My "new" 2008 Dodge Caliber and its computer

Further study of the owner's manual (390-some pages) reveals that I do not, in fact, have their 'EVIC' controls for their Electronic Vehicle Information Center, so I can't play with a little button on the instrument cluster to bring up choices to make for whether or not the horn sounds while the keyless entry system is locking its doors, or whether the headlights stay on after shutdown for periods of between 30 and 90 seconds.

However, they're right about "see your authorized Chrysler Service Department" because a nice young man there has a portable computer control which looks something like a kids' computer gaming terminal, except it has a touch screen, and it plugs into a rather large receptacle underneath the driver's end of the instrument panel, and using that, he can access and reset all of the items which would have been shown in my instrument cluster read-out, if I'd had that EVIC button installed.

We plugged it in, and he showed me all the choices, and we picked the ones we wanted, and then we did a test to see if that was working like we wanted it to, and after a couple of changes, we got it just the way I wanted it, so that there will be less battery usage as the car shuts down or starts up. My driving style is mostly short trips, and the battery needs all the help it can get just to stay charged up enough during all that short-trip driving - so I don't want headlights staying on after the ignition is turned off and the doors are locked.

Even though I don't officially have that fancy EVIC accessory control, it's nice to know that the folks in the shop have their computer terminal which takes its place if I want to re-program the system. They didn't even charge me for the time involved doing it, either - which I thought was very nice of them. Now you know why I've been going back there for years and years. We have a very nice arrangement - I drive, and they fix.  Works for me! You should try it....




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