2 guys with no idea how to operate car
 

On July 31 I was getting a car inspected, stupid as it was last day of month and every other procrastinator along with me.

The workers at the oil change place were very nice and apologizing for the delay with free bottles of water. Worker tells me that the 2014 Audi A8L in the bay was stuck in park and couldn't move, hence more delay.

After at least 20 minutes and two workers and the two guys that 'owned' the car trying to resolve the issue, I got inspired to get on Google BC I knew the answer would be on the YouTube. A minute later I had the answer. Sorry for the link, my embed isn't working.

https://youtu.be/m1_ZW46T2WU?si=zNT8PJWMRCrrzdEG

Access panel in driver's footwell reveals a lever to unlock. Low battery forces lock down in Park. I wanted to take away these guys "Man Cards". I say the guys 'owned' the car, they looked more like "buy here, pay here" car lot workers. Either way, if you don't know how the vehicle operates, maybe you shouldn't drive it...

I'd be surprised if 10% of the owners would know about this lock down never mind the procedure to bypass it.

You should see how to get a Honda Odyssey out of Park with a dead battery. Pro Tip: Don't let your battery go dead in a Honda Odyssey.

In my Honda Odyssey, all I would have to do is open the hood and either charge, replace or jump the battery. It's right behind the LH headlight(?)

I spoke with a tourist a few years ago who complained he couldn't get the cruise control to work on his Chev Impala rental on the drive from Ontario. I offered to take a look and showed him the On/off switch on the dash.
Glad to help. ;)

Best
Les

The receptionist called me to the front desk to see if I could help an older couple fix a problem with the parking lights all flashing on their car... you guessed it, they had bumped the hazard switch!

Most people are different than us.

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You are probably right. However, I can't understand why none of them took out their phone and did a quick Google.

I have worked on cars 5 days a week for 35 years now, and I still have to look stuff like this up all the time.
Now that I have started towing a little bit more, the problem of cars stuck in park becomes a lot more prevalent . Certian BMW's realy suck a bag of lemons in this category . Im just dragging them up .

Years ago a girlfriend’s family inherited a 70s Mercedes diesel. They were unable to start it getting frustrated. At one point they offered to sell it to me. Agreed to look at it. Sitting inside with them it became clear they didn’t know what a glow plug was.

You'd be surprised how many folks don't think about trying to find a solution. I work in IT. I've always been in positions where problem solving was one of the most important skills. While it's great to know something so well that you know the solution based on understanding how the system works, one of the other VERY important skills is knowing that you can often find an answer via google or documentation. Lots of folks just throw up their hands and say "WTF" and never think "I should see if I can find the answer."

That's probably true. I once had to look up this hack for my BMW...not something you need very often.

A good number of people seem to know just the bare minimum about how to operate their vehicles. How many times have you seen someone driving in the slightest drizzle with their wipers on warp speed? They're probably unaware of the 'intermittent' or 'slow' speeds...just jam that lever all the way up as soon as a drop hits the windshield.

Lots of folks drive in totally dark weather (not dusk dawn, but completely dark) without turning on their headlights. They may have some setting where they get a few lights on the front of their car, but no lights at all in the rear. I see that fairly frequently. I assume they either don't turn/pull the switch far enough to go full on, or maybe they have automatic DRLs and don't realize that's not "headlights".

That reminds me of a segment from Just Rolled In. A lady was complaining about a light on her dash and her car wouldn't lock since she had an oil change weeks before. Turned out the passenger door was not shut tight.

Best
Les