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All I want is tactile controls. I wanna feel when I hit the aircon control and know it's distinct from the volume control. And I wanna feel each increment of all knobs. That way, I do it by feel instead of having to look at the control panel.

And only automakers are surprised by this. This last time I bought a car, i avoided all the new ones and just got a reliable one from 2013. Fuuuuck all the tattletale noises, fuck all the touch screen interface bullshit, and fuck their ridiculous asking prices.

0. A/C

1. ABS

2. radio

3. dashcam

All I want is a regular car with an electric engine. Why is that so hard?

This article strokes my confirmation bias!

I love my 2010 Toyota with 140k miles, and I hope it runs forever. I could afford a new car if I wanted one, but all of the options have been getting worse for years! It’s just a car, but it’s a car from the perfect era of technology to be stuck with forever, and it drives beautifully.

I wish it got better gas mileage by 2024’s standards, for both financial and environmental impacts, but I believe it’s net better on both fronts for me to keep driving it than to replace it early. Fortunately it doesn’t snow where I live, so road salt won’t inevitably rust out the undercarriage.

There’s an aux in for the factory stereo, and I have a $25 BLE audio adapter with a ground loop isolator so there’s no alternator whine despite it being powered by the car. It’s not the most quiet for speakerphone calls, but it’s perfectly functional, and I’ve easily replaced it multiple times. It’s so much better than having a bad native Bluetooth audio system from that era.

I have a really solid dashboard mount for my magnetic phone mount, comprised of pieces from three different companies for maximal awesomeness. Then there’s my USB C PD supply that meets the charging standards of the present day relatively inexpensively and upgradably to any brand, powered by the “cigarette lighter” power socket. The existence of this simple medium wattage automotive DC power port is the greatest legacy left to us by the tobacco smokers of yesteryear. Is it gone yet in the latest cars?

A really slick trick I learned somewhere (maybe on reddit during the good years) is to use tiny zip ties on a cable that must run across your dashboard, such as the one to my mag charger. Put them at very strategic locations on the cable and facing the right way, and snip off the zip tie ends while still leaving a tail maybe about 1/4”, then jam that tail in between two pieces of dashboard trim. Do that repeatedly and the cable will go neatly and orderly around all your buttons and knobs without ever getting in the way.

An aftermarket dashcam is one thing that felt very worthwhile but was actually a decent amount of work to install, since I pulled a bunch of trim and ran wires through the headliner for that clean look with a rear facing camera mounted on the outside of the back. But I think those aren’t quite yet standard other than in Teslas.

2010 was the pinnacle of car technology, change my mind!

"Oh... well we actually didn't FUCKING ASK YOU!"

-Automakers

A backup camera and an Android Auto/Apple CarPlay head unit radio that sounds decent. That's all I want in a car for "tech" that isn't a safety feature. Everything else can go.

My car saved my ass from a road raging drunk, but android auto cannot skip songs from the steering wheel, quite a duality.

Well that's ok, it was never for them.

/s

I had a 2015 Maxima and I used to get mail from the dealership asking if I wanted to take the car into the shop to get an $150 map update. Fuck off with that bullshit.

i really need a car without this all shit. I just want to drive from point A to B. I don't need any navi, big LCD screen, AC, parking automatic, speed control and all the electronic shit that I have now in my car.

I'm planning on having a "headless head unit" built for my next car so I can basically live off an AUX port wired to speakers throughout the car, I hate wireless that much.

well obviously My aunt has a modern car that reads the signs for you. Where I live there is a highway in the middle and normal road on the outer side. That piece of crap slows down to 70 km/h from 130 when it sees the sign that belongs to the other road…

However, not all tech is terrible. For example, parking cameras, gps, cruise control are useful

Edit: I think the current toyota land cruiser 70 series sold in australia is at the sweet spor of technology

I totally get it. I wish some of it was modular. My screen is too big 90% of the time. I love it for a clear view of the backup camera. It's nice for a clear view of the map if I'm out of town. Much better than trying to fumble with that on as phone like I did before.

But I don't have to do that often. It's not really in the way or anything but sometimes I just don't wanna see pixels. I can adjust it, but it's too much of a pain to mess with.

I don't have a car but if I rent one the only "advanced" feature I want is: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

I daily a 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Manual transmission, manual windows, manual door locks. The basic radio was broken before I got it. It does have computer engine control with OBD2, but even that is simple in comparison.

When something breaks or maintenance is needed, it's a straightforward fix with typical tools. I've come to appreciate the simplicity.

I like having Siri in my car when she works. Like when my phone properly wirelessly connects. But when it doesn’t, I hate it, and would be better without it.

Also why the hell can’t CarPlay use the radio, when the car has a radio. Why can’t those two things talk to each other. Fucking dumb.