The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: The Guru on December 22, 2015, 07:11:36 PM
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http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-luxury/frivolous-car-features-we-cant-live-without/ss-AAgi5XV?ocid=iehp
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... My 4 year old car doesn't have any of those. Hell, it doesn't even have automatic locks, and it's a standard transmission.
Admittedly, I could go for a heated steering wheel and seats, or a remote starter, but I live in Quebec and detest cold. And I certainly wouldn't be willing to pay much extra for them. Bonus, not necessity.
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I don't even have a car. I mustn't have a pulse either. ;)
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My 11 year old car doesn't have any.
But my work car has Bluetooth which is handy, because I spend a lot of time on the phone between appointments and meetings at work
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OMG! Cooled seats! I just have to have a car with air conditioned seats!
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Yes, I don't have ANY of these features either ... (checks pulse) .... Nope, still living.
Honestly, if they had just titled it "12 Features You'll Love" I wouldn't have a problem with it. But then I guess I wouldn't have clicked on the advertisement, either.
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My goodness!
Satellite radio - I'm not sure we have it here, but a satellite phone would be useful when you're in the outback and your car breaks down (especially if you're idiotic enough to have a spacesaver spare tyre.
Heated steering wheel!!! I'm often COMPLAINING that my steering wheel is too hot. Why on earth would you want one?
Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
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I too don't have any of these features in my car.
But as a Devil's advocate, they do say
You don't need any of these luxuries to drive a car. But once you get used to having them, you can't imagine driving without them.
So if you've never had a car with any of those features (like myself and I assume most of those who have participated in the thread so far) their assertion doesn't apply to you.
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OMG! Cooled seats! I just have to have a car with air conditioned seats!
My daily driver is lacking most of the listed features, though I do own a car with air conditioned seats. They are actually just vented through perforated leather with a few fans. Nothing too fancy. I think some cars do actually pipe cooling lines or hook the seats up to the vents somehow.
Honestly, I don't use them that much, they make you feel like you took a p*** in your pants.
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My ride of 16 years didn't have any of that stuff until I splurged on an aftermarket stereo headunit. Bluetooth and HD Radio open up a lot of nice listening alternatives to what's on the analog AM/FM airwaves.
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Yeah, my fear when I get a different car (hopefully in a decade) is that these features will be available in most models I look for. Like HD, once you get used to it, its hard to go back...short of eliminating the TV which is something I haven't yet done.
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I've rented cars for work with a couple of those features.
I can't say I'm anymore mustachian than this article, however, my 'luxuries' revolve around utility. Utility that is mostly unnecessary but that I can take advantage of: roof racks, power inverter, clever storage, a winch (or at least a come-along), fog lights, lockers, replacing the AC on the pulley with an on board air compressor, a breakdown kit :)
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I confess my car has a couple of these features: simple lumbar support (which I barely notice) and a fancy multifunction stereo which I like, but I also routinely just leave off so I can just think. Hardly necessities. My own Luxury option list would include:
A/C: job gets really hot in the summer, so yes I run it on the 15 minute drive home. Face-punch away!
Cruise control for road trips
Reclining seats, just to escape that upright seating position.
The aforementioned sound system.
Most of these are available if not standard on most cars today. That other stuff? When I saw heated steering wheel listed as a necessity, I expected the next choice to be the Catheter/ Bedpan Option Group.
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When I saw heated steering wheel listed as a necessity, I expected the next choice to be the Catheter/ Bedpan Option Group.
Too true and very funny.
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My ride of 16 years didn't have any of that stuff until I splurged on an aftermarket stereo headunit. Bluetooth and HD Radio open up a lot of nice listening alternatives to what's on the analog AM/FM airwaves.
Ugh, AM/FM DJs, no thanks. I have a phone with audiobooks loaded on, and a cord to connect it to my car speakers. much more appealing. :)
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They actually MAKE heated steering wheels? My new car has heated seats (amazing! I can have heat without turning the vents on- nerve damage makes it painful to have air go across my hands, so I never can use the vents) and I've been saying someone should invent that.
Guessing I'll never pay for a car that actually it them though :(
Also, my husband's car has remote start and it's the most useless feature ever. If you are close enough to the car to turn it on, it doesn't have time to work by the time you click the button and finish walking to the car.
Heated seats is the only thing on this list I'll agree with- I sought out a car specifically with them. I don't have cooled seats though. In the summer I'm just hot. It has bluetooth also and I use it, but I could do without it. I don't have any of the other things. (I have a backup camera, and I like it, but its not what they define as a "good" one.)
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My car has BlueTooth, and I paired it with my phone once when I first got the car, but it seemed like a PITA, so I haven't bothered, but then I'm rarely in my car for more than 20 minutes at a stretch. It might be good if I had a stupid hour long commute or something. If I want to listen to Pandora off my phone, I just use the AUX cable. I do love having that feature and wish my
15 16 year old truck had one, but I have an adapter that goes in the tape deck. Yep, an AUX port is about the only improvement I'd put on my old truck, so I guess I'm not a good target market for all the luxury bells and whistles being added to vehicles.
How do these cretins live without an air conditioned steering wheel?
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You know what sucks about keys for newer cars these days? At least, the ones where you don't have a physical key, just a fob that needs to be in the car and you push a button to start the engine?
Replacement keys are expensive. My friends have had this problem.
Meanwhile I can walk into a home Depot and get my car key copied for a couple bucks.
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My car is 25 years old and, as far as I can tell, has almost nothing electrical farther back than the dash (other than the taillights and the battery, which is in the trunk). No power windows, power door locks, no motorized convertible top, etc. It doesn't even have ABS or a passenger airbag. The two luxuries it does have are air conditioning (which is needed in Georgia) and power steering (which was optional on this model, and which I almost wish I didn't have because it's not necessary).
I have to admit, there are two luxuries I do want: I've been considering replacing the stereo for one that I can hook my phone to. (I'd use a cassette adapter, but the cassette player doesn't work.) I also wouldn't mind having cruise control.
Yeah, my fear when I get a different car (hopefully in a decade) is that these features will be available in most models I look for.
I've already decided that I probably won't buy any car made after 2005 or so because they have too damn much computerized nanny shit. The last thing I need is my car deciding it knows better than I do about how to drive! It's like the damned Audi in "I, Robot" (you know, the scene in the movie where the car tries to murder Will Smith while the computer voice says "you are experiencing an accident"). And tracking my driving (like most new cars do) (http://www.businessinsider.com/ford-exec-gps-2014-1?op=1) is right the fuck out!
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My goodness!
Satellite radio - I'm not sure we have it here, but a satellite phone would be useful when you're in the outback and your car breaks down (especially if you're idiotic enough to have a spacesaver spare tyre.
Heated steering wheel!!! I'm often COMPLAINING that my steering wheel is too hot. Why on earth would you want one?
Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Heated steering wheels are nice when it's -20 outside. That being said, I've never owned a car with one.
I will say that backup cameras are awesome. Necessary? Nah. Awesome? YES. I used to have the opinion that they were silly and gimmicky and then I ended up with a vehicle that had one. It doesn't replace actually looking to see where you are going, but it helps immensely. I also do not have depth perception, which may also be a major factor in my camera appreciation.
