Santa Fe newbie questions and 2 really basic simple mods (warning - long)

Hi all

Just picked up my new Santa Fe GLS 2.7 V6 4WD - and I loove it! a color they
call "dark navy blue metallic". Looks like black until you're out in the
sunlight, then you see it's really deep blue. Cool. And it's full of
features which show soomeone put a lot of thought into the car. Example:
Last year, I unlocked my old car in the street in front of my office. Before
I opened the dorr and got in, my mobile rang and I had to rush back into the
office (usual "oh my gaaawd! come quick!"-type of thing). And of course I
forgot to re-lock the car. Now, had I had the Santa Fe, it would have
re-locked itself after 30 seconds and I'd still have my video camera I had
hidden iunder the armrest. This re-locking surprised me the first time.
Another thing: I have to confess I am not a fan of automatics. Stick shift
it has always been with me and I thought it always would be. I test drove
the Santy because a friend threatened to do something to me that I'd regret
if I didn't. He knew I was in the market for an all-road SUV. After pointing
the test-drive Santy up and down a few hills (we have quite big hills here -
you know - "the Alps"?), I found that I could take over when I felt like it
to hold third going uphill. So now I'm happily driving a non-manual (or a
clutchless manual or whatever you want to call it).

By the way - I took a bit of flak from colleagues for getting a "pretend
offraoder" instead of a real one (read Landrover Defender). Now, I'm honest
with myself that I don't plan on much offroading, except light stuff. I like
the term Audi have for their 4x4 station wagen "ALLROAD". That's what I plan
on using the Santy for: If it's a road, a dirt track, whatever, I can handle
it. If I'm going to do a trans-Africa, then I wouldn't want to wreck my
Santy doing it. I'll wreck another car. ;-)

But there are a couple of questions you could maybe help me with:

a) I have the version without sunroof, so the clock is in the dash, not
above the windshield - It reads 12-hour display. Over here in Switzerland,
we use 24-hhour times (so 2 pm is 14:00 over here). Is there any way to
switch the clock to 24-hour display? The handbook didn't mention it.
b) About the remote alarm / door opening thingy: Some posts mention a
three-button one with a panic button and so on. My 2003 has only two
buttons: A big one with a "lock" icon on it and a smaller unmarked one for
opening up again. Repeated pressing only repeats the locking cycle (one long
flash) or unlocking cycle. Is this a regional thing? What do you guys' three
buttons do exactly?

Little mods:

1) Driving last night, the red flare of the third brake light bothered me,
so I took soft black foam rubber one sided tape (we use this stuff for
sealing windows if they don't close up tight in old houses) and built up the
edges of the third light mounting with the rear window flipped up. Now, when
I close it, it seals flush with the glass and no more flare.
2) Parking in the city os a bit different with the Santy, which is higher
off the ground than what I'm used to (read sports car type thing). Although
I find the all-round visibility great, I wanted to see what was happening
closer to the rear bumper. I decided against installing a mirror there, and
a camera is just too much. So I stuck a Fresnel lens to the rear window and
now I see great. Now I would see small kids playing behind the car or cement
blocks at bumper height easily. I bought a sticky plastic Fresnel lens from
my local car accessory outlet. It's a big help.

And I'm gonna put in some better - stronger - headlight bulbs (Philips blue
vision 4000 Kelvin, maybe).

Cheers, D

 

Where exactly did you position the lens and what size is it?

The cool blue (Sylvania here in Canada) work great on the Santa FE.