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> but I am gobsmacked at just how terrible modern vehicles are CarPlay, adaptive cruise control, lane assist, automatic lights (brights, on/off, turning), came

> but I am gobsmacked at just how terrible modern vehicles are CarPlay, adaptive cruise control, lane assist, automatic lights (brights, on/off, turning), cameras, remote start from my phone, and lots of other things are awesome modern additions to cars that I wouldn't want to go without anymore.

r00fus 3y ago
Lane assist done poorly (seen on my latest Toyota Corolla rental) is distracting and made me want to turn it off. Any advanced features that are rushed or poorly thought out - can turn into liabilities instead of assets.
- libraryatnight 3y ago
  Indeed. Some cars feel dangerous with lane assist when there's significant noise from repaving,sealing, etc to confuse the car and it's trying to correct nothing. That said, I still enjoy most of the modern computer conveniences that cars have. Remote start is great, cameras are great, so I'm sure more and more good/safe designs will come with time.
- ramesh31 3y ago
  >Lane assist done poorly (seen on my latest Toyota Corolla rental) is distracting and made me want to turn it off. TSS is actually pretty good once you get comfortable using it. But this is the Toyota philosophy on ADAS systems in general. They are not going all in on FSD like the other manufacturers because it simply isn't ready yet. And so their lane assist is designed to be a safety catch for innattentive drivers, not an automated system.
- MegaDeKay 3y ago
  Lane assist done poorly IS dangerous. Case in point: my 2016 Civic. On the highways around here, they will add pullover lanes on the right hand side so that through traffic doesn't have to slow down if someone ahead is slowing down to turn right. Great. But my car just sees the road as getting wider so it steers RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE between the two lanes. I just keep this potentially deadly feature turned off. And let's talk about the car's adaptive cruise control. It is wonderful. When it works. My drive to work starts with a long featureless country gravel road that is straight as an arrow north / south. Every now and then, I'll be driving along and after 10 km the car will figure "Not much going on here. The radar must have failed. As a safety precaution, I'm just going to beep at the driver and turn off ACC with no error message of any kind that would trouble the driver". Well no problem, I'll just press the button to turn it on again. But how presumptuous of me: the car is smarter than I am because it just beeps and turns it immediately off again. The only way to get ACC back on again is come to a full stop, turn the ignition off and back on again. My dealer was mystified so they phoned the factory. Also mystified. I've taken the car to get it looked at more times than I care to think of and just gave up. I shudder at a future filled with autonomous vehicles filled with strange bugs like these.
rubidium 3y ago
After just moving from a 2009 to a 2023 vehicle (both Ford), I agree. I’m overall happy with the tech improvements, despite the occasional bond-headed software implementation. I say this as someone who used to be a “stick-driving don’t put a computer if it’s not required” card carrying member. Maybe I’m just getting soft.
MikeKusold 3y ago
I don't have any of these on my 2013 vehicles, and the only one I truly miss is CarPlay. I've been in nice cars with these features, and I'm happy I don't have most of these. Adaptive cruise control brakes are too late and hard for me to trust, lane assist is nice on straights but is annoying when it bounces between the sides of the lane, and automatic high-beams are infuriating with the constant on & off.
- abawany 3y ago
  I was able to add android auto/carplay to my old car by installing an aftermarket pioneer head unit with this functionality. The nice thing about older cars is that such replacement is possible and relatively easy.
  - mbrameld 3y ago
    > The nice thing about older cars is that such replacement is possible and relatively easy. Unless the 2013 vehicle is a Subaru Outback with factory navigation. Then it might be possible with some fabrication skills and equipment, but it's definitely not going to be easy.
    - coev 3y ago
      Go old enough that you're looking at cars with standard double-DIN radio slots
- lallysingh 3y ago
  Get a quad-lock for the most convenient air vent, then you can quickly mount/unmount a phone in a super convenient place.
LarryDarrell 3y ago
I understand. There are many consumers like you. We are simply speaking different languages because we value different things based on what we want from a vehicle. My perspective is one from someone that does their own car maintenance/repair and has only owned used cars. When I look at a new car or truck today, I'm looking at components that are most affected by entropy. Of the features you listed, how many are likely to still work in 2033? 2043? Will any of them create a no-start condition or poor running condition if they fail? Is there a way to bypass the automatic lights with a manual switch if some part of the automatic light system becomes unobtainable at any price? Having any part of the engine ignition process connected to a DRM'ed internet connected remote start system seems insane to me, considering how many cars have problems with non-internet connected remote start systems. I fully admit that my perspective is the minority, and it's rare to have someone agree with me on HN. However, I do find many comrades at the junkyards.
- germinalphrase 3y ago
  Are there many new vehicles that satisfy your conditions, or are you in the vintage camp?
  - LarryDarrell 3y ago
    I have a friend who has been a Automotive Engineer for 20 years and we have this conversation all the time. If I were to distill all our conversations down to one take away it would be this: There was a paradigm shift sometime shortly after the Great Recession. Before then, vehicles operated and degraded in expected and manageable ways. I'm in the vintage camp at the moment. I just replaced the Chrysler ignition system that was in my old 80s Volvo for a Bosch one that came in a later model. That and replacing the timing belt took all of one weekend and $500 (I splurged on some new parts that I didn't technically need to). The next week I drove it cross country and had a blast, somehow having the time of my life despite not having the last 35 years of features that many people can't live without.
    - caycep 3y ago
      Is there a sweet spot between parts commonality/compatibility and proper reliability engineering? I get the feeling that cars before the 90s had parts commonality but reliability was more of an afterthought.