My car is 25 years old and, as far as I can tell, has almost nothing electrical farther back than the dash (other than the taillights and the battery, which is in the trunk). No power windows, power door locks, no motorized convertible top, etc. It doesn't even have ABS or a passenger airbag. The two luxuries it does have are air conditioning (which is needed in Georgia) and power steering (which was optional on this model, and which I almost wish I didn't have because it's not necessary).
I have to admit, there are two luxuries I do want: I've been considering replacing the stereo for one that I can hook my phone to. (I'd use a cassette adapter, but the cassette player doesn't work.) I also wouldn't mind having cruise control.
Yeah, my fear when I get a different car (hopefully in a decade) is that these features will be available in most models I look for.
I've already decided that I probably won't buy any car made after 2005 or so because they have too damn much computerized nanny shit. The last thing I need is my car deciding it knows better than I do about how to drive! It's like the damned Audi in "I, Robot" (you know, the scene in the movie where the car tries to murder Will Smith while the computer voice says "you are experiencing an accident"). And tracking my driving (like most new cars do) (http://www.businessinsider.com/ford-exec-gps-2014-1?op=1) is right the fuck out!
It's probably right, though. Modern stability control and ABS systems are technological marvels.
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My goodness!
Satellite radio - I'm not sure we have it here, but a satellite phone would be useful when you're in the outback and your car breaks down (especially if you're idiotic enough to have a spacesaver spare tyre.
Heated steering wheel!!! I'm often COMPLAINING that my steering wheel is too hot. Why on earth would you want one?
Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Heated steering wheels are nice when it's -20 outside. That being said, I've never owned a car with one.
I will say that backup cameras are awesome. Necessary? Nah. Awesome? YES. I used to have the opinion that they were silly and gimmicky and then I ended up with a vehicle that had one. It doesn't replace actually looking to see where you are going, but it helps immensely. I also do not have depth perception, which may also be a major factor in my camera appreciation.
I have experienced being on the job site and trying to back up to hitch up to a 1,000 gal fuel trailer by myself. This was extremely frustrating given that it was pouring rain, the vehicle was slipping around in mud. Every time I thought I was 'there', I hopped out only to see I was a touch too far on either side. A back up cam would have been heavenly.
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We drive a 1999 and a 1992. The 1999 has no features (I did add a passenger vanity mirror at the request of my GF, so I suppose it has one feature), which means less shit can break. A/C and cruise control would be nice to have on the 1999, but I can definitely live without them. Both have newish fancy radios that can play CDs and take an auxiliary input, as both stock radios quit long ago. The 1992 has fancy features for its day (automatic transmission with overdrive, power locks, power windows, power seats, A/C, cruise control, ABS, airbag, power steering, trip meter, tachometer) and luckily none of that has broken in the past on me except the stupid power windows (and the cruise in finicky).
Meanwhile I can walk into a home Depot and get my car key copied for a couple bucks.
Careful. I had a Home Depot key break off in my ignition earlier this year, and that was a bitch to get out.
Backup cameras are "necessary" on some new cars, because new cars in general have abyssal visibility. I don't even have a passenger-side mirror on my 1999, and I can see everything just fine.
Remote start is hilariously unnecessary and wasteful for 99% of uses (and 100% of what I witness here in northern Illinois). I'd be pretty embarrassed to use something like that.
ABS/traction control/improved airbag systems are really the only upsides I see to newer cars on the feature side (obviously there are other systemic improvements that have been made such as power/efficiency, overall mechanical longevity, less frequent maintenance schedule, etc).
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My least favorite thing about newer cars is the shift over to integrated stereo/navigation/etc systems. On something older, you can upgrade a basic stereo for under 100 bucks and get auxiliary input, bluetooth, etc. Now it's not nearly as easy. :(
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Backup cameras are "necessary" on some new cars, because new cars in general have abyssal visibility.
Backup cams are pretty cheap now, and the main reason for the crap-assed rearview is improved aerodynamics that reduce operating cost via higher MPG. So... win some, lose some.
Agree that most of the other shite on these lists is utterly stupid, and I really wish it were easier to line-out such things on a new car. As is, these things are added in big trim packages that overall increase costs and add to their perception as the new normal/necessary features.
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Backup cameras are "necessary" on some new cars, because new cars in general have abyssal visibility.
Backup cams are pretty cheap now, and the main reason for the crap-assed rearview is improved aerodynamics that reduce operating cost via higher MPG. So... win some, lose some.
Agree that most of the other shite on these lists is utterly stupid, and I really wish it were easier to line-out such things on a new car. As is, these things are added in big trim packages that overall increase costs and add to their perception as the new normal/necessary features.
They're often bundled together, too. Want heated seats? Well, that requires the cold weather package with heated mirrors, heated windshield, heated wiper fluid, heavy duty battery, and $300 floormats! :P
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Remote start is hilariously unnecessary and wasteful for 99% of uses (and 100% of what I witness here in northern Illinois). I'd be pretty embarrassed to use something like that.
I don't know. Let's say you own a vehicle that either mechanically requires a warm up, or you need to warm up the interior for safety (think breath freezing on the windshield). If it's cold out and you're getting ready in the morning, you have four options:
- Remote start
- Run outside, turn on the engine, leave doors unlocked
- Drive the car cold which will add extra wear to components (if a diesel or older vehicle) or add the mentioned safety hazard
- Plan ahead to sit in the car while it warms up
I've never owned remote start. I actually know only one person who has got it installed when she moved to north dakota. I do however know people who have had their cars stolen while they were warming up.
We can take this meme of 'luxuries' to an absurd level. 'Oh my gosh, you have a block heater. you waste electricity overnight just so you can start your diesel without the risk of draining the battery. How antimustachian". We probably all draw our own lines at where frivolous luxury starts that can't be easily demarcated but we each know it when we see it.
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Speaking of cameras, I'm looking into putting cameras on my car to catch if anything crazy happens, like someone hitting me and then running. Anyone ever do so?
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My goodness!
Satellite radio - I'm not sure we have it here, but a satellite phone would be useful when you're in the outback and your car breaks down (especially if you're idiotic enough to have a spacesaver spare tyre.
Heated steering wheel!!! I'm often COMPLAINING that my steering wheel is too hot. Why on earth would you want one?
Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Heated steering wheels are nice when it's -20 outside. That being said, I've never owned a car with one.
I will say that backup cameras are awesome. Necessary? Nah. Awesome? YES. I used to have the opinion that they were silly and gimmicky and then I ended up with a vehicle that had one. It doesn't replace actually looking to see where you are going, but it helps immensely. I also do not have depth perception, which may also be a major factor in my camera appreciation.
I have experienced being on the job site and trying to back up to hitch up to a 1,000 gal fuel trailer by myself. This was extremely frustrating given that it was pouring rain, the vehicle was slipping around in mud. Every time I thought I was 'there', I hopped out only to see I was a touch too far on either side. A back up cam would have been heavenly.
Oh yeah. I guess I misspoke about my truck's features earlier. Last winter, when I was trailering my horse 3x a week, my husband bought me a hitch cam, and it is the best thing ever, especially since I have to back up at an angle to my trailer to hitch it up. So much less frustrating being able to align the hitch on the first try instead of jumping in/out 10x, so I wouldn't mind if the truck was equipped with a backup camera that would do the same thing.
