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People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars — For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, wit...

People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars — For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, wit…::People are dissatisfied with the technology in their cars, according to a new survey from JD Power. They especially don’t like the native infotainment systems.

ala , (edited )

swapped out my dumb dash unit for android auto and never going back. next car will either have android auto and carplay or it will be easily removable/replaceable or no buy.

SGG ,

I’m a techie at heart.

But the only thing my car needs to do is act as a Bluetooth speaker/mic for my phone, and have a wireless charging mount.

When I need to use the phone for GPS/etc it goes on the mount.

When I turn on my car it connects to my phone over Bluetooth and starts playing music. Even if it’s in my pocket (shorter trips)

It works, it’s fast, it’s simple.

PretentiousDouche ,

I’m not a big fan of too much tech in cars, I hate touchscreen climate controls, and I still drive a manual transmission; but using Android auto with maps and Spotify has been amazing. And the wireless mostly works most of the time.

PorkTaco ,

I have the Motorla wireless adaptor and it would be hard to go back. Works every time. Never have to take my phone out of my pocket… only downside is it uses a moderate amount of battery, but for a 20 min commute it’s a non issue.

assembly ,

It would be nice if there was a spot provided for a mount that didn’t require some stupid vent clip or suction cup. A standard that would allow us to use a smartphone or tablet and maybe even leave one in the car (outside chance).

Rozz ,

I was just thinking of that the other day. They could probably get it to look pretty natural if they tried.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

when I got my current car, it had a stupid, dumb radio with a cd deck. I installed a cheap double dim with a touch screen on it and asked if they could replace the ashtray/powersocket thing. The piece they had that fit under the cover/door had a USB hub/charging station that I could drop a stack of phones in (including one connected to carplay/android auto on the new deck.)

that was worth the $20 to install it.

assembly ,

That would be awesome to have as an option in my car. Instead I get to use a window suction cup or (what I chose) replace the factory radio with a double din aftermarket head unit with CarPlay. I like CarPlay but would never want to have to rely on it for things like climate control or other similar functions. As a music player and GPS I love it. I hear great things about android auto as well.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Yup. My car is old enough it has physical buttons for the enviro and stuff. The only virtual buttons control the entertainment deck itself.

snapeyouinhalf ,

I just bought a 2023 Accord and all the actual car controls are still physical. The screen shows me my rear camera and CarPlay, I control everything else with knobs and buttons. So separating the important-to-operate-without-looking controls and the touch screen isn’t quite dead yet.

reddig33 ,

The irony is all these fancy head units wait until you pull out of the driveway and then throw up a big on screen warning about distracted driving. That you then have to take your eyes off the road to dismiss by pressing OK.

Locrin ,

Good for you. I love getting in the car that is cool on a hot summers day because I activated the climate control from my phone 5 minutes before leaving or having a nice toasty warm car on a freezing winter day. I enjoy telling my car I want to go to an address I have not been at before and it navigates me there without having to press more than one button or inputting an address. I then enjoy a huge nice map both in the center cluster and a big display that shows a large map so I don’t have to squint at my relatively small phone on a mount. I enjoy telling my car what I want to listen to and it plays that music. I enjoy not putting getting my phone out of my pants pocked and into a mount. Especially for shorter rides. I also especially enjoy not having my car in for oil changes, not having to stop for gas, the car having a full “tank” every morning and other such comforts.

The car has it’s own spotify account which for me is great, because I listen to different types of music when driving compared to when I am using my phone at work or in the gym. Music services working the way they do these days it means it will suggest more great driving music when in the car and not music that is similar to what I listen to in the gym. If I want to listen to that the phone is of course connected to bluetooth and is just a input change away.

I hope you can continue enjoying your type of desired driving experience. But realize there are other perspectives. I am also a techie at home and at work ( Cloud IT-consultant, previously Systems Architecht, previously Technician ). I also do minor work such as changing headlights, filters, and 12-volt batteries myself. I know how to change oil on a car and do some simple home improvement stuff such as simple carpentry and putting in new flooring. But when I get in my car I just want it to be in the background and don’t be in the way. Just get in and go. Being in a Tesla is where I am happiest for now.

soulifix ,

I don’t see why my vehicle has to tell me what song is playing through my IPod, on the screen where the wheel is, that displays more important information like tire PSI and speed. The bigger screen is more than sufficient.

zxo ,

If something like the AC, gear switching, volume controls, or another essential function is only usable via the touchscreen, I’d just stop considering that car because it’s unsafe and time consuming to use touchscreens in cars. They’re right, too much tech in cars is very annoying and I think most people (like me) would rather have dedicated physical buttons to control most actions in a car.

boonhet ,

Oh shit you unlocked a memory for me.

Can’t find it right now because I’m at work, but I believe one of the “Real People” ads from Chevy that Zebra Corner parodied on YouTube, had a person literally say they like modern car tech because it lets them “look less at the road”, which is boring.

I mean sorry, but wtf?

SpeedLimit55 ,

This is because knobs, switches and buttons are easier to use than touchscreens. I like having carplay/androidauto while still being able to turn a knob or press a button for AC, volume, radio etc.

boonhet ,

I have Carplay and I can use my physical rotary knob, back button, etc. In fact, that’s what makes it great for me, I get to interact with my phone using the physical controls on my car. Best of both worlds.

weedazz ,

Just give me a screen for Android auto and that alone. Everything else should be knobs, especially climate controls

AbidanYre , (edited )

Moving parts cost money and wear out.

And if there’s one thing the auto manufacturers are good at, it’s cutting costs.

Iamdanno ,

Touch screens break and wear too, and it’s more expensive to replace a touch screen than an AC fan knob.

