Do you agree with this guy?

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Pulling the inside handle unlocks the door. The second pull will open it. Unless his door was on fire, him not being able to open the door from the inside was his own fault. It is a mechanical connection. If he could open the door to get into the car, he could open it to get out.



My VW did that, front doors was single pull though, rears were two pull. Never understood that. Forget how my late model Toyota's are, but I think single pull will open the door. But I'm 99% certain that on my '99 Camry that, if locked, the doors aren't opening. It was a bit disturbing when I noticed.
Gen 4 Camry doors unlock with the flick of a little lever. You figure it out for yourself.

 

[Kira]

My 2 cents..

Things like trunk release, power windows, hood release, heated seats, fuel flap release, etc. are subtle. They're just "there".

New climate controls (cousin's 2014 Charger) and radio/phone controls (sis's 2012 Mazda3) are displayed on arguably large, arguably distracting screens. I agree they are unnecessary and designed to sell cars (be seen on the showroom floor).

The BIGGEST POTENTIAL PROBLEM is power seats. When they break the seat is immobile. That is bad design.
Moving a seat manually is no big deal and takes 2 seconds to do.

It's too bad "removability" isn't designed into options. I would sell/trade my power seats on eBAY. Yes, yes it would be impossible to do so with the sunroof (Ha-Ha).

 

[old1]

Well, I know I am not typical of modern car owners. I have (as our "good" car) a 2014 ford fusion S. I specifically bought the cheapest model so it didn't have as much electronics. Has the std. 2.5 non turbo'ed engine also. Manual seats. As an example of how much "technology" I use in a car, In the 3 years since buying it I think I have turned the radio on maybe twice. I still can't figure how to use most of the buttons on the steering wheel, except the cruise control. I use cruise, a/c, heat and defrost, and power steering and power brakes. Anything else they can keep. I seriously considered buying a 1960's era completely frame off restored car rather than a new one. Sometimes I still wish I had.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: TurboFiat124


What was wrong with cable operated climate control systems? Sure the cables sometimes got a bit dirty after 30 years and became hard to move. All it took was disconnecting the cable from the knob and building a small funnel around the end of the cable with modeling clay and shooting some PB blaster or WD-40 into the sleeve and moving the cable a few times to free it up, reconnect it and it's good as new.


Complaining that cars aren't the same as they were 30 years ago on a forum on the internet seems somewhat contradictory maybe? Just looked it up, the average time of ownership of a new car is 6.5 years and the average age of all cars & trucks is approaching 12 years. Not sure what responsibility we think car makers have for the length their product should last with little maintenance but it sure isn't 30 years. Hopefully you guys that want to drive cars with no tech have a couple stashed now because they aren't going to get simpler.

 

[jeepman3071]

There is a difference (I think) between comfort features and technology gadgets. Heated seats, heated steering wheel, power seats and windows are all comfort features. They can be a pain to fix, but don't really distract you from the road. You don't hear about people crashing because they were playing with their power seats.

The touchscreens should be illegal. Bright screens located in the center of the vehicle that require you to remove your eyes and focus from the road to navigate through their options. It is basically the same kind of distraction as texting (which is illegal in many states), since you have to completely remove your eyes from the road and focus on something else. I've even been in a few vehicles where the screen itself seems excessively bright during night driving, making it even more distracting. I've been a passenger in a vehicle when the driver swerved because they were distracted trying to look through something in the menu.

 

[69GTX]

Can you still order a new car today without touch screens, NAV, power windows/locks, TPMS, etc? Or is this all becoming "standard?"

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Gen 4 Camry doors unlock with the flick of a little lever. You figure it out for yourself.


I know I can figure it out. This car just doesn't work like what I've been driving for the last 25 years.

1993-2000: various cars, none with power locks.

2000-2004: Saturn with power nothing. No idea if it would unlock the doors with the door pull--but why would I lock the doors while I was inside it?

2004-2015: VW with power locks. First number of years the doors would auto-lock past 11mph, but auto-unlock at engine-off. But the doors would unlock if you pulled them. Later on I disabled the auto-lock feature and it became less of a problem (for the kids, once they learned how to let themselves in and out).

2011-on:
-Our Camry doesn't do auto-lock, thankfully. So no idea if the door pulls unlock the door. But the kids at this time learned how to open car doors, and disliked having to pull twice on the VW.
-Our Tundra does auto-lock once past 11mph, but auto-unlocks when shifted into park. So no idea if the door pulls unlock the door. One of these days the auto-lock will get disabled.

