No Brakes! :eek:

Discussion in 'Automotive' started by D'Ellyn Dottir, Jun 15, 2021.

  1. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 16, 2021
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    709
    Didn't drive much in 2020, worked from home before that. Four year old Mazda 3 hatchback has less than 6000 miles on it. Took it in Friday for a routine check on belts and stuff in case squirrels though it was abandoned. And I want to take some trips soon. And the dang tires always look flat, because that's the type of tires they are. Shocked to find I had zero rear brake pads. :eek:

    They couldn't find a cause. No signs of any chemical exposure. And it's a stick shift, so I don't ride the brake -- tho I might ride the clutch a little bit at times. Had to replace the rotors too. Only explanation is that it was probably a QAnon conspiracy. :rolleyes:

    But the heads up display on the loaner car was pretty cool. Anyone have a car that projects the speed you are going and the posted speed limit on the windshield? Given what they were fixing on my car, it freaked me out when an alarm dinged and the word BRAKES!!! flashed in red on the windshield. The loaner's danger sensitivity algorithm thought I was too close to the car ahead -- 2 car lengths -- for the speed I was traveling. That would be an annoying feature to have. :cool:
     
    #1
  2. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
    Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    13,055
    Likes Received:
    24,631
    Dunno.
    In this area it seems that there are a lot of people who like to ride rear ends like they are driving at a NASCAR event. That braking option might be nice!
     
    #2
    D'Ellyn Dottir likes this.
  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,685
    Likes Received:
    32,181
    I have a 2019 Mazda CX-5 with the heads-up display. It was one thing that really sold me on the car. That, and it was the first year they put the 2.5 liter turbo in the mid-sized SUV. :cool: It displays the NAV directions if you like, as well as bunch of other stuff. I don't know I would want to drive a car without a heads-up display now that I've had one. Oh, that BRAKE! feature saved my bacon the first week I had the car. (Putting everything on that computer screen makes for a real distraction until you get used to it.) It can be too sensitive at times, especially when you come up on the bumper of someone who is turning out of your way...you can disable it if you like.

    Regarding your brakes: that is insane. It makes no sense. You know that Mazda Customer Service is real good about helping with stuff like that, even if your car is just out of warranty. Given them a call. Tell them all that stuff went wrong after only 6,000 miles. They may meet you halfway on it. I've heard of them doing it with other folks. Your dealer should be able to help you with this.
     
    #3
    Bobby Cole and D'Ellyn Dottir like this.
  4. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 16, 2021
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    709

    Wow @John Brunner, I wouldn't have thought of calling customer service. Thanks for the idea.

    I almost got a model with the heads up display when I bought this one, but it wasn't in stock and I didn't want to wait for it to come in. Hadn't planned on ever buying another car, but that HUD will be hard to resist.
     
    #4
    Bobby Cole and John Brunner like this.
  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,685
    Likes Received:
    32,181
    With only 6,000 miles on your car, I gotta think that after trade-in you shouldn't have much of a payment on a new vehicle. But getting rid of a stick shift would be tough to do...I wish I had one on my CX-5.

    You should drive a HUD and use the NAV system. It's a thing of beauty.
     
    #5
    D'Ellyn Dottir and Bobby Cole like this.
  6. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 30, 2021
    Messages:
    5,697
    Likes Received:
    10,707
    Do they still make cars with manual transmissions? I bought my 2009 toyota without any bells and whistles, thinking it would be the last. We keep saying this will be the last car we get because we are so old. but it doesn't seem to work out that way.
    I don't want the new stuff but eventually they will get rid of gas stations and have only electric fueling stations.
    I asked my daughter what an item was in her kitchen and she said it was her car key. My hubby has a fob with no key. What happens if the battery dies?!
    He also has a 1960 Buick Elecktra (?) one has to know to step on a button on the floor after turning the key to start it. So confused.
     
    #6
    D'Ellyn Dottir and John Brunner like this.
  7. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,685
    Likes Received:
    32,181
    I could not find a truck I liked with manual shift. It seems so wrong to put an automatic in a truck. I loved my 1990 Volvo sedan because it had a 4 speed floor shift with an electric overdrive. So much fun to drive.

