New Car "Advances" that you don't like
- Thread starter runbikeswim
- Start date
Hopefully those complaining about push to start or keyless entry never have to buy an electric car: unlocks based on your phone and no start button - just put the car into gear and go.
The horror!
The horror!
disclosure...not an engineer...but I hated this tech too simply because I'm a control freak and when I give an input I expect a reaction, not hesitation. I did some research into the subject to prove my point once and to my surprise the research essentially brought me to the conclusion that the only thing that really takes a beating is the starter. The cost savings of wear on the engine and fuel offset the cost of a new starter. To the comments about oil and such...the oil is not draining from all the nooks in the time the engine is off. It's not like the car has been sitting there all night allowing the oil to settle. This is not a completely "dry" start.
Edit: looks like Besser made the point before I posted mine. I should have read through the thread first
Yeah, I know. I read up on it. Cold starts are what's really hard on the engine and the system monitors the engine temp so your vehicle doesn't fall below operating temp. On cold days my auto off disabled automatically a lot of the time. They also have better components for systems that take the most wear on startups including much better starters. I'm actually amazed at how quickly and smoothly mine restarts. They have increased the expected number of starts over 10 fold on the components. But whatever, if he wants to believe his buddies at work that's fine.
I am amazed at how pervasive the attitude is that the auto industry either doesn't research this stuff or doesn't care when reliability is a top priority for most consumers. If a brand gets a reputation for poor reliability it's a disaster. In general cars today are amazing and more reliable than ever. When you think of how much tech they pack in these things, the production rate, and the abuse by consumers it's amazing they are as reliable as they are.
Generally am a fan of new tech especially after its been out a few years and the bugs have been worked out.
Current dislikes. Getting rid of knobs and buttons. Touch screens can be terribly distracting. Keyless fobs are a mixed bag. Leaving a car with in your pocket and having it beep inside for other passengers is super annoying.
Likes, Backup cameras and beepers are wonderful. Automatic stopping systems which are just now starting to be adopted will be a wonderful safety improvement. Hard to beat old fashioned seat belts..
Current dislikes. Getting rid of knobs and buttons. Touch screens can be terribly distracting. Keyless fobs are a mixed bag. Leaving a car with in your pocket and having it beep inside for other passengers is super annoying.
Likes, Backup cameras and beepers are wonderful. Automatic stopping systems which are just now starting to be adopted will be a wonderful safety improvement. Hard to beat old fashioned seat belts..
I have never understood this logic. It takes ~1.5 seconds to put on a seat belt. Just put it on.
A co-worker made a super weird comment the other day... along the lines of "First you tell me I have to do XYZ, next thing you'll be asking me to do is wear my seat belt." Like.... what?
Baffling.
I had a 2013 Fusion too, but it never did that. But it was the LX, so just a step up from the bare bones model.
What I didn't like about it was the location of the key hole on the steering column. It was too low, so if you had anything else on the fob like another key, it would dangle right on top of your right thigh and bothered me the whole time I was driving. I eventually just took every other key off the vehicle key and dealt with it since it was so annoying.
I test drove a Nissan small crossover with that and couldn't believe how noisy/whiny that transmission was. Immediately took it out of consideration.
What? That's one of my favorite features on my Explorer
I don't know this for sure, but for the last 15 or so years most/all??? GM vehicle have the headlights on all the time, but not the taillights. I don't know about other brands. I have noticed those vehicles are often driving into the evening without the driver turning on their full set of lights. Basically since their headlights are on, they can see. But they forget to turn their light on so there are not taillights so people may NOT see them from behind.
I suppose with automatic headlights being so common now, this is not as prevalent. But for a lot of years this was happening quite often in my observation.
Ours was an SE model that was upgraded to almost a Titanium model. My wife and I both liked the car, but it literally ate tires. We purchased it new, the first set of tires, lasted 10 K, all highway driven. The second set lasted less than 12 K. We put 6 sets of tires on the car, including the original set in 5 years.
When I took it into Ford, they said it was the tires, or the front end was out of line. Had a 4 wheel realignment, did not help. The district manager got involved, they put it on the machine and it tested out fine. I told them "take it for a drive, every time you hit a bump, the backend slides a little, and its wearing out that tires". Their response," it looks good on the machine." The local dealer did sell me one set of four new tires at costs, and we did not even buy the car from them. They knew there was something wrong with the vehicle, and even said "ford does not stand by their products", I asked them what should I buy next and they said a Toyota, they will tear it down and rebuild it, just to keep you happy and become a returning customer.
Last time I took it in, the gal asked me if I was still having problems, I told her I was, and she said "see that silver Fusion down at the end, it has the same problems, and ford refuses to do anything about it also.
A few months later we traded it in on the Camry. I doubt if I will ever purchase another ford product and the fusion was the 5th one we had bought.
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Yeah, the jobs that other people do are always more difficult than they appear on the outside. That's one thing I've learned in life.
It still happens. Not sure what the updates are, if any.
I turn mine on no matter what.
Guy I know has a high end Lexus with the emergency backup system or something that will automatically stop the car if it senses an obstacle behind it. Anyway, the other day he tried to back out of his garage during a downpour and the car wouldn't let him because it sensed the heavy rain. That would be a pain in the ass.
Also on a Dodge. The lugnuts are not actual lug nuts. The put a cap over them. Which is fine if you live in non snow areas. However, in Iowa over time dirt, salt, and sand get in the case for the lug nut and it spins. Thus, if you have a flat tire. You might not be able to get the tire off. How about just putting lug nuts back on instead of doing some nonsense with a lug nut cap.
On my wife's car, it automatically unlocks when you are near with the key. Half the time when I park, lock, and check to see if it locked, the stupid thing unlocks. I walk away always wondering if it is really locked.