the misses having problems in a big car:advice?

cojomo2

the missus passed her test about 8 months ago. She has been driving a small car, she is a pretty good driver, in the early stages she had 1 scrape when parking(her weak point).

We got rid of the small car and got a 5 series bmw(only reason we got the small car was for her to learn to drive- I hate small cars).

She has only driven it 4 times and says she doesnt feel happy in it, saying its too big and she is worried she will crash it. She knows I love the car and is worried she will crash it, and we will be left with an expensive repair and sky high premiums at renewal.

We are considering getting an additional small car for her but this is cost a fair bit extra, cant really afford , so realistically I would get rid of the BMW, and get a small car for her and something cheaper to run for me.

I am convinced she just needs time to adjust to a bigger car...she isnt so convinced...

Anyone have any advice/opinions?

Thanks.

Stevie Dakota

Selling the BMW sounds like an expensive and needless solution to the problem. She needs more time behind the wheel, 4 drives to adjust to a new car is not enough for someone who been driving for less than a year. She just needs more wheel time.

Go on more drives with her, stay as relaxed as possible, practice parking and looking for bigger spaces. Get rear PDC retrofitted if you think that would help.

colm_mcm

Some people are driving for years and aren't happy driving big cars, then again she had it easy in a small car. Give her time, encourage her to do some long distance runs on the motorway etc to get used to it. Maybe some more lessons in the bm would help, she can relearn how to park. Parking sensors may also help.

cojomo2

cheers, good advice about the parking sensors..ill look into that, hope they are reasonably priced!

quad_red

cojomo2 wrote: »

the missus passed her test about 8 months ago. She has been driving a small car, she is a pretty good driver, in the early stages she had 1 scrape when parking(her weak point).

We got rid of the small car and got a 5 series bmw(only reason we got the small car was for her to learn to drive- I hate small cars).

She has only driven it 4 times and says she doesnt feel happy in it, saying its too big and she is worried she will crash it. She knows I love the car and is worried she will crash it, and we will be left with an expensive repair and sky high premiums at renewal.

We are considering getting an additional small car for her but this is cost a fair bit extra, cant really afford , so realistically I would get rid of the BMW, and get a small car for her and something cheaper to run for me.

I am convinced she just needs time to adjust to a bigger car...she isnt so convinced...

It's all about practice. Lots of 'Sunday drive' non-pressurized stuff.

And lots of practicing parking.

It's all about racking up drive time. Preferably not pressurised 'Sunday drive' kinda stuff.

And lots of practice parking.

Anyone have any advice/opinions?

Thanks.

Well, if she passed her test only 8 months ago then she's still relatively inexperienced.

Mrs Quad has her licence for two years but freaked out at the size of a Mondeo compared to our Astra. Never mind a 5 series!

ShadowHearth

I thought when person gets a driving license it means he/she can drive... But what do I know about amazing system we got in Ireland here...

No offence on my little rant op.

As for your problem:

Selling car and buying 2 cars is moust expencive solution. Remember all will be double. As long as it looks good on paper, it will bite you badly in real life. Trust me, been there, done that...


She drove it only 4 times. I drove skyline for weeks to get used to it's size, power, clutch, feel. So just get her to drive it more bud. Moust important thing is to be with her when she drives now, give her a boost in confidence . She will live it later

colm_mcm

They're cheaper than a new bumper anyway

Triangla

Go to local supermarker car park when it's empty to get practice in parking in the white box. Experience will breed confidence, it's just a matter of getting used to handling it.

If that fails get a 7 series, she'll then regard the 5 series as a small car and be delighted to go back to it.

keithclancy

Tell her to get the bus

bazz26

What year is the BMW? From the E60 onwards they had PDC as standard afaik.

cojomo2

bazz26 wrote: »

What year is the BMW? From the E60 onwards they had PDC as standard afaik.

its a 2004 e60...it does mention about pdc in the manual i assume thats for a higher spec model as I dont see anything on the rear bumbers or any buttons relating to pdc in the cabin...maybe im wrong though...hopefully!

Stevie Dakota

cojomo2 wrote: »

its a 2004 e60...it does mention about pdc in the manual i assume thats for a higher spec model as I dont see anything on the rear bumbers or any buttons relating to pdc in the cabin...maybe im wrong though...hopefully!

No need for the manual, reverse toward a wall, beeping you have them, crunching you don't.

bazz26

Mmm, thought all E60 models had them, maybe the early models didn't. Anyway they are fairly cheap to have fitted these days. Paintdoctor on here I think supplies and fits them if you are in the Cork area.

cojomo2

bazz26 wrote: »

Mmm, thought all E60 models had them, maybe the early models didn't. Anyway they are fairly cheap to have fitted these days. Paintdoctor on here I think supplies and fits them if you are in the Cork area.

in Dublin...did a quick google though and found one in halfords, including fitting for 99 euro:
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_196951_langId_-1_categoryId_212417

no holes in bumper required..just the number plate. should do the job..

