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wae
wae Dork
9/20/16 8:52 a.m.
wheelsmithy wrote: 80's Subaru stick shifts had a hill holder. Brilliant. Not sure about subsequent cars.

My '86 GL wagon had that and I was fascinated by it. I'm pretty sure that my '96 Legacy wagon had the hill-holder as well.

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/20/16 9:08 a.m.

All windows will roll down by holding the unlock button on the fob of my base-model Saturn Astra. Great for coming back to your car on a hot day. I only found out via forums after almost 2 years of ownership. It must be a carry-over feature from Europe that pre-bankruptcy GM forgot to mention in the manual.

You can use the radio without the key if the doors are unlocked.

Tap-to-pass. Tap the turn signal and it gives 3 flashes and stops instead of having to disengage it.

foxtrapper
foxtrapper UltimaDork
9/20/16 9:41 a.m.
wae wrote:
wheelsmithy wrote: 80's Subaru stick shifts had a hill holder. Brilliant. Not sure about subsequent cars.
My '86 GL wagon had that and I was fascinated by it. I'm pretty sure that my '96 Legacy wagon had the hill-holder as well.

And Studebaker had it back in the 1930's.

MDJeepGuy
MDJeepGuy New Reader
9/20/16 9:45 a.m.
OHSCrifle wrote: Turn the (key) door lock clockwise, then back, and clockwise a 2nd time, and all doors unlock. 2012 Toyota Highlander

All Toyotas, Nissans, and most Hondas have that feature. it can also be programmed to just unlock all. The key fobs will do driver with one tap, the rest with another.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
9/20/16 9:58 a.m.

MKI and MKII VW's had a nice stash cubby in the center of the steering wheel underneath the center pad that pops off.

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/20/16 10:41 a.m.

El Caminos have a fairly sizable "smuggler's box" under the front part of the truck bed. You can access it by unbolting the panel. You can even buy kits to put hinges and locks on them.

Flight Service
Flight Service MegaDork
9/20/16 11:15 a.m.

In reply to maschinenbau:

For servicing rust?

Bobzilla
Bobzilla UltimaDork
9/20/16 11:17 a.m.

2001-2006 Elantra sedan's had a pop-out cupholder made into the rear seat bottom. Many owners never even knew it was there.

Drew122
Drew122 New Reader
9/20/16 11:52 a.m.
84FSP wrote: MKI and MKII VW's had a nice stash cubby in the center of the steering wheel underneath the center pad that pops off.

My 74 volvo 144 had that as well. I figured it was for an airbag or something.

thedanimal
thedanimal Reader
9/20/16 11:59 a.m.

Dodge Journeys have a compartment under the passenger seat.

ultraclyde
ultraclyde UberDork
9/20/16 12:01 p.m.
maschinenbau wrote: All windows will roll down by holding the unlock button on the fob of my base-model Saturn Astra. Great for coming back to your car on a hot day.

The S-197 Mustangs were supposed to have this as well. Living in GA I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, there were issues with the first cars sitting on dealer lots and randomly rolling down the windows. Ford disabled the function by the time mine was built in June of '05, but I'm told some of the very early build cars still have it. Don't know if later software flashes might have overwritten it though.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/20/16 12:02 p.m.
foxtrapper wrote:
wae wrote:
wheelsmithy wrote: 80's Subaru stick shifts had a hill holder. Brilliant. Not sure about subsequent cars.
My '86 GL wagon had that and I was fascinated by it. I'm pretty sure that my '96 Legacy wagon had the hill-holder as well.
And Studebaker had it back in the 1930's.

And the ND Miata has it as well, but it's a lot more electrically complex than the old Subaru version that had cables all over the place. More reliable, though.

Here's one: the classic Mini has a feature where the distributor will get too wet to function right about the same time the wipers can't keep up with the rain.

Full size Ram pickups have hidey holes all over the place, including two nice deep ones in the rear floorboards that are under the mats.

Javelin
Javelin GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/20/16 12:10 p.m.

The Mazda5 has smuggler's boxes everywhere. Underneath both second-row seat cushions and under the rear cargo tray are the obvious ones. The good one is in the very back, passenger side. There's a square piece of plastic trim that you can pop out by hand and behind it is a completely sealed compartment. This compartment is perfect for about 6 Hot Wheels if you need to hide your latest purchase from SWMBO

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
9/20/16 12:17 p.m.
dean1484 wrote: My 79 z28 had a fresh air vent under the steering column.

