Radio Could
I was going through the wallet-full of documentation that came with my new Dacia1 Duster the other night. Y'know, just to ensure that I really did know how to wind up the windows and where to put the key in, that sort of thing, just before you file the handbook under "seen-it-before", next to the Haynes Manual about the Spitfire and Weber carburetors.
Now, I don't know if it's a Renault thing, or a specific Dacia thing but when you tick a few boxes on the order form marked "extras", that indeed is what you get - extra. Extra paperwork by the ton.
You get installation and user-handbook sheets for every single one of the extras. Dacia new car order forms work by having a box called "touring pack", which contains a tow-bar and an arm-reset etc. They have a box called "protection pack", which contains reversing sensors, mud-flaps and a metal plate that sticks to the rear bumper2 etc. Oooh, lots of etc's. And so on. And so on. And so on.
Without a word of exaggeration, the individual A4 sheets, when folded to A5, measure a genuine 15mm thick (not including the glossy service book and radio book).
I read the lot. I can now tell you how to fit the armrest, where to position the mud flaps and what size screws to use in the tow-bar.
Anyhow. I got to the end of the documents and when putting them back into the now-too-small wallet, where I found the key code and the alarm code on small credit cards. This made me think - "where's the radio code?".
I read the entire lot again - no luck.
I rang up the dealer from work (possibly a mistake, the jury is still out). "Hello, you didn't give me my radio code". "Yes, we did. I trust my blokes implicitly to write it down. To get another one it'll cost you £10". "Whoa! You want to charge me for something that's your fault?" "Yes, it'll be written down in the service book on the fly leaf along with the key number and VIN number." "No it isn't!" "Yes, it is! Have a nice day."
I went home tonight and emptied the contents of the wallet on the lounge floor and read every single sheet of A4 - both sides, even of they were blank - again.
I even read to the end of the index of the 100+ page handbook. I turned to the blank flyleaf after "Z" and there, in the tiniest handwriting, was the radio code.
Oooh, you mean, on the fly-leaf at the back?
1Pronounced Datch-a, and not Day-see-her.
2You really do get an A4 sheet on how to peel off a piece of paper and stick the plate to the bumper.
Now, I don't know if it's a Renault thing, or a specific Dacia thing but when you tick a few boxes on the order form marked "extras", that indeed is what you get - extra. Extra paperwork by the ton.
You get installation and user-handbook sheets for every single one of the extras. Dacia new car order forms work by having a box called "touring pack", which contains a tow-bar and an arm-reset etc. They have a box called "protection pack", which contains reversing sensors, mud-flaps and a metal plate that sticks to the rear bumper2 etc. Oooh, lots of etc's. And so on. And so on. And so on.
Without a word of exaggeration, the individual A4 sheets, when folded to A5, measure a genuine 15mm thick (not including the glossy service book and radio book).
I read the lot. I can now tell you how to fit the armrest, where to position the mud flaps and what size screws to use in the tow-bar.
Anyhow. I got to the end of the documents and when putting them back into the now-too-small wallet, where I found the key code and the alarm code on small credit cards. This made me think - "where's the radio code?".
I read the entire lot again - no luck.
I rang up the dealer from work (possibly a mistake, the jury is still out). "Hello, you didn't give me my radio code". "Yes, we did. I trust my blokes implicitly to write it down. To get another one it'll cost you £10". "Whoa! You want to charge me for something that's your fault?" "Yes, it'll be written down in the service book on the fly leaf along with the key number and VIN number." "No it isn't!" "Yes, it is! Have a nice day."
I went home tonight and emptied the contents of the wallet on the lounge floor and read every single sheet of A4 - both sides, even of they were blank - again.
I even read to the end of the index of the 100+ page handbook. I turned to the blank flyleaf after "Z" and there, in the tiniest handwriting, was the radio code.
Oooh, you mean, on the fly-leaf at the back?
1Pronounced Datch-a, and not Day-see-her.
2You really do get an A4 sheet on how to peel off a piece of paper and stick the plate to the bumper.
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