Planes, Trains & Automobiles (Part Three: Automobiles)
This is another one of those things that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Ever since my second week here when I christened Leighs car ‘The Tankmobile’ (because it handles like one, accelerates like one, and consumes as much petrol [gas] as one) I’ve been meaning to blog it by analysing all the neat things that are on it (to make up for it being a tank) that are different to any car that I’ve ever driven back in England.
I should say that back in the UK, I’ve had four cars in my life and three of them were Ford Fiestas. They’re small, nippy, cheap, economical and you can do almost 400 miles on one tank of petrol, and they look a bit like this [left].
Leighs Tankmobile (A Ford Explorer) is about 50% bigger in size, and not at all nippy or economical, and it looks exactly like this [right].
First up – getting in. Yes you can use a key, but where’s the fun in that? When you instead have a keypad where you can enter a 5 digit code to get in instead. “Do you use this?” I ask Leigh. “No”, she says – “And I can’t remember how you set it either” – and so we never actually use this method to lock or unlock the car. But it’s there if we want to.
Inside – when you turn the ignition on, there’s something that does remind me of my old car (as blogged here) – the fact they maybe they’re both Fords, I love the fact that they both have a generic “Check Engine” warning message.
Along the lines of a Windows 3.1 General Protection Fault, “Something”, “Somewhere” is wrong with you car – but we’re not sure what, so we’re just going to give you a generic error message, in this case – “Check Engine”. Funny.
The Tankmobile has TWO cigarette lighters/outlets. Never before had I seen a vehicle with more than one. Even better is that Leigh also has an outlet splitter, so you really can run up multiple things at the same time. And so before they were stolen, there were times when I had the TomTom GPS on the go, and the Sirius Radio, and Leigh was charging her phone.
She’s also got an cool device (an inverter?) which takes the power out of a lighter outlet and lets you plug in a mains powered device. So I have before had my laptop running – via the AC adaptor to a UK plug, into a UK to US pin converter, into the device which then lets me plug it into a cigarette lighter outlet, and then into that outlet – just so that I could get a bit of juice for my Viao.
Other things I like … include the three handy slots under the ‘middle compartment’ flap where you can store your quarters, nickels and dimes. There’s no space though for all the annoying and practically worthless pennies that build up over time, so these slush around in the general area in the middle along with empty drinks cartons and crisp [chip] wrappers, until one of us bothers to scoop them out and put them in the big change jar at home.
There is also a ‘Knight Rider’ style console above your heads – which catches me out everytime as I keep thinking it’s the control for the sun roof – but it’s not – it’s where the clock is, and the temperature gauge, and you have to raise your thumb and punch ‘upwards’ in a Hasselhoff-Turbo-Boost styli action to flip from Farenheit to Centigrade (That 23C there btw is 74F) – as in my stubborness to refuse to learn the old school temperature scale, I find myself doing this a lot.
On the main control console – below the radio – you gotta love the fact that there is not just a setting for ‘AC’, but a setting for ‘Max AC’ as well.
The people at Ford obviously knew what they were doing when catering for a blindingly hot July day in Charleston. It still doesn’t prevent that humid coolant smell (freon?) washing over you when you turn it on though and get that sicky taste in your nostrils for a few seconds before it then passes.
The cars transmission is automatic (natch), but just as I’ve got used to that, and the fact that the steering column is on the wrong side of the car anyway, it took me a while to realise that there is NO hand brake!
Being an automatic, you just put it into ‘park’ mode, until of course (much later) I realised that tucked away down to one side of my left foot, there is an additional method of stopping the tank from rolling down an incline – it’s a foot brake on a pedal, which I once put on and forget to take off and wondered why the car was so sluggish pulling away.
The Tank though is quite reliable. It’s almost done 100,000 miles now and is still going strong. Back home, you always felt that somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 miles your car would slowly fall apart and die.
Here it appears that due to better servicing and maintenance, it’s not uncommon for cars to go over 100,000, sometimes 200,000 miles before you’d start to consider turning it in for a new one.
Maybe it’s because Americans rely on their cars more that they have better garages and better servicing and better cars. And maybe in the UK they like to rip us off more with over priced servicing on tatty European cars (no one over here has ever heard of Peugeot for example) that we get the bum end when it comes to motoring.
