Vehicle warning lights/gauges and Thai ladies.

[The Fugitive]

My Thai Mrs drives for miles with the handbrake applied. There is a warning light and it works reliably. She says she doesn’t understand symbols. The other day she asked me what E and F stood for? Today I noticed the temperature gauge needle was in the red zone. I repeatedly pointed to it but she was totally oblivious. I said ‘dangerous, go into a garage right now’. Fortunately, we were passing a couple of motor repair places we know and she drove into one. Steam everywhere from a corroded radiator pipe/hose connection.

 

I must say that my wife is excellent at spotting and getting into parking spaces. Something that I’m diabolical about myself. Also, she is superb at remembering (and reversing) routes. I’ve never seen her use a paper map or Sat Nav.

 

Anyone else found vehicle instrumentation to be a ‘blind spot’?

[worgeordie]

Two pedals confuse them , lights and levels .........???? decoration.

regards worgeordie

[The Hammer2021]

No I idea what the OP is talking about - 90% of Thai women I meet are much brighter than their partners- As for  the F/E symbol story - I don't  believe  it .

[The Fugitive]

16 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Two pedals confuse them , lights and levels .........???? decoration.

regards worgeordie

True about automatics. I have learned to keep away from the ends of the car (both ends) whenever the engine is running. My wife has a habit of pressing the accelerator without first checking the position of the gear selector.

[The Fugitive]

2 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

the F/E symbol story - I don't  believe  it .

Absolutely true, on my deceased Mum's remains. She asked what E and F stood for (the English words). 

[bbko]

Reminds me of a US TV show back in the early 90's with Tim Allen and the problems with his wife and their car.

Tim:
It's a warning light; didn't it occur to you there might be a little problem?

Jill:
I thought if there was a problem with the car that the light would get brighter, or there would be a buzzer.

Tim:
A buzzer? It's a car, not a game show.

[The Hammer2021]

3 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Absolutely true, on my deceased Mum's remains. She asked what E and F stood for (the English words). 

Oh sorry I thought you were talking  about a fuel gauge on a vehicle- what do they stand  for on a grave stone?

[Kenny202]

Im impressed she can drive

[The Hammer2021]

Thais are bought  up with motor  vehicles  from an early age  so the know  the difference  between  having no  fuel and a full tank . Did you you explain E = Empty = ว่างเปล่า Wang Plou

And F means Full =เต็ม

Tem

She definitely understood the concept of full and empty  but perhaps  didn't  know the English words- and you didn't have the ability  to explain  to her- perhaps  you don't speak Thai

[The Fugitive]

2 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Im impressed she can drive

It's the basics that get forgotten.  When driving a manual she never wiggles the gear stick from side to side before turning the key. I'm sure she believes that nutting the windscreen is a totally random annoyance!

[The Fugitive]

5 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Thais are bought  up with motor  vehicles  from an early age  so the know  the difference  between  having no  fuel and a full tank . Did you you explain E = Empty = ว่างเปล่า Wang Plou

And F means Full =เต็ม

Tem

She definitely understood the concept of full and empty  but perhaps  didn't  know the English words- and you didn't have the ability  to explain  to her- perhaps  you don't speak Thai

Exactly! It was the English words she wanted to know. I tried to learn Spanish but gave up. No chance of me ever learning Thai I'm afraid.

[Adumbration]

Back when I was playing the field and dating lots of Thai girls, I alway found that a good litmus test was to see how technologically challenged they were by my twin tub washing machine.

[2long]

My wife bought her first automatic car, and took it back to the dealer within a week!

She said it wouldn't move in the dark, but only in the day!

She salesman pointed out that N was for neutral and D for Drive.

 

 

I'm here all week. / I'll get my coat! ????

[OneMoreFarang]

Install something like this:

 

[Artisi]

4 minutes ago, 2long said:

My wife bought her first automatic car, and took it back to the dealer within a week!

She said it wouldn't move in the dark, but only in the day!

She salesman pointed out that N was for neutral and D for Drive.

 

 

I'm here all week. / I'll get my coat! ????

That joke is as old as the hills, but still good for a laugh....... 

 

 

[Adumbration]

There is an old haggish Thai woman here in the village that everyone says is a witch and that she can shape shift.

 

She has a beat up old honda bike and the other day she rode in front of me at a tee intersection.  I was just out and about on my bike joy riding so I thought I would follow her to see were she lived.

 

I had not long been tailing behind her when I saw something happen that scared the bejeezus out of me, and confirmed that all of the rumors were true.

 

She turned into a driveway.

 

 

[digbeth]

In the Thai facebook groups for various cars, come 'winter' time there's always question about what the blue 'sailboat' icon on the dash is

 

 

and on semi decent car on a cold day: is the air con broken, temperature set to 25-28 and there's hot air blowing out the vents

[Lacessit]

My GF several times has complained the aircon is not working. You have to turn it on, teerak. Opening the dashboard vent helps too.

