It turns out that more technology in cars isn’t necessarily something customers want, and it’s not really improving their driving experience. We know my thoughts on the matter, but I’ll do my best to stay impartial on this latest survey from JD Power that shows most customers don’t appreciate technology in cars unless they can see a clear benefit to them.
JD Power’s 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study evaluated over 81,000 drivers’ experience with “advanced vehicle technologies” in 2024 model year vehicles after 90 days of ownership, It turned out to be a pretty mixed bag when it came to what people liked using. There are a number of tech features that customers like using because they feels that it answers their needs, but at the same time there is a whole lot that don’t get used very often or are continually annoying, according to the survey.
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We need some serious federal regulation against bullshit in vehicles.
Every function that is normal to use while in motion needs a physical button.
Absolutely no fucking spyware reporting back to the manufacturer.
give me buttons and dials, not touch screens and ai. I want to drive, not check social media. I’ll be keeping my 2009 until the engine locks up.
All I need is Bluetooth in the audio system and a place to hang my phone. Beyond that, things that don’t make my car move or my body comfortable can go to hell.
That’s the biggest (and dumbest) reason I’m looking forward to my next car. So I can play music seamlessly through Bluetooth.
I have a 2016 with Bluetooth but it literally will only let me use it for calls/texts.
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, but I do have a Bluetooth receiver. It’s just cheap and a pain. I have to power it on separately, occasionally re-pair my phone, and the chords get worn out and need replaced every so often.
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Does your car have an AUX port by chance? Mine was the same with the Bluetooth limited to calls, but with a $20 adapter on Amazon I converted my unused AUX port to Bluetooth audio. Aside from that ONE thing I love my car and am thrilled to have this solved, especially so cheaply.
See if your car is on the website niftycity you might be able to get a piggyback adapter from them to run Android Auto & Apple Carplay through your OEM setup.
They no doubt sell rebranded versions of the same stuff you can find on AliExpress but they do the hard parts of working out all the bits to make it all nicely integrated with the OEM setup rather than having to research which obscure cables you need to buy.
I don’t hate tech in my car.
I hate unnecessary, poorly designed tech in my car.
Current tech design unnecessarily complicates and obscures what should be simple and easily accessible functions. That’s more than just irritating, it’s dangerous.
BRING BACK THE FUCKING BUTTONS HOLY SHIT
Yeah, let me keep my eyes on the road. I’m not a huge fan of mini coops, but the dash setup of the ones I’ve driven are my favorite. They’ve got unique toggles and knobs, made it easy for me to memorize functions without having to give it any thought
No one hates the tech in their cars, ABS is universally loved. What people hate is tech working not in tandem but against them
I’d argue that touchscreens in cars is pretty dumb for the most part. Detents and buttons are incredibly effective physical feedback systems that are being thrown away for them, sadly.
I still can’t believe they’re legal. Interacting with your phone while driving is against the law but for some reason when it’s a part of your dashboard it’s a-ok?
Honestly, I always thought that “hands-free” phone use isn’t really all that safe either - for some drivers, their brain being distracted by the call is what makes driving while “on the phone” dangerous. Heck, even having to pee really bad is worse than being tipsy.
I don’t like tech in cars either… I like EVs bit the thought of dealing with that center screen for everything is just lame. Another thing that sucks are the fobs… Who asked for those? If I want to go swimming I now have to take apart a little plastic thing and stick it in my car
Another thing that sucks are the fobs…
I really don’t like those either. I guess it’s okay to give people the option, I know that it’s handy to unlock the car from a distance if you’re loading kids or pets in the car. But give me a simple key/transponder if I just want to have a key on a keychain.
Also, I keep seeing more reports about those wireless unlock and remote start fobs being relatively easy to spoof, and the whole system seems comically insecure and fragile.
I can’t believe how much more money such a faulty feature costs too.
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That’s true, but then you see how easy it is to open up a car with a traditional lock using one of those shims.
then you see how easy it is to open up a car with a traditional lock using one of those shims
True. As far as I can tell, most competent thieves can get in most cars, and it’s trivially easy to break the window out anyway with small tools. I’m not even sure of car alarms deter thieves anymore. The real deterrence is the interlock that prevents them from taking anymore than your stereo or loose change, and the interlock/transponder doesn’t require a fob.
Most cars won’t lock with the key fob inside them, and no one in the driver seat. So you might be leaving your car unlocked. That being said, the fobs are gasketed and water resistant, they should be able to handle a swim, no problem, but if you’re concerned, a ziploc baggie should do the trick.
I’d say the benefit of the fob outweighs the “cost”. Take it from someone who has had access to all 3 generations of entry tech (key, fob, keyless) at the same time, you’ll really miss it when you don’t have it.
I was helping my mom shop for a new car, and we discovered she needed the requirement of “physical AC controls”.
Everything is all on the touch screen.
