New Car "Advances" that you don't like

[Cdiedrick]

I'm in a rental car right now and boy, do I hate this engine dying every time you stop technology that I've experience in a lot of cars. Talk about something that will cause of lot of engine wear to as the oil drains out....

I'm also starting to hate bucket seats that seem to be getting smaller and large middle consoles that don't give you any room.

This got me to thinking, besides the stupid blind side lights that go off at every tree, what else might there be that us old fogies are not liking on new cars.

Honestly I could care less about the bells and whistles. I’m 39 and can use mirrors vs a backup camera, heated seats aren’t my thing, navigation, I can read a map. Various other options have come and gone like displacement on demand. I’m a classic car guy and I’d much rather cruise in my 59 Chevy or 79 Thunderbird vs our ‘14 Equinox. I also drive a ‘19 Superduty and I do like the ride but I don’t understand why they make them so tall. Thankfully I am 6’2. I do like the fuel economy and performance but to me so many of the other “options” just drive the price up. I know when to change my oil so I don’t need it programmed in. Who would have ever thought that a truck would go for 50k plus. I also like regular cab for for work purposes and they are a thing of the past.

 

[isu_oak]

I'm in a rental car right now and boy, do I hate this engine dying every time you stop technology that I've experience in a lot of cars. Talk about something that will cause of lot of engine wear to as the oil drains out....

I'm also starting to hate bucket seats that seem to be getting smaller and large middle consoles that don't give you any room.

This got me to thinking, besides the stupid blind side lights that go off at every tree, what else might there be that us old fogies are not liking on new cars.

I'm car shopping right now and the damn middle consoles are a pain in the ... knee. Being a tall guy who likes to likes to let my legs flop over when commuting every day, it's been really hard to find something that's not a hatchback or truck with enough knee room. Right now the only 2 cars I've found with a short center console are the Chevy Malibu, which has **** ratings, and the 2019 Subaru Legacy. The 2020 Legacy is going to have a tall console, so I need to pull the trigger soon if that's the direction I've going to go.

 

[cyfan92]

Why stop there, make everyone. I would willingly go through the hassle, if I knew that even a percentage of idiots would learn how to merge.

That's separate but I tend to agree

 

[Macloney]

I'm car shopping right now and the damn middle consoles are a pain in the ... knee. Being a tall guy who likes to likes to let my legs flop over when commuting every day, it's been really hard to find something that's not a hatchback or truck with enough knee room. Right now the only 2 cars I've found with a short center console are the Chevy Malibu, which has **** ratings, and the 2019 Subaru Legacy. The 2020 Legacy is going to have a tall console, so I need to pull the trigger soon if that's the direction I've going to go.

What ratings of the Malibu are you looking at? I rent them and prefer the interior space over every other sedan in the same class. The MPG's and power are kind of meh, but the GM entertainment system and display is great.

 

[arobb]

I tend to dislike having a lot of extra bells and whistles in a vehicle, but having a backup camera in my truck has sure made hooking up my fishing boat amazingly simple.

 

[isu_oak]

What ratings of the Malibu are you looking at? I rent them and prefer the interior space over every other sedan in the same class. The MPG's and power are kind of meh, but the GM entertainment system and display is great.

Consumer Reports. I only looked at it a day ago when I found out the Malibu had a low center console. The Legacy was number 1 there which was surprising. I haven't compared Consumer Reports with other ratings sites yet.

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

Yeah, I mean....the manufacturers who would have to foot the bill for extremely expensive engine repairs/replacements if failures were found to be caused by the stop/start feature within their vehicles haven't done their due diligence on it at all. I'm sure of that.

To be fair, as long as they can engineer that stuff up to 100,000 miles they won’t give a **** about long term effects.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

After driving for four hours a message appears asking if I need to take a break

We had a 2013 fusion that would do the same thing after a couple of hours, pain in the butt. Traded it in last summer for a 2018 Toyota Camry XLT and I love it. My only complaint is I wish it had a heated steering wheel, and the navigation through you phone just sucks. Never use it.
Overall driving it for a year, 19,000 miles, very satisfied, love the Toyota Care, every 5,000 miles.

