Carmakers like VW are bringing back buttons because drivers loathe all the touch

[1995hoo]

Bring back the hi-beam control on the floor.

That got eliminated with either the front-wheel drive models or the desire of the US auto manufacturers to emulate the European manufacturers in the 1970s. Yes, I recall when my parents car had a hi-beam on the floor board.

Heh. My first car had a manual transmission, a foot-operated high-beam switch, and a foot-operated parking brake. It drove the state inspection guy absolutely nuts.

[GaryV]

Bring back the hi-beam control on the floor.

My dad would joke around pretending to pull on an invisible cord from the ceiling to turn on the brights, like a railroad engineer pulling on the whistle cord. It took us a while to figure out there was a foot switch.

[Henry]

This is something that the auto industry should've never done away with in the first place.

Buttons > Touchscreens

[freebrickproductions]

This is something that the auto industry should've never done away with in the first place.

Buttons > Touchscreens

Buttons in cars are absolutely one of those things I'm willing to be a Boomer™ about, TBH. If it ain't got buttons and knobs, I ain't gonna want it.

[Rothman]

Bring back dashes filled with needle gauges.

[ZLoth]

This is something that the auto industry should've never done away with in the first place.

Buttons > Touchscreens

Buttons in cars are absolutely one of those things I'm willing to be a Boomer™ about, TBH. If it ain't got buttons and knobs, I ain't gonna want it.

It depends on the function, the immediatecy of the function, and how quickly you need the control while the vehicle is in motion. Thus, climate control and the radio controls (namely the volume) should have tactile functions. Pairing up your phone to the car's Bluetooth  or customizing some of the vehicle options should be handled by a touchscreen. If you have too many knobs, that also causes confusion.

[kkt]

The touch screen should ONLY be for things you wouldn't expect to do while the car is in motion.  Reset the TPMS, change the car's settings so it won't automatically lock itself if left alone, things like that.

[kphoger]

Meanwhile, there's my 2002 Focus.  It doesn't matter which way I turn the radio's volume knob:  it might go up, it might go down, who knows?  The other day, I wanted to increase the volume from 13 to 15.  Incrementally, I ended up getting it all the way down to zero and then gave up for the day.  The next day, I managed to get it up to 15.  Now I'm leaving it there, no matter what.  The problem is that some radio stations are much louder than others.

[SectorZ]

Meanwhile, there's my 2002 Focus.  It doesn't matter which way I turn the radio's volume knob:  it might go up, it might go down, who knows?  The other day, I wanted to increase the volume from 13 to 15.  Incrementally, I ended up getting it all the way down to zero and then gave up for the day.  The next day, I managed to get it up to 15.  Now I'm leaving it there, no matter what.  The problem is that some radio stations are much louder than others.

That must be a weird Ford thing when the controls start wearing out. I have a relative that had a Mercury Mariner (the forgotten counterpart to the Escape) that I think was a 2004, and it did that same thing when she was getting rid of it in 2021. Moving the knob the volume just kind of went where it wanted to go.

[Sani]

Meanwhile, there's my 2002 Focus.  It doesn't matter which way I turn the radio's volume knob:  it might go up, it might go down, who knows?  The other day, I wanted to increase the volume from 13 to 15.  Incrementally, I ended up getting it all the way down to zero and then gave up for the day.  The next day, I managed to get it up to 15.  Now I'm leaving it there, no matter what.  The problem is that some radio stations are much louder than others.

Can you try pulling the knob off and spraying some contact cleaner behind it to see if that clears it up? I had to do that with the volume control in my 2009 Odyssey.

[vdeane]

Bring back dashes filled with needle gauges.

I quite like the digital speedometer on my Civic.  I can see down to the mph how fast I'm going with no guesstimating, and when I go to Canada, I can switch to metric with the push of a button.  No looking at the small numbers for me!

Granted, the lack of a proper engine temperature gauge is more annoying.  My Accord's was most invaluable the summer it had a coolant leak.

[kphoger]

Meanwhile, there's my 2002 Focus.  It doesn't matter which way I turn the radio's volume knob:  it might go up, it might go down, who knows?  The other day, I wanted to increase the volume from 13 to 15.  Incrementally, I ended up getting it all the way down to zero and then gave up for the day.  The next day, I managed to get it up to 15.  Now I'm leaving it there, no matter what.  The problem is that some radio stations are much louder than others.

That must be a weird Ford thing when the controls start wearing out. I have a relative that had a Mercury Mariner (the forgotten counterpart to the Escape) that I think was a 2004, and it did that same thing when she was getting rid of it in 2021. Moving the knob the volume just kind of went where it wanted to go.

The trim level came with a Mach brand stereo, so I don't know that it's even a Ford issue at all.

Can you try pulling the knob off and spraying some contact cleaner behind it to see if that clears it up? I had to do that with the volume control in my 2009 Odyssey.

