For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, with most of the ire directed toward in-car infotainment.
I think cars from around 2008-2010 have the best level of tech. Heated seats, AC, automatic headlights, cruise control that works both ways, bluetooth radio. But no cloud-connectivity and no telemetry and no inside cameras.
I have a 2013 SUV that I’m not giving up without a fight. It has a rear view camera, blind spot detection, Bluetooth, heated seats, three zone climate control, automatic headlights and wipers, TPMS, and even a decent sat-nav (small screen), but none of the connected stuff. Do I wish it was more fuel-efficient? Absolutely. Am I selling it in the foreseeable future? Nope. I’m keeping it forever.
We have a 2020 Mazda that I absolutely hate. All the driver nanny features are irritating as hell. False alarms practically every time I drive it, and I'm driving pretty gently. Even if I turn them off, I still had to pay for them, and they make the car more likely to be totalled in a minor crash.
Our 2012 Accord was near the height of automotive excellence. A better nav system would have been good.
The biggest reason I didn't go with the Tesla when I bought an EV, aside from the price premium, was a lack of a speedometer behind the steering wheeland turn signal and windshield wiper stalk controls.
I just can't get over that. I really want a car with a heads up display, not having to peer over and read teeny tiny font size to see what the car is doing. I still find it unsafe.
When I sat the first time in a Tesla I was astonished why there’s such a buzz around it. Hiding every single function behind submenus several levels deep was a thing of early 2000 feature phones, this is not acceptable for a car.
That's surprising, now that manufacturers have found a way to double charge users for functions and hide already in place tech behind a pay wall that people get fed up with their technologies.
I have a 2017 Dodge Journey. AC, AM/FM/Satellite radio (though I don't subscribe), CD player, very good heater (Wisconsin winters), bluetooth thats currently nonfunctioning (and I do miss it).
My GPS is a standalone Garmin unit. Learned my lesson with that when Toyota charged my dad $150 for map updates. Could get a backup camera for that, but don't really need it.
I'm happy with what I have. I do wish I had my Bluetooth back for podcasts, but NPR keeps me pretty happy.