Hidden things in your car

[Dos_Box]

Last weekend I finally got to give my car its post-winter clean.

Using some builders wipes (really useful items to have in a house!) I was cleaning down all the plasics and came across a tiny (about a 2cm tall) button on the pillar between the drivers and rear seats:

 

 

Turns out it is to turn off the interior alarm. I've had the car for almost a year now and never noticed it before!

Does anyone else have any hidden features in their cars that it took some time to find out you had? The more pointless the better!

[JRA]

I discovered that the middle pedal in it helps me to slow down when I approach built up areas and police vehicles.

[DalekSec]

Only had my car 4 months so not overly long, but first thing i do in any new car is go around all the settings, buttons etc to see what they do.

 

Driving yesterday completely missed i had a fan vent just above the gear stick, vent was off, now turned on and have a nice breeze while changing gear!

 

Edit: Picture below

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by DalekSec

[Koldov]

Come on whose going to say the indicator (extra points if you're a BMW driver)... Honestly though, my car must have a hundred 'hidden' functions, but mainly because I don't use them (or have the need for them).

 

We got a KIA SW when we upgraded to a larger car (enough to fit 3 Greyhounds) from two smaller ones a couple of years ago, I really wanted something as simple as possible without all the bells and whistles... in my mind it always means there is just more to go wrong.

 

Turns out it's quite difficult to get a 'basic' car anymore, admittedly it's not as flash as some and a lot of the functions are pretty much seen as 'standard' these days...

[MrEprise]

I discovered that the middle pedal in it helps me to slow down when I approach built up areas and police vehicles.

 

I found this wonderful lever that flashes a set of amber lights on each side of the car, this seems to tell other road users where I want to turn. /s

 

On a more serious-ish note, I had a MK4 Vauxhall Astra for years and never realised there were courtesy lights above the rear passenger doors. These were off when my Parents had the car originally and when it was passed to me, I had it for a number of years before noticing them. Later that year, I ended up scrapping the car.

[elsiegee40]

I showed my next door neighbour the magic button that turned on her heated windscreen after watching her defrosting it the hard way on too many occasions. It took me five minutes to look up the make and model on the internet and check where it was before I spoke to her

[jthompson]

My car has a button inside the top of the gear stick that when I press it machine guns pop out of the headlights, and when I drive it into the sea it turns into a submarine.

[Dos_Box]

My car has a button inside the top of the gear stick that when I press it machine guns pop out of the headlights, and when I drive it into the sea it turns into a submarine.

 

I hope you declared them on your insurance!

[DalekSec]

Last car i found out it had heated wing mirrors after i sold it, as my new one doesnt and i have to remember to clear them!

[webman]

In the last car I had (Skoda Octavia), I accidentally found out that the top of the centre arm rest slides forward to give you more resting space.

 

I looked over to my partner, shocked and amazed at my new discovery, only for her to respond with "Oh, did you not know it did that? My dad's car does that as well. [an Audi]"

Edited May 19, 2023 by webman

[Koldov]

I showed my next door neighbour the magic button that turned on her heated windscreen after watching her defrosting it the hard way on too many occasions. It took me five minutes to look up the make and model on the internet and check where it was before I spoke to her

 

My old Ford Fiesta Ghia had a heated front screen, unfortunately (showing it's age) the driver's side stopped working (a known problem to do with the wiper motor arm on that side - but isn't that always the way... just like it always seems to be the driver's side wiper blade that starts to perish first).

 

A lot of the Ghia 'extras' are bog standard now, but were cool to have at the time... It also had wing mirrors that retracted when locked - with a manual 'override' and a directional button (these also stopped sensing they had retracted and always clicked for a few seconds after locking), rain sensing wipers (which I never liked the sensitivity on - or lack of), all electric windows one of which the motor burned out (yes, driver's side)...

 

It was time for the car to go, but I do miss that heated front screen... iirc isn't there some sort of license that means it can't be used by every manufacturer?

