Modern Vehicles

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by slowpoke

Cars have gotten safer, but I totally agree that the 90s/early 2000s were the sweet spot for non-distracted cars. Interiors had red/amber lighting, everything was controllable by feel, so the driver never had to take their eyes off the road.

Then comes Toyota who decides to light up the interior in blue LEDs, damaging your night vision, then later one Tesla throws a giant iPad in the middle of the console.

I have not needed to buy a car, but I probably will in the next 5 years, and dread trying to find a car without all these distractions.

Was watching a documentary about the Iowa. The tactical operations area of the ship was lit blue 'cause the Navy thought it did less to night vision than even red. ...and BMW did red...

I'm driving an 04 X3. Still no distractions in that one. Bonus. Some of the stuff you're kvetching about are mandated by the govt: backup cameras especially. We're not getting rid of them because the general population isn't getting smarter.

The X3 is a manual. Bigger bonus. The thing's a unicorn.

M

[Ralph]

My wife's 2012 Ford Edge Limited version with all the gadgets has been a 100 percent reliable car. (even if slightly boring to drive) Not one trip to the dealership for a repair to any part of the vehicle. The original tires even went 60,000 miles, and even then not worn out, just old. 4 wheel alignment never strayed.

EXCEPT: The controller to the dash....the electronic gizmo that coordinates the GPS, Entertainment system, HVAC controls, and phone controls..... and all the touch screen stuff...went bad at 6 years......Cost me $978 to fix. Automatic features I don't even care about.

Not one other thing has gone wrong with this vehicle. Modern cars are great....next time will buy the base model.

[72gmc]

Dad's '86 Audio Quattro 4000CS, which became mine later, is still my benchmark for the driver experience. Red gauge lights at night, knobs and push buttons on the dash, that funny gear lever in the middle (plus a third pedal on the floor) and good visibility in all directions. Great steering feel once you learned about the Quattro understeer.

My wife's 2016 Mazda CX-9 is more fun to drive than it should be. But, I'd have preferred the option of NOT having the touch screen.

[Seramount]

timely thread...

been quasi-shopping for new wheels, a lot of the electronic cockpit stuff is superfluous and annoying...don't need or want to pay for it.

like other have mentioned, things I like about my '06 RSX Type-S...

red dash backlighting, 8200 rpm redline, 160 mph speedometer, 6-speed manual.

one thing that's dork about it tho is it came from the factory with a Bose stereo that has both a CD AND cassette (!!) player. the cassette part is virgin, never been used.

rented a new Toyota recently and the info unit was displaying in French...took 20 min of fiddling and then finally RTFM to fix that. no reason for that level of complexity...

[dumbod]

I don't own a car so when I need one, roughly once a month, I rent it. Talk about your nightmares. There are no standards - every manufacturer has their own way of doing things, even different "universal" symbols for various functions. It's hard enough when you buy a new car but, I imagine you learn it over time (and have a manual to refer to.) When it's a rental....

[bigbill]

Before I moved to the Big Truck Stop (Kingman, AZ), I traded in my F150 and my son's Focus on a Ford Expedition. Everything around here is a road trip and the Expedition gets 23+ mpg and I can all my stuff inside. It has all kinds of sensors but no lane departure and I'm ok with that. I pulled a Uhaul trailer from NE Texas to here and got 21.5 mpg. The Ecoboost technology is amazing, it has a 3.5L twin turbo engine that makes it a hotrod if I put my foot in it.

[Dave]

Most of the annoyances mentioned can easily be turned off. I have a 2018 equinox with 2.0 turbo engine that has more power than the rav4 or crv and is one of the 10 fastest models in its class. The engine and 9 speed trans both work smoothly. It has all the bells and whistles, but they don't have to be used. The GPS works great. Just used it last night in heavy Denver traffic and it took me where I needed to go.

If you want lower power and fewer features, just buy a much cheaper basic model and save 10k.

[93KgBike]

Except this one is like, "back in my day, off meant off!"

