'I was kidnapped by my car'

[Cyker]

40 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

But it isn’t easier.  To enter the car, you first have to take the fob out of its faraday bag. Then you need to keep it either on your person or in the vehicle to start the car. And you still have to press the start button.  It has now taken longer than using a conventional fob and ignition key.

To leave the vehicle, you press the stop button, get out of the car, then move out of range of the sensors before using the fob to lock the car, and then place the fob in its faraday bag.  No saving time, and more operations to achieve the same result that an ignition key provides.

To be fair, you're not using it as intended so it's going to be more hassle.

With mine, I just walk up to the car, pull the handle, step on the brake and hit the start button and off I go.

When I'm done, I just hit the Start button (To stop the car  ), get out and close the door, brush the handle (Or now I usually press the boot lock button as it's more reliable) to lock it and walk off.

I must admit now that I'm used to it, and now I've tried the non-keyless version of the car, the push button start feels much more natural than using a key in the hybrid (The lack of any cranking when you 'start' the car with the key just feels really wrong, esp. as you still need to twist it to position 3 and then let it drop back to position 2 - It's really nonsensical in a hybrid).

Keyless and Push button start aren't necessarily linked tho - My dad's old Verso had a push button start, but had a slot for the 'key block' rather than being 'keyless' - That would work for me too. I could take or leave the keyless entry and start part. Probably wouldn't pay extra for it if it was an option.

[Rhymes with Paris]

A few years ago I bought a stainless steel coffee press from a long established hardware and kitchen shop here, and a garlic press.

They both said on the box made in Sheffield,ok I thought, good quality stuff.

The garlic press broke on it's first press, monkey metal.

The coffee press broke on it's third use, the thread on the ferrule of the mesh filter frame stripped it's thread, and was then useless, monkey metal.

I being a retentive sort of chap, still had the boxes, packaging and receipts.

Turned out on reading a a bit more detail, they were both made in China , utter rubbish.

A couple of years ago I bought a toaster from Waitrose labelled John Lewis, sure enough on the bottom a label, made in China, monkey metal.

I would like to buy quality British or American or Italian (delonghi coffee machines for instance) .

But it's very difficult to find anything not made in China now.

 

 

[Yugguy1970]

1 hour ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

I understand what sequential indicators are, but what are cornering lights please?

Its when the car puts the fog lights on for the side you are turning. 

[Haliotis]

I’m surprised if it’s the fog lights - the amount of light that my car produces, I would have thought it had to be the headlights.  Got used to it now, but didn’t like it at first.

Thinking about it, would you notice a fog light coming on when the headlights were on?

[Big_D]

18 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

A few years ago I bought a stainless steel coffee press from a long established hardware and kitchen shop here, and a garlic press.

They both said on the box made in Sheffield,ok I thought, good quality stuff.

I believe China has an industrial area called Sheffield, so the labeling may have been correct. I have also hear that they have an industrial area called USA, rather than U.S.A. This allows them to label goods as made in Sheffield, or made in USA and still be correct (although wrong in my opinion). I suppose this is similar to the knock off Guccci hand bags and the Nikee shoes that people buy.

[Haliotis]

That ruse could easily be remedied if all importers insisted on goods showing “country of origin”, and this also having to be displayed on the outer packaging.

It’s a shame that the west has lost most of its engineering and production capacity to China. If we could reverse that trend (most unlikely), China’s threat to World Order could be brought under control, but China knows this is not going to happen.

So we continue to buy monkey metal products, and go ‘ape’ when they break!

[Rhymes with Paris]

38 minutes ago, Big_D said:

I believe China has an industrial area called Sheffield, so the labeling may have been correct. I have also hear that they have an industrial area called USA, rather than U.S.A. This allows them to label goods as made in Sheffield, or made in USA and still be correct (although wrong in my opinion). I suppose this is similar to the knock off Guccci hand bags and the Nikee shoes that people buy.

Ah I didn't know that.

Very crafty, I didn't think I was so easily fooled, I really thought from the hardware shop they would be selling quality stuff, especially as these were not at cheapo sino prices.

It's making me wonder now about my "Batek Philip" watch I got from a car boot sale.

[Bper]

This is why China has such a influence over Europe. It's financial and manufacturing dominance is the fault of the western governments.

The over reliance on China for manufacturing goods has and will lead to a major problem when inevitably Europe, USA etc are faced with having to stand up against them with conflict never far away.

We should never have allowed our own manufacturing to be handed over by nearsighted politicians 

[Bper]

7 minutes ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Ah I didn't know that.

Very crafty, I didn't think I was so easily fooled, I really thought from the hardware shop they would be selling quality stuff, especially as these were not at cheapo sino prices.

It's making me wonder now about my "Batek Philip" watch I got from a car boot sale.

Me to I thought the Polex watch I brought was missing the bottom part of the R😭

[Roy124]

I think Made in Birmingham or Made in Sheffield died out once the market was saturated and follow on sales ceased.

China OTOH has fashion to a fine art.  Buy 4 Garden chairs of one colour.  Try and buy 2 more or even a replacement - no chance. 

Had a set of matching luggage bought in Feb 22.  Third outing last month.   My case would not unlock.  Three minutes later,  with the aid of two teaspoons and it was open.

No teaspoons were damaged on this case.

[Big_D]

8 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

No teaspoons were damaged on this case.

Glad to hear that. Otherwise we would have to report you to the Teaspoon Humane Society.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Thinking a bit more about product quality and value,a few years ago I bought a portable nebuliser from a pharmacy,no not a neuraliser, I was not in MIB.

But a machine used to turn liquid medicine into inhalable mist to breathe into the lungs.