 

Oh, also these are also the reasons why I said I wanted as basic a car as possible this time round, however I failed obviously and on the new one we had to have a screen replacement last year and needed to travel miles to a 'specialist' garage due to all the 'electronics/gadgets/sensors' in the screen!

[mikeprice]

My car has a button inside the top of the gear stick that when I press it machine guns pop out of the headlights, and when I drive it into the sea it turns into a submarine.

 

Mine will do that

 

Once once though

[Dos_Box]

It was time for the car to go, but I do miss that heated front screen... iirc isn't there some sort of license that means it can't be used by every manufacturer?

 

I miss my heated screen from my Mondeo. The Superb doen't have the winter pack (heated screen/wheel) and this winter had been a pain for scraping the screen!

IIRC, the whole heated screen thing is a licensing issue down to it belonging to Ford and informative read here - https://www.hagerty.co.uk/technology/brief-history-heated-windscreen/

[mikeprice]

My old Ford Fiesta Ghia had a heated front screen, unfortunately (showing it's age) the driver's side stopped working (a known problem to do with the wiper motor arm on that side - but isn't that always the way... just like it always seems to be the driver's side wiper blade that starts to perish first).

 

!

 

That is because you look through it more

 

hope this helps

[Sharkman]

In the last car I had (Skoda Octavia), I accidentally found out that the top of the centre arm rest slides forward to give you more resting space.

 

My Fiat Tipo does this too. I found out a few months ago that it also has "follow me" lights as they're called - when I leave the car I can set the headlights to stay on for up to 2 minutes iirc to allow me to get into the house safely and not fumbling around in the dark Otherwise the headlights just go off when the engine does.

 

My Mazda2 has a proximity sensor for the key so if I walk too far away, it automatically locks. Although Mrs Sharkman has now started pointing out that I forget to lock the Tipo more often now...

[msi_school]

My car has a button inside the top of the gear stick that when I press it machine guns pop out of the headlights, and when I drive it into the sea it turns into a submarine.

 

Every vehicle is a submarine once and every thing is air droppable once.

[Koldov]

In the last car I had (Skoda Octavia)

 

I had a much older Škoda and it had one feature I really liked, on the windscreen wipers you could set the intermittent wipe to an interval of your choice (iir it was up once, down... wait the required interval, then back up), never found another car that does this as they all seem to be auto-sensing now (and never do it right)!

 

My Fiat Tipo does this too. I found out a few months ago that it also has "follow me" lights as they're called - when I leave the car I can set the headlights to stay on for up to 2 minutes iirc to allow me to get into the house safely and not fumbling around in the dark Otherwise the headlights just go off when the engine does.

 

My Mazda2 has a proximity sensor for the key so if I walk too far away, it automatically locks. Although Mrs Sharkman has now started pointing out that I forget to lock the Tipo more often now...

 

Not a fan...

 

Don't think I've ever shared this here... but the OH's old car had a keyless entry type arrangement.

 

Late one night, one of our dogs had developed an upset stomach and was whining to be let out, the OH went to let him out and followed him to the end of the garden.

 

Now here's where a bizarre set of circumstances unfold...

 

3 things all coincided here:

 

1. The end of the garden being next to the drive (although on the other side of a fence) and the dog could have gone nearer the house.

2. The OH had the key for the car in her dressing gown pocket, because she knows not to leave the keys hanging around downstairs.

3. A local 'ne'er-do-well' had wandered down the street trying door handles and had arrived at our car.... at this precise moment!

 

As the car was opened, the OH heard the noise and looked through the fence, seeing the car open and someone sitting in it she let out a 'mighty roar' (her words) and banged as hard as she could on the fence... the offender obviously did a runner (all caught on CCTV - now sadly deleted or I would have sent it to a T.V. camera show) but she was more careful in future!

[Norphy]

I had a much older Škoda and it had one feature I really liked, on the windscreen wipers you could set the intermittent wipe to an interval of your choice (iir it was up once, down... wait the required interval, then back up), never found another car that does this as they all seem to be auto-sensing now (and never do it right)!