[it is what it is]

 

i read a report recently that highlighted the fact a surprisingly high number of drivers in the uk don't know what their dashboard warning lights indicate, clearly a human problem!

 

one first date i noticed my date's front tyres were not only bald but had obvious cracks in the side, i asked if she knew and she did. i said she had to get new tyres before i'd go anywhere in her car. thankfully she took my advice and we went on many fantastic road trips.

 

it still makes me go cold thinking how close she was to a high speed blow out, never mind driving in wet conditions...

[In Full Agreement]

 

get rid of the car or the lady and problem solved.     ????

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

i read a report recently that highlighted the fact a surprisingly high number of drivers in the uk don't know what their dashboard warning lights indicate, clearly a human problem!

 

one first date i noticed my date's front tyres were not only bald but had obvious cracks in the side, i asked if she knew and she did. i said she had to get new tyres before i'd go anywhere in her car. thankfully she took my advice and we went on many fantastic road trips.

 

it still makes me go cold thinking how close she was to a high speed blow out, never mind driving in wet conditions...

I suppose there might be many who don't understand the symbols but would quite correctly be concerned about a continuous red light and would, hopefully, investigate?  Good thing you checked your GF's tyres. Until now my Mrs has always fitted second hand tyres. I've always been uneasy about this. Two days ago she bought a set of four new Leao Lion Sport HP3's 185/60 R15 for 7,000 baht including fitting and balancing. Definitely a smoother ride and I feel easier now.   

[RafPinto]

Honey what does "R" mean?
I drive and drive and it seams I am not going any further.

[The Fugitive]

2 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

Honey what does "R" mean?
I drive and drive and it seams I am not going any further.

One evening my Mrs had drunk far too much. A friend kindly offered to drive us home. He has an automatic pick-up where D is in the fully back position. Our Honda City car has D-S-L with lock up being in the fully back position. Our friend drove us home entirely in first gear. I kept my mouth shut because he was doing us a favour.  

[Lacessit]

11 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

I suppose there might be many who don't understand the symbols but would quite correctly be concerned about a continuous red light and would, hopefully, investigate? 

They are called idiot lights, only an idiot would ignore them.

IIRC, orange lights means there is something that should be attended to when convenient, red lights mean take action immediately if you don't want expensive repairs, or worse.

[mikebike]

6 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

They are called idiot lights, only an idiot would ignore them.

IIRC, orange lights means there is something that should be attended to when convenient, red lights mean take action immediately if you don't want expensive repairs, or worse.

Kind of depends on how much you know about cars. As you point out, "they are called idiot lights" and are probably most useful to idiots. I have nursed vehicles here 100s of kms when the "idiot lights" say "pull over and stop immediately - extreme danger". Its all about knowledge, not trusting in generic idiot lights.

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Kind of depends on how much you know about cars. As you point out, "they are called idiot lights" and are probably most useful to idiots. I have nursed vehicles here 100s of kms when the "idiot lights" say "pull over and stop immediately - extreme danger". Its all about knowledge, not trusting in generic idiot lights.

I remember a general manager in the company I used to work for who completely cooked the engine of a prestige vehicle when he ignored a warning light. Just as well it was a company car.

Nursing a car may work if you know what the problem is, e.g. loss of coolant, brake fluid, or oil. Having said that, one is accepting a risk of catastrophic failure, and just because they got away with it previously does not mean they will succeed the next time.

[Moonlover]

47 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

get rid of the car or the lady and problem solved.     ????

I've done just that, the car that is not the lady! But I still have to point out that she needs to put fuel in her Click now and then.

 

And no matter how many times I show her, she still insists on raising the seat and looking in the tank instead of checking the gauge.

[Moonlover]

I recall a story from many years ago about a driver in the UK going down a steep, winding road in north Somerset. Some of you may know Porlock Hill. The engine of his Ford Focus suddenly cut out.

 

His immediate action was to knock the gear into neutral and was shocked when he suddenly lost his brakes and the power steering as well. He inevitably went off the road and wreaked his car. He then tried to sue Ford for selling unsafe cars!

 

There are many people around in this world, not just Thai ladies, who don't have a clue how their cars work.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Moonlover

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

No I idea what the OP is talking about - 90% of Thai women I meet are much brighter than their partners- As for  the F/E symbol story - I don't  believe  it .

Yes, I have seen the same thing - - especially w/foreigner.. it is the Thai lady, not as well educated who learns English while the husband has long ago given up on learning Thai...

 

But, the brains are wired differently.. at first, my wife thought the a/c would be cooler if the number were higher, not lower... she could not follow or draw a simple map... but she can learn... 

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

It's the basics that get forgotten.  When driving a manual she never wiggles the gear stick from side to side before turning the key. I'm sure she believes that nutting the windscreen is a totally random annoyance!

How could she nut the windscreen?  You said that she always has the handbrake applied.