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Speaking of cameras, I'm looking into putting cameras on my car to catch if anything crazy happens, like someone hitting me and then running. Anyone ever do so?
I haven't, but since I have moved to NJ I'm toying with that idea. Yesterday I watched a semi lock up the trailer and slide sideways down the highway in front of me, and then today I watched a car cross a 3 + 3 lane divided highway (55mph with a concrete barrier, through a gap in the barrier)...from one side to a parking lot (or road or something) on the other.
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Nice link. Being a semi-Luddite, which I suspect many of us here are, there are some things in that advertisement’s list which I don’t actually know what they are: Bluetooth, Apple Carplay, and Active Bolsters. There was a brief explanation or something under each photo but I avoided reading that since I don’t really have a need to know what they are or what they do. The longer I go without knowing what it does, the longer I’ll avoid creating an internal desire for that techno-wonder. I have a vague notion that Bluetooth is something to do with cellphones and with having a blinking light on the side of your face like Lobot, but other than that I don’t care.
It is a source of amusement to me when other folks’ cherished technological marvels are meaningless to me. It makes me sound a bit like Drunk Uncle, complaining about how kids these days just want you to put some organic acai berries in their Fitbit. But I feel like I’m doing something right, something Mustachian, when I have no idea what certain modern inventions do, particularly when the need to purchase them was created by a prolonged and massive marketing campaign.
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Nice link. Being a semi-Luddite, which I suspect many of us here are, there are some things in that advertisement’s list which I don’t actually know what they are: Bluetooth, Apple Carplay, and Active Bolsters. There was a brief explanation or something under each photo but I avoided reading that since I don’t really have a need to know what they are or what they do. The longer I go without knowing what it does, the longer I’ll avoid creating an internal desire for that techno-wonder. I have a vague notion that Bluetooth is something to do with cellphones and with having a blinking light on the side of your face like Lobot, but other than that I don’t care.
It is a source of amusement to me when other folks’ cherished technological marvels are meaningless to me. It makes me sound a bit like Drunk Uncle, complaining about how kids these days just want you to put some organic acai berries in their Fitbit. But I feel like I’m doing something right, something Mustachian, when I have no idea what certain modern inventions do, particularly when the need to purchase them was created by a prolonged and massive marketing campaign.
I work in the tech industry - the thought of deliberately avoiding knowledge is foreign to me, but if it works for you that's what matters! :)
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I actively avoid all of those features in my cars. They make my car heavier and thus less fuel efficient and slower than they would otherwise be without them.
Also because the people I know that have those features have turned into soft, whiny blobs since getting them.
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Argh!! I hate the "I can't live without ______," statements the world's been making lately. What sort of spoiled, decadent, exaggerating society are we living in?
Others: "I can't live without my morning Starbucks!"
Me: "You'd die of deprivation? ...Or just kill yourself? "
Others: [Blank stare.]
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They're often bundled together, too. Want heated seats? Well, that requires the cold weather package with heated mirrors, heated windshield, heated wiper fluid, heavy duty battery, and $300 floormats! :P
This is why I don't have a sunroof (a normal one, not a panorama or whatever they are called). I actually do miss having one; but I wasn't going to pay for navigation and upgraded wheel rims and whatever else came with it.
My car also came with wheel locks. Which are stupid. Any good theif can knock those right off, and it makes changing the tire a giant pain in the ass.
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Others: "I can't live without my morning Starbucks!"
Me: "You'd die of deprivation? ...Or just kill yourself? "
Others: [Blank stare.]
I hate this. "I'm starving," is one that particularly galls me. I've seen people that are literally starving and I welcome anyone that says such a thing lightly to go to parts of Africa and India where this is not uncommon and see for themselves. Perhaps then they will understand just good we have it.
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Speaking of cameras, I'm looking into putting cameras on my car to catch if anything crazy happens, like someone hitting me and then running. Anyone ever do so?
Yes, I have a dash cam.
I'm using a fairly simple one that was not too expensive. I love it.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Box-G1W-H-Hidden-Dashboard/dp/B00HMNFWYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450890674&sr=8-1&keywords=g1w-h
I basically don't trust law enforcement at all. I've had too many situations where I have been taken advantage of and I definitely believe it's cases of being profiled. So in addition to my dash cam, I also have a mount for my iPhone that I've set to be able to record me and my driver side window at the perfect angle.
Also the camera is extremely useful in accident/insurance situation.
And like most shit, here is the one I really want -
http://www.amazon.com/Blackvue-channel-dr650gw-2ch-recorder-support/dp/B00MC4XL2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450890863&sr=8-1&keywords=blackvue
Let me know if you have any questions? I think they are awesome and highly recommend them. Even in a road rage situation, it's a easy way to help settle some crazy people just by informing them there is a camera present and filming.
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Remote start is hilariously unnecessary and wasteful for 99% of uses (and 100% of what I witness here in northern Illinois). I'd be pretty embarrassed to use something like that.
I don't know. Let's say you own a vehicle that either mechanically requires a warm up, or you need to warm up the interior for safety (think breath freezing on the windshield). If it's cold out and you're getting ready in the morning, you have four options:
- Remote start
- Run outside, turn on the engine, leave doors unlocked
- Drive the car cold which will add extra wear to components (if a diesel or older vehicle) or add the mentioned safety hazard
- Plan ahead to sit in the car while it warms up
I've never owned remote start. I actually know only one person who has got it installed when she moved to north dakota. I do however know people who have had their cars stolen while they were warming up.
We can take this meme of 'luxuries' to an absurd level. 'Oh my gosh, you have a block heater. you waste electricity overnight just so you can start your diesel without the risk of draining the battery. How antimustachian". We probably all draw our own lines at where frivolous luxury starts that can't be easily demarcated but we each know it when we see it.
A block heater is very obviously necessary at times (North Dakota sounds about right). And I know diesel trucks need that sort of thing beyond a certain temperature.
The use I see of remote start is firing up the car that's been sitting in a sunny parking lot all day at 4:40 and letting it idle for 20 minutes so that the 100ft walk from the 75F office has a heat-blasting 90F car interior at the end of it after 2 minutes in the cold. It's ludicrous.
I've dealt with snow, ice, and subzero temperatures, and worst-case on an icy cold morning, I'll let the car idle while I scrape the ice off, and by the time I'm done, the defrost will have gotten to the point where it melts the rest. Best-case, I get in, allow the engine to warm up for about 20 seconds and get the blood pumping, and then go. As long as you don't do anything dumb (blast the engine and red-line shift the first few blocks), driving a cold engine is better for it (and warms it up a lot faster in terms of minutes driven) than letting it idle cold. And I know newer cars warm up a lot faster than mine do. I've never had a situation where I've had to run out and "let the car warm up" except for cranky passengers that want a nauseating amount of heat blasting in their face right away.
I'm sure there are legitimate uses for such a thing (Alaska is probably a different picture), but I don't see them here.
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My 12 year old car doesn't have a single one of those features. It somehow still manages to get me from A to B.
I was worried - I do have bluetooth, but it's a system my husband installed.
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Backup cameras are "necessary" on some new cars, because new cars in general have abyssal visibility.
Backup cams are pretty cheap now, and the main reason for the crap-assed rearview is improved aerodynamics that reduce operating cost via higher MPG. So... win some, lose some.
