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How else would some people get air in their tires? If you can find a gas station with an air station, they notoriously don't work or give bad readings. Many people don't have a decent tire gauge and air compressor at home. So off to a mechanic it is! Better to ask the experts than ruin your vehicle.
If you don't have a tire gauge and don't know how and where to fill your tires, you do not deserve your driver's license. Maintaining proper tire pressure affects traction, handling, safety, MPGs, etc. If it's too much to ask to buy a $5 tire gauge and find a gas station or tire store to fill your tires, then you should consider a bicycle.
Once again, I DID read the manual. Yes, by "read" I meant that I skimmed some parts and read some parts in detail. but I reviewed every page. I DID read about the dash icons, but since the icon had no connection, in my mind, to what it represented, and since I'd never had that icon on any other car I've owned, I didn't recall it after 3 years when it finally lit up. This does not mean that I'm lacking in intelligence.
I love all these people that claim to have read and memorized their owner's manuals. Do you do that with every electronic or mechanical product you buy? Did you do that with your computer? Is it a requirement to understand every little working part of a computer in order to use one? What about your smart phone--Is it required that a person understand every little piece inside it and how it works and how to repair it before they use the phone?
Now I've learned how this Automotive forum works. You have to be a smug automotive expert in order to participate. If someone asks a simple question or starts a "didja ever notice?" type of discussion, you need to tell them how stupid they are while elbowing your buddies and chuckling. Probably the same people who couldn't hold their own on discussion forums on real automotive sites with actual experts. So they have to come to the auto forum on CD and poke fun at us average people.
And BTW, I do have a tire gauge, and I check my tires monthly. I also have a compressor which I use to fill up my tires whenever any of them gets low.
I honestly do not think the symbol is that bad. The issue is too many people never pick up the owners manual or familiarize themselves with these sorts of things about their car. Then, when the light comes on, they really do not know what it is.
Same as with the "wrench" in some cars, for service reminders. People think there is a problem, when in reality, it is just notifying of the need for an oil change.
People will get more used to it as time passes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ss20ts
How else would some people get air in their tires? If you can find a gas station with an air station, they notoriously don't work or give bad readings. Many people don't have a decent tire gauge and air compressor at home. So off to a mechanic it is! Better to ask the experts than ruin your vehicle.
Funny story, I have a co-worker who had no clue how to put air in his tires. He had a friend here bring an air pump and guage, and fill up his tires while they were on their lunch.
Seriously however, it is not too expensive to pick up a decent pressure guage and air pump. Anyone who owns a car and is nervous about gas station pumps should invest the $20 or so bucks it would take to buy their own.
Once again, I DID read the manual. Yes, by "read" I meant that I skimmed some parts and read some parts in detail. but I reviewed every page. I DID read about the dash icons, but since the icon had no connection, in my mind, to what it represented, and since I'd never had that icon on any other car I've owned, I didn't recall it after 3 years when it finally lit up. This does not mean that I'm lacking in intelligence.
I love all these people that claim to have read and memorized their owner's manuals. Do you do that with every electronic or mechanical product you buy? Did you do that with your computer? Is it a requirement to understand every little working part of a computer in order to use one? What about your smart phone--Is it required that a person understand every little piece inside it and how it works and how to repair it before they use the phone?
Now I've learned how this Automotive forum works. You have to be a smug automotive expert in order to participate. If someone asks a simple question or starts a "didja ever notice?" type of discussion, you need to tell them how stupid they are while elbowing your buddies and chuckling. Probably the same people who couldn't hold their own on discussion forums on real automotive sites with actual experts. So they have to come to the auto forum on CD and poke fun at us average people.
And BTW, I do have a tire gauge, and I check my tires monthly. I also have a compressor which I use to fill up my tires whenever any of them gets low.
There is a BIG difference in understanding the simple warning lights of your very expensive, very heavy and potentially dangerous machine; and understanding the inner complexities of how it works. I'm an electrical engineer, I have a general understanding of how my smartphone works but even I don't know how every single part operates inside the thing. Obviously understanding how devices work will help the user understand how and why they work and behave, but it is not necessary, and many people just do not think in that manner.
You don't need to understand how it all works, but anyone driving a car should know what to do when a warning light comes on. Red oil light? Shut that thing down on the spot and call a tow truck. Low tire pressure? Unless you have an obvious flat, check your pressure at the next convenience.
I'm glad you check your tire pressures regularly, you're ahead of 95% of the drivers on American roads.
Funny story, I have a co-worker who had no clue how to put air in his tires. He had a friend here bring an air pump and guage, and fill up his tires while they were on their lunch.
Seriously however, it is not too expensive to pick up a decent pressure guage and air pump. Anyone who owns a car and is nervous about gas station pumps should invest the $20 or so bucks it would take to buy their own.
Hehe, I've been that person who helps other people put air in their tires with my compressor in the parking lot at work. I'm female and obviously not car-savvy, but it's funny how the people I end up doing this for are about 3/4 guys.
So, a warning light goes on. Most people recognize it. Those who don't recognize it look it up - the first time! Unless you repeatedly get blows to the head, you will recognize it thereafter.
If you are in the habit of ignoring warning lights, or if you do not inspect your tires (cursory glance) before you get into the vehicle, then that's on you and you should be a more attentive driver.
How else would some people get air in their tires? If you can find a gas station with an air station, they notoriously don't work or give bad readings. Many people don't have a decent tire gauge and air compressor at home. So off to a mechanic it is! Better to ask the experts than ruin your vehicle.
Maybe you live in the ghettos but I see air/water stations at every Shell station and most other branded stations. Many even take credit cards in case you don't have quarters. But a 12v emergency compressor can be had for under $50 and is good to have around. A tire gauge costs $3-10 depending on whether you want a plain stick gauge or a digital readout.
the light is self-explanatory.
I love it when car-clueless folk tries to change the whole automotive field due to lack of their own knowledge..
^^^ I love it when people post ridiculously harsh messages to others on forums for what appears to be no other reason than a complete lack of empathy.
Seriously, I'm not a car-clueless folk and wasn't 9 years ago when I first saw this symbol and did exactly as the OP did - pulled out my new car manual to see what the light, which I had never seen before, meant.
The problem with the symbol is obvious... most people don't look at tires from the front/back... we look at them from the side. Thus the most appropriate universal symbol would be something from the most common point of view.
So, a warning light goes on. Most people recognize it. Those who don't recognize it look it up - the first time! Unless you repeatedly get blows to the head, you will recognize it thereafter.
If you are in the habit of ignoring warning lights, or if you do not inspect your tires (cursory glance) before you get into the vehicle, then that's on you and you should be a more attentive driver.
What's the big deal?
And that's what I did: I looked it up. Now that it has happened and I looked it up, I now do remember what it means. Now whenever it lights up, I do know what it means. But way back when I got the car and read the manual, it did not "register" as something important enough to memorize, and it had not lit up yet.
Are you implying that I don't now remember what the symbol means? And where did you get the idea of "ignoring warning lights?" and my not being an attentive driver? You are really adding in a lot of assumptions that have nothing to do with this thread.
To me there is nothing wrong with the symbol, it is self explanatory.
Best way to know for sure if your tires are low with a quick visual check, it is to see them in profile (as in the symbol) not from the side.
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