2016-on: Now I have a '99 Camry which insists on locking the door when I start the engine, and won't unlock until I turn it off! [At least it has power locks, I can hit unlock. Or I can hold the door open while starting, that disables the auto-lock. How is that for odd?]

So for my entire 25 year driving career (which spans over 500,000 miles) I've never had a car which wouldn't let me open the door after I started it. This Camry is, well, wrong. Come warmer weather I hope to disable auto-locks and DRL and seatbelt chime. Fancy-smancy crud that plain out annoys me.

*

Haven't watched the video, but I'm guessing I'd probably agree with the guy...

 

[Huie83]

I agree, I'm in the generation that this stuff is built for ( early 30's) and I hate all the tech [censored] they put in cars. It's distracting and harder to use while driving. I like old school knobs and buttons VS displays and gadgets. That's the main reason I buy older and or base model newer vehicles.

When the wife and I were shopping for a new van recently it was hilarious listing to the sales people tout all the gadgets; lane depart warning, rear backup warning, front parking sensors, side backup traffic warning, auto brake if you are going to rear end someone, on and on.... It was ridiculous and added up to a lot of $$, no wonder no one can drive anymore, they are too busy paying attention to their "anti crash" systems that they crash. Lane departure and blind spot warning? If you can't stay in your lane or don't know how to use your mirrors you shouldn't be on the road.

This pushed us away from newer vehicles (even base models had touch screen radio's) and we ended up buying a 06 with low miles that had buttons and knobs, just like we like them.

 

[DerbyDave]

I don't mind most tech on new cars, Bluetooth, heated seats, ect that being said there is a lot of useless stuff out there designed only to look good in the showroom but the one thing I can't stand in a vehicle is a touchscreen. Touch screens are great for your phone or tablet where you can focus on what you are doing but in a car they are a distraction and slower than real buttons. With buttons you develop muscle memory and can turn them on and off almost without taking your eyes off the road. With a touch screen you have to look away too long, virtual buttons move based on the screen you are on and god forbid you hit a bump and touch something inadvertently.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
That is a common thing?

There's nothing on the back doors of my parents' 2013 Focuscape to unlock it should the battery die and you can't unlock with the button. We didn't know about this until I happened to stumble across it on Focusfanatics. There's nothing in the owners manual about it either, IIRC.

I'm guessing it just works in a panic situation because you're going to be frantically pulling at the handle and it opens the door.

Pretty cool. My 76 year old father loves doing that to open the door.

Every German vehicle I have ever owned will unlock the door with the inside handle if you pull it while the door is locked. The second pull will open the door. My Volvo too.

It's strange that all cars aren't made this way; on my Mom's Mazda you have to unlock the door (manually or electronically) before it will let you out.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Every German vehicle I have ever owned will unlock the door with the inside handle if you pull it while the door is locked. The second pull will open the door. My Volvo too.

It's strange that all cars aren't made this way; on my Mom's Mazda you have to unlock the door (manually or electronically) before it will let you out.


I wish it was "standard" that way, after having it I very much like it. I'm sure it adds a ton of complexity to the door lock and trashes the reliability, but I'm ok with that tradeoff.

[There's some sarcasm in that statement, in case anyone missed it. VW might not be able to make window stay on track, nor known when the door is closed, but their doors are known for opening when they need to. Am guessing it's a pretty trivial thing to accomplish, probably on the order of one or two levers, really should be simple. And robust, even.]

 

[OVERKILL]

Both my bimmer and my current crop of Mopar vehicles have had manual knobs for the HVAC, despite some of the resulting information being displayed on the LCD screen. The touch screen is used primarily for turning the seat heat and wheel heat on. I use the wheel mounted controls for navigating my music source and selection, adjusting volume....etc. In that sense, having those controls, you are never taking your eyes off the road. I very rarely look at the screen unless I'm using the GPS and need more information than what is presented via the audio assist or in the cluster.

Regarding power seats, one of my favourite features that I had in the M5 and the Charger, Durango and Jeep have is seat back on exit, where the seat retracts back on the rails and the wheel does the same, giving you a larger port for ingress/egress. I've never had a power seat fail, even the ones on the old Expedition still work, and when I got rid of my '89 Town Car, they still worked perfectly fine in it as well. In fact I don't recall ever having a power seat fail

Now seat heat on the other hand, both the Expedition and my parent's 2000 Expedition had the drivers-side heater die. We'll see how the Dodge ones hold up, the bimmer ones were fantastic.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: supton

2016-on: Now I have a '99 Camry which insists on locking the door when I start the engine, and won't unlock until I turn it off! [At least it has power locks, I can hit unlock. Or I can hold the door open while starting, that disables the auto-lock. How is that for odd?]
Strange, my '00 Camry doesn't do that.

