Unnecessary modern car technology rantings

[Steve McF]

Working in the car industry as I do, it amazes me all the features in modern cars that cost money, increase the price of the vehicle, and actually, are totally unnecessary!!! We survived for decades without these, but now apparently we need them!!!

Personal opinion of course, but here are some of the things that get on my nerves about some of the cars I've worked on, but couldn't afford to buy anyway!!:

a) keyless entry (a professional thief's dream!! You have to buy a faraday pouch for the keys/fob, just to protect your new car!!!)
b) walk away locking (useful if you get beyond 10 metres from the car and have forgotten to lock it, but otherwise can be incredibly irritating if it locks/unlocks/relocks as you walk around the car!!)
c) rear view mirror as a screen showing an image from a camera on the roof of the car (what was wrong with a mirror??)
d) Big LCD touch screens instead of traditional dials and buttons (very distracting if you have to change something whilst driving and can't immediately find it)
e) Deployable exterior door handles (what was wrong with the old tech type? More things to go wrong!!!!!).
f) Deployable face vents - hidden when engine off, but motors raise part of the dash when the ignition is turned on, to expose the vents....why??

I'll need to have more of a think about others to rant about , but thought I'd throw it open for discussion!!!!!

[Audax]

Working in the car industry as I do, it amazes me all the features in modern cars that cost money, increase the price of the vehicle, and actually, are totally unnecessary!!! We survived for decades without these, but now apparently we need them!!!

People are fickle when it comes to car technology though, when I was selling secondhand Saab's it was very difficult to shift a Linear model with cloth seats, base stereo and absolutely no extras... people loved the high spec Arc and Aero models with all the extra toys until they went wrong. Then you'd get "why do we need all this stuff on cars anyway, we always managed without it before" - when you then reminded the customer that they bought that car as it was higher spec they'd usually go a little quiet. 

[Steve McF]

Absolutely - I had a Land Rover Defender on assessment this weekend, and took a drive down to Winchester to do a tank driving experience day (that's a story for another thread!!!). But the Defender was a 110 2.0 petrol. Not the highest spec available, and certainly not the most desirable engine. But my lad came with me, and he was well impressed with all sorts of things that I either (a) never use myself, or (b) never noticed were on the car (despite having worked on these for about 7 years now)!!!

The kids love all the connectivity, Apple/Android connection that displays your phone stuff on the screen, wireless charging, USB ports, rear view mirror screen (fed from rear roof camera), and the fridge in the centre console under the armrest!!!

And I have to say, the car is fantastic, but then again, most new cars in the premium segment will be. They have all the toys and gadgets that are fine when the car is new and under warranty, but will more than likely be a nightmare in years to come when you're running a second hand one at the point the prices become affordable (to buy) to the common man!!!

I find the big LCD screen, and having to scroll through it to find simple things or apps, very unnecessary and distracting. I guess once you are familiar with where stuff is, then it is not so bad. But for things like the aircon/heating/heated seats etc, I want to be able to put my hand down and press a button or turn a dial in the traditional way - not scroll through a load of pages on a screen.

The camera/rear view mirror thing is something I always switch off and revert to a normal rear view mirror. It looks fab when on camera mode, and gives you a wide view of the road behind, but the view is from the top of the roof, not the middle of the rear screen, so it is a bit of an odd view to me. I also found that when I looked over to the mirror, my eyes would take a second to adjust to focus on the screen, which they don't do when it is just a mirror.

The original Jag XF had a rotary gear selector that would rise up out of the centre console when you started the car. it also had face vents on the dash that would rotate from a sort of closed position when the ignition was turned on. Similarly, I was in an F-Type the other day, and when I started it up, the centre top portion of the dash raised up to reveal the vents. To me, these things are pointless technology, and somewhat pretentious and unnecessary.

Then again, I spend most of my time driving our own cars that are at least 10 years old (my 9-3 is nearly 16 years old now!!!), so I'm clearly not the target customer for these things 

[sgould]

I would have thought that any extras that use electric power would be things to be avoided in the new fashion for electric cars.  Most owners would prefer a few more miles than a moving swivelling dashboard, surely?

[Audax]

I would have thought that any extras that use electric power would be things to be avoided in the new fashion for electric cars.  Most owners would prefer a few more miles than a moving swivelling dashboard, surely?

I'm sure that the energy required to move a few hundred grams of plastic 20cm is going to be somewhat irrelevant compared to moving 1500kg of car over many miles 

The original Jag XF had a rotary gear selector that would rise up out of the centre console when you started the car. it also had face vents on the dash that would rotate from a sort of closed position when the ignition was turned on. Similarly, I was in an F-Type the other day, and when I started it up, the centre top portion of the dash raised up to reveal the vents. To me, these things are pointless technology, and somewhat pretentious and unnecessary.

I know the XF well, had an ex-colleague who had one, he now has an I-Pace, but then given how much he earns I doubt an out of warranty repair would really bother him too much!

[sgould]

I'm sure that the energy required to move a few hundred grams of plastic 20cm is going to be somewhat irrelevant compared to moving 1500kg of car over many miles 

When you overtake a Tesla on the M4 trickling along at 40 mph on a hot summer's day with the window open and the driver desperate to get to a charging point, I would expect every mA to count!!

[wrighar]

I can see some of them have some merit.

Flush door handles  :  Reduced drag and noise, better fuel economy, lower CO emmissions
Camera based wing mirrors : again, reduced drag and noise, better fuel economy, lower CO emmissions
LCD main dash display : Reduced size (depth)/complexity of unit, weight, potential for generic component suitable for multiple models and spec's within model etc

[phoenix]

The main one that gets me is the complexity of the multi-function LCD displays that provide the functions for radio, HVAC, etc. You can't just jump in a hire car and go these days, you need to spend 5-10 mins RTFM first!

[Steve McF]

Deployable door handles, and things like rotary gear shifters that rise up out of the centre console when you start the car, are all things that if for whatever reason, the motor or mechanism operating them fails, it can disable the car.

There have been issues in cold countries where these things freeze in the down/closed position, again, inadvertantly disabling the car altogether. With a conventional door handle or gear shift/shift, you don't have these issues - proven technology over many decades!!!!!

I heard a story from a colleague whose son worked for a haulage company, and they had a truck that had cameras rather than conventional wing mirrors. The driver caught the camera on a signpost and it was damaged. But because that camera could not now be used, the whole vehicle was immobilised/disabled where it stood, meaning they couldn't even move it to park it better!!!! Now if there had been a frozen foods load in the back, there could have been a problem!

[welshwizard]

My NG has keyless entry, great if you have 2 full hands approaching the car.  A potential thief would also have to match owner with car and try to get proximity to the right car in order to steal it, more difficult if the keys can't be seen...  I make a point of also not parking my car directly outside my house - although I can use the fob to close or open door I cannot simply walk to my car (keys left in house) and open the door or boot.