 

 

My Mk3 Golf did that. Moving to a Mk4, it just had four set intermittent speeds. It was the only thing I missed going from the mk3 to the mk4

[Davit2005]

I had a much older Škoda and it had one feature I really liked, on the windscreen wipers you could set the intermittent wipe to an interval of your choice (iir it was up once, down... wait the required interval, then back up), never found another car that does this as they all seem to be auto-sensing now (and never do it right)!

 

I have auto sensing on my SEAT and it works pretty well, there is a 4 position switch on the stalk which increases the frequency but it still depends on the amount of water been sensed.

 

I also had a Skoda Octavia with KESSY before this car. Once keys dropped out of my pocket and in between the seat and door. It sensed the key was in the car and prevented the car been locked, thankfully, lol.

 

 

If it counts I found I could reduce the annoying fake engine sound down to 20% and enable the remote to unlock the boot with the ignition on via OBD.

[Dos_Box]

I have auto sensing on my SEAT and it works pretty well, there is a 4 position switch on the stalk which increases the frequency but it still depends on the amount of water been sensed.

 

I also had a Skoda Octavia with KESSY before this car. Once keys dropped out of my pocket and in between the seat and door. It sensed the key was in the car and prevented the car been locked, thankfully, lol.

 

 

If it counts I found I could reduce the annoying fake engine sound down to 20% and enable the remote to unlock the boot with the ignition on via OBD.

 

My Superb has KESSY, and a great feature it is too. The only issue I have, well, two actually, is that if you have your keys in the same pocket, or close to, your phone, it doesn't work and that the unlock and ignition contols on the fob are obviously using different circuits as the dash will tell me it can't see my key if the battery gets slightly low, so I can't start the car, whilst simultaneously allowing me to lock and unlock the doors from within the car on the fob.

[DalekSec]

A Body

[Koldov]

I also had a Skoda Octavia with KESSY before this car. Once keys dropped out of my pocket and in between the seat and door. It sensed the key was in the car and prevented the car been locked, thankfully, lol.

 

Something I did actually manage to do once in my old Fiesta....

 

It wasn't keyless obviously, but it had the new fangled 'feature' of being able to unlock the boot separately (it's a one time thing that then re-locks the boot when you close it). Picture me at the local recycling centre, getting out of the car locking it (for security) and using this cool feature to unlock my boot and empty the rubbish... putting my keys down as I had no pockets and needed both hands for the job. Anyway, as I pulled out the last load I absent-mindedly closed the boot, the indicators flashed letting me know that the car was now re-locked again and then realising my keys were actually still in the boot.

[webman]

My Fiat Tipo does this too. I found out a few months ago that it also has "follow me" lights as they're called - when I leave the car I can set the headlights to stay on for up to 2 minutes iirc to allow me to get into the house safely and not fumbling around in the dark Otherwise the headlights just go off when the engine does.

 

I do love an extending arm rest. Thankfully my current Seat Leon does it as well - didn't take me as long to discover it this time round

 

The follow-me headlights are a nice touch as well. Not much use to me in most cases, as I usually reverse on to the drive, and also due to the angle, they'd be lighting up next door's living room rather than the front door

 

 

I had a much older Škoda and it had one feature I really liked, on the windscreen wipers you could set the intermittent wipe to an interval of your choice (iir it was up once, down... wait the required interval, then back up), never found another car that does this as they all seem to be auto-sensing now (and never do it right)!

 

That is a pretty nifty feature! I've never known that to be a 'thing' on any cars I've had.

[DalekSec]

My new car comes with extra EXTERMINATION

 

[Davit2005]

My Superb has KESSY, and a great feature it is too. The only issue I have, well, two actually, is that if you have your keys in the same pocket, or close to, your phone, it doesn't work and that the unlock and ignition contols on the fob are obviously using different circuits as the dash will tell me it can't see my key if the battery gets slightly low, so I can't start the car, whilst simultaneously allowing me to lock and unlock the doors from within the car on the fob.

 

Thought I'd recognized that interior alarm disable button from somewhere, yep had the same on the B pillar on the Octavia :-)