Great video. (This guy does wonderful reviews BTW.) Yup... Since I drive a 22 year old Miata, I'm going to be biased toward simplicity. I do love how far cars have come in twenty years... but I know I'd really not be able to fix a great deal if they broke. It's ironic that we preach "don't text and drive" and yet there's plenty of distraction pushed right in your face.
Problems with modern cars
- Thread starter Lolvoguy
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I must say my truck is simple for a 2012. Basic old school iron 4.3 six, 4 speed automatic, manual locking rear, no touch screen or anything more complex than things were 20-25 years ago. The Cruze, on the other hand, has a lot of technology.
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I must say my truck is simple for a 2012. Basic old school iron 4.3 six, 4 speed automatic, manual locking rear, no touch screen or anything more complex than things were 20-25 years ago.
I'm not so sure... If it has Stabilitrak, it has countless pitch/roll/yaw sensors installed at every corner of the vehicle. If it has ABS, it's got wheel speed sensors and ABS controllers. If it has airbags (and it likely has multiple bags in multiple locations), it has another handful of pitch and roll sensors. Are your manual HVAC controls actually moving cables or switching vacuum lines? My guess is no -- they're all electronic, run through a body control or an HVAC computer, and electronic stepper motors actually move the air mix doors. It most certainly has a concoction of electronic emissions control sensors and systems that would embarrass anything made prior to OBD-II. And your truck is likely on the newest CANBUS protocol. And it has electronic throttle control. And. And. And.
I think it's easy to look at a manual window crank or a simple column shifter and think, "ahh, simple". However, the necessary complexities of modern cars lie within, undisclosed. I say "necessary complexities" because much of this stuff is not optional -- you can't unselect it from the options sheet. Stability control systems are federally-mandated. Tire pressure monitoring is federally-mandated. Airbags, emissions control systems, the list goes on. I don't say this to say that any of this stuff is bad. I think vehicles, in many respects, are more reliable and long-lasting today than they ever have been in the past. Still, I humbly submit that your truck is FAR more complex than something built 20 or 25 years ago. You just can't see it.
And, thankfully, you probably never will, because it is designed and built so well...
I must say my truck is simple for a 2012. Basic old school iron 4.3 six, 4 speed automatic, manual locking rear, no touch screen or anything more complex than things were 20-25 years ago.
I'm not so sure... If it has Stabilitrak, it has countless pitch/roll/yaw sensors installed at every corner of the vehicle. If it has ABS, it's got wheel speed sensors and ABS controllers. If it has airbags (and it likely has multiple bags in multiple locations), it has another handful of pitch and roll sensors. Are your manual HVAC controls actually moving cables or switching vacuum lines? My guess is no -- they're all electronic, run through a body control or an HVAC computer, and electronic stepper motors actually move the air mix doors. It most certainly has a concoction of electronic emissions control sensors and systems that would embarrass anything made prior to OBD-II. And your truck is likely on the newest CANBUS protocol. And it has electronic throttle control. And. And. And.
I think it's easy to look at a manual window crank or a simple column shifter and think, "ahh, simple". However, the necessary complexities of modern cars lie within, undisclosed. I say "necessary complexities" because much of this stuff is not optional -- you can't unselect it from the options sheet. Stability control systems are federally-mandated. Tire pressure monitoring is federally-mandated. Airbags, emissions control systems, the list goes on. I don't say this to say that any of this stuff is bad. I think vehicles, in many respects, are more reliable and long-lasting today than they ever have been in the past. Still, I humbly submit that your truck is FAR more complex than something built 20 or 25 years ago. You just can't see it.
And, thankfully, you probably never will, because it is designed and built so well...
Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Personally I know someone with a Ford Edge who had his touch screen fail on him. As a result he cannot adjust his HVAC settings anymore. Sad part is that the cost is far too expensive to reasonable replace it, and the aftermarket does not offer any alternatives.
Our MDX has a touch screen, and it does become slow to respond in very cold weather. Fortunately, it was made during that transition period about 10 years ago when touchscreens were still relatively new and there's a lot of mechanical redundancy. Not my image below, but you can see the small HVAC control panel at the very top of the dash. All of the HVAC can be controlled through the touch screen, but you also have MOST controls available to you on this small panel. You also see that small joystick in the lower left corner of the navigation unit? You can use that mechanical joystick to move through all menus. HVAC, navigation, settings, etc. So if you do need something on the touch screen, but it becomes unresponsive for whatever reason, you can still move through it.
