Do you want the bad news first, or do you want the good news first?
Okay, GOOD NEWS first....
All the settings I altered as regards sound all worked.
The car is now silent on all the alarms in the settings on the iPad type screen. Apart from the odds and ends of beeps you get in a car anyway.
Absolute bliss.
The car is now relaxing to drive now the alarm sound alerts have been removed.
And it is much much safer without the sound distractions.
I can concentrate on actually safely driving now.
And my concentration is 100% on the road, and not on figuring out which alert is blaring at me.
I don't think I could have driven that car much longer with that level of frequency and intensity of continuous sound alerts. No one could.
It does worry me that others driving this car will be having the same problems , and I do not want to meet them during on the road while they are wrestling with their cars.
Now the BAD NEWS...
That large iPad type screen, I had better give it its proper name, is the infotainment system. It is basically a multi media computer which includes the car's safety systems. It can update itself with no input or internet connection from me. And I can find something has changed the next time I get in the car, or there might be a new agreement to agree to before it will allow me to use the infotainment system (the last agreement I agreed to allows me to use the infotainment centre until 2027), and so on.
Now yesterday I had unchecked a load of so called safety stuff, and the system appeared to allow me to do it. And also I had unchecked Haptics, which is the steering wheel vibration it does as a warning alert for various things.
Right, I am driving along just fine, no alarm noises, when I come to the dual carriageway. I know I have to test the lane assist, which I had unchecked. Imagine my disappointment when the green light icon comes on. There was no traffic and so I drove a little closer to the verge. The little green car icon is shaking sideways, then the steering wheel haptics kick in, and I feel a strong vibration in the steering wheel. At that moment I realise how much of my attention it is taking away from actually being alert on the road.
I am so disappointed. But at least there was no murderous accompanying alarms blaring at me, and that was a heck of a relief.
I park in the retail park, and get a coffee and a pasty (a treat!). And go into the infotainment centre.
I am sure that car snitched on me in the night.
The things I had unchecked the previous day, were now rechecked with the message saying they needed to be on for my safety. And this included lane assist, and steering wheel haptics.
I lost the will to live. I came home, and fell into a deep sleep for 5 hours.
I am going to forget about it until next week, when I have a long journey to make, and I will check again on it.
But the good news is that there's are no horrendous alarm noises....