New car - IRRITATING!

Half Fast said:
The more I drive it, the more I like my old 1996 F150 that belonged to my dad, with it's manual crank windows, basic am/fm radio, and not much else.
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And if you drove that daily, you'd REALLY miss the new stuff. I drove my '11 F150 a couple years after I'd let my daughter "borrow" it. I'd been thinking about what to do with it if she ever returned it... that one-day road trip made the decision for me.

MackMooney said:
awesome that I can just walk up to the car, touch the door to unlock it, sit down, push a button, and drive away. don’t think I’ve manually touched a light switch, windshield‑washer or AC control in years. My next car WILL drive itself at-least on the highway, adaptive has been awesome but i'm def ready for the next level
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You have to actually touch the door to unlock it? Poor rube. :D Wifey's new ride senses when you're walking toward it, unlocks, turns on the puddle lights, and pops the door handles out for you.
 
DaleB said:
And if you drove that daily, you'd REALLY miss the new stuff. I drove my '11 F150 a couple years after I'd let my daughter "borrow" it. I'd been thinking about what to do with it if she ever returned it... that one-day road trip made the decision for me.


You have to actually touch the door to unlock it? Poor rube. :D Wifey's new ride senses when you're walking toward it, unlocks, turns on the puddle lights, and pops the door handles out for you.
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ohh, nice, JEALOUs, def want some of that 8)

oh yeah forgot to mention heads-up display, love that so much i'm trying to put it in the plane
 
Bob Noel said:
the more doodads, the more that can go wrong.

and the more chance they will try to sell you a subscription for the doodads
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My car is a rolling box of german software. NFW will I be owning it when that warranty ticks over.

But it was 7 years of $0 ded and unlimited mileage so I took it as a challenge. If I can bankrupt Mercedes with my antics, I win. Rocking up to a prebuy with a bunch of sweaty aircraft tools surrounded by nappa leather and a ridiculous digital screen really puts certain sellers on high alert :D

I call it prebuy poodle. It's a pretentious thing, but I do love it so. Doodads work for me.
 
kayoh190 said:
Yep - I love my German car, but that love will end when the warranty does.
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My MINI Cooper taught me all I need to know about German automotive engineering. It became a rolling restoration about 20 miles after the warranty expired, and every repair was $1k minimum, most more. Overly complex design, difficult to repair, unreliable.
 
kayoh190 said:
Yep - I love my German car, but that love will end when the warranty does.
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A few years ago I was considering a used Audi. I kind of fell in love with it. I called up the local Audi guy to get a pre-buy done.

He said he'd be happy to inspect it, but that if I wasn't prepared to immediately put an amount equal to the purchase price into maintenance and repairs, there wasn't any point in even considering buying one of these cars past the warranty.

A few years later, a colleague did around $5,000 of work on his BMW to "get it ready" to hand off to his daughter. Blue Book value on it was around . . . $5,000.
 
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I owned a 2000 BMW 323i for 20 years and about 165,000 miles. It had some expensive repairs along the way but the key was finding a good mechanic, which I did, after the warranty expired. I got rid of it when I did due to too many expensive repairs being imminent. Still, I was happy with the value I received from the car over all of those years.
 
DaleB said:
And if you drove that daily, you'd REALLY miss the new stuff. I drove my '11 F150 a couple years after I'd let my daughter "borrow" it. I'd been thinking about what to do with it if she ever returned it...
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Actually, no. I prefer a car that does exactly what the driver wants and absolutely nothing else.

The only two features in the last 20 years that I find to be a net positive are reverse cameras and heads-up displays. Everything else is more of a frustration point than a benefit.

Simply put, I know how to drive. If I want to be constantly told I'm doing it wrong I'll take my wife along - no need for an electronic scolding or interference in the driving process.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Actually, no. I prefer a car that does exactly what the driver wants and absolutely nothing else.

The only two features in the last 20 years that I find to be a net positive are reverse cameras and heads-up displays. Everything else is more of a frustration point than a benefit.

Simply put, I know how to drive. If I want to be constantly told I'm doing it wrong I'll take my wife along - no need for an electronic scolding or interference in the driving process.
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I'm a massive fan of adaptive cruise control. I'll never own another car without it.
 
i was actually concerned but my cars have for some reason held up, i did have the air shock magic suspension go out at 106k miles but as that's the only repair i've ever done to the car, didn't really think twice about it. all the other bits and bobs on that ride are still working. I am concerned about the jaguar though, first oil change was 2k
 
Every four-wheel vehicle I’ve owned in the last 30 years, and every motorcycle in the last 15 or so, have had cruise control. I have yet to even know how to turn it on. I like to drive, love a long day on a road trip, and have no need or want to have the computer control the throttle.

What I really hate is the idle stop, and having to click and acknowledge the display that shows which seats are occupied. There is a 0.0% chance that there will ever be a child in our car.
 
StraightnLevel said:
That's fine, but not everyone likes it. It should be optional, not mandated
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In our Sierra, the adaptive feature can be turned off whenever you enable cruise. You just hold down a button for a couple of seconds. Of course, you have to do it every time you select cruise control, but that requires a button push anyway.
 
Half Fast said:
In our Sierra, the adaptive feature can be turned off whenever you enable cruise. You just hold down a button for a couple of seconds. Of course, you have to do it every time you select cruise control, but that requires a button push anyway.
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I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want cruise control, but ignoring that for a minute. Once you've decided to use cruise, why wouldn't you want adaptive cruise?
 