If the touch screen eventually just dies altogether, you still have a real radio and most of the HVAC options in the upper panel, so all systems are still about 90% usable through the manual redundancy. I can't say that I'm necessarily a fan of screens on dashboards, but I think that if they are there, some manual redundancy is nice.
Linked from MDXers.org
Personally I know someone with a Ford Edge who had his touch screen fail on him. As a result he cannot adjust his HVAC settings anymore. Sad part is that the cost is far too expensive to reasonable replace it, and the aftermarket does not offer any alternatives.
Our MDX has a touch screen, and it does become slow to respond in very cold weather. Fortunately, it was made during that transition period about 10 years ago when touchscreens were still relatively new and there's a lot of mechanical redundancy. Not my image below, but you can see the small HVAC control panel at the very top of the dash. All of the HVAC can be controlled through the touch screen, but you also have MOST controls available to you on this small panel. You also see that small joystick in the lower left corner of the navigation unit? You can use that mechanical joystick to move through all menus. HVAC, navigation, settings, etc. So if you do need something on the touch screen, but it becomes unresponsive for whatever reason, you can still move through it.
If the touch screen eventually just dies altogether, you still have a real radio and most of the HVAC options in the upper panel, so all systems are still about 90% usable through the manual redundancy. I can't say that I'm necessarily a fan of screens on dashboards, but I think that if they are there, some manual redundancy is nice.
Linked from MDXers.org
Fortunately the A/C controls on my 2011 Regal are not controlled by any screen but by buttons and rotary controls. I don't know if that continues on more recent models, or if the touch screen stuff governs it. I'll be cautious when looking at newer cars.
If I listen carefully, I think I hear an electric motor in my '99 Camry when I change the HVAC vent settings. Makes sense, it rotates too easily. Don't know if the temperature knob is controlling the mixing flap directly or via a motor.
In my 2010 Tundra, if I change the HVAC temperature I can definitely hear an electric motor. Mind you it's a knob. [Worse: when I shut it down, go away, and come back, the interior is always roasting. Whatever heat is in the heater core is released. Don't know if the flap reverts to full heat or what, but it's the only vehicle I've had so far to do this.]
Knobs don't mean cables.
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I kinda find it "cool" that the fuel gauge in my Camry is a mechanical stepper. Most gauges go to zero when key is removed. But my fuel gauge will stay at the last setting. Probably means it'll wear out faster than other gauge in the car.
In my 2010 Tundra, if I change the HVAC temperature I can definitely hear an electric motor. Mind you it's a knob. [Worse: when I shut it down, go away, and come back, the interior is always roasting. Whatever heat is in the heater core is released. Don't know if the flap reverts to full heat or what, but it's the only vehicle I've had so far to do this.]
Knobs don't mean cables.
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I kinda find it "cool" that the fuel gauge in my Camry is a mechanical stepper. Most gauges go to zero when key is removed. But my fuel gauge will stay at the last setting. Probably means it'll wear out faster than other gauge in the car.
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Same here - seems the navigation is most dependent on the screen and iPhone is backup plan for that ...
It was a generally good video but I disagree that the root problem is our economic system." The car companies are only giving the people what they want - and they want to be able to tweet from their car or whatever. If car companies purposely produced cars nobody wants they'd be idiots.
I agree the tech is likely going to create more problems down the road. I had a touchscreen GPS that stopped working after 3 years of living in the car - the screen slowly stopped responding to touch.
They couldn't even get the power windows in my Mazda right - sitting at 88k miles the front driver and passenger windows routinely refuse to roll down. Junk.
I agree the tech is likely going to create more problems down the road. I had a touchscreen GPS that stopped working after 3 years of living in the car - the screen slowly stopped responding to touch.
They couldn't even get the power windows in my Mazda right - sitting at 88k miles the front driver and passenger windows routinely refuse to roll down. Junk.
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The Dodge dashes, even with the larger uConnect screen, still have manual controls (albeit, electronic behind the scenes) for HVAC:
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