r00fus 3y ago

Lane assist done poorly (seen on my latest Toyota Corolla rental) is distracting and made me want to turn it off. Any advanced features that are rushed or poorly thought out - can turn into liabilities instead of assets.

libraryatnight 3y ago
Indeed. Some cars feel dangerous with lane assist when there's significant noise from repaving,sealing, etc to confuse the car and it's trying to correct nothing. That said, I still enjoy most of the modern computer conveniences that cars have. Remote start is great, cameras are great, so I'm sure more and more good/safe designs will come with time.
ramesh31 3y ago
>Lane assist done poorly (seen on my latest Toyota Corolla rental) is distracting and made me want to turn it off. TSS is actually pretty good once you get comfortable using it. But this is the Toyota philosophy on ADAS systems in general. They are not going all in on FSD like the other manufacturers because it simply isn't ready yet. And so their lane assist is designed to be a safety catch for innattentive drivers, not an automated system.
MegaDeKay 3y ago
Lane assist done poorly IS dangerous. Case in point: my 2016 Civic. On the highways around here, they will add pullover lanes on the right hand side so that through traffic doesn't have to slow down if someone ahead is slowing down to turn right. Great. But my car just sees the road as getting wider so it steers RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE between the two lanes. I just keep this potentially deadly feature turned off. And let's talk about the car's adaptive cruise control. It is wonderful. When it works. My drive to work starts with a long featureless country gravel road that is straight as an arrow north / south. Every now and then, I'll be driving along and after 10 km the car will figure "Not much going on here. The radar must have failed. As a safety precaution, I'm just going to beep at the driver and turn off ACC with no error message of any kind that would trouble the driver". Well no problem, I'll just press the button to turn it on again. But how presumptuous of me: the car is smarter than I am because it just beeps and turns it immediately off again. The only way to get ACC back on again is come to a full stop, turn the ignition off and back on again. My dealer was mystified so they phoned the factory. Also mystified. I've taken the car to get it looked at more times than I care to think of and just gave up. I shudder at a future filled with autonomous vehicles filled with strange bugs like these.

rubidium 3y ago

After just moving from a 2009 to a 2023 vehicle (both Ford), I agree. I’m overall happy with the tech improvements, despite the occasional bond-headed software implementation. I say this as someone who used to be a “stick-driving don’t put a computer if it’s not required” card carrying member. Maybe I’m just getting soft.

MikeKusold 3y ago

I don't have any of these on my 2013 vehicles, and the only one I truly miss is CarPlay. I've been in nice cars with these features, and I'm happy I don't have most of these. Adaptive cruise control brakes are too late and hard for me to trust, lane assist is nice on straights but is annoying when it bounces between the sides of the lane, and automatic high-beams are infuriating with the constant on & off.

abawany 3y ago
I was able to add android auto/carplay to my old car by installing an aftermarket pioneer head unit with this functionality. The nice thing about older cars is that such replacement is possible and relatively easy.
- mbrameld 3y ago
  > The nice thing about older cars is that such replacement is possible and relatively easy. Unless the 2013 vehicle is a Subaru Outback with factory navigation. Then it might be possible with some fabrication skills and equipment, but it's definitely not going to be easy.
  - coev 3y ago
    Go old enough that you're looking at cars with standard double-DIN radio slots
lallysingh 3y ago
Get a quad-lock for the most convenient air vent, then you can quickly mount/unmount a phone in a super convenient place.

LarryDarrell 3y ago

I understand. There are many consumers like you. We are simply speaking different languages because we value different things based on what we want from a vehicle. My perspective is one from someone that does their own car maintenance/repair and has only owned used cars. When I look at a new car or truck today, I'm looking at components that are most affected by entropy. Of the features you listed, how many are likely to still work in 2033? 2043? Will any of them create a no-start condition or poor running condition if they fail? Is there a way to bypass the automatic lights with a manual switch if some part of the automatic light system becomes unobtainable at any price? Having any part of the engine ignition process connected to a DRM'ed internet connected remote start system seems insane to me, considering how many cars have problems with non-internet connected remote start systems. I fully admit that my perspective is the minority, and it's rare to have someone agree with me on HN. However, I do find many comrades at the junkyards.

germinalphrase 3y ago
Are there many new vehicles that satisfy your conditions, or are you in the vintage camp?
- LarryDarrell 3y ago
  I have a friend who has been a Automotive Engineer for 20 years and we have this conversation all the time. If I were to distill all our conversations down to one take away it would be this: There was a paradigm shift sometime shortly after the Great Recession. Before then, vehicles operated and degraded in expected and manageable ways. I'm in the vintage camp at the moment. I just replaced the Chrysler ignition system that was in my old 80s Volvo for a Bosch one that came in a later model. That and replacing the timing belt took all of one weekend and $500 (I splurged on some new parts that I didn't technically need to). The next week I drove it cross country and had a blast, somehow having the time of my life despite not having the last 35 years of features that many people can't live without.
  - caycep 3y ago
    Is there a sweet spot between parts commonality/compatibility and proper reliability engineering? I get the feeling that cars before the 90s had parts commonality but reliability was more of an afterthought.