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OriginalGriff wrote: Which was an education...in so many ways
I'm guessing not to buy Lancias, or the need to better avoid puddles 
Alberto Brandolini: The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
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That and more: that you should never assume that all cars of a certain make, model, year, and specification will share common components: Lancia fitted whatever came to hand. Trying to replace the distributor cap the first time... 
You looking for sympathy?
You'll find it in the dictionary, between sympathomimetic and sympatric
(Page 1788, if it helps)
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My mother's dark green MkII Ford Cortina.
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Oddly a Ford Transit Van. When I was 14. I almost rolled it in a tight turn and I wasn't allowed to drive it after that. No, we weren't on the public highways!
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I discovered my Ford Focus has a neat little anti-theft feature that renders the bonnet unable to open if the lockj behind the blue badge is fiddled with . The problem is it also renders my bonnet unable to open if you cross a speed bump too quickly, park on the kerb or look at it in a funny way (seriously - neither me nor the missus have done anything harsh to the car, other than the speed bump thing, even that wasn't bad). I had a quick look, couldn't get it open, researched online and it turns out the best solution on the t'interwebs could provide involved a 12" screwdriver to smash the assembly that keeps the thing locked, or a drill bit that Dirk Diggler would find intimidating.
Anyhoo, got some advice off my normal local garage, who actually advised me to take it to the dealership as they have an actual tool to sort this as the fault was so common. So the missus booked the jalopy in, explaining the problem in surprising detail for someone with a social sciences background.
I hied me off to in the car on Saturday morning and caught the bus (transport of delight 50% charver free) back into town. About 2 hours later the dealer got back in touch - with a detailed report "The anti-theft bonnet latch mechanism has probably been accidentally triggered and we need to break into the car from underneath, then replace the latch". 2 hours, to basically tell us what we'd told them. Also, that the exhaust mount had gone (which we'd also asked them to look at) but also the cat had come loose internally. New exhaust system? £700. I can fit an after market stainless steel one myself for less than half that.
Alberto Brandolini: The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
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Keith Barrow wrote: who actually advised me to take it to the dealership as they have an actual tool to sort this as the fault was so common
So basically, I steal a Ford, cannot open the bonnet, go to the first Ford dealership around the corner, and he opens it for me with a special tool which must probably not be something Ford-official ? Sounds about right.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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I'm more worried about a bonnet lock design that basically fails silently and stops be from checking things like fluid levels. If this had happened at winter it would have caused huge problems as the salt-spray means I have to re-fill the washer bottle about once a fortnight. Once a thief has got a car, they are pretty much going to be able to do what they want with it, unless it is the bat-mobile. That thing kicked ass.
Alberto Brandolini: The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
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Drive a Chevy. They shut off for the same reasons.
Just had my ignition replaced on recall.
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I had one - or at least a re-badged Daewoo.
Worst car I ever owned, and I owned a car screwed together in Birmingham on the late 70s.
Alberto Brandolini: The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
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Keith Barrow wrote: Worst car I ever owned, and I owned a car screwed together in Birmingham on the
late 70s.
They used screws?? Luxury! Our family's '79 midlands mobile was held together with spit and sticky tape. Eventually the rust helped add stability.
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Sounds like software to me: a legally bought product that may be locked off accidentally because of a stupid DRM mechanism, and essentially can only be used properly with the DRM removed by hackers .... 
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily
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LOTUS - Loads Of Trouble, Usually Serious
You looking for sympathy?
You'll find it in the dictionary, between sympathomimetic and sympatric
(Page 1788, if it helps)
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Given yours and the previous post, ironically this was a truly great car[^].
Alberto Brandolini: The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
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There were loads of explanations for what car names really meant:
HONDA: Had One Never Did Again
BMW: Break My Windows
SAAB: Send Another Auto-mobile Back
Are the only other ones I can remember (or post in the Lounge at any rate)
You looking for sympathy?
You'll find it in the dictionary, between sympathomimetic and sympatric
(Page 1788, if it helps)
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GM - Government Motors
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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FIAT - Fix It Again Tony
BSA - Bastard Stopped Again
FORD - First On Race Day
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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OriginalGriff wrote: BMW: Break My Windows
FTFY as i never heard of BMW crashing into PCs! 
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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OriginalGriff wrote: Break My Windows
?
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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OriginalGriff wrote: HONDA: Had One Never Did Again
Hold On, Not Done Accelerating
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BMW : Bought My Wife
MAZDA : Most Always Zipping Dangerously Along
POLO : (O now I cannot be that naughty  )
And then there are LOADS more here[&]
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We had some German ones when I was stil in school. I only remember one of them.
OPEL: Ohne Power, Ewig Letzter (without power, always last one)
The good thing about pessimism is, that you are always either right or pleasently surprised.
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