PixTupy ,

Unless it happens during warranty, that costs money to the user not the manufacturer.

AnAngryAlpaca ,

Maybe they could remove the engine and gearbox with all their moving parts…

Madusch ,

I don’t know about that. I love the navigation system from my KIA, in my opinion it’s far superior to google maps. I even can set the destination remotely via the KIA app, so I don’t need to fiddle around once I’m in the car.

irotsoma ,
@irotsoma@lemmy.world avatar

When the features are actually anti-features making you pay subscription fees for things that are already part of the car, and everything is buggy as hell, of course no one wants it.

pacoboyd ,

I just went through the car buying process the other day and it was between a Odyssey Luxury or EX-L. Honestly I hated all the space age dash shit they tried to cram into the Luxury version so I went EX-L. Was definitely one of the deciding factors exspecially considering it cost 10k more for basically only tech upgrades that I would never use. Ridiculous.

The_v ,

I just bought a car for my son last month. Things I looked for:

No major issues or recalls on the model for 5 years. Especially no major powertrain issues.

Easy to drive and control the vehicle.

Big mirrors and windows to make it easy to see behind.

Comfortable seats for driving long distances.

AWD or 4WD for our winters.

Android auto on the screen. Buttons and knobs for all important vehicle controls.

The number of cars that failed to have these features was terrifyingly sad. I saw some of the dumbest designs on car interiors while test driving as well.

The most egregious was a couple of vehicles that put major vehicle controls (knobs) right next to the cup holders. Somebody has never spilled a soda on their keyboard.

Geek_King ,

My prior car had no fancy features, the nicest thing it could do was read MP3’s burned on to a CD, and hold 6 CDs in the player. I traded it in and got newer car, and I think it’s level of fanciness is just right for me. It has a screen, I ignore it most of the time, unless I plug my phone in to listen to music. Then I use the screen to get into Youtube Music and that’s it. Or the same situation as before, but I need to navigate with Google Maps.

So by and large I can 100% ignore the screen, unless I plug in the phone. But all control of Next Track/Back, volume up/down is controlled by buttons on the steering wheel.

The largest nightmare for me is tough sensitive controls FOR EVERYTHING! I’ve read that it’s becoming more and more common in new expensive cars, and I have not interested in that bullshit.

TheSaneWriter ,
@TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.com avatar

It’s honestly really stupid. I think that car manufacturers are trying to design their cars to look futuristic, while not understanding that the futuristic designs from the previous 30 years are impractical, fantastical, and stupid to pull into real life. You can really tell they aren’t actually trying to improve based on user feedback when designing these things.

vd1n ,

It’s wild how the machine is starting to make its own decisions. There’s no controlling it now. It lives, it breathes.

And before op could reply vd1n vanished into a cloud of cannabis vapor and fell asleep.

thisbenzingring ,

Dude… Puff puff

PASS

Proweruser ,

Nah, they are trying to save money. Every knob adds time and materials to the manufacturing process and thus loses money.

TheSaneWriter ,
@TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.com avatar

I agree for the interiors of the vehicles, but I’m not sure if the weirdly designed exteriors are more cost effective.

Chickenstalker ,

Airlines have started to ditch their on board entertainment system and allowing people to use their smartphones instead. Cars should be like this too. Simply allow us to plug in our phones to act as the computer for entertainment, navigation and climate control. Keep tactile knobs and buttons for fall back.

ddtfrog ,

Isn’t that what CarPlay / android CarPlay is?

vagrantprodigy ,

Yes

ramjambamalam ,

Isn’t GM moving away from Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? How does that even work?

PrivateOnions , (edited )

Turning AC and Heated seats and whatnot from knobs to a screen was one of the worst decisions ever by automakers

Rozz ,

If you can’t figure out how to put all the extra stuff in the console as a knob or button then it probably doesn’t belong there, or isn’t wanted in the first place.

FlickOfTheBean ,

I am currently keeping my 2004 going as long as possible. These people need to just make everything configurable, like a smartphone, and then I’d make the switch. It’s the last piece of bad design that’s keeping me on an ice vehicle at this point.

<vent>I don’t want to have to look down to change the radio station just because some jackass buried it under 3 fucking menus. That’s dangerous, damn it! Fuck your research, let me configure my own shit! </vent>

Mongostein ,

They need to just put knobs and buttons for all the car stuff and bring back interchangeable faceplates so people can just get what they want/need for stereo/GPS equipment.

dan ,

I wish my car’s interface was more minimal.

I don’t mean removing knobs, knobs are good. Hiding things in 5 level deep touchscreen menus is not minimal.

I mean… removing visual noise. Removing unnecessary lights. Streamlining controls. Taking away indicators that aren’t important.

My dashboard dials are now a screen, why can’t I have an option just to display the speed and nothing else? Why do I need to see 4 dials, two driving modes, and some other crap all the time?

There’s a separate screen for the satnav, why does it need to have permanent menus displayed on it? Or visible buttons? Road names? Status indicators for various settings? I want an oled with a black pixels-off background, roads in gray, and my route in white. Nothing else. Not using the satnav, turn the screen off.

Why do I need a perpetually scrolling display showing the name of the current song? Like sure I want an interface to choose music, but I don’t need to see it all the damn time.

CarPlay is better than most native infotainment systems but it’s far from perfect in this regard.

LazaroFilm ,
@LazaroFilm@lemmy.world avatar

Cars should have a screen with HDMI+USB plugs. Then you connect the microcomputer of your choice, be it an Android box, an apple cad box, a Raspberry Pi. Hell manufacturers can even make their own Honda or Toyota box but make the screen connection an open standard. Then when the tech becomes old (every 5 years) you can swap it. Cars have a longer lifespan than tech.

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