It turns out that more technology in cars isn’t necessarily something customers want, and it’s not really improving their driving experience. We know my thoughts on the matter, but I’ll do my best to stay impartial on this latest survey from JD Power that shows most customers don’t appreciate technology in cars unless they can see a clear benefit to them.
JD Power’s 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study evaluated over 81,000 drivers’ experience with “advanced vehicle technologies” in 2024 model year vehicles after 90 days of ownership, It turned out to be a pretty mixed bag when it came to what people liked using. There are a number of tech features that customers like using because they feels that it answers their needs, but at the same time there is a whole lot that don’t get used very often or are continually annoying, according to the survey.
…
What bothers me the most (aside from getting rid of all knobs and physical buttons…) is that I bought a car the better part of a decade ago with Android Auto. And it is awesome. It is everything I want in a car “entertainment” system and it makes it trivial to navigate and listen to music.
So… of course car companies are going out of their way to block that and apple auto. Because they want subscription fees.
I just got a new car. I get a text message. I click play on the main menu. It tells me I need a subscription to listen to text messages. I open up android auto, click play. It plays. WEIRD.
I don’t hate tech in my car.
I hate unnecessary, poorly designed tech in my car.
Current tech design unnecessarily complicates and obscures what should be simple and easily accessible functions. That’s more than just irritating, it’s dangerous.
BRING BACK THE FUCKING BUTTONS HOLY SHIT
Yeah, let me keep my eyes on the road. I’m not a huge fan of mini coops, but the dash setup of the ones I’ve driven are my favorite. They’ve got unique toggles and knobs, made it easy for me to memorize functions without having to give it any thought
I guess I’ll be alone in saying I don’t want a bmw cockpit with a button for every feature of the vehicle.
I like the rocking, turning console selection wheel Audi does, and I like the two wheels that also click forward and back on the steering wheel that Tesla does (and also gear stalks with buttons on the end). The only other thing that should maybe be a knob or button is climate temp or blower speed, but that is nicer when it’s adaptive like a thermostat.
Minimal interface for me please, just don’t force me to touch navigate the touch screen while I’m driving.
give me buttons and dials, not touch screens and ai. I want to drive, not check social media. I’ll be keeping my 2009 until the engine locks up.
It’s not perfect, but the new (2019+) mazda system is very nice. It’s all controlled by buttons and dials, zero requirement to ever touch a screen. It all feels quite thoughtfully done, especially when you compare it to fords or teslas with a big dumb laggy iPad stuck to the dash.
I drive an EV for work, any my biggest gripe is the touchscreen. What is wrong with buttons. Why must everything be hidden behind a menu I have to navigate on a touchscreen. It feels less safe, frankly. In my own car I have muscle memory for each button and can do things like skip songs or adjust the AC without looking away from the road… But in the EV I can’t.
Why? Because it’s a looot cheaper to produce.
deleted by creator
And you only need to produce one screen and just re-skin the UI for your other product lines
And charge people for over the air software unlocking of features that are already part of the car but they “didn’t pay for” when they bought it.
I wish they’d do exactly what they’re doing now, but add a series of generic physical buttons along the bottom that can be remapped as quick buttons that either the OEM or end user can map to specific features.
E.g. A/C controls, skipping songs, opening apps or whatever.
My car does it pretty well. It’s got a touch screen, but it also has a knob and two buttons that I can use instead of the touch screen.
Also there’s no need to design a new user experience for each model of car - things like designing buttons and a button layout that fits in with the overall interior design of the car. Just use a touchscreen and reskin the same UI.
What does being an EV have to do with anything? ICE cars are exactly the same.
I totally agree with you though. Tech and UI in modern cars is pretty awful.
I would say eve typically do have more controls on touchscreens vs buttons. Now this issue is mainly observed in Teslas more than any other car, but Teslas are the most popular ev so ya it’s definitely more of a problem on evs.
ITT: lemmy designing a car, like Homer Simpson.
Meh. Big screens don’t make cars better. It’s still a car, and basic functionality is more important than a big screen that lags or hides functions.
I don’t know, I love having a big screen in my car. Navigation is bigger, so it’s much easier to glance down and find navigation references.
I still have all of the critical functions, too.
Big screens that are crap don’t make cars better. Maybe. Often you don’t realize it until you’ve paid for it, at that point the manufacturer is laughing to the bank.
And a lot of models are actually better, especially post 2020, when a screen is not a novelty and the early failures are (mostly) over.
And a separate dome for the kids!
There’s this thing called a smartphone. You might have heard of it.
I don’t mind most of the tech on my truck but I did go in and disconnect the LTE antenna so it can’t phone home any more
well obviously My aunt has a modern car that reads the signs for you. Where I live there is a highway in the middle and normal road on the outer side. That piece of crap slows down to 70 km/h from 130 when it sees the sign that belongs to the other road…
However, not all tech is terrible. For example, parking cameras, gps, cruise control are useful
Edit: I think the current toyota land cruiser 70 series sold in australia is at the sweet spor of technology
Yep. I’m hoping my current car holds out until this 'smartphone on wheels" trend reverses.
deleted by creator
Honestly that’s all I want out of the center screen.
I like my 2018 Outbacks layout. Physical controls for AC, knob for volume, and a reasonable touch screen. The gauge cluster has a small screen in the center that shows me some basic info I’d like to see like tire pressure, MPG, etc.
