Technophobic Automotive Grumbling
Today, I intended to add to my series of intermittent drafting posts, but I got sidetracked on research, and I don't think it will be complete. Instead, I shall continue what seems to be a theme of grousing about stuff that has pervaded my posts of late.
New cars suck.
Don't get me wrong, the tech is often amazing, and most can be expected to run almost trouble-free for 200,000 miles or more. That was unthinkable in the past.
However, the new reliance on remote wireless entry is a big problem, and it stranded a library patron last week.
The very expensive wireless keyfob quit transmitting.
The very expensive backup in a hide-a-key container made itself scarce.
The backup physical key wouldn't turn in the keyhole on the door because someone cheaped out on the mechanism and it was malfunctioning. I tried it myself to verify, because I couldn't believe the driver's report.
And not only that, they even cheaped out on offering any other keyholes on any other doors. If the one is broke, you're screwed.
This is technology turned into a handicap, and should not be tolerated by any serious car owner.
TAG! You're it! What are your gripes about modern car design? Is it the nanny traction control systems? The loss of visibility as belt lines rise and rear windows shrink? Idiot lights instead of proper gauges? Sensors that fail more often than they tell you anything important? Rant away in the comments below!
The deliberate and continuous effort to make it more difficult to diagnose and repair a vehicle on your own is my primary complaint. Also, whoever designed the transmissions for 2014 Ford Focus/Fiestas should be put against the wall without benefit of blindfold or cigarette and shot. (I jest, slightly) I've never been anything more than a shade tree mechanic but it is way more of a challenge now. It seems like everything requires a special key or tool to even access, I have trouble believing that it is anything other than a concerted effort to make dealerships more money.
I have plenty of issues with the whole keyless obsession too, although more from the how easy they are to steal with the right equipment angle than their other failings.
Oh, don't get me started.
I have actually worked on designing cars in the long ago, in the before time.
Most of the great improvements in car mileage is due to oils and lubricants.
Not because we are making the engines better, or the driver train stronger.
Cars are so similar today... except at the actual part level.
EVERY single 4 door sedan, every hatch back econo-box should all have interchangeable parts.
Like we have standard bolt patterns for wheels. Every car of similar size should use the same brake rotor and callipers.
Every car should be using the same computer for engine control. There are such tiny differences, and computers are so much overkill, that you should take a generic-engine-CPU and connect it and it should figure out what engine it is connected to and work just fine.
And there is a million other parts that should be standard.
But noooooo, what we get is cars coming out that have a brand new tire size, so only one vendor is actually making replacement tires.
But just like our electronic devices, we are no longer the owners, we are just termed as the current users. And are at the bottom of the list when it actually comes to control over our items.
My newest vehicle is a 2008, which really isn't all that new. But it has the tire pressure sensors in the wheels and I despise those. Even the guy at the tire shop says they are a pain! They fail, they have to be reset, they lie, and even the one in the spare can cause trouble. I, too, can only use the key in one door, and that makes me nervous.
I hate cars. I've always hated cars. I learned how to drive on a bloody farm tractor when I was six (the same Yanmar 147D that I'm driving now, by the way), I first got behind the controls of an aeroplane at the age of 11 (and STILL haven't finished my pilot's license, but that's a rant for another day), and from those experiences, I can say that there are better ways to get about than bloody cars. My favourite gripe is the transmission. Standard transmissions (a bit of a misnomer these days, as I'm fairly certain that manual transmissions are no longer standard) typically have clutches that are far too finicky and easily stall out, a problem that I've never once had with my tractor or any piece of heavy equipment. Automatic transmissions are no better. My Jetta was running low on transmission fluid for quite a while, and I didn't have the faintest idea how to fill it. My local mechanic is always way too busy for that sort of thing, so one day on my way home from work, I burned up the transmission. The shop that repaired it did a terrible job, and now it leaks in about ten different places and needs to constantly be re-filled - which, as it turns out, is not something I can do on my own anyway. I like the transmission on my tractor, which is a hybrid gear-head/hydrostatic manual. Why can't we have those on cars?!
As tempted as I am to get a Tesla Cybertruck as my next vehicle (assuming I can afford it, of course), I think I'd be better off with a rusty old diesel tri-axle, since I know I'd be able to fix it myself.
Well my car doesnt even have a keyhole. I would like to add modern appliances to your grousing. Motherboard laden fridges, dishwashers and micros just dont hold up at all. Certainly not like in the old days!