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New Cars Don't All Come With Dipsticks Anymore, Here's Why

I'm with you on this one. Even so, it's kind of rare for me to be checking the fluids. Maybe before a big trip just to be sure. It's really rare for me to check the tranny fluid level. I can't remember the last time I have needed to.

Bill
 
Dipstick aren't reliable. Mine reads all over the place. It reads empty even after I added several quarts.
 
LOL. Just another testament to how old we are getting! I bought a new BMW X3 recently and I’m still trying to figure out how everything works. I hit a button somehow the other day and the damn thing tried to take over the steering wheel while I was trying to park! Not sure all these new safety features are safe when put in the hands of an old geezer. More like baffling features instead of safety to me.
 
I bought a new pickup a couple months ago and am not even sure how to open the hood. I know I can't pour gas out of a can into it without spilling it down the side- heck, you can't even take the gas cap off. I had to open a YouTube tutorial while I went through it's menus. Then I still forget where to find various functions. Maybe I should conduct a dipstick search. Oddities. Like where to jumpstart it? There are two batteries (It's a hybrid) under the back seat. I think one of those has to be jumped, but can just imagine me out on a cold, dark winter night trying to read an owner's manual the size of a Manhattan phone book for answers.
 
Some of the comments are great around the electronic door locks. The amount of times that people get stuck trying to get in my cars because the driver door unlocks doesn't mean any other ones have unlocked... With the Subarus if people pulled the outside handle just as the locks were trying to unlock it would jam and I'd have to relock and unlock again. Now I had this issue with my family for I think 14 years and somehow they never learned. My Honda Pilot it just doesn't unlock or lock the doors they way anyone would expect or can explain. I have to get the fob 98% of the time and press the unlock button 2x. And if you don't open the door fast enough it relocks. My family still can't figure out that they can't be like "unlock your car" and wait 10 -15 minutes to try and open the doors. I think they re-lock after 2 minutes or so.

I don't know why it's not more programmable but we keep having to change how we do things with cars.

Dipstick wise, I never really got great readings anyways and it came up way more for me than you'd think it should because various Subarus would use oil and the computer would freak out at being .5qt low on a 7qt engine. I had to carry oil around with me. That said, I don't trust the sensors 100% - I like the extra options but I've had my Honda stop moving in a parking lot because some dogwood fuzz stuck to the bumper one time and because a leaf stuck to the huge Honda logo another. It'll freak out about being too close to something in front of me when I'm in REVERSE and backing out of a parking spot. I don't think they're all programmed smartly yet is what I'm saying. I still get annoyed by not having a temp gauge - what if I want to know if the heater is warmed up yet, or watch for it suddenly going up before it's in the red? Same with a dip stick, I might (as other commentators said) want to know if there's sufficient oil in a car that's been parked for a bit before running the engine for 5 minutes so the computer can give a reading. I might also want to check the oil or trans fluid consistency. I still remember my last Outback - the manual said to check the trans fluid at 30k miles, but no dipstick. I asked the dealer to check it and they wouldn't cause I wasn't having issues. New trans (on Subaru's dime) at 55k miles. Now IDK if the fluid was bad or not, or if checking at 30k would have found anything, or if changing it if it did find anything would have prevented the issue - but I do know there was some reason that was printed in the manual. Although TBH I'm still not sure if the dealer just wiffed on that diagnosis, cause the "slipping" got much worse after the replacement and further diag showed 3 coils? injectors? on the engine were bad.

What's my point in the rambling? IDK, I think making it hard for people who want to learn or care to understand fluid checks is a bad thing, and is convincing people to trade a few hundred every 15k-30k miles in fluid checks/changes for a destroyed car at 50k to 100k miles with "lifetime fluids". As they seal these things up more it's just planned obsolescence in fluid lifetimes rather than actually wearing out cars - you know, the 300k lifetime after successfully fighting rusting and older less well designed tech wearing out is too long, so have to just crap out the fluids so more new cars can be sold. Otherwise I don't see the legit reason for 12k-20k mile oil change increments or "lifetime" trans fluid.
 
Passepartout said:
I bought a new pickup a couple months ago and am not even sure how to open the hood. I know I can't pour gas out of a can into it without spilling it down the side- heck, you can't even take the gas cap off. I had to open a YouTube tutorial while I went through it's menus. Then I still forget where to find various functions. Maybe I should conduct a dipstick search. Oddities. Like where to jumpstart it? There are two batteries (It's a hybrid) under the back seat. I think one of those has to be jumped, but can just imagine me out on a cold, dark winter night trying to read an owner's manual the size of a Manhattan phone book for answers.
Click to expand...
Normally, they put the terminal to jump start the car under the hood even if the battery is somewhere else.
1748005775131.png
 
Mere owners don't need to check fluid levels.
 
jp10558 said:
What's my point in the rambling? IDK, I think making it hard for people who want to learn or care to understand fluid checks is a bad thing, and is convincing people to trade a few hundred every 15k-30k miles in fluid checks/changes for a destroyed car at 50k to 100k miles with "lifetime fluids".
Click to expand...

Some of our circle of friends and family trade their vehicles in before the warranty and free oil changes expire. One thing I'm always looking at is the 12v battery placement. Some vehicles are a real bummer job to replace the 12v battery.

Bill
 
easyrider said:
... One thing I'm always looking at is the 12v battery placement. Some vehicles are a real bummer job to replace the 12v battery.
Click to expand...
I found that out with a 90's era Pontiac Grand Prix. To replace the battery, you had to:
  1. Remove a support brace in the front corner of the engine compartment
  2. Remove the windshield washer reservoir
  3. Remove the battery tie down clamp (normal)
I bought the car used and the previous owner had stripped the side terminal positive cable connector which was made of lead. I didn't want to cut off the connector so I spent a couple of hours getting that stripped terminal off the cable end. It was a major PIA and I was cussing the design engineers and the previous owner all the time.

My Genesis has the battery in the trunk. It has jump start terminals in the engine compartment. RTFM
 
DrQ said:
I found that out with a 90's era Pontiac Grand Prix. To replace the battery, you had to:
  1. Remove a support brace in the front corner of the engine compartment
  2. Remove the windshield washer reservoir
  3. Remove the battery tie down clamp (normal)
I bought the car used and the previous owner had stripped the side terminal positive cable connector which was made of lead. I didn't want to cut off the connector so I spent a couple of hours getting that stripped terminal off the cable end. It was a major PIA and I was cussing the design engineers and the previous owner all the time.

My Genesis has the battery in the trunk. It has jump start terminals in the engine compartment. RTFM
Click to expand...

My son bought a Ford Edge Hybrid at an auction. It went for very little as it wouldn't start. It was a State vehicle with a service record and low miles. Anyways, it took him half a day to replace the 12v battery because it's somewhere under the car and has to come out through the bottom. I'm not buying any vehicle where I can't see the battery, lol.

Bill
 
I've had a few newer GM cars. Yes, there is an oil dipstick but for the transmission, there isn't. When it is serviced, the technician has to remove a plug under the car at the transmission and add fluid until it runs out of the orifice where the plug was. But you can't do it "cold". The car has to be up to operating temp to get the correct level. Kind of a PITA.
 
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