Lets hope the dumb cars catch on. I saw plans for a dumb truck where everything on the dash is back to analog. Not a screen in sight. Best part is that it should be below 30k. But this was like 2 years ago
I just bought a used car last year that had my first radio with bluetooth capability. It was dope at first, and now it constantly decides it doesnt want to allow my phone to connect for audio. Calls only. Its fucking infuriating
This is the reason why I don't use Bluetooth in my car. I don't even use my phone because changing a song gets a bit too involved for my liking (especially during icy winter months). I legitimately use an iPod Nano in my car for music. No ads, no phone calls, and hundreds of songs at my disposal that can easily be skipped in a click of a button. No messing with a screen. I'm also lucky that there's a music store in my town that I can buy a ton of CDs from, rip them, and put them on my iPod. And I also now own all of my music because fuck streaming services.
I legitimately use an iPod Nano in my car for music.
Right there with you! Even though my car is a 2022, it still can connect to a classic iPod, and I have one in the glovebox loaded with all our music. It works better than anything else.
I have an aftermarket stereo in one of my cars that has a usb cable running to the glovebox. I just threw my music on a flash drive and hit shuffle. No ads, no connectivity issues, just mp3s playing.
I dont think those are illegal in my country. I had one a long time ago and it worked pretty well, I should look into getting another. Thanks for reminding me about those things
Because for transmitting into FM range (or any radio frequency really, outside Bluetooth, Wifi and some other bands) you have to have a license. Legislation depends on the country, but those low-power cigarette lighter type of transmitters have low enough range and don't cause a lot of troubles, so usually they get ignored, despite being technically illegal.
Yeah, but some counties enforce the laws prohibiting them moreso than the others. For example, in my country they're sold freely, you can find it everywhere, no import bans and no one would even care even if they find you using it despite it being technically illegal, whilst in Germany you can't even buy them (at least that's what I was told by my German friend). The reason being the output range of those things are usually just a couple of dozens of meters at best and don't cause a lot of trouble
Good luck finding a clear station to listen to your music though. I have to change my station every 5-10 minutes because it keeps becoming obnoxious static noises
I wish we would go back to old Single-DIN and double-DIN stereo installations. For a long time stereos were a standardized size across manufacturers, so swapping them was relatively easy.
My main car is about 40 years old, I added a really basic bluetooth-capable head unit to it, and it works fantastic for audio streaming. If it ever breaks, I can remove it myself and put in a new one for like $120 and a half-hour’s labor (less if I get the same brand and don’t need to splice on a new plug).
If the infotainment in my wife’s ‘23 Mini ever fails… god help me. She has the generation prior to the one in the OP and has way more physical buttons, but still, it’ll be like $700-800 just for the display.
Yeah a lot of stuff is controlled through that screen unit now and mine these days sometimes just randomly decides not to turn on for a while and then I have no backup camera, not radio, etc. But it turns on later, maybe in 5 minutes, maybe tomorrow, but always before I could get it to a repair person. It's so irritating, no one knows what is wrong with it.
My 2012 car will only connect to my music if I have the Bluetooth on my phone on when I start the car. If I turn my phone’s Bluetooth on after, it only connects to calls. I’ll still take it over a big stupid touch screen.
You might need to update the firmware. I had a Subaru outback that kept doing that. I contacted the dealer who said they usually update it when I took it in for a service. I looked it up and found out how to update it myself.
LOL.
Be careful what you wish for. For years I wished that factory radios had an AUX port. It would have been cheap as borscht to include; a standard input format that had zero license requirements or patents.
Over the years, the vehicles I had came with AM/FM radios, and a couple had CD players, but no 3.5mm port.
I bought a new to me 2021 Chevy truck last year. I was tickled pink to see that finally, after almost 50 years of driving, they added a 3.5mm AUX port to a factory radio.
