Truck Maintenance

[QuarterMillionMan]

You convinced me to start using the backup camera now. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks but I'll try it. Chevy dealer just text'd me a complimentary service which includes oil & filter, tire rotation, etc. It was a no brainer $150 value. Even though the Uber back and forth is $30 each way. Still a good value. It would be more convenient paying $100 at Fast Lube for a 15 minute oil change and $20 at the tire place both 1 mile from home. But free at the Chevy dealer won this time. Chevy dealer saw at my last visit that oil change is at 19% due. I was going to reset it to 100% before the visit but good thing I left it at 19%.

[ua_guy]

You want to buy it, then buy it. I'm saying get rid of the mandate that new cars must come equipped with such things.

Yeah I know what you're saying and I prefer living in a developed nation where we set minimum standards for safety and new cars are required to come equipped with such things.

[disneysteve]

As for the backup camera this 2024 Chevy has one which is my first which is displayed on a 7" color display. It must be an acquired taste sort of thing because I still haven't relied on it and I keep looking side to side and propping up in my chair to look over the back seats out the back window. Old habits are hard to extinguish. I need to start using it more.

Oh I was definitely the same when I first got the car. I had been driving for over 40 years without one. Why did I need one now? Little by little, I found myself using it more and more and realizing how the field of vision of the camera is far great than the field of vision of my eyes. It can spot a car pulling out of a space that I can't see yet. It can spot someone walking who is in my blind spot. It can show me the lines in a parking lot so I can easily tell if I'm fully in the space or not.

We went to the Philadelphia Auto Show recently and got a test drive in a Prius. The first thing I noticed when I got in is that the rear view mirror isn't a mirror at all but rather a rear camera display. Ingenious. Tremendously greater view, not looking over the headrests and backseat and out the window. It's a crisp clear unobstructed view of what's behind you.

[myrdale]

My father in law is a self-proclaimed luddite with technology.

I think he and I would get along very well.

[myrdale]

Those are things I will continue to have in my vehicles, and if they somehow become optional equipment (some airbags are) I will continue buying them as options on my vehicles. I don't need convincing these things work, and they work very well to save lives.

You want to buy it, then buy it. I'm saying get rid of the mandate that new cars must come equipped with such things.

[myrdale]

What does that mean?

It means trying to read through 374 pages of EPA regulations.

[Fishindude77]

I have a lot of formal training as a driver and until I had my first backup cam I exclusively used mirrors and looking over my shoulder. And in a big vehicle, you only get mirrors! Backup cams are a great source of additional information for all driving skill levels, and mine has become an additional stop for my eyes in addition to mirrors and over-the shoulder. Automation like cross-traffic alert elevates safety even higher. How many times have we all experienced someone doing stupid like trying to dart behind us while we're backing up, or someone starts pushing a shopping cart behind the car in a parking lot, or starts backing out at the same time. I don't care if they're in the wrong, I just don't want there to be an incident.

Backup cam makes you look like an old pro when hooking up a trailer.
You can put that ball right under the hitch, right on the money.

[ua_guy]

I have a lot of formal training as a driver and until I had my first backup cam I exclusively used mirrors and looking over my shoulder. And in a big vehicle, you only get mirrors! Backup cams are a great source of additional information for all driving skill levels, and mine has become an additional stop for my eyes in addition to mirrors and over-the shoulder. Automation like cross-traffic alert elevates safety even higher. How many times have we all experienced someone doing stupid like trying to dart behind us while we're backing up, or someone starts pushing a shopping cart behind the car in a parking lot, or starts backing out at the same time. I don't care if they're in the wrong, I just don't want there to be an incident.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I interpreted the "HA" as "my bad" or "you're right." As for the backup camera this 2024 Chevy has one which is my first which is displayed on a 7" color display. It must be an acquired taste sort of thing because I still haven't relied on it and I keep looking side to side and propping up in my chair to look over the back seats out the back window. Old habits are hard to extinguish. I need to start using it more.

[disneysteve]

HA

What does that mean? If you read the actual law they want to repeal, it says absolutely nothing about mandating EVs. The proposal you linked to was purposely written with lies. I'm not sure how your "HA" response makes any sense here. The proposal is factually untrue and easily proved so. Truth matters.

If you can show me where in the law it actually requires an EV mandate, I'll be happy to admit I was wrong.

[disneysteve]

My father in law is a self-proclaimed luddite with technology. For years he hated electronics in his cars and didn't want one with a "screen" in it, because he said he doesn't ever need it. He bought a new truck last year and now you couldn't pry the backup cam and screen away from him. Why? It enables him to perfectly line up the hitch for his fishing boat! Who knew.

My wife had a backup camera on her last car and I just didn't see the appeal, until I got one on my car. Hers was a small dim screen and I just didn't find it particularly useful. Mine is a bright sharp clear 7" display and I quickly realized how much easier and safer it was than trying to see things on my own. Are there actually people who dislike them? I can't imagine why.

[ua_guy]

And dispose of seat belts, back up cameras, and air bags.

Those are things I will continue to have in my vehicles, and if they somehow become optional equipment (some airbags are) I will continue buying them as options on my vehicles. I don't need convincing these things work, and they work very well to save lives. I'm not worried these are going away any time soon, or that emissions standards will be going away. This will all blow over in < 2 years and automakers have no plans to regress on emissions or safety standards as a matter of business.

My father in law is a self-proclaimed luddite with technology. For years he hated electronics in his cars and didn't want one with a "screen" in it, because he said he doesn't ever need it. He bought a new truck last year and now you couldn't pry the backup cam and screen away from him. Why? It enables him to perfectly line up the hitch for his fishing boat! Who knew.

[myrdale]

That would be just plain stupid.

And dispose of seat belts, back up cameras, and air bags.

[ua_guy]

Or we could get rid of burdensome regulations that require catalytic converters in the first place!

That would be just plain stupid.

[myrdale]

That link goes to the new proposal which is misinformation. Look up the actual law instead.

HA

At any rate, I'm interested when the Department of Government Efficiency visits EPA.