[bigbill]

I was surprised at the lower end features on high end vehicles. Back in 2013 my ex traded in the 2004 Honda Pilot on a Mercedes GLK small SUV. The Honda had way more features, the Mercedes didn't even have a garage door opener. The Honda had three programmable buttons and was 9 years older. But it wasn't a Mercedes.

I'm impressed with Hyundai and their standard features.

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by glepore

Spud's thoughts in the industry thread got me to thinking about safety being a primary reason that road cycling is stagnant, and I have to agree. I've always blamed phones. I think I'm wrong.

See, I drive cars from the mid 90's by choice-I like german luxury cars, and the mid 90's were a sweet spot - cars that were about quality and the driving experience, before they became about "features". As a result, I have normal old school din radios and individual buttons for climate control etc.

Last night I drove my s-i-l's '17 Toyota Rav4 into town for her while she was visiting. Crap, no wonder the doggone thing has driver assists like lane departure warnings etc. The entire center stack is dominated by a color lcd screen with multiple menus and submenus to access any of the "automation/infotainment". Even though I didn't touch it, its lit presence was a distraction, let alone if I had tried to access something.

Now I get driver aids like the annoying lane departure system that tugs at the wheel if you move laterally without a turn signal on. Its a liability avoiding device that is NECESSARY because the operator is no longer likely to be do anything other than monitoring systems.

It made me think of Lion Air. Where the hell is the circuit breaker to shut off the lane departure crap when the system farts and puts me into nose down trim?

1987 and 1991 in my garage for all those reasons and more. I honestly don't know how or why folks buy this new crap...

[saab2000]

I own a brand new 2018 VW Tiguan SEL Premium. Some of the features are great while others suck.

Great -

1. Auto dimming mirror rear view mirror
2. Integrated garage door opener
3. Apple Car Play
4. Better than EPA fuel consumption
5. LED headlights. These might be #1. They’re fantastic and a real, actual improvement.
6. Hands-free tailgate assist. More useful than one might imagine
7. Very efficient packaging of the volume.

Not great -

1. Lane assist is busy and occasionally marginally dangerous IMHO
2. Engine and transmission are coarse in the name of efficiency
3. Ride quality not premium, at all

Undecided -

1. Adaptive cruise control. Mostly good but not great
2. Incessant beeping when the car thinks I’m going to hit something, like pulling into my garage. But it isn’t terrible in other circumstances
3. Virtual cockpit. Essentially unnecessary gadgetry. Once it’s set up the way I want it I never change it.

I’ll be tempted to trade this and my 2006 GTI for a next-gen GTI, probably in 2020. My 12.5 year old GTI remains a vastly more engaging car to drive. The Tiguan is an appliance, like a refrigerator or washing machine. The GTI is a joy every time I get in it.

[JAGI410]

I certainly have new vehicle envy, but having older vehicles that I can maintain myself saves so much money. We looked at a 2015 Outback to replace our 2004 Forester XT. The Outback was $21k. I could sell my Forester for $6k. So for $15k I get a newer vehicle will all these bells and whistles, that'll get better mpg but be much more expensive over the life of it to maintain. I just can't justify it!

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by saab2000

The Tiguan is an appliance

This is how I describe the Ford Fusion I rented last year. The car's function was fine, but the driver interface (with the ridiculous rotary shift dial) was akin to piloting a Cuisinart.

LED headlights are amazing.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by 72gmc

LED headlights are amazing.

Yes. This is an actually, immediately noticeable step up from the old tech. And because of precise aiming I’m not blinding oncoming drivers, unlike 99% of LED bike lights, which just project light but aren’t patterned beams.

I’m not sure I’m keeping the Tiguan after spring. Might need the cash for something else.

But there are some real improvements, like the headlights. These will be on all cars soon.

[VC Slim]

My 2007 CR-V just went over 100k miles. It still has a lot of life left in it but the repair costs are adding up and I'll be looking to replace it at some point. Not interested in the latest crop of interfaces/bells and whistles. I'm just hoping for a make/model that has cloth seats.