Agree that most of the other shite on these lists is utterly stupid, and I really wish it were easier to line-out such things on a new car. As is, these things are added in big trim packages that overall increase costs and add to their perception as the new normal/necessary features.
They're often bundled together, too. Want heated seats? Well, that requires the cold weather package with heated mirrors, heated windshield, heated wiper fluid, heavy duty battery, and $300 floormats! :P
This reminds me, several years ago I bought a new car (facepunch me later), and at the dealership they were going over all the extras it had; mud flaps, a rubber insert for the trunk, a cargo net, etc.
I told them "I don't want any of that."
They responded, "Well, we can't remove it."
Me: "Really, you can't remove a cargo net and mud flaps?"
Dealer: "Nope, it's part of the package."
Me: "Well, I'm not paying for it."
After they ran back and forth to their "manager" or whatever several times, they eventually gave in and didn't charge me for them (although let's be honest, I still probably paid for them in some way). There was also some kind of new lo-jack type system on it. I absolutely insisted it be removed as I wasn't going to pay for that, and more importantly, don't want something on my car that can be used to track me. Once again, it was something they couldn't remove. I kind of understand that one as it's likely integrated into the electronic system. I didn't pay for it either, but it annoys me that it's still there.
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Woohoo, I have bluetooth!
But I only paired it with my old phone, and never got around to pairing it with my new phone(about a year now). Plus, I generally leave bluetooth off on my phone to save battery.
Remote start is hilariously unnecessary and wasteful for 99% of uses (and 100% of what I witness here in northern Illinois). I'd be pretty embarrassed to use something like that.
I don't know. Let's say you own a vehicle that either mechanically requires a warm up, or you need to warm up the interior for safety (think breath freezing on the windshield). If it's cold out and you're getting ready in the morning, you have four options:
- Remote start
- Run outside, turn on the engine, leave doors unlocked
- Drive the car cold which will add extra wear to components (if a diesel or older vehicle) or add the mentioned safety hazard
- Plan ahead to sit in the car while it warms up
I've never owned remote start. I actually know only one person who has got it installed when she moved to north dakota. I do however know people who have had their cars stolen while they were warming up.
We can take this meme of 'luxuries' to an absurd level. 'Oh my gosh, you have a block heater. you waste electricity overnight just so you can start your diesel without the risk of draining the battery. How antimustachian". We probably all draw our own lines at where frivolous luxury starts that can't be easily demarcated but we each know it when we see it.
One feature I do love; my car has a keypad on the outside. It is actually very handy. You could use that to start your car, and then lock it while it's warming up.
The reason I like it, is for boating/floating the river. I can lock my keys in the car and not have to worry about them when I'm paddling around the lake.
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Remote start is hilariously unnecessary and wasteful for 99% of uses (and 100% of what I witness here in northern Illinois). I'd be pretty embarrassed to use something like that.
I don't know. Let's say you own a vehicle that either mechanically requires a warm up, or you need to warm up the interior for safety (think breath freezing on the windshield). If it's cold out and you're getting ready in the morning, you have four options:
- Remote start
- Run outside, turn on the engine, leave doors unlocked
- Drive the car cold which will add extra wear to components (if a diesel or older vehicle) or add the mentioned safety hazard
- Plan ahead to sit in the car while it warms up
I've never owned remote start. I actually know only one person who has got it installed when she moved to north dakota. I do however know people who have had their cars stolen while they were warming up.
We can take this meme of 'luxuries' to an absurd level. 'Oh my gosh, you have a block heater. you waste electricity overnight just so you can start your diesel without the risk of draining the battery. How antimustachian". We probably all draw our own lines at where frivolous luxury starts that can't be easily demarcated but we each know it when we see it.
A block heater is very obviously necessary at times (North Dakota sounds about right). And I know diesel trucks need that sort of thing beyond a certain temperature.
The use I see of remote start is firing up the car that's been sitting in a sunny parking lot all day at 4:40 and letting it idle for 20 minutes so that the 100ft walk from the 75F office has a heat-blasting 90F car interior at the end of it after 2 minutes in the cold. It's ludicrous.
I've dealt with snow, ice, and subzero temperatures, and worst-case on an icy cold morning, I'll let the car idle while I scrape the ice off, and by the time I'm done, the defrost will have gotten to the point where it melts the rest. Best-case, I get in, allow the engine to warm up for about 20 seconds and get the blood pumping, and then go. As long as you don't do anything dumb (blast the engine and red-line shift the first few blocks), driving a cold engine is better for it (and warms it up a lot faster in terms of minutes driven) than letting it idle cold. And I know newer cars warm up a lot faster than mine do. I've never had a situation where I've had to run out and "let the car warm up" except for cranky passengers that want a nauseating amount of heat blasting in their face right away.
I'm sure there are legitimate uses for such a thing (Alaska is probably a different picture), but I don't see them here.
True. Direct injection vehicles are better served by driving slowly rather than idling.
I've thought about it and remote start on a direct injection gas engine has only one advantage. Heating up the windshield and cab.
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I think this is why I don't want a new car. Maybe ever. I just don't want more shit that breaks, and teaches me to be soft.
Heated steering wheel? I have one of those. It's called a pair of gloves.
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^ LOL!
On cold mornings I find it entertaining to count the number of empty cars w/ motors running as I'm headed to work- on my bike.
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One feature I do love; my car has a keypad on the outside. It is actually very handy. You could use that to start your car, and then lock it while it's warming up.
The reason I like it, is for boating/floating the river. I can lock my keys in the car and not have to worry about them when I'm paddling around the lake.
I would love that, it will be on my next car! I constantly want to be able to go somewhere like boating or swimming without worrying about my keys.
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One feature I do love; my car has a keypad on the outside. It is actually very handy. You could use that to start your car, and then lock it while it's warming up.
The reason I like it, is for boating/floating the river. I can lock my keys in the car and not have to worry about them when I'm paddling around the lake.
I would love that, it will be on my next car! I constantly want to be able to go somewhere like boating or swimming without worrying about my keys.
Or when you're the parent of a newborn, sleep-deprived, juggling shopping bags and a newborn and exhaustion and snow and ice and you manage to lock the keys in the car.
Twice.
Hypothetically.
(After the first time, I learned how to jigger open my car door, and I'm slightly disturbed at how easy it was.)
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One feature I do love; my car has a keypad on the outside. It is actually very handy. You could use that to start your car, and then lock it while it's warming up.
The reason I like it, is for boating/floating the river. I can lock my keys in the car and not have to worry about them when I'm paddling around the lake.
I would love that, it will be on my next car! I constantly want to be able to go somewhere like boating or swimming without worrying about my keys.
Or when you're the parent of a newborn, sleep-deprived, juggling shopping bags and a newborn and exhaustion and snow and ice and you manage to lock the keys in the car.
Twice.
Hypothetically.
(After the first time, I learned how to jigger open my car door, and I'm slightly disturbed at how easy it was.)
We probably all draw our own lines at where frivolous luxury starts that can't be easily demarcated but we each know it when we see it.
Just wanted to bring it up again. I see the keypad as not necessary because I use magnet key holders. Even if I had a keypad, I'd use a magnet just to have the spare key in a bind. But I won't hate on branman42 because I like things in vehicles that are frivolous to others.
