Good rant there..

The only way people are gonna buy new cars is if they see progress. Even if progress is a load of pointless features that you will never really use.

My wifes Polo has an SD card slot that you can put photos on view them in the car. Why the fuck would I ever want to do that?

Although it does have useful features like iPhone sync so you can bluetooth music across. That and if your driving in the rain and you put it in reverse it wipes the rear screen so you can see where you are going.

the illusion of progress or 'job center plus'

apparently you can wipe the rear screen with the wiper stalk, joking aside how many people do you think don't ever try do that when they get a car. what does annoy me is when it keeps on going randomly untill the ignition is turned off

Guys, i agree totally with everything quoted above which is why i run a 2001 polo. Its a bit like "gearbox filled for life" by some manufacturers (bmw) why then is there a fill and drain plug on the 'box? I could go on but you guys know where i'm coming from!!

"life" being 100k max

Yeah but every car on here is modern in real terms.

I mean nobody here has to manually crank their cars in the morning, for example. That's a convenience feature.

Everything is relative.

well not really as none of us were about 100 years ago so that has nothing to do with our driving experience. cars made in the last 25 - 30 years show the electronic progress and problems that have been caused or created in newer cars over the last 10 years

the angle i get from this thread is where corners are cut and processes changed that are to the detrement of the car / driver for the sake of cost reasons or manufacturing longevity out of the product to push people towards a cycle of chaning car every 3-5 years on dealer finance.

computer contorlled fueling is a big plus for the car, an electronic fuel pump with a 10 year life and 3k replacement price isn't

also the light issue where they blind the indicators or dont illuminate the rear of the car, no excuse for that it is 100% dangerous and should never have been put on the road

The disco my father in laws got tilts both the side mirrors Dwn to the kerb when u put it in reverse, which means u can't see where your reversing too, also the reverse light switch is inside the gearbox so you need t remove it to replace it! The self levelling suspension is a good one on it too, the ppd break really quick but rather than it dropping to a level on the rear where you could move the vehicle to a safe place, it drops it on its arse and fires the tyres right up into the inner arch so u can't move! Also great features like super bright headlights on a lot of new vehicles, these are my biggest concern, I do parts of the m1 everyday, when it's getting dark they pop on the super 10000000k bright super candle power, at this point they are flying along really happy they can see for miles, blissfully unaware that the lights are that bright that everyone In front of them for the next 5 miles can't see a Fkn thing coz every mirror or shiney surface has light up like the sun. May aswell be driving blind!

*father in laws disco*

Sadly there wil probably have to be quite a few deaths and maybe a few horrific ones before the light problem get reigned in, how can not illuminating the back ever be a good idea. electronic hand brake is one that if fails on a steep hill or drive as people have to park on, could be a nasty accident

ABS is another can of worms, the problem isnt really the system but peoples impression that the are stronger brakes the saying " the car in front had abs so what could i do?" sums it up

Edited 8 November, 201411 yr by kiran_182

You know you can turn reverse dip mirrors off right?

The point of this thread was to discuss modern features in cars that are dangerous, stupid or just useless.

Having a car with a key and a starter motor is a good thing and a lot better than standing in the rain trying to hand crank an engine.

But a car with automatic headlights? Especially ones that don't light up the tail lights is just stupid. I mean how hard is it to turn a dial to switch them on?

The mirrors that turn when you reverse is good, my BMW does it and it does help you save the alloys being munched on a high curb.

I know a lot of people will like the features on modern cars. But to me a lot of them take you away from the whole driving experience. I mean some cars are so assisted these days they can feel like you're playing a driving game with a wheel and a set of peddles. Because there is no feedback from anything and everything else is done for you. Lights, wipers etc.

I wish my caddy had reverse dip mirrors would be great!

The electronic handbrake in my boss's Passat is awful, it's supposed to auto disengage when you pull away but rarely works and you look like a tit when pulling away at lights

Auto lights are stupid, although I have never seen a car that lights the fronts but not the rears....I do however like the missus KA where you can leave the lights on permanently and when you turn the ignition off it turns the lights off.

to me, turning wipers on is a natural reflex, auto wipers would piss me off. Again going back to the KA....rear wipers that switch on when in reverse....brilliant idea

I am all for safety stuff like lane drift warnings and radar guided brakes, I do however think that stupid people who rely on it instead of driving properly will ruin it

oh and another thing. Seatbelt warning buzzers piss me off. I always wear a seatbelt, it's been ingrained in me since a child to always do so, but when moving the work vans from the front of the building to the rear (about 200m) i don't bother but boy do the vehicles like shouting at you!

I suppose that doesn't make modern cars dangerous though....

yet there are people who will swear blind that seatbelts are dangerous and you are better off without

i dunno about you but the idea of being thrown out of the windscreen doesn't appeal to me, seatbelts saved my life when i crashed my first car (mk3 coupe)

I'm finding that a few new cars have indicators that are very hard to see over the DLRs

I thought most turned off the DRL's when they turn? It's a bit stupid if they don't as you say

Bloody new cars!

Some features are fine IMO when you're used to them, auto wipers and lights and stuff are sweet, it also prevents half the retards who never realise they need to be on to put them on (lights I mean here) unless some manufacturers attempts are shit and don't work as they should lol

I think a lot of new tech on cars (electronic handbrakes are a perfect example) are just gimmicks. The annoying thing is that when it does break, it will cost you a lot more money and headaches to get the thing fixed. Going to the handbrake example, nothing really goes wrong with them apart from the cable snapping. Anyone can replace this in a short space of time for no more than a few quid. Electronic handbrake breaks... well, let's not even guess what that would cost to fix.

So, my thoughts.. if it works and is simple, leave it alone.