But it’s MPG is quite poor .. appalling poor. But that’s what you get when you need to drive an SUV around so that you can put dogs and lots of camera equipment in the back of it. And so an oil-well draining 20 miles to the gallon is best that I’ve ever seen us get out of it – probably worse than that in the summer with the AC on all the time.
So there you go. Big country. Big shops. Big car parks [parking lots]. And big cars to go with them. But I’d still prefer my trusty old Fiesta anyday …
Questions for US readers:
What’s the mileage on YOUR car? Be honest now. I’ll send a packet of Polo mints (A UK mint candy snack) to whoever has the highest.
In what states DO you have to have a license plate at the front of the car? I gather that the ‘not show at the front’ rule does not apply to every state.
Do you have an equivalent to the British MOT test? Where once a year you have to prove that you car is roadworthy – does it vary from state to state?
Does anyone know how I go about converting my UK driving license to a US one?
After living in London for the first 33 years of my life and working for the 
So for ten weeks in June, July and August 2009, I drove 20,000 miles around the the lower 48 contiguous states of the USA visiting towns and places that shared the same name as places on The London
my scenic has at least 3 cigarette lighters that I’ve discovered so far.
Of course, americans have smaller gallon so they”re not comparable like for like.
’tis true: http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/uk-gallons-to-gallons.htm
you drive a Renault Scenic Ian? Oh, that’s made my day … 
As blogged by Bruce Schneier: opening keyless car entry systems in 3,129 button presses (or less!). I wasn’t familiar with the idea when I read it, but your picture reminded me.
And as for ‘converting’ your UK driving licence: I don’t believe there is such a thing, you just have to go and take a driving test there. Good luck!
Geoff – You’ll be happy to know that a full year after slagging off my car (http://www.geofftech.co.uk/iblog/?p=140) it is still going strong and nearing 170,000 miles.
It comes to us all, Geoffrey. More strictly speaking, it’s the familial vehicle which I only rarely drive.
142k+miles on our e-bay wonder. I’ll drive it til it dies.
In Minnesota you must have a front license plate, it’s due to spin outs landing in snow drifts. It makes it easier to identify the vehicles. Luckily I never had to test it.
We used to have state inspections, but now if your car is deemed unsafe for operation you can be ticketed.
I think you must take a test.
Did you get your Ribena in NY from your English friend? [Geoff: Yes mum, I did!]
Have you tried it warm? Why do US cars still have cigarette lighters? I thought no-one smoked anymore over there. Would it not be better to call them ‘power sockets’ or something.
P.S. We drive a Diesel Fiesta, and it does 40mpg. Do they expect you to open the bonnet and check whether you still have an engine or such like? I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what to check anyway.
1. 120,000 on my 97 Toyota RAV4. Toyotas run forever! I’d get a new one, but this one just won’t die!
2. Hawaii requires both front & back to have plates.
3. Hawaii calls for the once a year “safety check.” If you let yours expire, you can get pulled over and given a ticket for $71. Don’t ask how I know.
(
4. Geoff, just go down to the local DMV with your paperwork. You may have to take both the road and written test, so I’d recommend getting the booklet to review first. Most state’s DMVs give them away, in Hawaii they are about $5 at any checkout or cashier stand.
5. Don’t ignore that “Check Engine” light. If it’s on constantly, it usually means something rather major may be wrong. Again, I learned the hard way there. In California, they won’t pass you on smog if your “CE” light is continually on.
6. Here, Ford Fiestas are considered … well … at the bottom of the rung here, if you can even buy them. I’m certain the European models are better made.
Apart from the Scenic, my other, more credible vehicle does around 51mpg. But it only has one 12V socket. Incidentally, you don’t get ashtrays in Corsas any more
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1888173,00.html).
Seeing as we’re covering my entire guilty car history here, I owned a Volvo that had over 100K on the clock. And did over 40mpg on petrol.
Bottom of the rung, huh? Wow! A Ford Fiesta here is one of the top 10% of largest most prestigious cars.
The Fiesta doesn’t appear to have an ashtray either, I think you can remove it, and it becomes a little storage compartment for your parking money or sweet wrappers. We have had 3 now, and find them OK.
Talking of sweets Geoff, I bought a Reeses ‘Nutrageous’ bar the other day. Have you reviewed this one yet? It was quite delicious, although a bit pricey at 60p.
Do the folks in the U.S. know why we have small cars here? Too many reasons to name, but taxation plays a big part, and trying to park also. Small is beautiful. Do you have ‘Smart Cars‘ in the US?