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I love my good lumbar support. I miss my heated seats, but things break in old cars. Bluetooth would be nice, but that and a functional heated seat are all I would get if I spent thousands of dollars to replace my old car. The rest? Meh.
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
I'm guessing within a few decades they will be a safety feature on most cars.
I have heated seats and satellite in this car as well, and yeah, those are nice but pure luxuries. It was a used car that already had the features.
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I personally would install a bluetooth system in any car that didn't have one. It's pretty easy to do yourself. In fact, I did it to my Prius, for a grand total cost of $100. Most of the rest of this is crap, though. A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
I'm guessing within a few decades they will be a safety feature on most cars.
I have heated seats and satellite in this car as well, and yeah, those are nice but pure luxuries. It was a used car that already had the features.
Actually, they're required by May, 2018, and it seems they're coming standard on many cars now. They're pretty useful for backing out of tight parking lots, but I can see how easy it would be to focus on the camera and say, sideswipe a car or a lamp post that was just out of the camera's view.
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I've always resisted having stuff like that, where it's all too easy to get spoiled and not know how to drive without it. I guess if we get to the point where 100% of cars have them, that will cease to be an issue.
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I love the logic of "since so many cars don't come with an auxiliary cable, hooking it up via bluetooth is extremely useful."
So basically, you're okay with spending hundreds of extra dollars because you can't be bothered to get an aux cable for $5. The worst part is I know people who would nod along with this sentiment haha.
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I don't even know what some of these things mean .... active bolster seats, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, blah, blah, huh?
Although I got a remote car starter on my car a couple years ago for Christmas. Best thing ever. I think it costs $100 + installation. I feel like a freaking queen being able to warm my car up from the house window!
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I don't even know what some of these things mean .... active bolster seats, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, blah, blah, huh?
Although I got a remote car starter on my car a couple years ago for Christmas. Best thing ever. I think it costs $100 + installation. I feel like a freaking queen being able to warm my car up from the house window!
I do miss the remote starter. The good part about going outside to defrost my car is it makes me second guess whether I really want to drive vs. just bike.
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A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
Whilst the price of built in nav may be extortionate when compared to using your phone, it does has some advantages such as: vehicle mounted GPS - the signal to your phone is drastically reduced when inside your car due to the Faraday cage effect of the vehicle, and use of dead reckoning - if you're in a tunnel and GPS signal is lost the car nav can count the wheel rotations and work out an accurate location based on that.
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They're often bundled together, too. Want heated seats? Well, that requires the cold weather package with heated mirrors, heated windshield, heated wiper fluid, heavy duty battery, and $300 floormats! :P
My wife's last new car purchase was a Saturn, ~15 years ago. She wanted a CD player, but they wouldn't sell it to her without power locks and windows.
We decided FM was good enough.
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I love the logic of "since so many cars don't come with an auxiliary cable, hooking it up via bluetooth is extremely useful."
So basically, you're okay with spending hundreds of extra dollars because you can't be bothered to get an aux cable for $5. The worst part is I know people who would nod along with this sentiment haha.
My car doesn't have a place to plug an auxiliary cable in. A $5 cable won't do you much good there.
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I personally would install a bluetooth system in any car that didn't have one. It's pretty easy to do yourself. In fact, I did it to my Prius, for a grand total cost of $100. Most of the rest of this is crap, though. A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
Plus nav systems in some newer cars won't allow you to manipulate them while the car is moving. I know it's done as a safety issue, but what's the use of a nav system if you can't do updates while you're moving?
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I personally would install a bluetooth system in any car that didn't have one. It's pretty easy to do yourself. In fact, I did it to my Prius, for a grand total cost of $100. Most of the rest of this is crap, though. A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
Plus nav systems in some newer cars won't allow you to manipulate them while the car is moving. I know it's done as a safety issue, but what's the use of a nav system if you can't do updates while you're moving?
Also, if you have a passenger who is perfectly capable of entering data whilst you're driving. Maybe they sense whether someone is sat next to you or not.
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So how much do I have to pay to get my car to do things that my phone already does by using my phone to do them?
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My goodness!
Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Sorry, but I strongly disagree with this one. They are becoming a mandatory safety feature on U.S. vehicles for good reason. That being, they work incredibly well. Our three year old CRV has one, and it is one hell of a safety upgrade. If I'm parked in a lot, and boxed in with a van and a mega-SUV on either side, I can back up slowly, until the back of my vehicle is just a few inches past the visual obstructions, and be rewarded with a 180 degree camera view of traffic coming from both directions. Without the camera, this task is often done by slowly backing and hoping it will all work out. Using all the mirrors and the camera, there is literally nothing that you will strike while backing up, since you "didn't see it". It is also easy to safely back into a parking spot, will being nearly perfectly centered within the painted lines, and stop within an inch of touching a pole, or wall, behind the vehicle. At this point, I wouldn't want another vehicle without one.
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If I'm parked in a lot, and boxed in with a van and a mega-SUV on either side, I can back up slowly, until the back of my vehicle is just a few inches past the visual obstructions, and be rewarded with a 180 degree camera view of traffic coming from both directions.
This. I had my doubts about back-up cameras, but now that we have one, this one scenario makes me love it.
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I agree that everything on the list is unnecessary; however, I'll comment on two of the items:
- We rented a car with a backup camera last summer. Loved it.
- You can buy an after-market automatic start for not much over $100, making it an affordable luxury. If I lived in a cold area and had to deal with ice and snow on a regular basis, I'd spring for it.
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Just throw my opinion in for a little balance.
The backup camera on my vehicle is a worthless trinket. The screen too small to really see anything.
But the worst part is, it actually distracts you from looking around. I used it a couple times when I first got the car, but quickly determined it didn't provide any benefit to me.
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My 2007 Chevy has none of these features and somehow, I have survived.
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I have never heard of almost half of these things! :)
A cooled steering wheel would probably be popular here in Australia, but most people will probably just stick with putting a beach towel over their steering wheel when they aren't driving, or putting one of those silver sunshades up inside their windscreen.
I do wish our car had better lumbar support. We do quite a bit of long distance driving over the course of a year and my back just aches.
We rented a car while on holidays. Actually, I rented a more basic car that suited our needs and we got a free upgrade to a huge, black Prado (we called it "The Beast"), as that was what they had there on the day. It was the biggest car I've ever driven. I was quite nervous, driving a large, unknown car on busy, unknown roads - my first time driving in a foreign country. Anyway, it had heated seats. I only noticed it the first time I sat in it.
We do have a reversing camera. It is really helpful for my husband. He has never been good at reverse parking and it makes it much more manageable for him. For me, I love that I can get into even tighter spots and can get out more easily when someone parks me in.
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I actually enjoy not having all these frivolous features. I do drive an unnecessary sports car with no storage space though. It is funny that it has the push button start, but you have to put the key in and turn it to the on position to start it, making it essentially one extra step.
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I actually enjoy not having all these frivolous features. I do drive an unnecessary sports car with no storage space though. It is funny that it has the push button start, but you have to put the key in and turn it to the on position to start it, making it essentially one extra step.
Plus you really have to do the count down and ... ignition ... before pressing the button - which takes even more time
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My goodness!
Heated steering wheel!!! I'm often COMPLAINING that my steering wheel is too hot. Why on earth would you want one?