2-Bit Speed said:
I will never own a car with either a touch screen or adaptive cruise control.
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I understand, but if you want or need a new car 20, 30, 40 years from now, you’d best buy it in the next few years and garage it till needed

Or plan to buy it from Cuba; they’ll still have what you want decades from now
 
172andyou said:
I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want cruise control, but ignoring that for a minute. Once you've decided to use cruise, why wouldn't you want adaptive cruise?
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Because the distance at which it decides the car in front of you is 'too close' is far greater than my preference and makes passing cars in other lanes require the disabling of cruise control.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
Because the distance at which it decides the car in front of you is 'too close' is far greater than my preference and makes passing cars in other lanes require the disabling of cruise control.
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I concur with this. They also recover slower after braking for the car in front.

It will be Tesla or BMW to pioneer Adaptive Tailgating as a feature. $39/mo or a one-time $750. Make checks payable to X Æ A-12.
 
nauga said:
Who has mandated adaptive cruise control?!

Nauga,
and O-F-F mode
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New Porsches (my wife's Macan, for example) don't have standard cruise anymore, thanks to EU mandates.

Some idiot in a cubicle convinced some other idiot in government that it's a "safety feature".

transport.ec.europa.eu

Vehicle Safety Systems

Road accidents are a major cause of death in industrial countries. Numerous intelligent transport systems can contribute to a possible solution.
transport.ec.europa.eu transport.ec.europa.eu
 
nauga said:
How 'bout an airplane with an autopilot?

Nauga,
who does not
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My Bonanza does not have an autopilot. Last week I flew it IFR from Houston to Wisconsin, including an approach down to just barely above minimums.

Autopilots are for wimps...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
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172andyou said:
I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want cruise control, but ignoring that for a minute. Once you've decided to use cruise, why wouldn't you want adaptive cruise?
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Because it doesn't really work very well. Someone drifts across your lane 100 yards ahead and suddenly the car is going 15 mph too slow and backing up all of the traffic behind. Screw that - it should maintain the speed I set until I initiate a change in setting.
 
schmookeeg said:
It will be Tesla or BMW to pioneer Adaptive Tailgating...
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That's some funny stuff right thar.

I don't like how closely my Tesla follows cars in front of me. Prompted by this thread, I just learned I can use the right control wheel to adjust it.

An issue I have found with both FSD and Traffic Aware Lane Assist is it does a terrible job of realizing highway traffic is stopped ahead. I had a Costco chicken launch from the back seat the breaking was so aggressive. Fortunately for me the bag was sealed pretty good so I don't have to deny to passengers I have a rotisserie chicken scented air freshener.

A beef I had w/ cars recently is so much is being put into them that I don't want that maintenance is costly i.e. I don't need/want $80/wheel tire pressure sensors. Oh, and you cannot replace batteries, you must buy new sensors. I like w/ Tesla's I only have to worry about tires and wiper fluid.
 
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Huh. I don't have those problems. The follow distance, even in my decade old subaru, is adjustable. So it doesn't slow down for something 100 yards ahead. The follow distance is time based, you can set it for between one and four seconds. One generally seems to close to me, I'm usually at two or three.
 
StraightnLevel said:
New Porsches (my wife's Macan, for example) don't have standard cruise anymore, thanks to EU mandates.
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I didn't realize you were in the EU. To the best of my knowledge they are not mandated in the US, but you may be affected if you chose to buy a car that doesn't adapt to your market. Maybe get a car from a manufacturer that's more responsive to your needs.

Nauga,
whose needs are better suited by a Cozy Coupe
 
StraightnLevel said:
That's fine, but not everyone likes it. It should be optional, not mandated
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On the contrary, cruise control in general should be mandatory. Anyone unwilling or unable to use cruise control should be limited to the right lane on the highway. I can't even imagine the objection to using it.
 
Half Fast said:
My MINI Cooper taught me all I need to know about German automotive engineering. It became a rolling restoration about 20 miles after the warranty expired, and every repair was $1k minimum, most more. Overly complex design, difficult to repair, unreliable.
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2006 Mini Cooper S convertible. The 2 extended warranties were some of the best investments I ever made. $3500 for the CarMax one, saved me $15K (sorry, AMUs) over the next 3 years. Then bought a follow on for $4200, saved me $8 AMUs until they canceled as the price of repairs exceeded the value of the car. Traded it for a 1 year old 2017 Nissan 370Z convertible. Still rocking that one.
 
172andyou said:
I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want cruise control, but ignoring that for a minute. Once you've decided to use cruise, why wouldn't you want adaptive cruise?
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Call it insufficient attention, but too many times with adaptive I realize I'm now following someone at 60 when my cruise was set at 70. Without adaptive (and my Honda allows it to be normal cruise-not adaptive all the time) I realize I'm closing and go around. The exception is heavy traffic or two lane roads. Then I like adaptive.
 
nauga said:
I didn't realize you were in the EU. To the best of my knowledge they are not mandated in the US, but you may be affected if you chose to buy a car that doesn't adapt to your market. Maybe get a car from a manufacturer that's more responsive to your needs.

Nauga,
whose needs are better suited by a Cozy Coupe
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I'm not in the EU, but the reality is that global manfacturers often try to reduce the variance between markets.
 
Man I was totally that guy, I loved hand flying. Would fly x-ctry for 8 hous per sitting, all out the door the instant I installed the new autopilot, Now can't wait to push the button asap after takeoff
 
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