You can't help but notice that more 'fun' or 'comfort' has been added to cars in the last 20 years, and with it has come exponentially more complication. The original appeal of Honda in the early to mid 80's was the simplicity of their design....nothing broke because they were so simple and well made. My 86 Civic Si was a lot of fun to drive, and the most complicated thing about the entire car was a single cam actuating all 12 valves. Simple by today's standards. Now, appearing more and more as standard equipment we have VVTL, VTEC, DOHC, Stability management, ABS, Skid control, EBFD, traction control, and the list goes on. Mercedes has even recently introduced camless valve actuation, which I'm anxious to read more about.
I do enjoy the benefits that some of these options offer, but I don't enjoy how often they break, and how much it costs to fix them. The more powerful cars become, the more electronic and mechanical safety nets they seem to need, which leads to more frequent and expensive repair. I have to wonder where it will end, or if it will. Funny to me that some carmakers manage to include all these goodies in cars that still remain boring and white bread.
