Today’s
rant concerns little but annoying design failures. Most but not all of these
little problems are directly related to winter conditions. First up is my
Ariens 27” Deluxe snow blower. We bought the machine about six or seven years
ago, and it has in most ways been a satisfactory snow blower. We do have a snowplow
guy, but in an emergency I need to be able to clear our driveway. As well, after
heavy snowfalls, I use our snow blower to cut back the sides of
the ever-narrowing driveway path, when we run out of places to put the snow. In
fact, that snow blower has come in very handy since we purchased it. That said,
I’ve probably used it 25 times since we bought it. The other day, I went out to
start it, and the manual pull starter cord broke. It seems that a starter cord
should last longer than forty or fifty pulls, but that’s the way the cookie
crumbles. I did not intend to replace the cord myself, because I’m wary of messing
with recoil springs, but I did look up the replacement procedure on YouTube.
After watching a video, I figured I could at least remove the recoil mechanism
and take that relatively small part to a mechanic for repair. For almost all snow blowers this is an easy
procedure: remove four bolts and the recoil mechanism comes off. I must have
one of the only models wherein the recoil housing is riveted to the engine block. To remove the recoil assembly one must
drill out the rivets. Why would anyone design a part, one that will inevitably
need replacement, to be so difficult to disassemble? Now, I must take the whole
machine to the repair shop, which means transporting it in my landscape
trailer, which means waiting until the snow melts!
Next up in
the “what-were-they-thinking” department is Shauna’s 2011 Nissan Juke. Not only
have there been a laundry list of recalls on the car, but there have been a
myriad of electrical failures and design flaws. One winter day, Shauna could
not open the gas cap lid because it was frozen shut. Great design! The other
day, I tried to start the car in sub-zero conditions, and there wasn’t enough
juice in the battery. I pulled the hood release to pop the hood and give the battery a jump, but
nothing happened. I could not open the hood. I called the Nissan dealership, and their solution is to tow
the car to a dealer, on a flatbed trailer. When the weather warmed up a bit, I managed
to get the car running, and took it to a local car mechanic to have this relatively
simple problem fixed. Had I been out on the open road I would have been S.O.L. Why must there be a hood release inside the car anyway? Inevitably, the interior release involves a wire cable, and this is just one more part to fail. I've read that Nisson is notorious for electronical problems, and in my opinion this is becoming a bigger and bigger problem with a lot of new cars. The Juke has tire pressure sensors, which I think are completely unnecessary. I can see when my tires are low on air. Every season, when
we put on the snow tires, the tire “low pressure” light comes on, even though the tires are properly inflated, and it can
only be reset at a Nissan dealer, or someone with the expensive diagnostic tools used by Nisson.
My new Honda
is not without its design flaws. There is a back-up camera installed on the rear
hatch of the car which, in theory, helps me to see what is behind me
when I’m backing out of or into a parking space. Unfortunately, the camera is
so placed that, if there is any
precipitation whatsoever, it immediately becomes covered in grime and useless. In other
words, half the time it is un-usable. The radio on this Honda is
supposed to be state of the art, but in fact it is horribly counter-intuitive.
It involves a touch screen (I dislike touch screens intensely), and every time
the car is turned off, it is a two-step process to get back to the radio
screen. While some radio controls are available on the steering wheel, many are
not. On every other car stereo I’ve owned, the CD player is simple and easy to
use. It typically includes fast forward and rewind controls that allow the
listener to scroll through a song. I often want to hear a lyric repeated, but
with this system, I can only jump ahead to the next song, or back to the
beginning of the song being played. If the car is turned off with a CD in the
player, unless the CD was being played when the car was turned off, it will not
recognize that CD until it is ejected and re-inserted. Disregarding the minor
annoyance of these design flaws, there is the obvious issue of distraction. It
is against the law to operate a cell phone while driving a car, but operating
this Honda radio requires more attention than texting on a phone. It’s absolutely
ridiculous, especially when the weather is frigid and the control screen becomes
unresponsive to my touch. Don’t even get me started on voice activated
controls.This is not progress folks.
My philosophy is “don’t fix it if
it ain’t broke.” While many of the electronic devices used into new car
technology improve fuel efficiency and perhaps safety, some of them are just
annoying, unnecessary, and complicated to fix. I look forward to the imminent
release of the mass-produced self-driving car. I hope they aren’t designed by
the guy who dreamed up my car stereo. Computer-operated autos: what could
possibly go wrong there?
-Written
by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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