Computers do what people tell them to do
LONG-TERM FLEET/ Mark Smyth took the long-term Passat in for a service over the holiday season
With Lerato driving around in a Subaru Forester over the holiday season, I had the chance to jump in and out of our two long-term vehicles. However, our Passat had a service indicator on the dash, which had been gradually counting down the days.
It was the week before Christmas and time was running out, so I contacted Barons Volkswagen in Woodmead to try to book the car in. Not surprisingly, I was told there was no chance of getting it in that week and so we agreed to it going in on December 28. I parked the car at the office and jumped in the Renault Kadjar.
The 28th arrived and after sorting out a few logistics issues, I got the Passat to the dealership nice and early. The service adviser checked the details and took the key. Then he checked the mileage. With a shade over 6,000km on the clock a puzzled look came across his face as he asked which service it was due to have.
“I don’t know. The car just says it wants a service,” was my reply. The adviser went off to chat to someone and came back to point out that the car is less than a year old and does not need a service until March 2017. He took the car away and reset the computer so it didn’t feel like it needed attention anymore.
Fine, I said, but as I was already there and didn’t expect to see the car until later that day, could they fix the cover for the heads-up display unit which had become detached?
“You’ll have to book it in,” said the adviser. “It is booked in, that’s why I am here,” I pointed out. The advisor took the car away and I had coffee.
Eventually he came back to tell me that they had never had to fix a heads-up display unit before and there was only one technician who can do it. He was on leave and would only be back mid-January.
What this whole exercise showed was that we are extremely reliant on the advice of computers. The computer in the Passat said it wanted a service because, as the adviser advised, it had been programmed incorrectly. It happens, computers are only as accurate as the initial data that they are given.
As we move closer and closer to the world of autonomous cars, we are going to have to place even more trust in computers. They are literally going to be responsible for our lives and the lives of others. Yes, we trust in the autopilot on an aircraft, perhaps because we have no idea when it is being used, but we have also seen those documentaries about when the computer gets it wrong.
There are certain fundamentals which the industry has to get right and one of these is being able to input the correct date and associated parameters.
Service glitches aside, I spent a fair amount of time with the Passat after that. I have discovered that our 1.8 TSI model is no longer on the market, but it still boasts all those hallmarks of the Passat that make it a great and often overlooked car. It drives
IT DRIVES WELL, PROVIDES PLENTY OF INTERIOR SPACE AND A MASSIVE BOOT AND IS PACKED WITH FEATURES
really well, provides plenty of interior space and a massive boot and it is packed with features which I have spent months discovering, occasionally by accident. It has proved to be a superb family motor too and it has features which many people in other German sedans will know nothing about, such as the digital instrument cluster with its numerous views and the Apple Carplay connectivity.
We only have a few months left with the Passat but we know that we are going to enjoy every moment.