Passat that was fitted with one, car was on a pretty steep drive, facing down, and I needed it turned round. The customers wife was at home and she said she couldn't drive it off the drive, because you need your foot on the brake pedal for the electric handbrake to release, but the slope was so much that the car wouldn't hold with just the clutch. I tried to do it, thinking she was maybe just not too confident with it, but amazingly I had the same problem. I asked her how her husband got it off and she said he normally reversed on and pulled off forwards Solved the problem by getting a loose curb stone and sticking it infront of the front wheels, so that it acted like a chock, stopping the car rolling forward in the delay between taking the hand brake off and moving from the brake pedal to the accelerator. Pointless idea since you can't activate or deactivate it without having your foot on the brake pedal

Seat belt warnings aren't an issue if you wear your seat belt.

Electric seats I can understand on the driver side - you can get a much finer, more precise position with it than the old manual rail lock, but pointless on the passenger side. PITA for me as I'm taller than most of my customers, so when I try to get in I have to wait for AGES to slide the seat back before I can fit. And one's without memory function and presets are annoying as the customer then spends ages trying to get it back how it was

Delayed wipe after spray - doesn't bother me. Wish my own car had it actually.

Tyre pressure warning is useful if you lose pressure while driving. Saves destroying a tyre if it can be avoided.

Never tried auto-main beam, so can't say. But the headlight steer Audi's have is awesome. Mate has it and it really does work!

Auto-headlights (as in turn on and off) are good, but I wish it was a bit more intelligent, so that it could detect low light and just activate the sidelights. I suppose that's not too much of an issue for new cars that come equipped with DRL's, and a delay would be nice when starting a car up in the dark, so they don't come on as soon as you turn on, preventing you cranking the engine with lights on (which I was always told not to do)

My biggest bug-bear though are key fobs and starter buttons. The Ford system is fine - you have the key fob in your pocket and the car unlocks when you get close enough, and all you need to do to start is press the button. That's fine. But why the fuck did BMW think it was a good idea to have you insert the fob into the dash, push once for power, then press a separate button to start the fucking car? How pointless is that?! Renault are just as bad - if you've got to put the fob or card into a slot in the dash and press a separate button, you might as well just use a normal key! Honda were the worst - the Civic that you had to insert a key as normal, turn it as normal to deactivate steering lock and turn on power, then press a start button on the dash to start the cunt - YOU'VE GOT A FUCKING KEY THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE LOCK - JUST USE THAT TO START THE CAR! Landcover Freelander 2 - you have to turn the engine on before you can use the power - there is no in-between; it's either all off or it's running. So just to open the windows or test the wipers, I have to start the car up! Stupid

 

Last one I had trouble with was a shitty insignia, im only 5ft7 once the seat had moved back I couldn't start the engine as the clutch has to be fully pressed. (Another bloody annoying feature to people in workshops)

 

A Passat handbrake will automatically disengage as long as you have your seat belt on, so that's all you needed to do!

 

My car is pretty shit too, it has keyless start but not keyless entry. So you press the key fob to unlock, get in, put keys down somewhere in the car, hit the button to start it.


Then when you finish, press button again to switch off, get out, start to walk away, think oh fook keys are still in the car, try and remember in which cubby hole you put them, realise you put them on the passenger seat and they have slid off and have now gone under the seat etc etc.


Total keyless or use the key as normal, not a bit of both!!

 

While we are having a good moan, what about door mirrors that tilt to the kerb when reverse is selected, touch sensitive indicators like the ones on a vectra c and cars with traction control that can't be switched off, so when it snows they get stuck.

 

Fail I'll give that a try next time

 

You could just put them in your pocket though

 

I could, but it's uncomfortable driving with a pocket full of keys. Plus for some reason when the key is in my pocket wedged into my gut the car can't pick up the signal from it so doesn't start when you hit the button lol

 

Although a bloody good thing about a keyless system on a Mondeo is it knows when the key is in the boot, so when you shut the lid it pops open again if the other doors are locked to stop you locking them in the car!

 

That's pretty clever!

 

All the people above who's auto wipers dont work properly, have you had the windscreen changed? and has it got OE stamped glass fitted?

 

I never drive without a seatbelt but in my Passat CC you just drive away and the handbrake disengages and you can put the hand brake on under 5mph without your foot on the footbrake.

Rich

 

Mines original so were the screens in my previous cars.

 

I don't own a car with an electronic handbrake. The customers car's I've driven are usually no more than a hundred yards; usually just moving spaces in a car park or turning a car round to face the other way on a drive, doing both of which I don't bother putting a seat belt on. I'm pretty sure though that when I've tried to pull away with the handbrake still on, it hasn't automatically disengaged. Could be wrong of course

 

Right I had to go outside and do a test

Seatbelt Off = Handbrake does not disengage if you try and pull away

Seatbelt On = Handbrake does disengage when you pull away

Handbrake engages without pressing the footbrake with or without your seat belt on.

Handbrake will engage while vehicle is still moving at very slow speed (under 5 mph I'd imagine)

Happy to do a video once daylight if required lol

Rich

 

Sorry, but I didn't call you a liar in any way shape or form. All I've said is I don't remember the handbrake disengaging when I've tried to pull away in a car with an electronic handbrake. The fact that I've not worn a seatbelt whilst doing this is probably the reason why. And as far as I remember when I have moved one (not wearing a seatbelt) you need your foot on the brake in order to disengage the electronic handbrake. But if it makes you feel better to prove you're right, go ahead and make a video

 

I didn't think you were calling me a liar I did it just to see whether wearing seat belt made a difference and to my surprise it did.

I'd imagine this will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer thou.

Only testing theory's with practical tests just like any good engineer would

Rich