 

[Doc]

I work with mechanical engineers that do failure analysis on machinery, so I trust their assessment more than engineers who design and work for the people that sell the things.

Analysis is so much more easier than design. Do they have design backgrounds at least? I just think failure analysis would be easy because you have already have a failure so you can rule out a lot of things that the design engineer must consider when they do the design.

 

[Rabbuk]

I have a stick shift with roll back prevention. I feel like sometimes it takes a second or two to disengage and causes me to go up hills more sluggishly than no rollback prevention.

 

[Cyder91]

CVT Transmissions........makes better profit for the manufacturer but costs the owner shyt ton of money to repair. Most people probably don't even know they have one.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Analysis is so much more easier than design. Do they have design backgrounds at least? I just think failure analysis would be easy because you have already have a failure so you can rule out a lot of things that the design engineer must consider when they do the design.

Failure analysis is a PITA. I'm a reliability engineer at the proving ground for Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks. I spent a few years analyzing/eliminating engine warranty. Field failure analysis can be really, really hard.

ETA: That being said, his coworkers are just making educated guesses. The work has been done, stop/start does not lead to reliability issues.

 

[besserheimerphat]

To be fair, as long as they can engineer that stuff up to 100,000 miles they won’t give a **** about long term effects.

My experience is in the heavy duty truck market, not passenger car, but for us the design life is about twice what we expect the first customer to drive. There's a lot of similarities between heavy and light duty design philosophies though, so I wouldn't be surprised if their design targets were 200k+ miles. Sure some things will break during that time - particularly sensors and electronics - but the powertrain parts like pistons, rods, crank, camshaft etc should last forever with proper maintenance.

 

[Psyclone]

My rear camera is nice but the 360 top down view is way better.

Love the blind spot warning. People seem to like to drive where you can't see them

Not sure about the lane sensors that resist you if you drift away from that semi in the next lane.

Hate the embedded navigator. Linking to your phone's navigator is so much better.

I dont like the mirrors tilting down when you back up. Fortunately you can turn that off.

 

[Psyclone]

Things I don't like
Cooled seats-The car that I had it in made it feel like you had wet your pants
Automatic High Beam-Never use it

Love cooled seats
Love auto high beams. Also love auto day/night sensing lights. Had them in my cars since 2007 and have never had to touch the light controls and they always work perfectly. (I do have to manually turn the fog lights on when needed.)

 

[cmjh10]

This whole thread is #FirstWorldProblems

 

[Knownothing]

I have a dodge and the stupid thing beeps the whole time a passenger or driver has the seatbelt off. Like chill out I am driving a block to the store.

I honestly hate cars with Keys now. I have had a keyless for so long that getting used to putting the key back in is hard when I rent a car.

The car turning off at the lights is annoying. I don't know why. It just is. I had a loaner car and the guy never told me it did that. I thought the damn thing was broke.

 

[Tri4Cy]

A lot of pickups. I managed a dealership, blunt truth is, they just get installed and not actually set so it is kind of a crap shoot that they are aligned. Then most guys will have a toolbox, covers or other stuff in the back and that throws all the lights into a higher angle and sometimes causes sims to be more effective than brights.

Yeah that I understand. It's crazy how off many peoples lights are. First time I rode in my GF's car I realized her lights were absolutely worthless and adjusted those for her. I've been a guilty party as I have proper alignment when my truck is not loaded but when I throw my dirt bike on the bike my lows now work like highs. I really wanted to go all MN and just get a glow in the dark "sorry" sign to hang on the front. I'd love to have self leveling lights like some HD trucks I know have.

 

[Tri4Cy]

I drive in the city and I don't mind it. There is a button to disengage it in my vehicle if I dont want it. Also, do you honestly think the engineers working for the auto manufacturers haven't thought this through and developed the technology so it doesn't destroy the engine? Its not new tech. Hybrids have been using it for a while now.

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

 

[madguy30]

Love cooled seats
Love auto high beams. Also love auto day/night sensing lights. Had them in my cars since 2007 and have never had to touch the light controls and they always work perfectly. (I do have to manually turn the fog lights on when needed.)

Are your back lights lit?