Matt Simis

Triangla wrote: »

Go to local supermarker car park when it's empty to get practice in parking in the white box. Experience will breed confidence, it's just a matter of getting used to handling it.

If that fails get a 7 series, she'll then regard the 5 series as a small car and be delighted to go back to it.

Lol, what I was going to suggest on both counts!
Stand outside the car and get her to drive towards, do on all corners till she can mentally visualise the cars dimensions. It only appears much bigger, in the grand scheme of things its not even 30% bigger. The biggest difference is the shape of a saloon vs a hatchback.

The other idea of putting her in a genuinely large car has merit too.


PS: She wont "crash it", she may scrape it at low speeds, but crashing it properly wont be caused by size.

mikeystipey

Re parking sensors, I got this online for about €40 and it does the trick well:

http://www.jmldirect.com/Parking-Sensor-PP1000/

Has your missus adjusted her seat up higher etc, so she has a better view of her surroundings?

And don't worry you're not alone...bought a Mazda 6 meself and the missus decided it was too big for her to drive, so we had to become a 2 car family :rolleyes:

8 months and you moved her up to a 5 series? No wonder she is nervous

Let her have a few drives in an empty area for a while!

Stevie Dakota

bluewolf wrote: »

8 months and you moved her up to a 5 series? No wonder she is nervous

Another 8 months and she'll be ready for this...

Bella mamma

This would be akin to getting you to drive an articulated truck!

I have a Zafira, The Husband has an Astra. I have driven the Zafira down the road once in 3 years (under duress) in a state of panic. It's a monster of a mobility device.

The sides of the Astra are shredded. No crashes or damage to other cars. I long for my old Honda Jazz.

It's a pain 'cos if we all go out we can only fit in the Zafira so The Husband can't have a drink.

Why did she ever agree to a huge Beamer?!

RobAMerc

Is she not used to bug things OP ?

Matt Simis wrote: »

Stand outside the car and get her to drive towards, do on all corners till she can mentally visualise the cars dimensions. The biggest difference is the shape of a saloon vs a hatchback.

I think this is the best idea - letting her see all 4 corners of the car with you standing at them will make her judgement of them much much better. As it stands at the moment she probably is sitting in a seat with no earthly idea where the car starts and ends with the idea in her head that its huge ( probably that its much bigger than it really is )

positron

I think I will try the above suggestion with my other half too. She's totally fine with the Ford Focus she has on loan from her mom, but she's too nervous to drive our main car, an Accord. Aparantly, Accord's seat is too low, it's like lying back on a sofa, the controls too light, car too big and revs too easy and what not!

stevenmu

I've been driving nearly 10 years and when I get in a bigger car it takes me a while to adjust, 4 quick drives would probably just about do it, so for someone with only 8 months I'd imagine it'd take longer.

The suggestions above are good, a drive around an empty car park and a long run on a motorway would help get a feel for the car. Sitting straight up and raising the seat as high as possible and as far forward as possible will help too, it means you're looking down on the front of the car more and makes it a little easier to judge distances around it, especially coming from a car with a short bonnet to one with a longer one like a 5 series.

_Kaiser_

I'd have the opposite problem - I just don't like anyone else driving my car and since I started driving, I'm a terrible passenger - especially in my own!

cojomo2

Bella mamma wrote: »

This would be akin to getting you to drive an articulated truck!

ahh come on..hardly.

My first car was a bravo, after a year I got a new job with a massive company van(mercedes sprinter)..got used to it after a day playing around with it..the basics are the same, as long as you get the feel for it, use the mirrors I don't see why anyone couldn't adapt in time...

as someone here mentioned the size difference between a small car and a 5 series is at very most 30%...it just seems more..

Anyway ill go with all the great suggestions here and hopefully she will get comfortable with it, just in time for when I upgrade to the 7 series and we can start all over again...

Bella mamma

Joking..............obviously!

Did try some of the suggestions above but just can't adjust to the Zafira. The size of the bonnet throws me each time and I can't judge the parking with it (i.e. drive into a space between 2 cars). :mad:

johndaman66

stevenmu wrote: »

I've been driving nearly 10 years and when I get in a bigger car it takes me a while to adjust, 4 quick drives would probably just about do it, so for someone with only 8 months I'd imagine it'd take longer.

But I do believe that the OP's wife passed her test 8 months ago

cojomo2 wrote: »

the missus passed her test about 8 months ago.

One could nearly assume that she was driving on a provisional license before this but for how long we don't know.

I find it quite surprising that she is so lacking in confidence driving the bigger car, particularly after passing her driving test. I learned to drive in a medium sized car many many moons ago but took a few spins in larger sized cars at the time, was much of a muchness I thought. I guess its differs for different people.