    I don't know if you're being rhetorical with that dead fob battery thing, so...they have a backup system. There's an RFID chip in the fob that's driven by the car's battery. You physically touch the fob to the Start Button as you push it.

    Regarding the floor starter button...I bet we all recall that's where they put the high beam control as well.
     
    #7
    Yvonne Smith likes this.
  8. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    12,752
    Likes Received:
    8,743
    Some new/newer vehicles of today, the dash panel looks more like where a pilot/co-pilot would sit in a commercial jet. Dials and gauges everywhere.

    When we bought our used 2005 Dodge Durango SLT, in December 2005, it already had 24,000 miles on it and it was sold brand new in March 2005. The previous owner had put that many miles on in that short of time!
     
    #8
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2021
  9. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 16, 2021
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    709
    @John Brunner -- Seriously, losing my stick shift probably out weighs the glamour of having a HUD. :rolleyes:
     
    #9
    Beth Gallagher and John Brunner like this.
  10. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 16, 2021
    Messages:
    565
    Likes Received:
    709
    Manual trans have all but disappeared. I'm told "young people" most notably don't want them anymore. I'm also told by a former general manager of a Honda dealership that batteries for electric cars are going to become a huge environmental waste problem. That seems a problem no policy maker is talking about. I don't look forward to having an electric car and hope I don't have to.

    My last car fob and my newest one both have a key hidden inside it. So did the fob for the loaner. I found that useful some winters ago when the door lock was so frozen that the fob signal wouldn't work.
     
    #10
  11. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    12,752
    Likes Received:
    8,743
    One thing for sure, it can be costly if a new fob is needed to replace an old one. In our Durango fob, there is a battery that connects to a small printed circuit board. The clips that hold the battery in place got old, so had to replace the entire thing. The Dealer had to program the circuit board to our vehicle.
     
    #11
  12. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 30, 2021
    Messages:
    5,697
    Likes Received:
    10,707
    Thanks! Hubby's does to. I sweat the little things. :eek:
     
    #12
  13. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,685
    Likes Received:
    32,181
    On the flip side, some dash panels have nothing but Idiot Lights whereas in the past you could monitor key data points and tell when something was just moving out-of-normal.

    I purchased an OBD2 Reader (to plug into the computer) with Bluetooth in it so it communicates with a program on a tablet. Not only does it read Error Codes, I can display anything the computer monitors on any gauge style I want. I bought this (and the used tablet) because I wanted more measurements than the dash gives me, and had even made a mounting bracket so I can tack the tablet to the computer screen as an extended dash. Come to find out that with all the gadgetry the computers monitor on these cars, the engine doesn't have an oil pressure sending unit...it has a Hi/Lo pressure switch in it.

    So I can monitor the tranny fluid temperature and the engine vacuum and the turbo pressure and a bunch of other stuff, but I can't get a basic oil pressure reading (without installing an aftermarket sender and gauge)...yet they give us a tach to let us know when the automatic transmission shifts. :confused:
     
    #13
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2021
  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,329
    Likes Received:
    42,632
    In the mid-1980s, I was living in Long Beach and working in Anaheim. I had an old Ford station wagon. On my way to work, on the second shift, I noticed that my brakes weren't working well. But I had to get to work and it was already too late in the afternoon to have it fixed, so I continued carefully to work and got there safely. On the way home to Long Beach, I took the surface streets, what I considered an access road, paralleling the freeway most of the way. Long before I got home, my brakes quit working completely, to the point where there was no point in even pressing them. I used my engine to slow me the best I could, and burned out my emergency brakes coming to a complete stop at stop signs and lights, after which I made a lot of right turns when there was traffic at an intersection. Nevertheless, I made it home safely. For those of you who are unfamiliar, that's about thirty miles of urban streets.
     
    #14
  15. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2016
    Messages:
    4,555
    Likes Received:
    8,377
    At one point I had a 58 Volkswagen and whenI started on my way home I noticed a lack of brakes. It was about 30 mile to home so I went every back road on used whatever was on the side of the road to help me stop
     
    #15

Share This Page