This just in: old man yells at high tech car
He’s clearly never driven a modern vehicle, as half his complaints are safety features that are common on anything past 2015, the rest is the unwillingness to RTFM.
I will agree on one thing though. The lack of a screen in front of you does get annoying.
Manufacturer’s obsession with replacing physical knobs and switches with onscreen controls needs to die. Yes it’s cheaper for them, but not good for driving safety.
Similarly the insistence on sucking data from your phone.
What a whiny miserable article. Half the crap they’re complaining about are common features on late model cars.
Are apprehension mounted 6 weeks before we got our car… come on…
Before driving it for the first time, I wanted to adjust the mirrors. Now, in just about every car I’ve ever driven there are switches to adjust the mirrors on the door by the driver’s side mirror.
Not the Tesla. You have to go through the screen, find “mirrors”, choose left and right and use this ball toggle thingy on the steering wheel to make adjustments.
This is the first issue cited. This is neither normal, nor convenient. It’s an obvious cost saving measure and is part of the classically cheap low end feel only Tesla can provide.
Side mirrors? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Windshield wipers? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Odometer? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Etc. Etc. It’s cheap, it’s bad for usability. We all know this is like this to save a few bucks on screen design and UI buttons across the car.
Teslas are a colossal pile of shits. The article mentions problems with newer cars after 9 years ago - and yes, they are all colossal piles of shit too. All new cars are now moving towards demanding you auto update their software and hand over your sex life and location data, and when you do, they lock your car for 24 HOURS to update that shit.
The only answer is to go after cars older than 2010. They run better, way more reliable, last longer, don’t spy on you and are way more comfy.
I think you’re hitting on a good cost savings measure. Get rid of the panel and make it an iPad app (sold separately and subscription required). I’ll add they need to get rid of the steering wheel/pedals and put a USB port. Plug in your favorite Logitech controller (sold separately) and steer with a d-pad.
Personally, I really like the minimalism. The only physical control I’ve ever missed is for the windscreen wipers. And even there the automatic function has been getting a lot better lately. So yeah, cars are turning into computers. That doesn’t just apply to Tesla, they just do it better. And it doesn’t just apply to cars either, in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past twenty years and hasn’t noticed.
I owned a Tesla for years, when it got totaled, auto wipers and auto high beams were still significantly worse than the Hyundai palisade that replaced it (on a vehicle that was well more than $10,000 cheaper).
I have CarPlay and buttons for mirrors and stalks for wipers and turn signals.
So yeah, cars are turning into computers.
Where’s my Apple Carplay or Android Auto?
Where’s my actual high-tech features, like Augmented Reality Heads Up Displays? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VN4K0aHk5Y
Telsa is already years behind Hyundai with regards to computer-features. Its not about shitty iPad screens anymore, Hyundai is beaming information directly onto the windshield and using computer-vision to track your eyeballs and line up that information with real-life cars in front of you to help you understand what the lane-assist is doing.
Do you really think car fans (and technology fans) are impressed by a low-cost iPad that can’t even properly connect to a modern phone?
The mirrors are adjustable via the console because driver profiles change their positions automatically along with the steering wheel and seat positions.
That exact feature existed before tablet sized screens, or even the concept of infotainment. Even better, key fob based automatic profiles have existed for decades, and it’s something Tesla only recently added. Which is pretty typical of Tesla- Add a feature that has existed for 20-30 years, implement it in a shitty, slapdash manner, and make your clapping seals fans think you’ve done something revolutionary.
Auto high beams, auto wipers, mirror and wheel adjustments, auto dimming mirrors, and so on. They all perfectly demonstrate this dedication to janky experiences.
I had my model 3 performance for 10 month now I love it and already have 15k miles already. Never experienced what the author was complaining about.
Wife needs a new car and we can’t find another car that makes more sense than another Tesla
60k for a 250 range Hyundai? 220 range for a Volvo? I’ll gladly buy another brand but let me know a 300+ mile range SUV under 50k.
Worst thing about owning a Tesla is the auto wipers and reading stupid articles like this
You aren’t getting 300 miles out of your 300 mile rated Tesla, that’s the trick. And just wait till you have a need for service, because you’re SOL.
What a fucking moron. Teslas are different, that’s true. But if you’re able to use a smartphone you’re able to use a Tesla. Takes a few minutes to familiarise yourself with it and a few hours of driving to really get into the und and outs. Just like with any other car.
With all the ICE cars I’ve ever had there were functions I could never use because they required memorising some obscure combination of buttons. On a Tesla, everything is just there. Sometimes you need to poke around on the screen for a bit, but at least you find everything.