Why you ask? Because some people live in areas where it is cold outside and I don't like to drive with gloves. My last car had this feature and it was great and thanks to my GF I now I have a heated steering wheel again thanks to after market steering wheel cover for less than $30. It is awesome. I wouldn't add it as a feature in a car for $$$ but for $30 it is definitely worth it to me.
To each their own, but I would say to not knock it until you try it.
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
Try riding with some young kids that first cars came with these backup cams. They don't even look out of the windows or anything. They just stare at the screen and backup, WTF.
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
Try riding with some young kids that first cars came with these backup cams. They don't even look out of the windows or anything. They just stare at the screen and backup, WTF.
That does sound scary....and stupid. But just because youngsters without their full frontal lobe development use them incorrectly doesn't mean that it isn't helpful technology that has the potential to increase safety.
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Try riding with some young kids that first cars came with these backup cams. They don't even look out of the windows or anything. They just stare at the screen and backup, WTF.
Same with these new fangled speedometers - kids today don't even try and count the telegraph poles going past
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Over the course of a year my wife or I will need to rent a car for a business trip and we'll get "treated" with all the high end extras that a car/minivan comes with now. We use it as a long term test drive - what is really important of all these gadgets?
Its entertaining for a day or so of the work trip but most of it wouldn't be that big a deal beyond a couple of weeks when the "new" wore off. I did like the 24 mpg the big minivan I rented got when our smallish CUV only gets 25 mpg. Things have improved in that category.
We're driving a '99 grocery-getter with the "basic" luxuries and even after all this time it has just the features I want in a car - except a sunroof. Wish it had a huge sunroof. And that I could buy it new again. Still serves us well.
Stereo: both factory head units have worn out in our '99 cars. Bought a mid-range stereo with HD Radio, USB jack and aux-in jack. Those are "musts" now. Was $130 retail off-the-shelf.
The other factory head units in our car went out a couple of months ago and I bought the top of the line Pioneer headunit: bluetooth, HD radio and aux-in jack, and USB input. A bit of bargain hunting got it for the same ~$140 or so as the first lesser headunit. The bluetooth is neat. I pair once and when I get in the car, it connects. Same with my wife's iPod. My $30 Android phone has a case that doesn't give enough room for the aux cable to plug into the phone. If this was a big deal then modifying the case would a priority using my pocket knife.
I'll run both stereos until they are worn out in 15 years. I have installed all my own stereos over the years and moved nice ones from one car to another.
Remote-starter: BiL told me about their minivan starting spontaneously in the garage one night. Could have pushed carbon monoxide into the house.
Tracking device: Lo-Jack? Amounts to a cellphone size box they hide in the car with a power lead and an antenna lead. Easy to remove if you can find it. Probably under the back seat or under the package tray if your car is a sedan.
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
Try riding with some young kids that first cars came with these backup cams. They don't even look out of the windows or anything. They just stare at the screen and backup, WTF.
That does sound scary....and stupid. But just because youngsters without their full frontal lobe development use them incorrectly doesn't mean that it isn't helpful technology that has the potential to increase safety.
OK I looked it up. I was not correct - I remembered it wrongly. The cameras BY THEMSELVES improve performance in the tests - about 59% of the stationary dummy toddlers got run over in the tests. When the cameras AND reversing sensors were in use 75% got run over. When the car had only reversing sensors 96% were run over. When the car had neither 100% got run over. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/2/1
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I love a lot of new gadgets like this. All the broken "must have" features will drive down the prices of used vehicles later.
The radio in my truck has been broken for at least 6 months. I have 3 car stereos sitting on the shelf taken out of cars I've junked, but I don't care enough to fix it yet since I don't have any long road trips planned. I also don't have a data plan, so it's not like I'm listening to my phone.
Most people are a bunch of whiners that are incapable of minor inconvenience for more than a few moments. They remind me of my toddler.
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I love a lot of new gadgets like this. All the broken "must have" features will drive down the prices of used vehicles later.
The problem with this line of thinking is that, in many cases, all those mega-dollar bells and whistles are just fine, long after they have any impact on resale. In my homebuilding business, I once bought a used 3/4 ton Suburban for heavy towing needs. They were pretty rare, compared to the zillions of used 1/2 tons available, and many I found were already owned by contractors, who had obviously abused them, or government agencies that ordered them totally stripped, and bolted all sorts of strange stuff to them, inside and out. I ended up with a loaded to the max rig, traded at a Mercedes dealer, in big money horse country. The thing was immaculate, and full of really off the chart options, I paid roughly 1/3rd of the original invoice for it, with less than 40K and five years old. After three years of beating it like rented mule the only things that failed were the after market entertainment bits, like the TVs that dropped out of the ceiling and the DVD player. Other than that it was like a leather clad limo hidden in a big, ugly station wagon body.
Bottom line in that case? Silly options are fun, if you didn't end up paying more for them.
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My 14 year old truck has none of these and has hand rolled up windows (OMG!).
I have no desire to get rid of it.
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A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
Whilst the price of built in nav may be extortionate when compared to using your phone, it does has some advantages such as: vehicle mounted GPS - the signal to your phone is drastically reduced when inside your car due to the Faraday cage effect of the vehicle, and use of dead reckoning - if you're in a tunnel and GPS signal is lost the car nav can count the wheel rotations and work out an accurate location based on that.
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Really??? REALLY???
I don't know what kind of car tunnels you drive thru, but ALL the ones I've been in just let you drive straight thru them. Just follow the tunnel. You know you are in the tunnel, what else do you need to know about your location that a half minute to two minutes of time in the tunnel will hide from you?
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Backing Cameras - studies have shown that there are more injuries to people from cars WITH the cameras than WITHOUT. They are NO GOOD
Citation? I won't believe it until I see it. We have a back-up camera on our newer car, and with little kids in the neighborhood, including my own, I find it invaluable. They are so short that you can't possibly see them if they are standing directly behind your car. I believe one saved my preschooler's life a few years back - or my screaming at the top of my lungs for the car to stop did. I'm not sure which.
I'm guessing within a few decades they will be a safety feature on most cars.
I have heated seats and satellite in this car as well, and yeah, those are nice but pure luxuries. It was a used car that already had the features.
Backup cameras are effectively required by law starting with model year 2016 2018, with a phase in of 10% in 2016 and 40% in 2017.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2014/NHTSA+Announces+Final+Rule+Requiring+Rear+Visibility+Technology
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These features were not available in our paid in full 2004 car. I managed to live without these for 200k worth of miles. Should not be a problem moving forward.
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A nav costs $1000-2000 in a new car, and can be replaced by a $40 car phone holder.
Whilst the price of built in nav may be extortionate when compared to using your phone, it does has some advantages such as: vehicle mounted GPS - the signal to your phone is drastically reduced when inside your car due to the Faraday cage effect of the vehicle, and use of dead reckoning - if you're in a tunnel and GPS signal is lost the car nav can count the wheel rotations and work out an accurate location based on that.
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Really??? REALLY???
I don't know what kind of car tunnels you drive thru, but ALL the ones I've been in just let you drive straight thru them. Just follow the tunnel. You know you are in the tunnel, what else do you need to know about your location that a half minute to two minutes of time in the tunnel will hide from you?
But... but... you'll get the annoying lady telling you that you've lost satellite reception!
