3 ms·

>Do cars even come without 'smart' options nowadays? This will be much harder to find on new cars in the US. As our May 2018, all new cars are required to have

>Do cars even come without 'smart' options nowadays? This will be much harder to find on new cars in the US. As our May 2018, all new cars are required to have backup cameras (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_camera#Mandates https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_camera#Mandates). Now that a screen is required, it's harder to financially justify putting in a head unit that includes physical dials. Instead we're stuck with crap like "find the button for volume on the screen, then tap it 15 times to adequately adjust it". I'm hanging on to my 2011 Honda Civic for the foreseeable future, and pray the UI won't suck on newer vehicles or find a basic trim 2016-2018 that doesn't do everything on the screen. I appreciate the safety aspect, but hate the UI of every car I've interacted with. Any recommendations for cars whose UI doesn't suck?

RandomBacon 8y ago
My 2015 Toyota Corolla has a screen for the backup camera, but it also has physical buttons. The digital and physical interfaces are pretty good. Because it's a Toyota, it will probably be reliable for a very long time, and because it's a Corolla, there will probably always be parts available. If for some reason you get a trim level that does not have cruise control, it's easy to add: drill a hole in the steering console, mount the lever, and plug it in. The car is already programmed with the feature.
sjwright 8y ago
In the economy space, my vote is for the most recent stuff from Hyundai/Kia. Not the world's greatest system but the latest stuff is very responsive (i.e. no UI lag) and their implementation of CarPlay/Android Auto is fairly bulletproof. (Good quality touchscreen, well positioned for finger input, doesn't do anything too stupid to make CP/AA frustrating.) In the premium space, BMW has always maintained a medium-high bar with recent iterations of iDrive. (There have been many revisions and trim variations of their system, but approximate rule of thumb for acceptable tech is 8+ inch screen, 2013 onwards.) It's not going to wow a UI nerd, but if you plan to own the car for multiple years, it's slick and effortless once you're familiar with it—especially as almost any menu item anywhere in the system can be programmed to one of the 8 or so preset buttons on the dashboard. I therefore have dedicated buttons in my car for "Call my wife", "Trip computer details", "Open destination address book", "Spoken directions on/off", and "Begin navigating to home." And if you think that will get too complicated too quickly, BMW thought of that: each preset button has a capacitive sensor in them so if you place your finger on the button without pressing, the screen will remind you what that button is programmed to do. It's nice.
bonniemuffin 8y ago
Even though my 2019 Subaru is covered in screens, it also has physical knobs and buttons for the volume, air conditioning, and changing between radio station presets. I usually find that I don't have to touch the touchscreen on an average car trip.
hoorayimhelping 8y ago
>Any recommendations for cars whose UI doesn't suck? Get a steering wheel with controls on it if the manufacturer doesn't offer physical buttons on the head unit. I'd be super surprised if you couldn't put a higher trim Civic's steering wheel on a lower trim Civic. Look for part outs from totaled cars (the sport and SI trims are good places to look - kids drive them irresponsibly, and they have high end tech that is usually salvageable when the body gets totaled). I'm fairly happy with my Subaru Impreza - it has the head unit described in this post. The physical knobs and seek buttons make up for the dusty, stragnely-sensitive-sometimes, strangely-unsensitive-other-times screen.
joezydeco 8y ago
Current Mazdas don't have a very complicated UI on their screens, and it's completely operable with the jogdial and buttons on the center console. In fact, the touchscreen switches off in software once the car is in motion. The UI also doesn't control anything except the radio, navigation, and some system settings. All the climate controls are on separate knobs or buttons (I actually liked the physical dials for fan/temp on my old Mazda 3 Sport, the Tourings and above changed to electronic buttons and it's not as intuitive as the dials).
userbinator 8y ago
Any recommendations for cars whose UI doesn't suck? Anything before the late 90s? Buying an old car and then installing your own backup camera would be one possible way to get the useful features but not the annoyances.
- froindt 8y ago
  I've considered that. When I buy my best next car (hopefully 3+ years from now), I'd like to upgrade the model year for the marginal gain in safety. 2015 or so might be my target year.

RandomBacon 8y ago

My 2015 Toyota Corolla has a screen for the backup camera, but it also has physical buttons. The digital and physical interfaces are pretty good. Because it's a Toyota, it will probably be reliable for a very long time, and because it's a Corolla, there will probably always be parts available. If for some reason you get a trim level that does not have cruise control, it's easy to add: drill a hole in the steering console, mount the lever, and plug it in. The car is already programmed with the feature.

sjwright 8y ago

In the economy space, my vote is for the most recent stuff from Hyundai/Kia. Not the world's greatest system but the latest stuff is very responsive (i.e. no UI lag) and their implementation of CarPlay/Android Auto is fairly bulletproof. (Good quality touchscreen, well positioned for finger input, doesn't do anything too stupid to make CP/AA frustrating.) In the premium space, BMW has always maintained a medium-high bar with recent iterations of iDrive. (There have been many revisions and trim variations of their system, but approximate rule of thumb for acceptable tech is 8+ inch screen, 2013 onwards.) It's not going to wow a UI nerd, but if you plan to own the car for multiple years, it's slick and effortless once you're familiar with it—especially as almost any menu item anywhere in the system can be programmed to one of the 8 or so preset buttons on the dashboard. I therefore have dedicated buttons in my car for "Call my wife", "Trip computer details", "Open destination address book", "Spoken directions on/off", and "Begin navigating to home." And if you think that will get too complicated too quickly, BMW thought of that: each preset button has a capacitive sensor in them so if you place your finger on the button without pressing, the screen will remind you what that button is programmed to do. It's nice.

bonniemuffin 8y ago

Even though my 2019 Subaru is covered in screens, it also has physical knobs and buttons for the volume, air conditioning, and changing between radio station presets. I usually find that I don't have to touch the touchscreen on an average car trip.

hoorayimhelping 8y ago

>Any recommendations for cars whose UI doesn't suck? Get a steering wheel with controls on it if the manufacturer doesn't offer physical buttons on the head unit. I'd be super surprised if you couldn't put a higher trim Civic's steering wheel on a lower trim Civic. Look for part outs from totaled cars (the sport and SI trims are good places to look - kids drive them irresponsibly, and they have high end tech that is usually salvageable when the body gets totaled). I'm fairly happy with my Subaru Impreza - it has the head unit described in this post. The physical knobs and seek buttons make up for the dusty, stragnely-sensitive-sometimes, strangely-unsensitive-other-times screen.

joezydeco 8y ago

Current Mazdas don't have a very complicated UI on their screens, and it's completely operable with the jogdial and buttons on the center console. In fact, the touchscreen switches off in software once the car is in motion. The UI also doesn't control anything except the radio, navigation, and some system settings. All the climate controls are on separate knobs or buttons (I actually liked the physical dials for fan/temp on my old Mazda 3 Sport, the Tourings and above changed to electronic buttons and it's not as intuitive as the dials).

userbinator 8y ago

Any recommendations for cars whose UI doesn't suck? Anything before the late 90s? Buying an old car and then installing your own backup camera would be one possible way to get the useful features but not the annoyances.

froindt 8y ago
I've considered that. When I buy my best next car (hopefully 3+ years from now), I'd like to upgrade the model year for the marginal gain in safety. 2015 or so might be my target year.