7 ms·

I have a 2014 Toyota Tacoma. I get in, start it, and its usually connected to my phone and playing the last podcast before I've even backed out of the garage.

I have a 2014 Toyota Tacoma. I get in, start it, and its usually connected to my phone and playing the last podcast before I've even backed out of the garage. My wife's car is a 2015 Nissan. I get in, start it, and I'm out of the driveway and on the road before the infotainment system has finished booting, and I get to the stop sign before it discovers my phone and plays the podcast. And there's a 20% chance it fails to connect to my phone, and I have to stop at the side of the road and put it in park before I'm allowed to press the buttons to "forget" my phone and re-add it again. OTOH, my Tacoma is just a two-seater, so if I have any groceries or a dog in the passenger seat, the seatbelt alarm bings at me for a solid minute of driving before giving up. I usually just leave it buckled, and empty, because I haven't bothered figuring out how to disconnect it in the 10 years I've owned it.

morsch 3y ago
Must be all those gallons and gallons of fuel that are boosting the in-car entertainment.
taylodl 3y ago
My 2015 Honda Civic LX was the same as your 2014 Toyota Tacoma. Turn it on, it'd connect to my iPhone in 2 seconds, and start playing. It was actually a nice car. I've rented lots of different cars. I've never had an issue getting my phone to connect to them, and whenever I start the car my phone has connected in a few seconds. Haven't noticed alarms and alerts beeping and popping up or any of that nonsense people are talking about here. Is it certain makes having these issues and I just haven't rented these makes?
- callalex 3y ago
  You must be part of the 0.001% of people that fasten their seatbelt BEFORE starting the car, or you are just not that observant/sensitive.
  - taylodl 3y ago
    Of course. Don't you let your fuel injectors prime before starting your car? What do you do while doing that? Put your seatbelt on!
BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
> and its ... playing the last podcast before I never want this. I fill with rage when a car automatically starts playing things without asking. Yes, it's true, a week ago I listened to something. That was not an invitation for the car to start playing it now.
- psadauskas 3y ago
  For me at least, that's the right thing. I do get a bit annoyed that it'll sometimes play some random youtube video I happened to be watching on my phone instead of the podcast, but that's Apple's fault, not Toyota's. I wish there was a way to configure "preferred audio app when connected to this bluetooth device" in the setting somewhere. But I think playing the last podcast automatically is the right thing. Just like if I have it switched to the radio when I turned it off, when I turn it back on it goes back to radio, turned to the same station. I'd be annoyed if I had to hit the infotainment power button every time, even though I just turned the car on.
- maxerickson 3y ago
  It should just be easy to set (no autoplay or auto continue or whatever). My main use case is music on a short commute. Yes, I want it to start automatically playing as soon as it can. I don't want to mess with my phone.
- Baeocystin 3y ago
  Right there with you. And it's never instant, either. Some time (and it's random, not consistent!) between +5 and +30 seconds after I start the car, I will get some random song/podcast/voicemail playing, usually when I'm trying to focus on something else. I hate this behavior so much. Doubly-so in that I can't turn it off.
- callalex 3y ago
  My mental model is that every car designer peaked in the 80s. An FM radio automatically starts playing whatever it was tuned to when turned off. Therefore every car designer has decided that digital media should work exactly the same way, with no override option.
- 3y ago
g105b 3y ago
Every time I started my 1999 Punto, I'd be greeted with "Ze Blautoof dewiyise has connected-a-successfuwwy"
tonyarkles 3y ago
Heh, reading the article/rant I was waiting for the Nissan punchline. I was travelling for work a couple months ago and ended up with a Nissan Armada. Pretty much everything the author's complaining about was things I experience. Plus it had a forward collision detector that loved to start freaking out while I was sitting at a rural red light with narry a car in sight for miles. I was really glad to come home and get back in my 2016 Tacoma :). It has a couple of quirks but it really is a joy to drive every day. I definitely feel your pain about the front seat though, although I've got the Access Cab so groceries and dogs go in the back "seat".

morsch 3y ago

Must be all those gallons and gallons of fuel that are boosting the in-car entertainment.

taylodl 3y ago

My 2015 Honda Civic LX was the same as your 2014 Toyota Tacoma. Turn it on, it'd connect to my iPhone in 2 seconds, and start playing. It was actually a nice car. I've rented lots of different cars. I've never had an issue getting my phone to connect to them, and whenever I start the car my phone has connected in a few seconds. Haven't noticed alarms and alerts beeping and popping up or any of that nonsense people are talking about here. Is it certain makes having these issues and I just haven't rented these makes?

callalex 3y ago
You must be part of the 0.001% of people that fasten their seatbelt BEFORE starting the car, or you are just not that observant/sensitive.
- taylodl 3y ago
  Of course. Don't you let your fuel injectors prime before starting your car? What do you do while doing that? Put your seatbelt on!

BugsJustFindMe 3y ago

> and its ... playing the last podcast before I never want this. I fill with rage when a car automatically starts playing things without asking. Yes, it's true, a week ago I listened to something. That was not an invitation for the car to start playing it now.

psadauskas 3y ago
For me at least, that's the right thing. I do get a bit annoyed that it'll sometimes play some random youtube video I happened to be watching on my phone instead of the podcast, but that's Apple's fault, not Toyota's. I wish there was a way to configure "preferred audio app when connected to this bluetooth device" in the setting somewhere. But I think playing the last podcast automatically is the right thing. Just like if I have it switched to the radio when I turned it off, when I turn it back on it goes back to radio, turned to the same station. I'd be annoyed if I had to hit the infotainment power button every time, even though I just turned the car on.
maxerickson 3y ago
It should just be easy to set (no autoplay or auto continue or whatever). My main use case is music on a short commute. Yes, I want it to start automatically playing as soon as it can. I don't want to mess with my phone.
Baeocystin 3y ago
Right there with you. And it's never instant, either. Some time (and it's random, not consistent!) between +5 and +30 seconds after I start the car, I will get some random song/podcast/voicemail playing, usually when I'm trying to focus on something else. I hate this behavior so much. Doubly-so in that I can't turn it off.
callalex 3y ago
My mental model is that every car designer peaked in the 80s. An FM radio automatically starts playing whatever it was tuned to when turned off. Therefore every car designer has decided that digital media should work exactly the same way, with no override option.
3y ago

g105b 3y ago

Every time I started my 1999 Punto, I'd be greeted with "Ze Blautoof dewiyise has connected-a-successfuwwy"

tonyarkles 3y ago

Heh, reading the article/rant I was waiting for the Nissan punchline. I was travelling for work a couple months ago and ended up with a Nissan Armada. Pretty much everything the author's complaining about was things I experience. Plus it had a forward collision detector that loved to start freaking out while I was sitting at a rural red light with narry a car in sight for miles. I was really glad to come home and get back in my 2016 Tacoma :). It has a couple of quirks but it really is a joy to drive every day. I definitely feel your pain about the front seat though, although I've got the Access Cab so groceries and dogs go in the back "seat".