My first car, a Toyota Tercel Wagon had 219,000 miles on it when we sold it. (Yes that’s right someone bought it, and we saw it on the road for several years afterwards).
My current car, a Toyota Matrix gets about 30 mpg or at least it does in the winter. In the summer however it gets significantly less. 28 when the roof rack is on, 25 when just one kayak is on and 20 when both kayaks are on.
As my definition of summer (or rather weather-that-is-warm-enough-for-kayaking) differs significantly from than of normal people. The boats live on my car for almost exactly half the year.
As for the yearly road test, it varies by state, most states have something. Also most states require two plates and in others such as MA, if you have an old plate from before a certain date you don’t have to have a front plate, otherwise you do.
Geoff: A friend on Ohio just took his UK license down to the license issuing place and they gave him an Ohio one.
Well, actually, they spent some time trying to figure out if it was a valid license and where this place called the UK was, but…
Oh, they might also try and insist that you had over your existing license — this shouldn’t be required for a UK license, only for other US state licenses.
1. I drive a 1996 Subaru Legacy L 4-door sedan with 163,000 miles (and change) on the odometer. It averages 26-29 mpg in mixed driving – not bad for a car that has all-wheel drive.
3. In Utah, it’s an annual thing: safety inspection and emissions testing. In DC, it’s every other year, and they only have one facility for the task, so the queues can get exceedingly long. In Connecticut, emissions is every other year, and safety inspection is only needed when you first register the car – so some cars only get a safety inspection once for the car’s lifetime, which is downright dangerous.
Licence, dammit! It’s written on it!
What do you expect? I’m half American now.
Color, Analyze, Meter, Airplane, Dialog, Traveling, Maneuver, Tire – and many more.
I probably would correct it if weren’t for the fact that I know it annoys you so much.
the Jag has around 220k miles on it, and i was getting around 18 mpg in town with it when i was driving it every day. but it had roof racks on it, which can really hurt economy on a car that barely knows what economy is to begin with. now, slick, it gets 20 – 22 or so around town. again, i have trouble keeping my right foot out of the gas tank.
on the other end of the spectrum, our 1967 Jag hasn’t hit 18k miles yet.
and i know what a Peugeot is. i owned one. best car i ever had (excepting the hamster). got almost 50 mpg in town. it was a naturally-aspirated diesel, not petrol, so that’s no huge surprise.
most US states require two plates, states like SC that do not are a minority.
some states and municipalities do have safety inspections and/or emissions testing, but none are as comprehensive or well thought-out as the MoT. i don’t think i’ve ever even owned a car that could pass a MoT, even back when SC had mandatory safety inspections.
my daily driver (the aforementioned hamster) wouldn’t pass a MoT – it’d fail on emissions, VIN issues, steering issues, suspension issues, and windscreen issues. and i’d bet cash money it’s in better condition that a solid 20 – 30 percent of cars on SC roads. perhaps more.
as for all the excess crap… sorry, i mean “features,” that you find on American mass-market vehicles like the Ford Exploder, my opinion is that they’re there to distract the buyer/owner from the essentially shoddy nature of the vehicle’s assembly and materials, and the lazy inefficiencies in the design…
but i might be a little biased.
and i just noticed the mention of the Smart… we get them next year, supposedly. not soon enough by half, imho.
#11 – I’m still waiting for the Charleston Chew Review, too.
My 92 Dodge Caravan (gag!) has 180,000km – or about 111,000 miles. It gets an average MPG of 20.5, almost all of which is city driving. Not very good.
The province of Alberta does not require a front licence plate, you aren’t even issued a second plate. It makes the Licence Plate Game (a version of Number Plate Spotting) difficult.
I would take a bog standard Mondeo of Vectra over the crap that is sold exclusively to the North American market.
The British are terribly over-charged for gas and vehicle, but the quality is undoubtedly better. I hate my car, but at least its lethargic performance and jelly-like handling don’t encourage speeding (much).
Nothing like the MoT here. You can drive any wretched piece of crap right into the ground and no one cares.
Canada has had the Smart for well over a year, and they sell like hot cakes. Too bad it’s a case of too little too late as the Smart is doomed.
I always wanted to get a Ford Th!nk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2309397.stm
If only for the fact that you don’t have to pay the congestion charge or any other parking fines when driving one in London. Sweet!
Had a 1984 Toyota Corolla 1.4 litre.