I’m pretty happy with where my car is at. It’s got this cool thing where you plug a cord in, and the sound comes through the speakers. Then it displays right on my phones screen, which I put under the speedometer so I can glance at it without turning my head
It’s like magic, my car does the car stuff and my phone does the phone stuff, and if I wanted a closer relationship between the two I could buy a cheap off the shelf component that plugs into the standardized ports (no disassembly required). No updates, my car can’t snitch on me and the only subscription is satellite radio
Honestly I can’t think of anything I’m missing out on. I don’t have a backup camera or blindspots warnings, but I’ve never used them or needed them. Smarter cruise control sounds worthwhile, but until I can safely take my eyes off the road I’m more worried about it making me complacent.
As far as entertainment, or even navigation? I’ve never heard someone say “man, my phone experience is terrible, I wish it was more like my car”
At this point, I’m more inclined to convert my car to electric than to buy a more modern one
I’m in this scenario, too.
When I needed a new car in 2019 I somehow found a six speed manual Crosstrek that has all physical buttons for climate and radio/volume that also has a backup cam and a touchscreen for CarPlay/Android Auto.
It’s perfect.
I want fucking buttons!
I don’t have a car but if I rent one the only “advanced” feature I want is: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
The good kinda that can come to a complete stop and start moving again without input too, not the kind that doesn’t work under 25mph.
I recently had to drive my parents’ new Volva XC40 and that thing is one of the most overengineered vehicles I’ve ever ridden in.
-
The lane assist is kinda great while driving because if you drift a little it helps keep you in your lane. But I found myself literal fighting against the wheel whenever I was genuinely changing lanes, on a lane-ending merge, but more importantly trying to not get sideswiped when a semi drifts into my lane.
-
Instead of traditional shifter, or even shift buttons like my '14 MKZ, this thing has a 3-position shifter knob to go between R-N-D, a separate long-press button to simply put it into park (and by long press, I genuinely have to verify on the dash it’s is park because I almost jump a parking block more than once since I didn’t press long/hard enough) and a separate little knob in the center console whose sole purpose is to turn the car on and off.
-
The electric child-lock is a nice little button mixed in with the window controls on the driver door arm rest…which both myself and my parents have accidentally engaged on a number of occasions by resting our arms on the arm rest.
Aside from that, even in my car I outright HATE the auto environmental controls where you have to set an internal temperature and when the temp reaches that it changes the air to maintain. So if it’s a blazing GA summer, and i set the thermo at 69 (nice) once the internal temp reaches 69 it starts blasting not-cold air.
While the lane assist and adaptive cruise control can help a little on those long trips, I genuinely dislike them because I believe it actively encourages the driver to not pay attention to driving.
The lane assist is kinda great while driving because if you drift a little it helps keep you in your lane. But I found myself literal fighting against the wheel whenever I was genuinely changing lanes, on a lane-ending merge, but more importantly trying to not get sideswiped when a semi drifts into my lane.
Hmm. Do they have a thumb button or something you can hold down to quickly and easily override it?
It can be turned off, but it defaults back to ON. I don’t know if the default can be changed though.
… What kind of car is this? 😂 (Look at the first sentence)
-
I like having Siri in my car when she works. Like when my phone properly wirelessly connects. But when it doesn’t, I hate it, and would be better without it.
Also why the hell can’t CarPlay use the radio, when the car has a radio. Why can’t those two things talk to each other. Fucking dumb.
My car saved my ass from a road raging drunk, but android auto cannot skip songs from the steering wheel, quite a duality.
Android auto is great, but it’s also a horrible cluster fuck because it’s up to the automakers to integrate it into their system. Sort of just like Android phones from Samsung and other third-party companies.
The automakers usually fuck it up. It works fairly great on my 2015 Mazda 3 except for if I plug my phone in while the car is in reverse or some other odd times, the head unit just gets stuck on a black screen until I restart the car. Also, the touch screen doesn’t work for Android auto which is a bummer.
One word: Stelantis.
Android Auto on my Toyota works perfectly. I love it. And I think CarPlay works even better (I only tried once with somebody else’s phone)
but android auto cannot skip songs from the steering whee
Wut
Mine can do this, but it’s a 2012 Mazda 3 with a custom radio (Pioneer AVH-2330NEX that I installed myself in 2018) and an adapter to make the steering wheel controls work.
Uconnect on stelantis vehicles is the worst software suite I’ve ever had the pleasure of connecting my phone to
The latest gen of mazdas can do this out of the box too.
I wish Mazda made an electric version of the Mazda 3.
I want an electric car because it’s way more convenient to charge at home, especially since I’ve got solar panels that produce more electricity than I need day-to-day so charging would effectively be free.
All 4runners still reigning supreme with chonky ass thicc boi buttons and dials. Give me Android auto capabilities on a small screen, backup camera, and rear parking sensors. That’s it.
My wife drives a 2023 loaded Kia Sportage. The thing is basically a smartphone on wheels. Giant dash screen with all the car controls buried in it, touch screen climate controls that double as touch screen audio/volume controls. If I want to change the AC temp I have to take my eyes off the road for a few seconds. Also a subscription service if you want to use any of the actual useful functions like remote start, remote climate control, remote door lock/unlock, sentry mode, etc. I hate where cars are at today.
i really need a car without this all shit. I just want to drive from point A to B. I don’t need any navi, big LCD screen, AC, parking automatic, speed control and all the electronic shit that I have now in my car.