You just don't get it, do you? [/sarcasm]
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Pre-mustache, I had a 1999 Volvo C70 convertible. Pretty frickin' fancypants. It had all the features available at the time. You know what's really nice? A crisp fall day, sunny but cool, and the leaves are changing. Drop the top, crank the heat, turn on the heated seats and enjoy. Ahhhh.
With all the fancy features that car had, the one I miss most is the heated mirrors. Around here, freezing rain can be an issue, and the heated mirrors meant vastly improved rearward visibility. Apart from that, I could take or leave most features in the car. Although, when everything was working right (it was in the shop all the time) the car was really nice.
Today I drive a little 2012 Chev Sonic. Its the middle model, not the 'fully loaded' one. It cost me $8,000 used, one year old and was basically new when I bought it. Funny thing is, apart from the heated mirriors and convertible top, it has all the features that the fancy-pants Volvo did. Amazing how feature creep works, isn't it. The one feature I'd add to this car is the rearward camera - blind spots have grown, and any visibility is a good thing. But If I wanted the camera that badly, I could get one aftermarket.
For those asking about dashcams... check here (http://www.dx.com/s/dashboard+camera). Some cheapies work just fine if all you need is evidence. If you want to post up youtube vids, you may want something better.
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Pre-mustache, I had a 1999 Volvo C70 convertible. Pretty frickin' fancypants. It had all the features available at the time. You know what's really nice? A crisp fall day, sunny but cool, and the leaves are changing. Drop the top, crank the heat, turn on the heated seats and enjoy. Ahhhh.
I drive a '90 Miata and get the same experience, minus the heated seats. Better handling and cheaper than a C70, too. ; )
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Is it possible to remove the display part, or make the new whizbang gadget turn itself off when you're not actually in reverse? I couldn't stand driving with a television in sight. It's bad enough when my passenger fiddles with their phone while I'm driving.
One of the reasons I don't like electronic devices in cars is because electronic things that are physically close to me tend to break if I have a strong emotion or get upset. I can't wear a wristwatch, for example, and every single one of my vehicles has had weird electronic trouble except a 1963 Dodge Fargo.
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With all the fancy features that car had, the one I miss most is the heated mirrors. Around here, freezing rain can be an issue, and the heated mirrors meant vastly improved rearward visibility.
Must be a Volvo thing. I drove a '96 Volvo 850 wagon for a while and it had heated mirrors. That was quite nice in the winter to improve visibility.
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Is it possible to remove the display part, or make the new whizbang gadget turn itself off when you're not actually in reverse? I couldn't stand driving with a television in sight. It's bad enough when my passenger fiddles with their phone while I'm driving.
One of the reasons I don't like electronic devices in cars is because electronic things that are physically close to me tend to break if I have a strong emotion or get upset. I can't wear a wristwatch, for example, and every single one of my vehicles has had weird electronic trouble except a 1963 Dodge Fargo.
On every car I've driven with the rear view camera it only shows up when you're in reverse. The rest of the time it's the entertainment / nav / map / settings display. In addition, every car with a map screen that I've ever driven will lock the touchscreen out after ~3 clicks in a minute while the car is in motion. Only for the map, though. If you switch back to radio settings it'll let you hit it however much you want.
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You can have heated seats installed after-market (or buy a kit and DIY). That was my one and only requirement when we bought a new-to-us car last month (other than the standards of good condition, price, and highly fuel efficient) - either it has heated seats or we install them. They make winter in MN far more pleasant. And they are great for NOT letting the car idle to heat up. You can get going before the heat is fully on without freezing.
Note: prior to this I was driving a car that wouldn't produce heat until you had been driving for at least 20 minutes. I bundled up and kept a blanket in the car, but it was miserable.
I feel like the more technology is integrated into cars the harder they are to maintain. Everything is controlled by a computer, which you can't fix on your own. I try to keep cars fairly simple.
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With all the fancy features that car had, the one I miss most is the heated mirrors. Around here, freezing rain can be an issue, and the heated mirrors meant vastly improved rearward visibility.
Must be a Volvo thing. I drove a '96 Volvo 850 wagon for a while and it had heated mirrors. That was quite nice in the winter to improve visibility.
Same here - 2001 S80 in NH - excellent heating including mirrors and heated leather seats.
Not quite as useful in Florida but its only got 150k on it - way too new to change up...
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With all the fancy features that car had, the one I miss most is the heated mirrors. Around here, freezing rain can be an issue, and the heated mirrors meant vastly improved rearward visibility.
Must be a Volvo thing. I drove a '96 Volvo 850 wagon for a while and it had heated mirrors. That was quite nice in the winter to improve visibility.
That's what happens when your car is designed by engineers who live through Swedish winters. Volvo's HQ is at 57°N latitude, which is almost as far North as Juneau, Alaska.
I feel like the more technology is integrated into cars the harder they are to maintain. Everything is controlled by a computer, which you can't fix on your own. I try to keep cars fairly simple.
In some cases you can, but it takes a different set of skills than traditional mechanic stuff. Also, the DRM (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/drm-cars-will-drive-consumers-crazy) doesn't help...
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I love the "steering wheel warmers and command starts what a waste" comments. People are amazed by the fact that cold places exist.
Several days a year here it gets colder than -40 deg. One cannot just drive away here at that temp without doing damage to the engine/transmission. When it is below -40 it is very nice to be able to use your automatic garage door opener, open the garage door, and start the car from the comfort of your house. Heated steering wheel are great, at -40 even with gloves your hands can get cold until the car is warmed.
Now neither of these are necessity, for sure, but both inexpensive luxury that greatly improves winter here.
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
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I hate a regular sunroof. Makes the car hotter and blinds you during part of the day. A panoramic sunroof sounds like hell.
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I hate a regular sunroof. Makes the car hotter and blinds you during part of the day. A panoramic sunroof sounds like hell.
I have a sunroof over the back seat in our 1992 Buick Roadmaster Wagon. The previous owner called it the "kid cooker." He wasn't too far off.
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I am tempted to place a deposit on a Tesla Model 3....
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
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I hate a regular sunroof. Makes the car hotter and blinds you during part of the day. A panoramic sunroof sounds like hell.
Three out of four vehicles I've owned with sunroofs had shades. The fourth did when it was new (1986), but it wasn't there anymore by the time I had it. The other three were integrated into the roof.
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I hate a regular sunroof. Makes the car hotter and blinds you during part of the day. A panoramic sunroof sounds like hell.
Three out of four vehicles I've owned with sunroofs had shades. The fourth did when it was new (1986), but it wasn't there anymore by the time I had it. The other three were integrated into the roof.
Sunroofs are great until they become rain roofs.
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
WOW, tape player!! And you have low miles so you have a few more years to go on your car (maybe a decade)!
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Is it bad if my 4.5 year old car is the model for one of the features in the article? It's got 3 of the mentioned features, one of them is Satellite Radio, which I do not subscribe to so it essentially doesn't have the feature. I'm also not sure the panoramic sunroof is frivolous. That SHIT IS AWESOME and makes me enjoy when I have to drive so much more. Bluetooth..could take it or leave it, but it's handy.
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I too don't have any of these features in my car.
But as a Devil's advocate, they do say
You don't need any of these luxuries to drive a car. But once you get used to having them, you can't imagine driving without them.
So if you've never had a car with any of those features (like myself and I assume most of those who have participated in the thread so far) their assertion doesn't apply to you.
