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.

You can't drive off without the key in the car.

There may be cars that prevent it but most will absolutely let you drive off without the key being in the car.

I love my HRV! I had 5 Jazzes before this car but wanted something a bit higher off the ground.
My automatic high beams work well and turn off even for cars approaching on the other side of a dual carriageway. I’d get that checked out as yours may need an adjustment.
I agree that the lane assist beep is annoying but on the whole, I love it.

https://www.cinch.co.uk/guides/ask-the-experts/how-to-prevent-keyless-car-theft

How long will a keyless car run without a key?

There's typically no limit on how far a keyless car can drive without a key once it's started up.

Yes you can! DIL dropped car with GC in and we got straight in without switching off the engine. We drove off and only realised we didn't have the key - in DIL's pocket - when a mile away. Dropped GC at school and drove home all without switching off the engine. A Ford.

I hate it too, can't bear to borrow my mums car to drive it - she has the newer version of mine.. dreading when I need to eventually get rid of my reliable old one.
My sister actually rejected a lease car through her company that had safety features that couldn't be turned off that she felt were more dangerous to drive with.

I really don't want a new car, but it's on the horizon. Are there any cars left, in the 4/5 years old mid-size bracket, that don't have these annoying and in some cases terrifying "safety" features?

If that were me, I'd probably have paid to have it fixed. Doesn't matter how much the car is worth, it's what it's worth "to you" that matters, i.e. how much extra you've have to spend to buy a replacement which may well also need expensive repairs in a year or two that you don't expect because you don't know it's driving history.

My old car was written off by a moronic neighbour who left her handbrake off. Got a pay off from her insurance being value of the car. I bought it back and had it repaired myself, at a cost higher than the insurance settlement. On paper, sounds daft, but in reality, it was worth it to me to have it repaired and back on the road. That was a few years ago, and it's still serving me well.

I’m spending more money to fix stuff than my car is worth on paper now it’s 28 years old (I’ve owned it for 25 years). But it’s worth it to me, old diesel 4x4 workhorse, tows a horse trailer, goes off road, large rear area for dogs. I can’t afford to buy a similar style younger vehicle which, as you said @taxguru may need extensive repairs anyway. And a bonus is that I can drive it properly without the (horror stories in this thread) of so called “safety features” of a more modern vehicle.
My only nod to modernity is that I do like being able to use Google Maps & What3Words on my android phone to get to my destination instead of a paper road map & Ordnance Survey map especially into the deepest countryside.

I love most things about my new ish car except lane assist - I live on a country road with something that must trigger it so if I forget to turn it off it randomly tries to kill me by steering me into oncoming traffic - having to yank it back certainly wakes me up in the morning. I HATE it!

If the engine is already running, my car can be driven off without the key inside. It just can't be restarted if the engine is switched off, this is why I always put the key physically in a drinks holder rather than leaving in my bag or pocket.

Yeah, I always turn lane assist off except on the motorway. But I mostly completely love my automatic EV.

This is the scenario I was thinking of. If you'd turned the car off, you wouldn't have been able to restart it or lock it I imagine.

I haven't ever tried it with mine, but DH and I both have keyless start (not entry) cars, and always put the key in a holder - his car has a designated spot for the key. For mine I bought a converter for one of the cup holders that turns it into a key holder.

A couple of times I have left the key in my pocket and it feels very alien!

Interesting about being able to drive the car without the key. One of our cars is keyless (ie just a fob) and we were visiting a relative a few months ago, and lost one of the "keys". We couldn't find it anywhere and assumed my DH had dropped it in a car park.

Anyway, a few weeks later the relative texted me to say she'd moved the bed in the room we'd used (we had looked under the bed but clearly not far enough in) and it was there. The bedroom is immediately in front of where the car was. But the key was obviously still too far away.

We have now been happily reunited with the key as it would have cost £££ to replace.

I know if I've left my key in a bag in the boot it won't start because it's too far away from the steering column transpondery thing.

I've never tried taking the key away when the car is still running though. Might try it at the weekend and see what happens!

I know 3 people in the last year who’ve ended up absolutely stranded because they can’t get the electronic handbrake off. 2 were due to flat batteries - want to push the car to see if you can get the engine going? - no you can’t do that. Want to push the car so you can get another one next to it and use jump leads? - no you can’t do that. The third the car started fine but inexplicably died when reversing out of the drive. They couldn’t push it to the side of the road or back in the drive so it was fully parked right across the street until the breakdown people came.
DHs car turns the audio down if you go below a certain speed or pass a pedestrian on the pavement or if a leaf blows in front of it. He has music but I listen to audiobooks and it’s impossible. It doesn’t even stop the book and start again, it turns the volume down so you miss huge chunks.

And they are too bloody big. I’ve only got 4 seats but there is easily space for 3 in the back. Drivers and passenger seats are monstrosities.

I’m on board with power steering and Bluetooth and I don’t mind the tyre pressure warning light but that’s it.

@Arseynal
DH car turns the audio down if you go below a certain speed or pass a pedestrian on the pavement or if a leaf blows in front of it.

That’s a useful feature when having to pass horses & riders at less than 10 miles per hour on country lanes.

My Volvo is 12 years old. I didn't realise more modern cars had such features. The emergency braking system sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

I knew about the automatic switching between dipped and main beam because I'm constantly being dazzled by cars not dipping their lights in time. They don't seem to register until the car is visible, whereas I dip mine as soon as I see the light of an oncoming vehicle. I've been in friends' cars which have touchscreen everything and wondered what the point of it was. In my car I can use one hand to feel for buttons and dials and adjust the heating and radio without taking my eyes off the road. How do you do that with a touchscreen? And I hate the digital speedometers, I would find the constant flickering of the numbers very distracting.

I had to google lane assist. 'Lane assist uses a camera, usually mounted in the upper section of your windscreen, to accurately position the car in the centre of its lane.' Isn't that what your eyes and proprioception are for?

I would love a heated windscreen though. I had them on my previous two cars which were Fords. Ford had a patent on heated windscreens which expired a few years ago so I guess most manufacturers are including them now. An inbuilt reversing camera and sensors would be nice too. But these things can usually be retrofitted, which I'd do if I could be bothered.

I wonder what the reason for that is? I'd quite like audio to be limited - I do think the volume some people have their radios blaring out at is building up yet another problem for the NHS in a few years (if it still exists) - hearing loss!

But I don't understand the low volume at low speed thing?

It also does it if you reverse. I think it wants you to be poised for danger. I don’t mind turning my audiobook down for horses, although I don’t listen to it very loud. I do mind the car doing it when I’m stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

There is definitely a gap in the market for "simple cars". Some enterprising manufacturer should fill this gap.

I wish!

Interestingly the new Renault 5 has switches for main controls

DH has the newer version of my car. I haven't driven it much but I'm not keen on nearly everything being accessed via the touchscreen instead of buttons. My car is only 18 months "older" too.

Car designers and manufacturers still produce cars for men rather than for people. They fill them with all sorts of (generally) useless ‘boys toys’ (usually justified on safety grounds). Then they con us into buying them by convincing us that they make us invincible and ultra safe. Truth is, all we really heed are seat belts and air bags plus great driving skills. Most accidents are survivable if we ‘drive to arrive’. The remainder are not survivable, however much tech you put on the car.
Do you know what bugs me most? The message that pings and tells me that the car is due for service. Utterly unnecessary!