Oh Thank Glob! Auto dashboard buttons are coming back.

[kenny]

My car is only a few years old.
I bought it new and was pissed that it had a touch screen on the dash.
You have to figure it out if you want to do anything!
I told them I want the cheapest model if it does NOT have a screen with those annoying layers and layers of menus and submenus, that require psychic powers to know where to go.

Everyone else seemed to love them, because they were so GEE WHIZ and COOL!
They are VERY DISTRACTING while driving !!!!
I want one dedicated button to everything I can control, not one screen to do all 4,854,754,874 things.

Well, guess what ... .......

The Glorious Return of an Old-School Car Feature

Automakers are starting to admit that a new car technology didn’t work out.

slate.com

 

[diamondringlover]

yeah I completely understand when my "require maintaince" light comes on I have to go into 2 different computer systems to reset it...and sometimes beeps go off and I am what the heck is that...I have had this thing for 3 years and I still have stuff I dont know how to do...my screen however is not touch screen I have a "mouse" to control the screen

 

[m-cubed]

Oh thank goodness! I hate touchscreens in cars and cannot understand why they are legal. So freaking dangerous.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

Glad I drive an old car! I would hate touch screen everything.

I had a neighbor who bought a car a couple years ago (which is "new" in my book!) and mice ate a part inside her car which was made of something mildly edible (I forget what it was, cornstarch perhaps?).

 

[pearlsngems]

Can't stand my husband's car's display. Much prefer my car's knobs and dials.

 

[kenny]

Oh thank goodness! I hate touchscreens in cars and cannot understand why they are legal. So freaking dangerous.

Once again, follow the money.
They are far cheaper to manufacture than several knobs and dials, each requiring its own connection, and more installation labor.

Funny, I didn't notice the makers passing on to the customers via lower prices.
Hmmm.
What could poibly explain that?

 

[tyty333]

I'm with you @kenny ! I hate that I have to push "buttons" on my oven to make the temperature go up 5 degrees at a time or
the timer go up minute by minute. I really want to go back to handles that you can just "crank" to where you want them and
be done!

My car isn't too bad but I only use about two things on the touch screen (radio and mileage left in gas). I have little paddles on
the steering wheel I can use to flip through radio stations which is helpful. I rarely have to use the "mileage left in tank" and its
usually when I'm parked and want to know if I have enough gas to get where I want to go or do I need to stop and fill her up.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Buttons galore

 

[Betty Baguette]

Buttons galore

Groovy!

 

[finerthings]

Hooray for buttons! I'll take a car with buttons over a touch screen any day!

 

[Rockdiamond]

Sorry...I just could not resist a few more pics of my former, button laden car....I bought this Caddy when Rock Diamond first took off....still miss her.... she's living somewhere in Finland now

 

[Calliecake]

I love the touch screen in my car. I also love the clean look of not many buttons.

 

[monarch64]

Sorry...I just could not resist a few more pics of my former, button laden car....I bought this Caddy when Rock Diamond first took off....still miss her.... she's living somewhere in Finland now

Wow, that’s a beautiful Caddy! It’s bringing back memories…

My first car was a white ‘79 sedan de ville, in 1995. My father purchased it from his banker; it had rarely been driven because it was his wife’s car and was just kept in the garage. It had a cassette player and alllll the buttons, and many an ashtray. You stepped on the floor button to turn on the high-beams. My dad had a ‘77 baby blue coupe de ville with white leather interior given to him by his father shortly before he passed away that same year. As a first time road driver (I had been driving trucks and other vehicles around our farm since age 12) my dad was adamant about getting me a vehicle that I couldn’t wrap around a telephone pole or tree, so the ‘79 checked the boxes. One of my good friends’ dad also bought her the same make and model in black: we used to park next to each other in the school parking lot. We were both rather humiliated at driving such old “grandma” cars, so we united in angsty teen solidarity.

I still remember the feel of the rewind and fast-forward metal buttons under my fingers while playing the Reality Bites soundtrack over and over and over. It was an odd mix of late 70s tech with mid 90s music. You had to pull down the license plate in the back to fill the gas tank. I believe gas cost around $.83/gallon at the time in flyover Midwest country.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

 

[Rockdiamond]

and many an ashtray.

Yup- every door has an ashtray, AND a cigarette lighter. You can even see the little "bright pedal" in my pic...and yes, gas filling needs to be discreet- hidden under a license plate.
I'm really missing "El Gato" right now

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

here you were never allowed to position a scren (tv) in a place where a driver could see it
so it makes sense to me any screen raises the risks of accidents

 

[wildcat03]

My husband's going to be sad. He hates all the modern stuff in his "new" to him car (a 2020 minivan!). He had an accident (he's fine) in his 2012 Chevy or he'd still be driving it. But the "new" car is definitely intended to last as long as possible, so he's going to have to wait to get his low tech back.

 

[Arcadian]

I held on to my 2018 VW because the new MK 8's don't have real buttons. tactile buttons make the most sense in a car. anything can happen while you're driving and IMO its a safety mistake to not have them.

And while I do have touch screen, I Seldom use said screen and most of the time, you can't while moving anyway.

There's enough distracted driving with cell phones.

 

[sledge]

Like many things in life I think balance is where the “magic” exists. I currently have a GMC AT4 crew cab truck and while it’s not perfect I like the blend. I don’t have to fumble through menus to do simple things like turn on the air or set my cruise or turn on my cooled or heated seats. I have normal buttons for basic stuff but have advanced options if I go to the menus (which I don’t do while driving).

I have an iPhone and it syncs and does wireless Apple Play which allows me to tell Siri to make calls, get directions, play my music, etc. Also I like having camera views when backing up and all that. Unlike some drivers I also still use all my mirrors as well and not just the cameras, but they are nice especially when trying to back up and align the trailer hitch ball to whatever you’re pulling.

Again, not perfect but I do believe it has reasonable balance.

Of course it’s hard to beat the soul and therapy of a classic convertible like @Rockdiamond had with air in your hair and enjoying tunes and the pure experience of driving. That’s better IMO but I’m likely biased as I like old classic cars better and they look way better than most modern crap.

 

[kenny]

As always, to each their own.

Here is 'my own'.
While my car has a whoopdedoo screen , I never use it.
there's a radio; I never use it.
It has bluetooth connectivity for phones; I never use it --- though I will suddenly hear a mysterious woman voice in my car speakers telling me that it's trying to bluetooth connect/pair/handshake/whateverthehellyoucallit with some device near my car, likely in a nearby car - it's definitely not my phone, which stays completely powered down and stored out of sight when driving.
Actually 80% of the time I forget to drag my dumb phone around with me. That's what voice mail is for.

I always keep the dreaded dashboard screen covered with post its.
Driving is already so dangerous now that most other drivers are texting/talking/watching movies/playing games or pron, putting makeup on, eating or drinking when driving.

I'd never have a convertible.
Too noisy!
I have fair skin, so I avoid sun to reduce the skin cancer odds.

 

[Rfisher]

A Touchscreen ——eh meh.
Touchscreen slider bars? Do not like.