The issue? The port has a loose connection and every time I hit a bump, the radio switches to "AUX INPUT", cutting off the FM radio. fml
My mom got a new Tiguan. The screen is the size of my laptop and had an AI that constantly tries to talk to her. I swear it interrupted us talking and said something like "This conversation has feelings of sadness. Do you want me to change the music to fit your mood" or some shit. I asked her to turn it off and she said "I don't know how and I kind of like her." We really are fucked.
my work truck has automatic headlights... including automatic high beams for some reason that turn on in bad situations. i've inadvertently flashed soooo many people, the high beams love to turn on as soon as someone passes me. someone's going to road rage shoot me someday.
Automatic headlights suck. My favorite was my old Tacoma, it turned your headlights off when you turned the car off. So I just left my headlights on all the time. It works so well that I honestly don't know why it's not just the norm.
Automatic windshield wipers are the one automatic thing I do really like.. because they also automatically adjust the speed to be perfect for the amount of rain accumulation on your window.
I drive a '94 so pre-bullshit era for sure, but I put in an aftermarket stereo and a small add on Android Auto screen for just music and GPS. It's pretty nice, my wife has a new car and the only thing I'm jealous of is the heated seats and wheel. All that extra shit has exactly zero appeal to me and some of it even goes into the negative range.
I thought of two more things I like. The back windows have roll down shades for my kids. And the rear view auto darkens so I never have to adjust for bright headlights
My previous car was my first with Bluetooth, it's so nice, great for audiobooks and phone calls. I wouldn't mind less digital components, though I do like the screen that shows me my fuel efficiency, nice reminder to drive slower.
My car now is a 2015, and it feels just right. A tiny screen that is more or less optional since it can only display the current sound playing, the rear view camera, or access a handful of purely digital settings. Everything else is controlled by buttons. People (okay, my parents) keep asking me when I'm going to get a new car and I just laugh. I like my dumb car.
I bought a 2018 Honda odyssey a couple months ago. I do enjoy the CarPlay feature for navigation, and some of the driving aid features. I do not want a vehicle more complicated than that though, and I’d be okay if cars went back to old school tech. Like you said, we already have a computer in our pockets, we just need it hooked up to the speakers when we drive
I had the chance to give up my 21 plate Abarth and get an electric with all this stuff. Having driven 2 new electric cars in the last few months (and SUV and small hatch) I, to my surprise being in IT and loving tech/sci-fi etc, voted very much to retain the sound and feel of an actual engine underneath me, with buttons!
It has a touchscreen for the radio/satnav and some other bits but other than that it's all physical.
$60 these days gets you a small touch screen with wireless Android Auto and Car Play that you can mount on your dash.
Both solutions run entirely off your phone so it's identical to any other car that comes with it built in. Only you don't need to worry about the manufacturer pushing a software update to remove or mess with it.
My old ass car has a cigarette lighter and an aux port but it has a better "infotainment" system than most cars on the market today.
Bought a new car recently. Has been holding onto my 2008 for a long time. But am pretty happy with my new Honda. The screen for Apple car play is good, and the physical buttons are there for the things you’d want them for.
Other cars i looked at, like subaru and VW, are way too touchscreeny.
I like having a screen that shows my gps when I plug my phone in that's as far as tech needed to go in cars. Way too many things have gone digital when they should be analog. You don't need to connect your fridge, oven, blender , toaster, or any other appliance like that to WiFi. Same goes for your car.
I'm cool with having a screen that will do Apple Car Play and the equivalent, so I can have maps and music up there, but beyond that, I don't need all this other shit on a touch screen. And honestly, I drive a 2010 Ford Focus right now, and I bought an aftermarket screen to stick to the windshield for the GPS/music stuff, and it's doing the job just fine.
And while we're at it, can we get rid of the fucking LED headlights that seem to have the same number of lumens as the literal sun? There is no way those blinding lights aren't causing accidents out there.
Why? I have an old car and I just plug in an audio cable to my phone, which is detects and starts playing music immediately, and I drive away... I'm currently on a loaner and it takes forever for the Bluetooth to engage
if you have an aux but no bluetooth you can get an aux-bluetooth transmitter / adapter, just plug into aux and turn it on and connect your phone to it and you can play your music off you phone over the car speakers with just as high quality as using the aux or if it had built in bluetooth
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u/BChurchmountain 14h ago
They’re going the John Deere route.
They want all repairs done their way and no third party involvement.
It’s gross.