Car companies don’t care, they think the tech gives them an excuse to charge more even though a lot of the tech is actually cheaper (a single touch screen instead of all kinds of knobs and buttons) plus it’s a way for them to collect more of your data to sell. Before buying my next vehicle, I want to make sure I can easily disable its internet functionality through hardware so that it doesn’t phone home.
I want fucking buttons!
It’s not about the drivers, it’s about cheaper costs and normalizing subscription services for your vehicle.
Visited my parents while they were in Florida recently. Drove their rental car to the store, it was a newer model with “Lane Assist Technology.” It was terrible. Tried to swerve around a pothole, and the steering wheel vibrated and steered me back into it. Same thing happened as I angled the car to enter a roundabout, the damn thing just steered against me! It felt like at any time the car might just “decide” to swerve me into oncoming traffic! I’ll never buy a car with that trash masquerading as tech. Absolute garbage feature.
I have to back into a parking spot in a shitty, shared driveway. If I don’t throw my (automatic transmission) car into neutral and coast into place, my car will decide I’m too close to the curb and just slam the fuck out of the brakes while still several feet away from where I intend to be. It sounds awful and it scared the absolute shit out of me several times before I internalized the workaround.
Good thing I’m not a fan of the backup camera in general, or this problem would be even more irritating, since the camera turns off when I go from reverse to neutral.
My parents’ cars (which I drive often) both have backup cameras but my own car doesn’t. I often find myself backing up in my own car while staring down at my screen-less dashboard instead of looking behind me or in the rearview mirror.
Should have a setting to disable that.
Sounds like you used it on poorly marked surface roads.
Most lane systems do pretty well on well marked highways. Very useful for doing long drives.
It was actually a well marked/maintained road, the pothole I refer to was more like a sewer manhole with a deep depression. Didn’t drive it on the highway, but my mother did, and said she was equally alarmed by how often the steering would “right itself” when she was trying to merge or change lanes.
Merge lanes are definitely not the best. I disable then.
As for changing lanes, your mother doesn’t use her blinker. That temporarily disables lane keep.
Yeah. I wished Lemmy was different then Reddit but nope, bitchin gets the upvotes.
2014 impreza. No screen at all. I bought a phone mount that shows waze and charges my phone.
I have cruise control and heated seats. And I can operate both with gloves on!
Don’t need a backup cam because my windows and mirrors are good.
I will drive this car until it dies, and then I’ll replace the head gaskets and drive it until it dies again. And then I will replace the cvt and drive it until it dies a third time.
Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about the NY road salt. The frame will be left, flake by flake, in the gutters of 490. It’s the only thing that can take this car from me, and it is its inevitable fate.
I bought a $10 Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter hole and then an aux cord in our 2010 vehicle. It works significantly more reliably than our other, 2020 vehicle with built-in Bluetooth, touchscreen and all the bells-and-whistles. Seriously, I turn my 2010 car on, “successful connection” every time within seconds. The 2020, I inevitably get failed connections. I don’t think my phone has connected to it first try, once. And then sometimes it fails to connect either the audio or the phone calls. Or, I get it connected and my wife gets to the car with her phone and suddenly my Bluetooth connection is gone and we’re listening to her phone. It’s just infuriating.
I had the same setup going on for a few years myself. The dongle recently bit the dust and I’ve been too lazy to replace it but my car’s bt connection is nowhere near as reliable as that $17 dinky device from amazon. Like 50% of the time my car will throw an error claiming my phone isn’t capable of Bluetooth audio while playing a song from it
(but really really I just want a headphone jack on my phone again)
(but really really I just want a headphone jack on my phone again)
A million times yes. I LOATHE having to update my earbuds’ firmware when I’m at the gym and I just want to start exercising already.
What adapter is that? I can only find the stupid fm adaptors
I have a cigarette lighter-USB adapter already plugged in.
Ahhh thank you I’ll have to see if I can find something like that in my country
Physical buttons please and thank you
I just found out that the Tesla 2024 Model 3 has a gear selector that’s incorporated into the touchscreen… I saw it (someone I know bought one) and I cannot understand.
I drove it, it’s as bad as it sounds. They got rid of the stalks on the sides of the steering column too, the turn signals are buttons on the front of the steering wheel, which is even worse imo.
Some is great and much appreciated. For instance I love the things that takes the camera feeds and creates a simulated top down view. But some things are just useless and needless.
what is the purpose of that view, though? why does driving need a bird’s eye?
It kicks on when you’re parking, so you can see your car in a top-down view with all the lines and obstacles. When I drive our other car that doesn’t have it, it’s the thing I miss the most.
I really wish that wasn’t under patent :(
Every car should have that if they got the cameras, but it’s lame you gotta pay someone else if you want to stitch the photos together
I’m a little bit of a technophile, but I have very little patience for technology that doesn’t buy me anything that I care about. So I don’t want my washing machine connected to the Internet, but that bird’s eye view makes me giddy happy.