I've driven rental cars with many of these features. They were nice, but I wouldn't pay extra for them, and I currently drive a car with none of them.
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I too don't have any of these features in my car.
But as a Devil's advocate, they do say
You don't need any of these luxuries to drive a car. But once you get used to having them, you can't imagine driving without them.
So if you've never had a car with any of those features (like myself and I assume most of those who have participated in the thread so far) their assertion doesn't apply to you.
I've driven rental cars with many of these features. They were nice, but I wouldn't pay extra for them, and I currently drive a car with none of them.
I don't really think renting cars with these features qualifies as getting used to having them.
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I too don't have any of these features in my car.
But as a Devil's advocate, they do say
You don't need any of these luxuries to drive a car. But once you get used to having them, you can't imagine driving without them.
So if you've never had a car with any of those features (like myself and I assume most of those who have participated in the thread so far) their assertion doesn't apply to you.
I've driven rental cars with many of these features. They were nice, but I wouldn't pay extra for them, and I currently drive a car with none of them.
I don't really think renting cars with these features qualifies as getting used to having them.
I'm talking about extended business trips where I drove the car for months at a time.
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
Dangit, you pre-emptively one-upped me! My '95 Corolla (205k miles) still has the stock tape deck, too. I got a tape adapter, so I can use my phone with it.
One thing I think would be cool would be a bluetooth-enabled, battery-powered cassette adapter.
EDIT: heh, it exists! (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Cassette-Adapter-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B00I3YLHAC)
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
Dangit, you pre-emptively one-upped me! My '95 Corolla (205k miles) still has the stock tape deck, too. I got a tape adapter, so I can use my phone with it.
One thing I think would be cool would be a bluetooth-enabled, battery-powered cassette adapter.
EDIT: heh, it exists! (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Cassette-Adapter-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B00I3YLHAC)
Buy for an extra 10 dollars you can have the whole head unit.
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Digital-Receiver-TurnRaise-Controller/dp/B015XQUNXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1461084621&sr=1-1&keywords=bluetooth+car+stereo+receiver
Not sure why this is considered some huge expensive luxury.
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I too don't have any of these features in my car.
But as a Devil's advocate, they do say
You don't need any of these luxuries to drive a car. But once you get used to having them, you can't imagine driving without them.
So if you've never had a car with any of those features (like myself and I assume most of those who have participated in the thread so far) their assertion doesn't apply to you.
I've driven rental cars with many of these features. They were nice, but I wouldn't pay extra for them, and I currently drive a car with none of them.
I don't really think renting cars with these features qualifies as getting used to having them.
I'm talking about extended business trips where I drove the car for months at a time.
So congrats, you avoided consumerism. As we should all be doing.
What do you want from me, a sticker?
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
Dangit, you pre-emptively one-upped me! My '95 Corolla (205k miles) still has the stock tape deck, too. I got a tape adapter, so I can use my phone with it.
One thing I think would be cool would be a bluetooth-enabled, battery-powered cassette adapter.
EDIT: heh, it exists! (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Cassette-Adapter-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B00I3YLHAC)
Buy for an extra 10 dollars you can have the whole head unit.
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Digital-Receiver-TurnRaise-Controller/dp/B015XQUNXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1461084621&sr=1-1&keywords=bluetooth+car+stereo+receiver
Yup, and you can get it for a few bucks less on ebay!
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So congrats, you avoided consumerism. As we should all be doing.
What do you want from me, a sticker?
lol
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
1993 Toyota Previa with 145K miles. *sniff* Your CD player is making my tape deck feel inferior! ;)
Dangit, you pre-emptively one-upped me! My '95 Corolla (205k miles) still has the stock tape deck, too. I got a tape adapter, so I can use my phone with it.
One thing I think would be cool would be a bluetooth-enabled, battery-powered cassette adapter.
EDIT: heh, it exists! (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Cassette-Adapter-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B00I3YLHAC)
Buy for an extra 10 dollars you can have the whole head unit.
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Digital-Receiver-TurnRaise-Controller/dp/B015XQUNXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1461084621&sr=1-1&keywords=bluetooth+car+stereo+receiver
Not sure why this is considered some huge expensive luxury.
...but then I'd have to upgrade my iPod 4th gen/clickwheel (circa 2004 20GB monochrome, baby!). Never hooking up my phone, since I can think of nothing I want LESS than to let my clients reach me in the car. It's the last remaining place where I can claim unreachability. (Sooooooo sorry, couldn't hear anything over the road noise! *turns radio up higher*). Someday I'll have to swap out the cassette-radio for the replacement cd-radio from the last work van (identical to this one) so I have a display I can read instead of working from memorized buttons. And go wild and splurge on a new antenna. :)
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WOW, tape player!! And you have low miles so you have a few more years to go on your car (maybe a decade)!
At 9K miles a year, I'm pretty sure they're going to stop making replacement parts before the van itself dies. My first on (1991) went to 240K before I traded it in, the second (1993) died young at 180K, and I've already lectured this one on making it past 200K. (The flaming money pit from Honda in between was sent to be stripped for parts, gleefully, at 135K).
Damn it, now I'm actually going to have to get out a cassette tape that I hate and find out if the tape portion actually works. As soon as I pick the dog hair out of the little flap...
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So congrats, you avoided consumerism. As we should all be doing.
What do you want from me, a sticker?
lol
Stickers cost money. Anyone caught giving them out over the interwebs loses their tightwad cred.
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So congrats, you avoided consumerism. As we should all be doing.
What do you want from me, a sticker?
lol
Stickers cost money. Anyone caught giving them out over the interwebs loses their tightwad cred.
Tightwads can just save the PLU stickers from supermarket produce for these occasions.
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So congrats, you avoided consumerism. As we should all be doing.
What do you want from me, a sticker?
lol
Stickers cost money. Anyone caught giving them out over the interwebs loses their tightwad cred.
Tightwads can just save the PLU stickers from supermarket produce for these occasions.
Hahaha
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I love a lot of new gadgets like this. All the broken "must have" features will drive down the prices of used vehicles later.
The radio in my truck has been broken for at least 6 months. I have 3 car stereos sitting on the shelf taken out of cars I've junked, but I don't care enough to fix it yet since I don't have any long road trips planned. I also don't have a data plan, so it's not like I'm listening to my phone.
Most people are a bunch of whiners that are incapable of minor inconvenience for more than a few moments. They remind me of my toddler.
Yeha - we don't stream via a phone either. My pay-as-you-go plan has just enough data access to let me check my mail a couple of times per month.
What we do have though are digital copies of our favorite CDs (some decades old now) on the phone or memory stick for a jukebox effect. Great having a generic USB connection for the memory stick and not just a stereo that will only stream Apple music. I hate vendor lock in.
FWIW I convert the music via a free Linux program called k3B or another Clementine or another KStreamRipper. All free. Pick you favorite codecs. I use OGG 129K.
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1998 Camry with 234k miles and I still use CDs (*gasp) because I'm too cheap and or lazy to get Bluetooth in it. Every year for the past 4 (I had her for 11 yrs) I've said I would upgrade car, but it still runs fine so......
Oh I get that. We're in a similar situation with our '99s. Fix 'em and keep driving. Its timing belt time this week. I'll finish it after work tonight. Saved ~$350.