this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2025
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Isn't it great how cars just have like random lights that come on whose design is so ambiguous that there's no possible chance you could work out what they're trying to indicate.
My car occasionally displays a blue tick, what the hell is that supposed to mean? It only comes up maybe once every 4 or 5 months so it's really hard to work out a pattern.
I got the same issue with my BMW, except it's a green arrow pointing either left or right that flashes and makes a ticking sound. Only lasts for a few seconds though.
Oh that sounds like the swerve suddenly into another lane without looking light.
4-5 month is an awfully long time to be too lazy to rtfm
I mean, I agree it's silly design, but come on
Ten seconds to search. It's either low engine temp (don't rev high), or he's driving with high beams on.
It's like hearing observational comedy from 30 years ago, before you could google what a light was
You should read your car's manual.
It's spends half the time telling you stuff you already know like how to open the engine bay.
They should just have a section called "all the bloody stupid decisions we've made" and just put the explanation in there, because that's the only bit anyone will ever need to read.
They generally do have page that includes all the warning lights in one place.
oh, like a changelog manual. That'd be useful.
Dont you have the manual? I did buy a used car and it had manual
I bought a used car and it had not just the manual, but the original sales offer to the Estonian government (a specific department of it that I won't name because that's too specific). And this was a pre-EUR one, to give you an estimate of how long it's been in the glove compartment.
But in general it's been hit and miss for manuals with used cars. Sometimes I've looked them up online, but not all are easily found.
I don't think I've owned a single vehicle that didn't come with the manual in the glove compartment, and I've always bought used vehicles.
3 with over 100k miles, 2 that were over 15 years old when I bought them and 2 that were less than 100k miles and less than 5 years old when I got them. Half of those cars I only got one key with, a couple didn't last 2 years before developing severe mechanical issues, but the one thing that every single one has was the original owners manual in the glove compartment
Okay yeah, I've only ever bought one with LESS than 100k miles (I think 3 or 4 that were under 200k) and only 2 that were under 15 years old. I've had 11 cars lol
No you dont get it, its bad design if you have to read. Also why are there 3847436189347 different lamps that indicate something now? Thats bad design. Oh why do i not know what the single error lamp means and what exactly is broken?bad design.....
All because people dont want to rtfm.
With all the infotainment bullshit they've added to cars these days they really could just tell you what the problem is. Still, RTFM.
The challenge there is that there is rightfully an air gap between the infotainment and the actual critical systems to running the car. Sometimes there's a heavily limited data feed that feeds some data one way but generally the two systems are completely separate and cannot communicate with each other so that you can't brick your car by loading a malformed music CD for example.
Pay attention the next time you're futsing with settings and notice how the infotainment is separate from any sensors or settings related to vehicle operation
There's literally zero reason that system couldn't pull and display trouble codes from the control module without breaking anything.
True, but who is gonna go to their car dealers mechanic if you can just read a errorcode.
It's called user experience. It's like a whole discipline.
It's a car it's centuries old technology I shouldn't have to read the manual to know what it's complaining about. It has a big infotainment screen it could put the error in English on there, but no.
My ten year old Subaru has a small screen that says what the light is. Unfortunately that doesn’t always help: recently the “spend $1,400” light came on but the screen claimed it was “passenger airbag sensor”
I HATE that sensor. It was the arse weight one, right?
I've had it programmed out of a car once. Just couldn't use a child seat in the front pass. Seat afterwards. Big deal.
Yes. I was lucky that the car had an outstanding recall on the wiring so replacing that was free and the airbag has a long warranty so replacing that was free, but it wasn’t enough. And apparently the sensor is not replaceable so they had to replace the seat base and rebuild the seat. I suppose it could have been much more expensive but this is excessive.
I don’t understand why they couldn’t program the sensor out - let the airbag always deploy in case of accident. The reasoning behind it is stupid anyway. They’re afraid some kid might be in the front seat and be injured by it, yet the weight of a car seat by itself is almost enough so what point is there?
I needed to get this fixed to pass my state's inspection, but what made it more painful is that apparently that requirement is dropped after ten years. It would have been cheaper to just pay any tickets until December when I could magically pass again. Realistically though, I would not want to be the guy saying “I saved some money by not fixing that” in case an airbag was ever needed
One of my favourite examples of planned obsolescence in cars - they build a high failure rate part into an expensive part that would otherwise last longer.
It's not even possible in all cars. I had it done in my W211 Mercedes and the guy said newer models don't even have an option, the sensor just is there and that's it, the car always expects it. I don't know how it is for Subaru. But yes, they don't want to take any liability.
Ah yeah, my car at the time was like 16 or 17 years old, but unfortunately you can't have an SRS light up even on a 60 year old car. Not that any CURRENT 60 year old cars have the system, but essentially if the system is present, it must work. No lights allowed on any safety-critical systems
That doesn't sound like it would be best aligned with shareholders' interests, mister! We have a dealer network and a vast web of suppliers and channel partners that those dumb lights can lead our consumers to.
I just got a used Cadillac and it has this little blue icon quite frequently. Had to get out the manual. It means I'm driving over the speed limit. Fuck's sake what a useless light.
I used to drive a Sprinter, and on the dashboard was a light with iconography of waves, wind, and raindrops. I concluded that it was warning me of a storm at sea.
It doesn't sound like a bad thing. But I suppose that raises the question of wether something has gone wrong when there isn't a blue tick
I thought this was some bent over woman sign
The dot being her dot
The line being the groove of her spine
The symbol meaning get laid