When it eventually died, it had 442 000 Km’s on the clock (271 000 miles). Tried really hard to coax it to 500 000 but it just wouldnt go anymore.
In South Africa, you try and keep your car going as long as possible due to the high cost of replacing it.
All this talk of cars is making me emotional! I had lessons but never could be bothered to carry on with it and take my test. Good old public transport. Yes, its expensive, un-reliable – but at the end of the day it would improve if more people used it!
My brothers Kia tank has 6 power outlets!! 2 in the front, 2 in the rear and 2 in the boot. Tres cool! I’ve never seen so many gadgets in a car *l* Zoned air con (all 4 quarters can be set differently, a little drawer under passenger seat for handbags, a hidden sunglsses compartment.. (where your clock is) oh so much!!!
My new one (hopefully ordeirng it on saturday.. a Citreon C3. I need an automatic now my arm is getting worse, and they have these cool stop/start engines) will have 3 power outlets..
In my crappy hated Bob (Peugeot 206) I get 45 miles to gallon on inner London commute (either 45 miles a day stop / excelerate hard on the north circular, or 30 miles a day stop start stop start thup Euston Road / Old street / Hackney / A12) and up to 55 mpg on nice long motorway drives.
70k miles and it should be scrapped.. OK, its not that bad, but I got seriously ripped off by second hand car dealer.. My last peugeot though (205) is still being driven by a cousin with 170k miles and doing just fine!! Go Otis *l*
Citroen C3s feel like the flimsiest car in the world. Try slamming the door on one.
Even more scary when you’re doing those hairpin bends on mountains, and there there’s nothing like a ‘SLOW’ sign in the road that makes me want to put my foot down on the gas just that little bit harder …
There is actually a HUGE blog/rant in me that will come out at somepoint about all the differences between UK road signs and road markings, the the ones that you get in the ‘states. I may have gotten used to getting in the right side (the left side) of the car now, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used the lack of proper signage and road markings here.
Geoff, it’s a combination of tatty European cars and itty-bitty cars made of tinfoil that were never designed to last anyways. Ford Fiestas, Renault Clios and their ilk are *designed* to be throwaway transportation. Ask some people in the UK about their Hondas and Toyotas and I think you’ll find 200,000 is the norm rather than the exception. I used to own a BMW that was 13 years old and had 120,000 on the clock – nothing squeaked or rattled, it returned better mileage than when new and I sold it after 4 years of use for scarely less than I bought it for. I met a guy in Scotland who owned the same model and he’d put 340,000 miles on it without any serious work needing to be done. (I’ll admit the modern ones would grind to a halt with electrical gremlins long before then…)
And I loved the A140 I rented from Easycar. It helped immensely in helping me switch sides on the road because I could see things perched up there. Probably wouldn’t like it now, though.
Noticing the comment Geoff left about the Th!nk and the congestion fee made me wonder if the UK readers know that in the US if you get a car that’s listed by the manufacturer as getting under a certain MPG, you have to pay an extra fee called the “gas guzzler” fee…and that’s seriously what its called, not just a cute name for it
I think the MPG limit is either 22 or 20 MPG. My dad’s Silverado 2500 gets a whopping 17MPG 
Also, I noticed that the A1 is EVERYWHERE in Paris. The first one I saw I actually turned to my dad and said “that’s a mercedes?” Oh, and I love the Smart. They seem like they’d be fun to drive
oh, i forgot to mention that Ohio also has the front plate requirement. they’ll pull you over and possibly ticket you if you dont have it on.
Annnnnd, in Ohio the “MOT” type test (called Emissions check, or E-Check –which makes it sound like an internet thing — there) is county by county…basically depending on the population of the county. The county in which I was raised/grew up did not have E-Check, but the county in which I went to college did. confused the hell out of me the first time I heard about it b/c we never had it where i grew up.
#31 – So what if you’re driving an SC car in Ohio? Do they pull you over for not having a front plate? Or do they realise that you’re from out of state and let you by?
Have they never watch Columbo?
He drives an old Peugeot
I’ve been to Ohio with SC tags all my life and have never once been pulled over.
It’s also the only place anyone has ever slid into me while driving.
One Christmas my brother and I made a snowman at my uncle’s house and it did not melt until March. Now my kids want to know when they’ll ever see snow.