I pulled the knob off once and put it back on again.  But, in doing so, the whole face of the stereo started coming off, and it was hard to actually find the pin again to re-seat the knob onto afterward.  I don't want to risk the stereo not working at all in the process.

[freebrickproductions]

I started having the same issue in the '04 Sienna I used to drive where the volume and tune knobs would cause the radio to do whatever it felt like rather than adjusting how I wanted. Though, admittedly, it was typically easier to change the volume via the controls on the steering wheel anyways, so I typically didn't bother with adjusting the knobs.

[SectorZ]

That must be a weird Ford thing when the controls start wearing out. I have a relative that had a Mercury Mariner (the forgotten counterpart to the Escape) that I think was a 2004, and it did that same thing when she was getting rid of it in 2021. Moving the knob the volume just kind of went where it wanted to go.

The trim level came with a Mach brand stereo, so I don't know that it's even a Ford issue at all.

She had the Mach stereo, so yeah could be a problem with that specific stereo that Ford used for the higher-end systems.

[GCrites]

Most cars are otherwise so reliable today that the majority of reliability complaints and JD Power demerits come from the infotainment system. The more things buried in there to save money the less functional the car becomes when something goes wrong with it. And the harder to use which is more on the JD Power side.

[epzik8]

Most cars are otherwise so reliable today that the majority of reliability complaints and JD Power demerits come from the infotainment system. The more things buried in there to save money the less functional the car becomes when something goes wrong with it. And the harder to use which is more on the JD Power side.

Technology isn't always for the better...

[tchafe1978]

I started having the same issue in the '04 Sienna I used to drive where the volume and tune knobs would cause the radio to do whatever it felt like rather than adjusting how I wanted. Though, admittedly, it was typically easier to change the volume via the controls on the steering wheel anyways, so I typically didn't bother with adjusting the knobs.

I had a 1997 Pontiac Trans Sport minivan that did similar. It had steering wheel volume controls. At some point the volume started going haywire. It would get really loud for some reason, even as I turned the volume down on the dial on the radio, the volume would keep getting louder and louder to the point where I was waiting for the speakers to blow out. I finally got so annoyed with it, and thought maybe the buttons on the steering wheel had something to do with it. So I started pounding on them as hard as I could with my fist until the buttons finally broke. Problem solved!

[ZLoth]

Most cars are otherwise so reliable today that the majority of reliability complaints and JD Power demerits come from the infotainment system. The more things buried in there to save money the less functional the car becomes when something goes wrong with it. And the harder to use which is more on the JD Power side.

Technology isn't always for the better...

I would rather have the Bluetooth integration of today rather than the CD and tape players of yesteryear... or even the AM-only radios of my parent's generation. How about those fuel injection systems over those carburetors?

[Scott5114]

Eh, I'd rather have the CDs. Way harder for telemarketers to interrupt them.

[ZLoth]

Eh, I'd rather have the CDs. Way harder for telemarketers to interrupt them.

That's a couple pounds of added weight that has to be engineered to withstand the temperature extremes of the Arizona Summer and the Wisconsin Winters. Not to mention a repair bill. My CD player malfunctioned in my previous vehicle, and I ended up putting in a FM modulator to play audio. It was cheaper than getting the rarely-used CD player fixed.

[Rothman]

Eh, I'd rather have the CDs. Way harder for telemarketers to interrupt them.

That's a couple pounds of added weight that has to be engineered to withstand the temperature extremes of the Arizona Summer and the Wisconsin Winters. Not to mention a repair bill. My CD player malfunctioned in my previous vehicle, and I ended up putting in a FM modulator to play audio. It was cheaper than getting the rarely-used CD player fixed.

*shrug*

Lived in northern WI.  Never had issues with my car's CD player.

I do not miss having to figure out which CDs were in the changer and whatnot.

[GCrites]

Eh, I'd rather have the CDs. Way harder for telemarketers to interrupt them.

Seriously, people figured out a way for offline media such as songs on your phone to have "advertising". This is what happens when every single thing is combined into one device. I'm sorry, life was just more interesting when we interacted with multiple objects every day rather than a single Joypod.

[vdeane]

I don't think I've heard advertising in offline songs, but then, I just use VLC, not any of the commercial apps.  As for cars, give me a good old aux cable.  I like that those just send the audio, especially given that car manufacturers can't be trusted with security and privacy.  I don't need or want the entire contents of my phone downloaded into the car.

[ZLoth]

I usually just connect to either my Plex or Emby server from my phone. No advertising.

[SectorZ]

Eh, I'd rather have the CDs. Way harder for telemarketers to interrupt them.

Seriously, people figured out a way for offline media such as songs on your phone to have "advertising". This is what happens when every single thing is combined into one device. I'm sorry, life was just more interesting when we interacted with multiple objects every day rather than a single Joypod.

I have 2,000+ CDs, all on an iPhone along with thousands of others songs I have "downloaded" as well. No ads listening to music either way in my case.