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I don't understand why car manufacturers haven't just started remanufacturing some of their older (say 2010) model cars that don't rely on so many computer chip

I don't understand why car manufacturers haven't just started remanufacturing some of their older (say 2010) model cars that don't rely on so many computer chips. I'm sure there's lots of costs to retooling their factories, and these less computerized cars are going to be less desirable to most customers, but with car prices currently 150% of what they "should" be, it seems like it would be profitable for at least one company to go the "low chip" route.

nradov 5y ago
Some manufacturers already did remove advanced vehicle features. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/chip-shortage-forces-carmakers-to-strip-out-high-tech-features https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/chip-shor...
- joezydeco 5y ago
  BMW is pulling the touchscreens off of certain models: https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/05/bmws-losing-touchscreen-functionality/ https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/05/bmws-losing-touchscreen-... Slightly confusing since it's not the removal of the entire infotainment system, just the capacitive controller. The system is still controllable with the joydial. Seems like that's not really a $500 cost center, more of a way to appease the customer. And some makers like Mazda pulled the captouch off their IVI with the recent generation of cars pre-COVID, it just wasn't worth the cost.
  - crooked-v 5y ago
    For Mazda it was also at least theoretically to reduce driver distraction and increase safety. I mostly believe them on that point, given how much they focus on safety ratings in other ways.
    - kube-system 5y ago
      Some of them were also mounted pretty far from the driver so they weren't easy to reach, and they had a dial to alternatively interact with them. The first few times I drove one, I didn't even know it was a touch screen.
      - joezydeco 5y ago
        On the earlier Mazdas the touchscreen actually disabled itself when in drive. Dial only. Seems like most people didn't need it anyway.
YetAnotherNick 5y ago
My guess would be they won't be regulatory compliant. Few cars have already removed non essential things like touch screen.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
dlp211 5y ago
It takes close to a year to re-tool a factory for a different auto model. The suggestion to just produce an older model just doesn't make sense in time or money.
fmntf 5y ago
My 2011 car has ECUs for: engine, brakes, ABS, air bag, air conditioning, alarm. All of those are connected to a gateway, that is another ECU. Do you want parking sensors? That's another ECU. Multimedia? That's one or two. Cars of 2000 have not much less ECUs. Consider also that components to build such ECUs are now totally obsolete and out of production.
- Aloha 5y ago
  My old 1997 Town Car has about as many controllers as my 2011 Crown Victoria does (many of them are even the same parts), and the 2021 300S I just ordered doesnt have many more. Though the 1997 Town Car, had many more controllers than a 1997 Taurus for comparison.

nradov 5y ago

Some manufacturers already did remove advanced vehicle features. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/chip-shortage-forces-carmakers-to-strip-out-high-tech-features https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/chip-shor...

joezydeco 5y ago
BMW is pulling the touchscreens off of certain models: https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/05/bmws-losing-touchscreen-functionality/ https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/05/bmws-losing-touchscreen-... Slightly confusing since it's not the removal of the entire infotainment system, just the capacitive controller. The system is still controllable with the joydial. Seems like that's not really a $500 cost center, more of a way to appease the customer. And some makers like Mazda pulled the captouch off their IVI with the recent generation of cars pre-COVID, it just wasn't worth the cost.
- crooked-v 5y ago
  For Mazda it was also at least theoretically to reduce driver distraction and increase safety. I mostly believe them on that point, given how much they focus on safety ratings in other ways.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    Some of them were also mounted pretty far from the driver so they weren't easy to reach, and they had a dial to alternatively interact with them. The first few times I drove one, I didn't even know it was a touch screen.
    - joezydeco 5y ago
      On the earlier Mazdas the touchscreen actually disabled itself when in drive. Dial only. Seems like most people didn't need it anyway.

YetAnotherNick 5y ago

My guess would be they won't be regulatory compliant. Few cars have already removed non essential things like touch screen.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

dlp211 5y ago

It takes close to a year to re-tool a factory for a different auto model. The suggestion to just produce an older model just doesn't make sense in time or money.

fmntf 5y ago

My 2011 car has ECUs for: engine, brakes, ABS, air bag, air conditioning, alarm. All of those are connected to a gateway, that is another ECU. Do you want parking sensors? That's another ECU. Multimedia? That's one or two. Cars of 2000 have not much less ECUs. Consider also that components to build such ECUs are now totally obsolete and out of production.

Aloha 5y ago
My old 1997 Town Car has about as many controllers as my 2011 Crown Victoria does (many of them are even the same parts), and the 2021 300S I just ordered doesnt have many more. Though the 1997 Town Car, had many more controllers than a 1997 Taurus for comparison.