I drive a 2003 Mazda Protege which gets 26-30 mpg. I didn’t drive it too much the first two years but the last year and a half I’ve made up for it (and I now have a 35 mi one-way commute–yuck!), so it’s got 44,000 mi on it now. I love my little rice burner though, although I’d rather not have to have a car at all. If I replace it I’ll get a hybrid–probably a Honda because they get better highway mileage than the Toyota hybrids.
I couldn’t imagine driving anything bigger.
Texas has the front license plate requirement, and the annual inspection sticker as well.
bizzarely, i’ve noticed that in some states you are more likely to get pulled over if you have out-of-state tags (Louisiana comes to mind). it’s a revenue thing; since you’re not from there, you’re less likely to go to court and fight the ticket. more likely that you will just pay the fine.
of course, then the whole issue of reciprocity comes in as to whether their bogus money-making ticket will affect your insurance rates.
Here in BC Canada we are required to have license plates on front and back. And every year the vehicle (unless it is relatively new) is required to pass an ‘air care’ test.
#29 – the easiest way of working out whether a Mercedes is a “proper” Mercedes is whether you can imagine Hitler sitting in the back seat. I vouch that an A Class does not fit this criteria.
This also reminds me of an old joke (vintage 1997) that starts off “What is the difference between a Mercedes and a Skoda..”
Ooh, just heared the news. Is everything OK with you Kris? Please let us know ASAP.
No one dead:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6053796.stm
Suspect she’s still alive! (dammit)
3 power sockets (and they are called that) in our VW Touran. One in the front for the (optional) cigarette lighter, iPod, phone charger etc. One in the back of the centre console, to power the kids DVD player or whatever, and one in the boot to run a mini-fridge to keep the beer cool for the picnic!
Another thing that makes cars fall apart – age. Good ol’ blighty being much smaller than the USA, we tend to cover less miles in the same time, so cars more often die of general rot rather than wearing out.
i. Kris still alive! (she emailed me)
ii. Went to the DMV today. *nightmare* I hate them. I made two trips, and will have to go back for a third.
ah, the DMV.
which one did you go to? not the one at the police station by the ballpark! that’s the worst. the one on Leeds Avenue is much better, and the one in Ladson is better still. why do you have to go back, and do you have to go to the same one? if you could go to a different one, i could probably give you a ride to Leeds, assuming transportation is an issue (don’t think you want to go all the way to Ladson). or you could ask Stewart – he works just off Leeds Ave.
other benefit to Leeds location (other than shorter lines): it’s right across from the county jail, so you can watch the convict work parties come and go. plus, there’s lots of bail bondsmen nearby (just in case).
What’s DMV?
-for those of us not familiar with USA TLAs?
DMV = Department of Motor Vehicles
No one died in the shaker, thanks for asking. We were very lucky, no damage at all! 6.6 is HUGE!! My sis is getting on the news tonight. Interviewed about the massive landslide at Kealakekua Bay. She was one of the only eyewitnesses.
Also, I wanted to add that the Fiat Punto I rented in Italy totally rocked to the point where I wanted to buy it and bring it home. I think the thing had three cylinders but it handled like a champ! We loved that car and it was very sweet on mileage. We drove all over Italy and only filled up once.
DMV is the US equiv of the DVLA.
And for those in the US, DVLA = Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
jj – I went to the one one by the ballpark first, yes … they then sent me to the one up at Leeds. The woman I had to deal with in their was umm… not very competent. And despite me having two pieces of evidence with my address on, neither of them were on her list of what was valid, so she sent me away.
I’m going to try going back tomorrow morning (Wednesday).
Geoff, I hear Top Gear are looking for a stand in presenter…with blogs like that, I’m sure they’d throw you the keys to the latest Ferrari or Porsche – just mention the Stig and lap times and you’ll be hired
Yes I’m amazed by the response to your ‘motorpost’, I suppose it prove that we all love our cars, and can’t stop talking about them. What will be do when the oil runs out? Kris, glad you OK, did you feel any of the ‘quake? at your home. I was in Slovenia a few years ago, when there was a loud rumbling, and the ground shook, and all the bottles fell off the supermarket shelf and splintered, it was a bit scary, but only a minor one.
I love my bicycle
, I’ve had it three and a half years and it must have done about 3500 miles – mainly getting me to and from work… and all without a drop of petrol! Several bits have worn out (the plastic peddles literally fell apart!) but everything is cheap and quite easy to replace, so it should go on for many more miles yet.
#46 competency? lack of such is a job requirement. if they were competent, they’d work in a fast-food place.