To hate modern cars?

[Sandflea9900]

Just got a new car after having our previous one for about 9 years. It’s a disaster. Too damn clever for its own good with automatic everything. The problem is that all these automatic features don’t work properly to the point where I think they’re actually making the car more dangerous. Examples:

a) Automatic headlines on, driving at night on the motorway, car changes from dipped headlights to full beam despite there being oncoming traffic on the other side of the motorway.

b) Driving along a residential road at the speed limit of 20mph, late at night. No other road users on the road, no pedestrians, cats etc. The anti collision system does an emergency stop for no reason.

c) Car randomly beeps warnings with no visual warning light/symbol/message so I have no idea what it’s warning me about. Car manual doesn’t explain.

AIBU to want to go back to a simpler car without all these magical gadgets? DH insists all cars are like this now. I know I can turn off automatic lights (and have done so) but I’m thinking I need to turn off all the other safety features if this is how the car is going to behave.

God, completely agree with all of this.

Our car has lane assist - the other week I was trying to overtake a cyclist and the car was trying to steer me towards them to ‘keep me in lane’.

Ours also applies the emergency stop system randomly, out of nowhere, at least once a week. All of these safety features are the opposite of safe sometimes.

Everything in ours is controlled by a touchscreen too which is super fiddly while driving.

The regulations now prevent car manufacturers from providing the option to turn off some of these features on new cars. And other features have to be turned off every time you start the vehicle.

Re touchscreens, NCAP agree with those of us who hate them and are mandating buttons for key functions.

https://etsc.eu/cars-will-need-buttons-not-just-touchscreens-to-get-a-5-star-euro-ncap-safety-rating/

I was a bit worried about my 16 year old car's upcoming MOT, so I started looking at replacing it.

Several visits to car supermarkets and a couple of test drives later I've binned the idea and decided to throw money at getting any necessary repairs done to keep the existing one.

So YANBU.

@taxguru @FuckItItsFine

i don’t want a car with more to go wrong and then have to spend more money …
I don’t do much mileage, I don’t need a car which has a dashboard more suited to a large aircraft

Some stuff great:

• Remote parking sensors
• Electronic handbrake
• Quick defogging windshields
• Oil/bulb/bonnet not shut properly notifications
• Automatic lights - mine just come on when dark but are dipped

But my dad's car has lane assist and he always turns it off and emergency braking sounds awful. To be honest though, I think lots of things don't come as standard so you need to choose your vehicle very specifically based on what you don't want.

They do come as standard. It's a legal requirement that all new cars have a Emergency Lane Keeping System, etc.. You can not buy a new car without it.

Wow is that the case? Ugh! My car is 13 years old now so I haven't had cause to look at anything new for a while. So that's the lane assist thing right? My dad turns his off.

You’re right I would!
Brilliant choice of cars! I’ve got a special soft spot for the starlet. 306 diesel will outlive everyone and just keep going, quite the revolutionary hot hatch diesel of their time.

I sincerely hope they’ve been to the festival of the unexceptional in them.

Yup, under EU Regulation 2019/2144
https://www.interregs.com/articles/spotlight/229/eu-regulation-on-emergency-lane-keeping-systems-published

Our car is just over 10yo and has what I regard as the peak of desirable automation - climate control and cruise control. Anything else just gets in the way of concentration.

100% agree with you OP. In the 1990s, there was so little to go wrong with cars and sometimes when things did you could actually fix them yourself! I think there is a big gap in the market for something simple and functional, with just the most useful of technological advances. I suggest:

• Good demisters/heated windscreen.
• A sound that goes off if you open the car door and leave the lights only.
• Possibly electric windows although those can go wrong.
• ABS braking

Yep I agree with you there.

Thats all you need!!

My daily car is 11 years old now and i've had the parking sensors deactivated as they are annoying and i dont need them.
i had a hire car for a work trip and it had lane assist, auto headlights, auto wipers. i had to sit and Google how to turn it all off!! I decide when i need lights and wipers, not my car. Lane assist was just awful so i am glad i could turn it off!

Cameras looking for road sign signs won't recognise signs that have been nudged away or dirty, or missing etc. To be fair, neither will I

Our car has lane assist - the other week I was trying to overtake a cyclist and the car was trying to steer me towards them to ‘keep me in lane’. did you indicate? It’s unintentional drifting that it’s trying to stop

Stop start that cannot be permanently disabled.

FUCK !
OFF !

It's so nice not to have to bother about dipping when driving at night along a windy country road where I've got far more things to be thinking about than managing my headlights

But you do need to think about dipping - ie when someone comes towards you. The car reacts much less quickly than a human does.

Now I know why I am constantly blinded - not just because of the stupid white lights, which I already knew about but also because people let the car decide to take the car off full beam.

Humans are generally better than tech. We should use tech to help us, not instead of us!

The thing I really really need is a quick de-fogging windscreen. AND one that does the driver side first.

Anyway having read this thread I will keep our cars for as long as possible. They are 7 and 10 years old but only 30 and 45K mileage respectively. I'll go without bragging rights to have a car that doesn't annoy me (except for the crap de-mister).

I had my car for 5 years before I realised there was a small glove box on the driver's side! 😂

Neither DH or I use the built in sat nav any more. We can both foresee it becoming redundant in the future with CarPlay and Android Auto. DH uses Car Play in his car and I use Waze on my phone mounted on the dash (Because mine is not new enough for CarPlay!). Much more reliable than the car sat nav.

DH's lane assist won't kick in unless you're indicating, which you probably should be if overtaking a cyclist.

It is annoying, however, if you are in a situation where you don't strictly need to indicate (i.e. in the cyclist scenario when there's no other motorist around for you to be "warning" of your manoeuvre).

I was joining a motorway late one night - no-one around on the main carriageway, so I wasn't going to bother indicating, but the car was fighting me along the sliproad until I gave in and indicated anyway.

What's more annoying is the bit of road I see regularly that has an old overpainted line from some roadworks. At night the lights shine on it and DH's car thinks it's the edge of the lane and starts trying to force me towards the hard shoulder!

Wonderful little cars, though having an accident in one best avoided.

I’ve had numerous classic minis over the years. Each of them had their own little ‘quirks’ but they were all absolutely amazing cars. Would love another but they are ridiculously priced these days and really need to be garaged to keep the dreaded rust at bay.

Totally with you OP. My husband who learnt to drive much later than me loves all the gadgets. I just want a simple manual where I feel in control.

All of this. I’m old enough my first car had a choke and no power steering. I love all the modern bits, heated seats, reversing cameras and parking sensors. Mine is also on an App so can set it to switch the ventilation on, on a cold morning so no freezing car

Never be reliant on electrics or even worse Ai in car. I purposely bought a car with as much mechanical elements as possible over fancy, useless electrical BS gimmicks, like a car with a proper break handle and not just a button. Some cars have no wing mirrors and some genius decided it's best to look at a screen and not out your window. Just because it's a new feature doesn't mean it's any good or practical or necessary.