Dear Car Talk:
I recently purchased a Lincoln Corsair. The owner’s manual says to put the transmission in the Neutral Mode before entering a car wash. When I do this, the display screen message is, “30 Minute Neutral Mode Enabled. Not a Tow Mode.”
I’ve never seen this on any of my previous cars. What is the Neutral Mode, and what is its purpose? — William
There’s a safety feature on your car that automatically puts the car in Park when you open the driver’s door, William. Why? So, you don’t accidentally run yourself over. Believe it or not, it happens. A little too frequently.
People are distracted, they stop the car to get out and open a garage door or get the mail, and they forget to put the car in Park. And as they’re getting out, the car rolls and … bad things happen.
To prevent this type of accident, your car (along with some other new cars) is designed to automatically shift the transmission into Park when you open the driver’s door.
So, if you go to one of those car washes that requires you to get out of the car during the wash, you’d be in trouble, right? You’d put the car in Neutral, get out of the car, and your car wouldn’t move. And five people waiting in line behind you would be honking at you with malice aforethought.
So, Lincoln added a Neutral Mode just for this purpose. You press the Neutral button twice, and it engages “Neutral Mode” for up to 30 minutes, and allows you to exit the car while leaving the transmission in Neutral.
If you’re using a car wash in which you stay in the car, just putting the car in Neutral normally will work. And the reason a warning comes up to tell you that it’s not a tow mode is because … it’s not a tow mode.
When you have an all-wheel-drive car towed, you want to disengage all four wheels, so your transmission doesn’t get damaged. And since this mode only lasts 30 minutes, and then reverts to Park, it would be a poor choice for towing. At the 30-minute mark, the tow truck driver would suddenly wonder why the Corsair he’s towing is skidding all over the road.
For towing, there’s a cable you pull behind a small cover on the lower dash. The instructions for that are in your owner’s manual, too, William. I’d tell you more about it, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Got a question about cars? Write to Car Talk write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.
