‘Nothing prepared me for that’: Nissan Cube driver can’t believe the one thing car does every time she locks it
The Nissan Cube is a quirky car. It's literally boxy. It's got a wraparound window that CNET pointed out, upon the car's debut in 2009, has "a rear window big enough that short people can see out of."
But one current Cube driver has an extra-distinctive feature on hers that is likely the result of a failing part.
A TikToker @puthyinbooths put up a video on Saturday that has reached more than 3.1 million views as of Monday, even with a gap in TikTok service over the weekend due to a much-publicized ban.
In it, the creator explains all the quirks her Cube features.
Embarrassing quirk?
"Do you think your car is a little quirky and has, you know, whatever? Let me show you up," she begins. "I got a little Nissan Cube. None of the windows work, but that's not what I'm talking about. There's a bullet hole right here underneath this sticker, and it goes through, but again, not what we're here to talk about."
She is, however, willing to talk about a sticker on her car reading, "Don't be a hippo-twatamus," with a cartoon rendering of a hippo surrounded by hearts."
But what she really wants to talk about is the unpleasant, vaguely fart-like sound emitting from her car when she locks it.
"Listen to the sound it makes when I lock it," she says before locking it. "Why does it do that?"
She adds, via caption, "The worst is when it gives someone a jumpscare when they are in the car with me…or when i’m going into school and EVERYONE in the parking lot looks at me confused AF…can’t blame them lol."
"Oh, when you're inside, like it can't be that bad," she says in the next scene, seated in the car, before demonstrating that it is indeed that bad.
"I think I remember the guy telling me my actuator is broken, but I don't know if that's a real thing," she adds. "Love her anyway. She gets me from point A to point B. Even if she's loud."
Is it a real thing?
According to an online forum for Cube drivers, a broken door lock actuator is a real thing.
"Has anyone had any problems with the sound of the door lock actuator in the rear hatch of the Cube?" one asked. "Mine is always like RRRRRRRRR whenever I lock or unlock the Cube. I'm finally going to have a chance to take it to the dealer. It's louder than the horn, and embarrassing."
One fellow Cube driver responded, "Yesss! My cube is a 2010 and I had the same problem, I took it to the dealer and unfortunately there is a recall but not for my year. The mechanism in the latch was not responding, every time I would try to lock it it would make a very loud noise (errrrrrrrrrrrr) and would not open. It was an easy fix and I paid $547.00 in total. It’s an easy fix if you are mechanical."
According to CarParts.com, "A door lock actuator is basically a reversible motor (or a solenoid on some vehicles) with gears that operate the door lock. The motor reverses direction so that when you press the switch to unlock the doors, the lock moves in one direction. Then when you press the switch to lock the doors, the lock moves in the opposite direction."
The article points out that each door lock has its own actuator, so when one goes out, replacing it will only affect that particular door.
"If none of the locks work, the problem lies elsewhere," it advises.
Viewers weigh in
Commenters, of course, picked up on what the noise resembled.
"Why is she farting at meeee," one asked.
"The noise absolutely took me out," another observed.
@puthyinbooths my car auto locks too so the worst is when it gives someone a jumpscare when they are in the car with me…or when i’m going into school and EVERYONE in the parking lot looks at me confused AF…can’t blame them lol #fypシ #fyp ♬ original sound - yuckoline
"She has IBSSS," quipped another.
Even someone with a helpful confirmation couldn't resist a comment.
"Technician here, can confirm it's the actuator, but don't fix it. It's funnier when it farts," they said.
Finally, one pointed out, "That’s a feature, not a flaw."
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Nissan via email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post ‘Nothing prepared me for that’: Nissan Cube driver can’t believe the one thing car does every time she locks it appeared first on The Daily Dot.