Loaner vehicle mishap

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dja4260

dja4260

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May 16, 2011
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Greenville, SC via Chicago, IL
I drive a manual trans car. My loaner 2015 Elantra is automatic. Today after a 25 mile drive on the highway I signaled and moved over to the exit lane of the highway. I was going about 65 mph. I then pressed the imaginary clutch with force to coast it in neutral. When I pressed the imaginary clutch, I pressed the brakes. I LOCKED them up, water bottle with missing cap, and belongings went flying. I almost went through the steering column. Thank god no one was behind or someone could have been injured.

I've never done that before.
 
LOL! I remember this happened to me once or twice, when I first experienced driving an automatic.
smile.gif


Glad you're ok.
 
I remember back in 1995, my parents were one of the first people to buy a TJ Wrangler.

6 months later, we didn't hear anything back from the dealer. We inquired about it and turns out the salesman forgot to place the order and then left the dealer.

The owner of the dealer didn't think that was acceptable. He gave us a practically brand new Ford Tempo to use until the TJ came in. Quite a back up, too, as the new coil-sprung wrangler was pretty popular.

We went quite a while with just my mom driving it. One day, we were going somewhere and had to stop at the post office.

When leaving the post office, my father could not get the thing out of park. We tried everything and it wouldn't get out of park. We managed to get in touch with one of the mechanics at the dealer (they were closed - got a home number). Well they tried to diagnose it over the phone. My father just figured that the parking prawl was broken.

And then ...

"Did you press the brake?"

By that point, it had been 4 or 5 years since my father had drove an automatic transmission vehicle. The only automatic transmission vehicle he owned was a '78 Toronado.

That was embarrassing for him.
 
Geez that's scary. Understandable though, it's like moving furniture in the house after it's been in the same spot for years. You get up to pee in the middle of the night and run right into.

Habits are habits.
 
I used to press the dead pedal on my wife's automatic Matrix after years of driving a stick shift.

Never would touch the brake. Do you drive with two feet?

I operate the clutch with the left foot, and the brake and gas with the right foot.
 
Another story on the same kind of subject:

When I got my first car in Canada, they delivered it to me with the engine running.
Did not think of asking anything, was just happy to get my car.
Drove few blocks to show the car to my friends.

After that, when it was time, could not start the car.
Friends laughed, but still could not help (they were all french too, just arriving in Montreal like me).

And then, one said: Did you press the brake?
Why do you want me to press the brake?
In Canada, there is a safety feature (that we do not have in Europe) where you have to press the brake to start the engine.

I pressed the brake: still nothing.

Then I tried the other pedal: since mine was a manual, I had to press the clutch to start the engine.

Now I try to remember when I get a new car, for ne or a rental, to ask if there are special procedures for this car.
But what is special for me does not mean it is special for the rental guy, so who knows... :)
 
I don't drive with two feet. I caught the left end of the brake pedal. That car has good brakes....

Do automatic cars have a larger brake pedal compared to their manual trans counterparts?
 
Originally Posted By: Pesca
Now I try to remember when I get a new car, for ne or a rental, to ask if there are special procedures for this car.
But what is special for me does not mean it is special for the rental guy, so who knows... :)

Pressing brake pedal on an automatic and clutch pedal on a manual has been pretty much standard practice here in North America for a few decades now.
 
Originally Posted By: dja4260

Do automatic cars have a larger brake pedal compared to their manual trans counterparts?

Typically, yes.

Some people do drive their automatics with two feet. It just takes some practice to learn to modulate the pressure with your left foot. When you drive a manual, the left foot is accustomed to just being dumped all the way to the floor at once.
 
Reminds me of the time I was driving a stick and the mechanic wanted me to start up the car while he was standing in front to check something. I hopped in real quick and went to start it without hitting the clutch, it was still in 1st gear, normally it wouldn't start without the clutch in, but this car had a lot of miles and I guess maybe that bit was broken somehow. Anyway, the car jumped forward about an inch and the mechanic hopped back. Didn't hit him, but it was a little scary at the time to think I might have run him over.
 
I've never hit the brake while driving, but typically after driving the '70 Beetle or my dads manual FJ Cruiser I hop in my car (automatic) and my left foot goes on the brake to start, thinking it's the clutch.
 
i was about 12, my dad has a 87 dakota 4 cylinder manual. we stopped on the side of the road so he could shop briefly at a store. i stayed in the passanger seat. in louisiana the ditches are rather .. large and deep. he must have forgot the parking brake, a minute or so later i started rolling towards that deep ditch. fortunately being 12 i had excellent video game skills and stopped the truck.
 
Remarkable this doesn't happen more often. As an 'always manual' driver I have to be careful with North American rentals, which are almost always automatics. The way I deal with it is to plant my left foot firmly on the floor and concentrate on keeping it there. That way only one foot is in action - which has worked so far.

To digress for a minute, a few years ago we rented a farmhouse in France. I had requested a diesel Renault Megane with a manual transmission. When we got to the rental place they told me they only had a gasoline auto, so what was I to do. When I went out to 'my car' I tried the door locking card (credit card size with unlock and lock buttons) which luckily for me didn't work. I immediately took the 'key' back and insisted on another car. "Would you take a diesel?" asked the agent. They had a diesel 6MT Megane that they were trying to palm off on a North American traveller. When I saw the price of gasoline vs diesel fuel I knew why. The diesel probably ran at half the cost.
 
Originally Posted By: dja4260
I drive a manual trans car. My loaner 2015 Elantra is automatic. Today after a 25 mile drive on the highway I signaled and moved over to the exit lane of the highway. I was going about 65 mph. I then pressed the imaginary clutch with force to coast it in neutral. When I pressed the imaginary clutch, I pressed the brakes. I LOCKED them up, water bottle with missing cap, and belongings went flying. I almost went through the steering column. Thank god no one was behind or someone could have been injured.

I've never done that before.

Coasting in neutral is less acceptable than leaving it in 4th or 5th until you NEED to downshift. Every little bit of engine braking means less break wear and one less clutch application.
 
Seems more like a driver mishap not a vehicle mishap. j/k.

When I first got my !echo! my father and I went for a test drive; he was driving. After indicating it was a manual, he promptly tried to shift it into first without the clutch.

Since he never got upset over my incidents while learning to drive (including crashing our 1971 opel into the side of the garage door) I could only reciprocate by stating calmly, "Dad you have to use the clutch"
 
I would assume that many dealer "loaner" cars get much of the same "TLC" (not) that rental cars get.

My dealer won't loan out pickup trucks... at all. Doesn't matter if you depend on a pickup truck to make your living or not.

They got tired of them coming back covered in mud, dented, scratched, and looking like they'd been used to pull a D6 Caterpillar out of the mud.

So, I've learned to get something with a fold down rear seat and make the best out of working out of an Impala.
 
LOL. This happened to me too a couple times when my daily driver way a stick and the wife's an automatic and we were going someplace in her car. It always in the imaginary 1st to 2nd shift so we hadn't built up too much speed when I did it. The "Whoa! Did you see that!" only worked the first time.
 
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