My '94 4-Runner also had the Crotch Cooler AC.

My 1972 Capri had the windshield washer pump on the floor to the left of the clutch. See something coming or get hit with a big wave and you can flick the wipers once without taking your hands off the wheel.

Opti
Opti HalfDork
9/20/16 12:27 p.m.

You can pull codes from all systems/modules on the c5. Just hold options on the dic and hit fuel 4 times.

Can even clear them

failboat
failboat UberDork
9/20/16 12:36 p.m.

94 full size chevy van. Drivers side foot well above the tire, there is a handle that opens a vent to let in fresh air. I found it by accident, I am guessing it had never been opened because a bunch of leaves blew in the first time i found it.

Having no working AC I used that frequently for air circulation. I would guess it is present in most 70s-90s chevy vans of the same body style.

My handle was kind of broken and I asked on the vannin.com forums if anyone had a working replacement they could sell me, no one knew what I was talking about. I think most people dont even know its there.

mtn
mtn MegaDork
9/20/16 12:45 p.m.

Not the current generation 4Runner, but the one before that (03 to 08???) had a compartment opposite the jack that you can put your tow equipment in. My moms 07 has it. My FIL's 08, a fancier packaged one, does not though--it has a speaker. I'd rather have the compartment.

Vracer111
Vracer111 Reader
9/20/16 12:51 p.m.

Doesn't really pass the 'no one knows about' as most owners do, but for the BRZ & FR-S, completing a sequence of hand brake and brake pedal inputs (called the "pedal dance") within 30 seconds of starting the car (only after it's warmed up though) you can go into a driving mode that actually turns off ALL traction and stability, only leaving ABS active. Basically this is track mode for the BRZ/FR-S...

Apexcarver
Apexcarver PowerDork
9/20/16 1:03 p.m.

A mustang trick, for the 99 and later SN-95's with the digital odometer

http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/dtcodes.htm

Oil pressure, RPM, fault codes, and a bunch of other stuff.

Marjorie Suddard
Marjorie Suddard General Manager
9/20/16 1:06 p.m.

Add the Honda Ridgeline to the list of cars that will roll down all the windows and open the sunroof if a certain combo (unlock, then hold unlock) is hit on the key fob. Not sure how secret this is, but as I mentioned a few days ago, Tim was sure surprised to learn this during last week's tropical storm.

Margie

Stealthtercel
Stealthtercel Dork
9/20/16 1:08 p.m.

My son's 2007 W-body Impala has storage under the rear seat cushion, which folds up, or out, or something, to let you into it. The 2014 Rondo of Fame has an air-conditioned zone at the left of the glovebox that's the perfect size for a water bottle. Perfect in Ontario in August.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/20/16 1:16 p.m.
failboat wrote: 94 full size chevy van. Drivers side foot well above the tire, there is a handle that opens a vent to let in fresh air. I found it by accident, I am guessing it had never been opened because a bunch of leaves blew in the first time i found it. Having no working AC I used that frequently for air circulation. I would guess it is present in most 70s-90s chevy vans of the same body style. My handle was kind of broken and I asked on the vannin.com forums if anyone had a working replacement they could sell me, no one knew what I was talking about. I think most people dont even know its there.

The MGB GT has the same. Dumps copious amounts of ambient air into the footwells. Quite nice, actually.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/20/16 1:18 p.m.

My Bug' has a second, smaller key that you put into a special lock down on the floor beside the driver's seat and it unlocks some secret setting or something. I haven't tried it yet.

mfvmx
mfvmx GRM+ Memberand New Reader
9/20/16 1:29 p.m.

Toyota Prius has a special notch in the glove box for Champagne bottles.

TenToeTurbo
TenToeTurbo Dork
9/20/16 1:41 p.m.

Some manual transmission Ford products don't have a cruise control cancel button. I found it annoying to have to either tap the brakes or turn cruise control off altogether. While owning several Focii and Rangers I discovered that tapping the clutch pedal just enough to trip the upper interlock switch without actually disengaging the clutch at all served as a very suitable replacement.

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