Trust me... there are parts on modern cars, where you actually have to program the car. For instance, if your TT didn't have Cruise control, you would only have to install the VW stalk and program the car. All the necessary hardware (not including stalk) is there. You just have to enable it.

But you know what? Given the Saturday I had, working on my parents' car and burning myself on the heat shield, I'm just not going to complain as I was not going to find the energy to install a radio today given that I will also have to reprogram the BCM to remove the NAV from the CAN-network.

Oh definitely! It must be that the teams engineering the radio and the team engineering the sat-nav had a falling out over the correct time to cook pasta and then decided to build their units in such a way the switches were never going to be interchangeable.

I know, right? I LOVE Italian cars. Let there be no doubt about it. But to engineer 2 different sets of switches and underlying circuit boards, which do the exact same thing is just an unnecessary expense.

Oh... and since I assume you all might go "surely, you're talking bollocks" here's the proof 55 seconds in!

I mean... why spend the extra money and make different switches for the same car? AAnd it's not just the switches, the underlying circuit board is also different. WHY!? It feels like an unnecessary complication of things!

Lancia, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make the fog light switches on the version with factory sat nav a different size from the one with a factory radio, which means I have the day off from installing a new head unit. On the one hand I enjoy the day off, but also SMH and sighing "Italians..."

Funny story: I ran into a previous coworker and he mentioned liking it as well. He had a Bravo with which this shares an, albeit extended, platform. I also started a review on autoweek. I intend to be honest.

Oh, trust me... seeing as she's a head-turner (I swear some guy stared at it as I was parking) she will be hard to miss. And I'm sure you (and some coworkers) will see her, since you can somewhat triangulate where she's parked.

Some parcels arrived today, some will arrive in a few days. The job of making this car more suited to my needs is about to begin. Happy as a kid on Christmas morning.

I think it’s one of the “designs” of Leepu 😂

Also still to do is a OBD diagnostic. But when I replace the head unit, I have to do a proxy allignment, so kill two birds with one stone.

Also, I don't know when the cabin filter was last done. Other than that, she's fully serviced. I'll also have to clean the interior plastics. Updates to follow.

Things still to fix:
- Installation of after market headunit to support carplay DAB+ and Reverse Camera (did I mention this thing is huge?)
- Updating cornering lights to bright white
- Fix the door to the glove compartment, as it's currently opening far too wide.

On the plus side, everything works, she's pretty nippy, controls feel secure (although shifting feels diifferent and I have to get used to the position of Reverse Gear and operating the column stalks.

Just finished a job, updating the headlights to bright whites. It was definitely more of a job than it should've been. Modern design, while pretty, makes lights very inaccessible (at least, on the Italian cars I tend to buy). Definitely don't want to do this job when it's dark out.

Aside from rust, I’ve never had any issues with Italian cars, to be honest. It seems the gremlins of yesteryear aren’t really an issue anymore. 😊

To all republicans: If you were willing to get your knickers in a twist over Michelle Obama planting a vegetable garden, perhaps NOW's the time to get the pitch-forks? Your president clearly does not care about you. When will you say "enough is enough"?

I'm all for Automated Parking. I find parking tedious. It's the end of an activity I love doing: driving. But to have a computer do the journey for you? Naw... hard pass.

Yes, cars should be VERY safe, obviously. But if you need Autonomous Driving, you should just have your license revoked. Because you trust a computer with your life. And you depend on its features to protect you.