[InigoMontoya]

The Boston Globe recently had a story where a AAA writer answered a reader's question about the long-term effect of Auto Stop/Start on the starter and battery. On the battery, he said that AGM's should be just fine with it. Okay. On the starter motor, he related a technical video from Toyota. Apparently they include a pop-up warning reminding the owner to consider replacing the motor. That warning shows up at 384,000 starts. That's over 20 starts per day for 50 years.

I doubt I'll still be driving my car in 50 years. I certainly don't Stop/Start it that many times a day. So I'm not going to worry. I doubt any of you should worry either.

I get your point but extrapolating Toyota reliability standards to a German car doesn't seem right. Toyota has a culture of making things last. Also just because a manufacturer says they expect this doesn't make it so. Porsche made Engines that were supposed to last at least the 50k warranty, on paper, but many failed early and didn't live up to it in the real world. We are only 10 years into mass stop start and many disable it, so I think it's premature and unproven to discount people's concerns. This is a little like saying don't worry about cancer! This new unproven drug will prevent it because We said so.

 

[InigoMontoya]

No one...and I truly mean no one, around here uses a turn signal in a roundabout (except me). Not even the police. For the most part, people have no clue how to navigate a roundabout, which can be rather frustrating.

Yes no one does but not a bad idea to telegraph your move.

The roundabouts in Germany (at least the ones I saw when driving there in 2011) were usually smaller, two cars abreast but in Mexico they are sometimes three lanes which some make into 4 cars abreast sometimes. Those can can be pretty chaotic, so Germany was a breeze for me.

Regardless, part of the point of the roundabout is to make you uncomfortable. It forces you to pay attention. If you have collisions they are rarely full speed T Bone ones like stoplights where someone is not paying attention and blows through a red light at 55 mph and broadsides a car. These can be deadly. Also if there is no traffic, you don't have to sit there for a minute for no reason, you can just continue. So while they can be annoying, they do have some benefits in reducing deadly collisions and moving traffic in less congested areas. A lot of new developments here are starting to use them and I like them more than a 4 way stop which everyone rolls through in these neighborhoods.