Although sometimes it will automatically lock itself if I unlock the doors with the switch, then 30 seconds later once the doors are closed and I'm out of the car it locks.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Originally Posted By: Miller88
That is a common thing?

There's nothing on the back doors of my parents' 2013 Focuscape to unlock it should the battery die and you can't unlock with the button. We didn't know about this until I happened to stumble across it on Focusfanatics. There's nothing in the owners manual about it either, IIRC.

I'm guessing it just works in a panic situation because you're going to be frantically pulling at the handle and it opens the door.

Pretty cool. My 76 year old father loves doing that to open the door.

Every German vehicle I have ever owned will unlock the door with the inside handle if you pull it while the door is locked. The second pull will open the door. My Volvo too.



Volvo eh?

I don't recall such wizardry on my 81 245DL or any previous wagon we had.

 

[JimPghPA]

Regarding the above post saying that the BMW would not unlock, if either (or both) of the pulls activates a solenoid that runs from the vehicles 12 Volt power supply and the 12 Volt power is not available because of the fault with the car then it is very possible that the door would not unlock.

Our 2001 Impala has power windows and power door locks. If the battery were to completely die and the motor stall (no alternator power if the engine is not running) then the windows would not go down (or up) and the doors would not unlock. We have a glass breaking hammer held in place by a mount it came with inside of the glove box.

 

[Jarlaxle]

My Magnum and one Caprice had auto locks...Mag locked at about 15mph, unlocked when put in park. Caprice locked when taken out of park, unlocked when put in park. (Auto locks are disabled on my Vic because it is a P71.)

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Regarding the above post saying that the BMW would not unlock, if either (or both) of the pulls activates a solenoid that runs from the vehicles 12 Volt power supply and the 12 Volt power is not available because of the fault with the car then it is very possible that the door would not unlock.

Our 2001 Impala has power windows and power door locks. If the battery were to completely die and the motor stall (no alternator power if the engine is not running) then the windows would not go down (or up) and the doors would not unlock. We have a glass breaking hammer held in place by a mount it came with inside of the glove box.


It is a physical linkage, not electronic.

That GM design seems pretty poor.

 

[JTK]

Well, thankfully you can still buy base model vehicles with almost nothing on it the video addresses. I do see the point addressed in the video, but we still have a choice to limit those gadgets.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: supton

2016-on: Now I have a '99 Camry which insists on locking the door when I start the engine, and won't unlock until I turn it off! [At least it has power locks, I can hit unlock. Or I can hold the door open while starting, that disables the auto-lock. How is that for odd?]
Strange, my '00 Camry doesn't do that.

Although sometimes it will automatically lock itself if I unlock the doors with the switch, then 30 seconds later once the doors are closed and I'm out of the car it locks.


Pretty sure I verified this was normal behavior (over on Toyotanation I think I asked, and was told to hold the door open while starting so as to disable the auto-lock).

It is possible that my car is screwed up, there is a car alarm that is just lurking under the dashboard. I've left it alone, as everything is working--I have no idea how it's wired in, and I don't want to find out what got modified to install.

From what I can tell, there was a change in 2000, some parts don't go from 1999 to 2000. Must have had a minor update that year. How does your dome light work? Mine is connected directly to the door. Open the door, light is on. Close the door and the light immediately goes out--not on for a few seconds then fade, mine goes off immediately. Does not come on when the engine is turned off either.

 

[TurboFiat124]

I've been considering "drinking the coolade" and getting one of those stereos with a flip out screen for my 98 Chevy van that has GPS and backup camera because we use this van allot on vacation and having a GPS screen is probably safer than trying to use my phone.

Also so I can play MP3s off SD or USB cards.

My point was some of these gimmick items are not considered "durable". A good example is the motorized 3rd row seats in my 2006 Explorer. Ford used plastic gears and are notorious for stripping out. The one on the passenger side would not go up. The part alone is $250. Now why would Ford use a plastic gear? But some Explorers had manual 3rd seats which are not known for issues.

I once had a scary issue with my Trabant. One day the throttle return spring broke and the engine went full throttle. I just cut the ignition off and coasted to a breakdown spot and fixed the broken spring and drove home.

Now if I was driving a more modern car with power brakes and power steering if the car died I would have been in trouble.

I'm not saying Trabants are considered a safer car than a more modern car but at least I had control over the situation. I still had my steering and brakes.

Wasn't there some issue with GM vehicles were people crashed because the ignition switches failed and they had no control over the vehicle? And air bags going off for no apparent reason?