The large home use ones use a compressor to do this, the portable ones use some kind of vibrating plate.

The first one I bought was a miracle of miniature engineering, worked well,2 AA batteries that last a long time.

Ok mostly plastic, but precisely made and all fits together tightly, and feels like the kind of plastic used in inhalers,ie strong.

Written on it is "made in Japan" so not just cars then.

After that I spotted another portable nebuliser in a supermarket, and it was comparatively cheap, so I thought ok it always does to have a spare back up.

This one is twice the size, takes 4 AA batteries that run out after a few uses, and best of all flies apart when looked at or touched .

No prizes for guessing where that one was made 😕

Still, it reinforced what I have known a long time , it's a complete waste buying cheap crap , even as back up or spare equipment.

 

 

[SB1500]

6 hours ago, Haliotis said:

That ruse could easily be remedied if all importers insisted on goods showing “country of origin”, and this also having to be displayed on the outer packaging.

It’s a shame that the west has lost most of its engineering and production capacity to China. If we could reverse that trend (most unlikely), China’s threat to World Order could be brought under control, but China knows this is not going to happen.

So we continue to buy monkey metal products, and go ‘ape’ when they break!

That’s exactly the problem. People don’t know. And frankly, probably at the point of buying it - especially 3 year trade in buyers - they might still not care. 
 

sadly it just takes a walk down the aisles at B&M, The Range, Home Bargains and Poundland to see our nations obsession with cheap Chinese tat.  Don’t get me wrong, most of the western world is the same with its own domestic retail names. But it’s sad. 
 

Not everything has a Made in Britain / Europe option.  But my mums had a new kettle every 3 years. Argos or similar specials. Around £30. Quite design-y but mostly plastic. Eventually the switch always wore out or broke. Or timescale / getting weak killed it. Or it didn’t match so she replaced it …  They all took years to boil and were noisy as hell.  Last Christmas I bought her a Dualit Classic Kettle.  We’ve had a 6 slot toaster by Dualit in the family since the 1980s, never had anything replaced and working amazingly.  Now she has a kettle to match.  £150 but it’s fast and quiet. And will likely end up being an inheritance item with how long it lasts.  The choices are usually there, “buy cheap, buy infinitely” I reckon.  

[FROSTYBALLS]

At the end of the day, fault lies mainly with companies choosing to source their production from within China or other countries where production costs are lower than Western Europe. Not just China but also Eastern Europe, and other Asian countries.

Examples for the European market include:

Toyota uses Poland (engines and transmissions) Czech Republic (previously Aygo, currently Aygo X & Yaris), South Africa/Thailand (Hilux) and Turkey (previously Auris 3 door, Corolla Verso & Verso, currently Corolla saloon & C-HR).

Ford use India (Ecosport), Romania (Ecosport & B-Max, and currently Puma), South Africa (Ranger & VW Amarok), and Turkey (Transit).

Land Rover uses Slovakia (Defender & Discovery).

Hyundai use Czech Republic (I30, Kona & Tucson)  and Turkey (i10, i20 & Bayon). 72% of their 2021 European sales were made in Europe.

Kia use Sovenia (Ceed, X-ceed, Pro-ceed & Sportage).

Dyson manufacture their products in Malaysia.

Some previously well known brand names are no longer made or owned by the original firm:

Hitachi and entry level Panasonic TV's are made by Vestel (Turkish).

Toshiba TV's are owned and made by Hisense (Chinese).

Candy and Hoover are owned by Haier (Chinese).

Volvo, Lotus, Polestar and LTI (London Taxis International) are owned by Geely (Chinese).

Alexander Dennis use BYD (Chinese) chassis and batteries for their hybrid and electric buses.

Etc, etc.

 

[Haliotis]

Shane, if things are as bad as you say - and it would not surprise me if you are right - then the governments of any importing countries have a moral duty to ban the imports of such vehicles.  It has been done with various commodities over the years, and unsafe vehicles must come into this category.

We are legally required to have our cars MoT’d after 3 years, so it is incumbent on the government to apply the necessary laws on quality to ensure we start off with the cars being safe and up to the job.  Wouldn’t it be ironic if the government allowed in cars which did not meet the required standards, only for the owners to have to pay for meeting these standards further down the line?

[SB1500]

9 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

Shane, if things are as bad as you say - and it would not surprise me if you are right - then the governments of any importing countries have a moral duty to ban the imports of such vehicles.  It has been done with various commodities over the years, and unsafe vehicles must come into this category.

We are legally required to have our cars MoT’d after 3 years, so it is incumbent on the government to apply the necessary laws on quality to ensure we start off with the cars being safe and up to the job.  Wouldn’t it be ironic if the government allowed in cars which did not meet the required standards, only for the owners to have to pay for meeting these standards further down the line?

That’s so true.  I think part of the problem is, when the likes of India bans foreign imports to protect its own domestic market, we all cheer and clap and sure enough, it works. They managed to make Apple seriously invest in it before it could open retail stores there, key to it capturing the Indian market.   Then, when the UK or US does it or proposes such policies, we’re seen as backwards, protectionist or ‘racist’. Remember when Trump talked import bans / taxes?  I know he has his own issues etc, but it’s an example of a western nation trying to protect its domestic production only to be shot down for proposing so 

[FROSTYBALLS]

45 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

it is incumbent on the government to apply the necessary laws on quality to ensure we start off with the cars being safe and up to the job.

So what do you think the vehicle Type Approval schemes are for? Then there are the New Car Assessment Programmes which, although voluntary in Europe, assess how vehicles perform in various types of collision, etc.