Some of these are long and seemingly cryptic, like your car's VIN number, while others are intentionally easy to understand, like the warnings on your mirrors or the engine oil classification under ...

When something goes wrong with your car, a curious-looking icon illuminates on the dashboard. But what those symbols mean isn’t always obvious.

The study asked 2,000 motorists to identify a number of dashboard warning symbols. It found fewer than 40% of drivers felt "quite confident" in their ability to tell what warning lights meant.