OK, I need to get some things off my chest. Let me know if you agree with me on any of these things. I've driven lots of different cars from different eras and all I can say is that the interiors are getting worse and worse. My main gripe is that it takes so much time to operate all the different controls. They have gotten more complicated for no reason. Like BMW's I-drive, why the F would you want to control everything from one knob? How can you drive when you are scrolling through menus! My main gripes Climate Control - Automatic climate control systems are a pain in the butt. Everytime you roll down the window to talk or grab a ticket the AC fan speeds up so you have to manually turn it down so you can talk. Why not just have a knob, its much easier and faster. I used one with buttons the other day and you have to wait a second after you push the button for the unit to react. It drove me crazy. Radio Controls - What's with all the unique stereos in modern cars? What do you do when the cd player breaks? Spend $800 on a new factory unit? What was wrong with one knob for volume and one to tune? It takes much longer to turn down a button radio than it would to just twist a knob. Its dangerous when you think you hear sirens and need to turn the volume down quickly without taking your eyes off the road. And its much harder to hit the "mute" button when you are trying to watch the road. Modern stereo manufactues like to put a bunch of small buttons right next to the volume control so you can hit them by mistake. Leather only - How come I can't get a new Hemi Magnum, Mercedes or BMW with cloth? Ok, the temps in my area only go between 37-97 but I still hate how leather is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. You would think that more manufactures would offer air conditioned seats. Leather is supposed to be classy, but how classy do you look with a wet sweaty back. Cheap door panels - You would think they could be just a little more creative and use more than one or two colors/materials. Rear windows that don't roll down on 2-doors - If I can't have a pillarless coupe can I at least roll down the rear windows. I always feel clausterphobic in the back of a 2-door. Gauges that full-sweep, then start working- I want to know my oil pressure when I start the car, not 10 seconds after I start it. Center Consoles- Ok, they have their uses but bench seats are much better for dating. Plus, i can put my backpack on the passenger seat and not have to worry about it getting tangled on the parking brake when I grab it and exit the car. And what about all the crap that falls between the seats. Finally, whats the point of a front wheel drive car with a huge center console. A big selling point of the old cars was that you don't have a huge hump in the floor. Now they just put a console there. Bells and whistles - Do I really need a headlight reminder alarm? Why not just make them turn off when you turn the key off? After 100 years of building cars we are only now seeing more cars with this feature. The door alarm drives me crazy too, I know my door is open, shut up! Seat belt reminders - Do you ever forget to put it on and remember when you hear the bell? I didn't think so, get rid of it.
Tom, I agree with you 110%. Especially where the need for old fashioned knobs are concerned. We always knew, no matter what kind of car we drove, where the volume knob was......on the left. And they rotated counter-clockwise to go off. Everytime I get into a strange car to move it or whatever, the stereo is blasting and it takes 5 minutes to figure out how to turn the @#&^* thing off, or at least down. I agree with you on the seat belt and and key in ignition warnings also, I tuned them out 25 years ago and still lock my keys in the car no matter how loud it beeps. And if you are working inside the car with the door open that beep will drive you CRAZY!:af: Try driving our Tempo, the automatic seatbelt will strangle you if you open the door to look out while you are going in reverse. I hate that car!! :rant:
I also agree with this except that I stopped and looked at a new Magnum yesterday and it looked to have a tweed style interior in it, not leather. It was a sharp looking blue with sunroff and 18" polished wheels, very nice and a sticker of $29K. When I was at the auto show this past spring I also kept falling back to how cheap everything looked in the dash area, especially in the chevies.
Put the wiper switch and the headlight switch back on the dash were they belong! Oh yeah... the dimmer switch back on the floor.
I agree with you about simplicity. I like the older cars because the controls were so simple and until 1972 no annoying buzzers and lights. But I also like the cup holders in the new ones, and clocks that actually work even if they're in the radio.
The clocks on our classic Buicks are quite a joke. I wonder how long they actually worked. My friend had a key buzzer on his 70 Chevelle. It was located under the hood, bolted to the radiator support. I figure the exposure made most of them stop working pretty quickly.
Believe it or not, my clock keeps almost perfect time. I only have to adjust it for less than 5 minutes once a week. I have a collection of about 3 or 4 of these clocks, and this one is the only one in the bunch that works well. I hope it keeps going, because I know another one that works this good would be hard to find. :bglasses:
