Possession is not ownership. If you doubt this, jump into the next door-open cop car you see and take it for a spin. See how long your “ownership” lasts.
See how long it lasts even if it’s your car – ostensibly – because you paid for it.
But it isn’t really yours. Not in the most meaningful sense. At least not if it’s a new car. Here’s one example (of many) that will back up the assertion:
A couple of weeks ago, I was test driving a 2025 VW Jetta GLI – which is a great car, by the way, because it is one of just two or three new sedans you can buy that comes standard with a manual transmission. You can read more about that here. But what I wanted to tell you about is what happened on the last day I was driving the Jetta. To change stations on the FM dial, it is necessary to touch the screen – because the VW like all new cars has a touchscreen interface to control such things as the station/channel you’re listening to.
So I touched it to change it, because I wanted to listen to something else. But the car wouldn’t let me.
It temporarily disabled the touchscreen controls – for “my safety,” it said. So much for “my” car.
Granted, it wasn’t – in that the Jetta was VW’s car and I was just driving it. But that misses the point, which is that anyone who drives it will be similarly controlled. Including whoever ends up owning the Jetta once it is sold after its press car days are over.
The car – and it is not just this car – is programmed to control what the driver is permitted to do. That means it is not under the control of whoever putatively owns the thing.
Do you own the bus you’re riding in?
Here is another example. I am currently driving a 2025 Volvo XC60 and it has a touchscreen also – one that can operate as a TV. You can watch a movie in this car if you like, via Amazon Prime. But only if the car is not moving. As soon as you move the little crystal toggle thingie from electrically engaged Park to electrically engaged Drive, the computer that controls the car shuts off the streaming movie.
Once again, for your “safety.”
Am I the only one irritated by this sort of thing?
It is effronterous enough that the government is endlessly parenting us – for our “safety” – as if we were perpetual children in need of such parenting. As if we were not capable – most of us – of weighing risks and making judicious decisions for ourselves. It is enough – says the government – that there are adult children out there (and not very bright ones) that do need to be parented all through life to justify parenting the rest of us, as if we were also not-very-bright children incapable of making sound decisions ourselves.
This of course tends to result in more adult children who need parenting. Who need government, in other words. And even demand it.
But could anything be more effronterous than being parented by an appliance? One programmed to pester (and control) you as if you were a kind of mildly retarded 12-year-old when you aren’t?
Have you opened a new refrigerator lately? If you leave it open for “too long,” the thing will beep correctively at you. As if you were too stupid to remember to close it. More finely, because it wants you to close the door sooner to “save energy.” It makes me want to kick the goddamned thing.
How about a $700 per month appliance? That’s the average cost of a new car payment. To “own” another appliance that isn’t under your control?
Keep in mind there are no OFF switches – physical or virtual – that allow the “owner” to turn of the parenting and use or not use the features of the car he paid for. Chew on that for a moment and see whether it irritates you.
Does it not bother you that you’re not allowed to change the channel in your own (sic) car if the car decides it’s not “safe”? This same car, by the way, also automatically turns down the volume of whatever program you were listening to whenever you put the transmission in reverse – once again for your “safety.” The assumption being you are too much of a mildly retarded child to be able to reverse safely while listening to whatever program it was you were listening to.
Some new cars won’t even let you reverse – if you have left the driver’s side door open even a crack, which some people do because you can see what you’re backing up toward better this way than by looking at a closed-circuit video display. But the car is programmed to see this as . . . unsafe. It puts the electrically controlled transmission in Park. You have no actual control over whether it is in Drive or Park or any other position. You must close the door before it will allow you to Reverse.
Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety first!
You may also not change lanes without signaling first. If you don’t signal first, the car will try to control you by “correcting” your steering by countersteering. This makes it hard to change lanes smoothly because you’re having to fight back against the countersteering. Of course, you could always obey – mindlessly – and just signal every time you make a lane change, even if there’s no other driver around to see the signal.
Just do as the car says. Like you were expected to mindlessly obey whatever teacher said back when you were in elementary school. Just because she said so.
Now it’s because our cars (sic) say so.
Even though we aren’t in elementary school anymore.
It just feels like it sometimes.
. . .
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Sometimes, when I only want to back up a foot or so, I’ll open the door and put my foot on the ground; this way, I can accurately gauge the short distance I need to move.
The “concept” is obviously to cram a total piece of SHIT up yr ass while laughing its way to bank CEO gig.
Stupid retired twenty yrs ago.
Likely that VW has a modem you can unplug or telematics fuse you can pull and then the car won’t be able to tell you’re moving.
Android Auto did this…added a safety pause when scrolling artists. It also forces you to update and if you don’t it refuses to work. “Update required to continue using” it says. But I use an old phone with no sim in my truck like an ipod so it can’t tell if I’m moving either.
Apparently, Eric, those who created this saaafety feature did not think of the fact that you might be driving, but the person in the passenger seat wants to fiddle with the music/radio station. They are not “allowed” either, even though they are not driving? What a stupid world…
“Thanks for visiting now you can buy me a coffee”
Would you pay $470,000 for an autobox-equipped 2012 Corvette?
Someone did exactly that this week at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Arizona
So far, some of the six-figure cars that have already been sold include
a 1959 Cadillac Miller & Meteor hearse that’s… just a replica….. of the Ghostbusters car, going for US$297,000;
a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Custom Coupe for US$269,500;
a 1964 Amphicar – which could be driven on the road or used as a boat — for US$154,000;
and another replica, this one of the Back to the Future DeLorean, at US$132,000.
And in another case of a vehicle that used to be shunned by collectors and is now white-hot,
a 1975 Ford Bronco crossed the block at an unbelievable US$148,500.
https://driving.ca/auto-news/autobox-equipped-2012-corvette-auction
a 1964 Amphicar – which could be driven on the road or used as a boat….. at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Arizona…..sold for US$154,000;
Maybe Dutton Mariners will go up in value……
1990 Dutton Mariner….on BAT….sold for $24,000…
Dutton is the only profitable amphibious car manufacturer in the world…
Dutton is the oldest car manufacturer in the world with the same original owner…Tim Dutton….
Dutton used to be the biggest kit car manufacturer in the world…Tim Dutton was an engineer…like Colin Chapman of Lotus….
Dutton made about 6000 Lotus Super 7 clones….plus other sports cars and a small SUV….all fiberglass….
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1990-dutton-mariner/
Dutton made about 6000 Lotus Super 7 clones…..
Dutton Super 7 clone with SBC V8 434ci, 1600 lb, 725 kg., steel tube frame, fiberglass body, it has run a best 8.70 sec 1/4 mile, quickest kit car in the world…..these cars handle really well partly because they are low, light and stiff.
This is how a car should be, small, light, agile, fast, no frills, mechanical art made to go fast only, no luxury, no doors or roof, some have no windshield, no power steering or brake booster, no driver assists, totally analog, nothing extra,
it is quicker then all the hypercars and the tesla plaid.
It was the quickest kit car on the planet.
A super 7 (a 1957 design by Lotus), is the ultimate driving experience, buy or test drive one, it is a completely different experience. The most direct, analog, raw, visceral, unfiltered driving experience.
A Donkervoort a Super 7 clone in 2003, 2004 had the world record lap time for any street legal car on the Nurburgring.
A Super 7 the 2nd most copied car in history, 160 companies made copies, (Cobra was the most copied car), the Super 7 is a close copy of a 1913 Bugatti Type 22, the specs are close, one of the first small light cars (did Lotus copy it?).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn2lHb7N3uQ
Now here’s the crazy part…carbon fiber, which is vastly superior to fiberglass in nearly every respect, SHOULD BE CHEAPER than fiberglass. Whoever builds a “carbon fiber megaplant” will be rich beyond their wildest dreams.
How Do Chinese Car Makers Get Five Star Reviews? THEY BUY THEM
The difference between journalists and influence rs….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=945BQ72RGyQ
All this Government-mandated crap started with the phaggut Ralph Nader. When he kicks the bucket and takes the “express elevator to Hell, going down!” where all “pre-verts” like him end up, I want to know where he’s planted or his ashes scattered, so I can piss on what’s left of his demented ass. Fuck Nader and all the arrogant, busybody, meddling worry-warts like him that have fucked up the American auto industry, and fuck the politicians, lobbyists, especially of the Insurance Mafia, and spineless auto execs that gave that shit bag the time of day.
Spot on, Douglas!
Nader is the archetype of those people who not only think they know best but think it’s their business to impose what they think best on everyone else. This is how “safety” – as defined by Nader and people like Nader – became the government’s business. He thought the first generation Corvair was “unsafe” – which it was not and I know because I owned one – and now as a result we have five year old BMW Sevens and Mercedes S-Class sedans that are “unsafe” . . . as per current “safety” regs. In a free country, you could sue a car company for selling a defective car. But that is not the same thing as using the government to render them “safe.” Driving any car entails risk – and that risk cannot be eliminated. It is up to the driver to exercise caution and drive safely – i.e., competently. Nader is not someone who understands this concept.
It still cracks me up when-after shutting my newer vehicle off-a “reminder” appears on the screen to “Check Rear Seat”. For you know some dumb fool left his/her kid back there, and they either froze to death or died of heat exhaustion. So now the rest of us have to pay for such stupidity. As for the backing up, I can still do so with the door open, albeit, the “you-have-the-door-open” nanny likes to shill at me.
I might have told this story before.
My then boss bought a 2013 Mercedes. In 2014 they made some change to seats because saaaaafety. His wife made him trade in the 2013 for the 2014 since now the 2013 was all of the sudden a rolling death trap.
It’s a shame. Otherwise she’s a very nice lady.
I would guess this was some sort of marital power play. She used this unreasonable demand to covertly confirm that she wielded all the power in the relationship. I suspect he found a mistress and they’re now divorced.
Yep, once they lose that vital perspective “you’re a guest in a man’s world” might as well schedule your next date at divorce court.
It’s good to be king. Actually it’s great to be king!
It is great to be king. Once a man stops seeking female approval, he’s able to see through the fog of war, and find a proper queen.
Definitely not ruling that out. However, in other conversations with her, she’s very much obsessed with saaaaafety. She genuinely believed that the 2013 was a death trap.
Nader, being a commie, was given a platform by the powers that be at that time, much like Gloria Steinem. His “Unsafe at Any Speed” was used to lay the foundation for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, and all future automobile ‘safety” regs. This was NOT some sort of grass-roots investigative journalist exposing unethical auto companies. It was a sponsored, Hegelian dialectic effort of “problem-reaction-solution.”
Infantilization of the general population is one of the inevitable effects of big government socialism.
Bit by bit, over time, most people become quite comfortable with, and even demanding that ‘the government has to do something about [fill in your own pet case here]’.
The reasons for this are explained in great detail in Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s great book ‘Democracy, the God that Failed’.
In a nutshell though, freedom implies responsibility. When that responsibility is delegated to the state, freedom must go with it, and thus it becomes normal and even expected for Big Daddy government to regulate all behavior.
Because that’s what’s making us all ‘safe’, does it not? /s
Yessssss!!!! AS EXPECTED:
‘California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has approved a campaign to gather signatures petitioning for a vote on whether the Golden State should leave the U.S. and become an independent country.
‘On Thursday, Weber announced that the independence petition initiative, which Marcus Evans launched from Fresno, could begin collecting signatures.
‘To have an independence vote included on California’s 2028 election ballot, campaigners must gather 546,651 signatures—constituting 5 percent of the total votes cast for Governor Gavin Newsom in November 2022—and submit them to county election officials by July 22, 2025.
‘The question proposed by the campaign is “Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?”
‘According to the campaign, if at least 50 percent of registered Californian voters cast their ballots, and at least 55 percent of participants vote “yes,” it would constitute “a vote of no confidence in the United States of America” and an “expression of the will of the people of California” to become an independent state.’
https://archive.ph/eoVrv#selection-1251.0-1267.324
As a one-party communist state which no longer offers the constitutionally-required ‘republican form of government’ to its citizens, California is incompatible with US statehood.
Either California must secede … or it must be invaded, crushed and burnt, Ape Lincoln style.
Remember: according to leftist doctrine, secession is BAD when initiated by the South. But it’s ‘all legal’ when we do it. 🙂
*waves a fond farewell from the east bank of the Colorado River*
No more entrance into the other eastern and northern states, you can’t be there anymore. Get a passport, good luck getting in.
Close Vandenberg Space Base, move it to Florida.
You’re on your own, nobody wants you stuff anymore.
Let lettuce rot in the San Joaquin Valley by the millions.
Call it New China, tariff the place so they pay through the nose.
If you leave us, we’ll kill you financially. Get lost.
Invite the Russians to re-occupy their land base that was once there.
Makes more sense than what it is now.
Burn me up, Scotty. har
At one time, you could drive from Mexico into the United States to work pinto bean fields and sugar beet fields in Kansas, Ohio and other states that needed farm workers.
Farm workers from Mexico took advantage of the opportunity and American farmers hired them, they worked. When the Mexican women are topless out there in the sugar beet field on a nice warm day, the Mexican men will be motivated to work until sunset.
I have read that up until 1961, a Mexican national could cross into the United States with no border check. You just drove in, probably not an apocryphal story. It was an open border, the Mexican farm workers in the US were paid in US coin and went back home before winter.
During WWI, the governor of my home state thanked Mexican field workers for helping in the harvest while soldiers from the state were in Europe winning the war. The migrant worker bloated the state’s population during the summer months through Autumn.
That was in 1917, a long time ago.
Been going on for more than a 100 years.
Now there are migrant workers from all over the world here.
It is done for the money. No other explanation.
It’s done for the money by the workers, that’s for certain.
But when you get to the top of the pyramid, nothing is done for money.
Money means nothing to the people that own the printing presses that make it.
There is always another agenda at play.
Agree. Money conjured from nothing and enforced by government is the crux of ((their)) power.
100% right here.
I don’t give a rip what their stupid ignorant agenda is, doesn’t matter.
What matters is if you don’t work, do something, the chances of you going hungry greatly increase.
Mother Nature’s rules rule, just the way it is.
If you want to remain alive, you do work.
You paid a weekly board to be able to eat while working on the railroad. Every day the lunch out on the rails consisted of horse cock sandwiches, humorously referred to back then, because it was lunch time and that is what was for lunch.
You gotta eat, no question there.
Fuck those people who want to control how you live.
Personally, I gave up the “work thing” a good while ago. No bosses, only minor responsibilities. Lots of time for chess.
While I don’t agree that their agenda doesn’t matter, because it happens to be killing us or enslaving us, so that matters a bit, the “fuck those people who want to control how you live” part we are in complete agreement about.
Chess is great, but how do you generate enough income to live without the work thing?
“Income”? “Income” is a very specific term when it comes to the law. “Income” is “Money derived from corporate activity.” As I am not a corporation, and do not act as a corporation (corporation itself being a black magic term – corpse being the root word), I do not have any “income”, and in fact I’ve NEVER had any “income”, despite being fooled into filing “income tax returns” for some number of years. That’s something else I gave up a long time ago.
If you’re asking me how I receive money for things like paying bills, I learned some years ago how to make money from my writing skills. So, succinctly, I’m a writer. But income? Don’t have any of that.
I can concur with your take on the border. As a child in the early seventies people crossed back and forth in both directions. It was a rare occasion you were stopped for papers or whatever. That made it so much more shocking the time our winnebago got stoped inside Nogales, Mexico. Everyone forced outside, most of our stuff thrown out on the ground and searched. All they found was a large portion of the Gulf of Californias fish population.
Go on! Say when!
That vote should not be limited to Californians.
I could see China coming in and promptly taking over after that. How in the hell does Commie fornia expect to defend itself? With woke idiots who cannot even figure out the basics?
Technocracy is the wet dream of tyrants. Sorry, computer says no. There’s no arguing with it’ there’s no discussion. You must accept it no matter what.
Fuk dat! You get what you put up with. I refuse to put up with these devices. If I had no choice, I would put in the research to find out how to hack into the software and turns those things off. Until then, the current sweet spot is cars between 1998 and 2007. Eventually, these will all wear out beyond reliability and I’ll have to rethink my plan.
There are currently a lot of “plug-in modules” for car owners to do things like, disable the “engine shut off while stopped” “feature”, re-map the throttle, etc.
I wonder how difficult it would be to create an OBDII plug-in module to over-ride those “safety” features like disabling the touch screen. Call it “My Car.” It markets itself…
It is amazing. Checking the news this am,,, not one word about a third of LA burnt down,,, still burning,,, nothing about those poor bastards in NC freezing in their tents. Nope,,, zero, nada. But,,, all of a sudden we need to print up a few trillion and buy Greenland as our northern flank is now threatened. Also one chicken in Georgia supposedly (PCR) down with the deadly Avion Flu so Georgia stops ALL sales of chickens and eggs! One chicken!! Trump has now allowed Bibi to use our 2000lb bombs in Gaza and West Bank. Guess the Palestinians aren’t dying fast enough. HHS has given Moderna almost 600 million tax dollars to Moderna for more MRNA kill shots. I imagine soon WarpSpeed will return. Kitty cats are now dying of Bird Flu,,, 100,000 ducks ‘euthanized because of Bird Flu. (More PCR BS)
But hey,,, we got Tic Toc back! Looks like the Feds Border Patrol are finally doing their jobs. 4 years of collecting a check for nothing must have been nice.
I see the nanny nazis are still treating auto buyers like the children most are. Eric nails it! The easy answer there is to simply stop buying them but Americans have to show off the money they don’t have.
Fox News – Allstate sued for allegedly tracking and selling 45M Americans’ location data
“Allstate was allegedly collecting and stealing data
In a press release, Paxton announced that he had sued Allstate and its subsidiary, Arity, for unlawfully collecting, using and selling data about the location and movements of Texans’ cellphones. The data was gathered through secretly embedded software in mobile apps, such as Life360. “Allstate and other insurers then used the covertly obtained data to justify raising Texans’ insurance rates,” the press release stated.”
Thats great news. Now do Progressive, Sate Farm, and Gieko. All guilty, I’m certain, of the same onerous deep state spying activities. If these companies were broken by law fare, tax, and fine, it would go along way in reversing the trend of totalitarianism, pretending to be transportation.
Any bailouts [inbound this year] should be contingent on no longer requiring mandatory coverage.
To be fair the customer has some responsibility here. If your insurance company offers better rates for plugging a box into your OBD port or running an app on your phone you need to be clear why. They could only sell information they had that you gave them, which was in the fine print for the rate reduction. If something is being given to you free then you’re the product being sold.
Don’t like all those horrible driver’s aids and surveillance tech?
Buy this 1999 TVR…fully analog…no driver’s aids….
2400 lb and 430 HP flat plane crank V8…listen to the drive video…sounds great….
The new Miata weighs 2400 lb and has a tiny 4 cylinder…it is way over weight….and is full of driver’s aids, surveillance tech and sounds terrible…..and is far slower…..
The new 911 and Corvette are far worse….around 3400 lb….an extra 1000 lb for what?….freeway cruising GT’s only….far to big now…..far from nimble…..and are full of driver’s aids, surveillance tech……The old 2200 lb 911’s were nimble…so are more desirable and cost a lot of money now….
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1999-tvr-cerbera-4-5/
When the TVR Cerbera was launched in 1997 it was the cheapest Hypercar in the world…it cost 40,000 UK pounds….$50,000…..
The only Hypercars quicker then the TVR Ceberer were…….Ferrari F50, McLaren F1 and the Porsche GT1
Number 27…… TVR Cerbera review….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6nQjYhigzo
The new Miata weighs 2400 lb and has a tiny 4 cylinder…it is way over weight
The 1st gen MX5 was 2100 lb…..the rumored replacement is 3000 lb….with electric motors driving the wheels…with a small rotary engine driving a generator for range extension….instead of a tow truck….
A ruined car….3000 lb is too heavy….it was originally a heavier copy of the Lotus Elan…a better car at 1500 lb ….the Mazda copy was 2100 lb….over weight….but not too bad….the latest MX5 2400 lb….
Indeed, Anon –
A 2,400 lb. Miata is ridiculous. I once again call attention – for comparison’s sake – to my 1976 Trans-Am, which has a massive cast iron V8 engine, cast iron solid rear axle, heavy stamped steel A-arms and leaf springs, steel wheels, a heavy steel front subframe and massively heavy stamped steel body panels . . . . vs. the Miata’s tiny (in comparison) and entirely aluminum four cylinder engine, lightweight aluminum suspension parts, paper-thin body panels, ultra-light alloy wheels and unibody construction. My TA only weighs about 1,300 lbs. more – which highlights just how heavy the Miata is.
A car like the Miata ought not to weigh much more than 1,800 lbs.
EXACTLY. What we need is to invest in CARBON FIBER INFRASTRUCTURE.
Why should “carbon fiber” be more expensive than steel or aluminum? You can make carbon fiber from TREES. Steel and aluminum have to be dug from the ground, smelted, refined, worked, tooled…
You can burn some trees which will re-grow in 10 years to make carbon fiber.
The fact is, there is no carbon fiber infrastructure in place. We need BIG carbon fiber plants churning out auto parts CHEAPLY, the way it SHOULD be.
Carbon is one of the most ridiculously ubiquitous elements on the planet. We should have 90% carbon fiber cars, and they should be cheaper to make than steel. Where is the investment in CF infrastructure???
Reinforced plastic was also called carbon fiber, composite and many other things while being used to turn $1000 bicycles into $15k snob trinkets.
As a devout e-biker, I’m well aware of “cyclist snobbery”, lol. The thing is, it’s not the carbon fiber construction that makes those carbon fiber bikes expensive.
It’s all the time and energy wasted on making steel and aluminum bikes, while carbon fiber has a relatively low investment ratio comparatively speaking.
If we put as much into carbon fiber infrastructure as we put into steel and aluminum infrastructure? There wouldn’t even BE any steel bikes, even the cheapest $150 Wal-Mart bike would have a monocoque carbon frame. Steel should be something we build buildings with, not cars and bicycles.
If “Uncle” mandates that common automobiles have the structural integrity of an Sd.Kfz. 182 Panzerkapfwagen “Konigstiger”, I may as well get the genuine article. Nothing like seventy tons of “FUCK YOU!” Think THAT will make the Insurance Mafia and the S-a-a-a-a-f-t-e-e-e-e Nannies happy? Of course, CARB won’t be, not with that monster guzzling almost two gallons per mile, and its 700 hp Maybach HL 230 V-12 doesn’t have anything that we’d call “emissions control”. Just probably thirty or forty or so “kill rings” on the barrel of the KwK 43 88 mm main weapon, meaning that somewhat over a hundred Soviet T-34 “tankists” were dispatched to Hades by it.
The new 911 and Corvette are far worse….around 3400 lb….freeway cruising GT’s only now, not sports cars…..far to big now…..far from nimble…..won’t even fit down a narrow, winding back road….
The Cayman/Boxster is a bit better…at 3000 lb…but now has electric steering…which ruins road feel…steering feedback…the most important thing in a mid engine car….quote from Chris Harris….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSVA03UzOuY
My idea for a modular solenoid valve engine is based on the horizontally opposed Boxster engine from Porsche. The geometry is ideal for low-COG, compact installations.
@ 15:29 in video….
Some of the previous generation cars are worth more then the latest generation cars…because the new cars are compromised….full of high tech surveillance and control crap, ruining the car….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSVA03UzOuY
Many of these safety interlocks come from lawsuits. Some idiot did something stupid with the car, and if the idiot survived, he sued the manufacturer, or if the idiot died, the idiot’s idiotic family sued the manufacturer, and we end up here, and this is all on top of the mandated safety nonsense.
We need a cultural shift. If an idiot does something stupid, we point and laugh instead of trying to engineer a preventative technology. No matter how hard you try to idiot-proof something, nature will evolve a better idiot.
Exactly OL, that’s why there are Darwin Awards, so many morons are eligible.
I met a couple who backed over and killed their toddler with the other 2 kids safely restrained in car seats.
They made a big public issue out of it over understandable grief.
All I can say
“No matter how hard you try to idiot-proof something, nature will evolve a better idiot.”
Truer words were never spoken.
Anything you have to register…you don’t own anymore…like guns and cars, boats, etc.
If you buy a race car on a bill of sale, they don’t have to be registered…..you might own it…until they catch you driving it on the street and impound it…..
‘Some new cars won’t even let you reverse – if you have left the driver’s side door open even a crack.’ — eric
Case in point: the back-up light switch failed in my 1st-gen RAV4, after 28 years of meritorious service. I discovered it upon returning home one night, and realizing I couldn’t see behind me to back into the driveway.
Solution: open the driver’s door, stay a foot away from the timbers along the edge of the gravel drive (illuminated by the interior lights) while backing up.
A car that refuses to allow this invokes my non-negotiable principle of human rule over appliances: fix it, or fix it where it can’t BE fixed. It is very soul-satisfying to smash a non-cooperative device to pieces — the lucha libre analog of stomping the heel’s head, while smirking and trash-talking for the fan-girls.
This is quite depressing, all of this crap they are building into newer cars. It’s no wonder they aren’t selling well. Last fall I bought a 2016 Honda HRV with less than 15K miles on it. It has a tiny touch of this safety crap, including a warning about driver responsibility that comes up on the screen when you start it. Luckily I can change stations all I want while driving (though I have to do that on the small touchscreen). Any car that did not permit that would be a big no-no! I’ve never tried to back up with the door open, as since it’s a small car I’ve not had the need. I am hoping that car lasts me and my husband a long, long time.
If I had the misfortune of having to rent such an obnoxious car, I’d have a radio in there in no time that I could change at whim. Just like the one I set up in my truck, as its radio quit working a few years ago. I have a small bluetooth speaker sitting in the cup holder and I stream music to it (and GPS instructions, and phone calls) thru my phone.
A couple of years ago I rented a Toyota 4-Runner, and it didn’t really have much safety crap, at least not that I noticed. But what it did have was this obnoxious automatic high beam switch that luckily I was able to turn off. Imagine a hyperactive child playing with the high beam switch while you are driving, on/off, on/off, on and on… It would turn the high beams on as soon as I hit a semi-dark spot, but then shut them off when it “saw” a street light…Worse yet, it was slow to dim when another car would come around a bend. I have no problem operating the high beams in my vehicles, and I can shut them off quicker than that stupid sensor ever could when another car is approaching.
As for the fridge door thing, not long ago I was at a client’s home (I care for elderly and disabled people in their homes) and she was looking in her fridge trying to decide what to have for dinner. I heard this “ding, ding, ding” and I thought “what the hell is wrong with that fridge?”. I asked her about the noise, and she said it does it if she leaves the door open “too long”. And for this model of fridge, too long is about 45 seconds! I could sort of see there might be an alarm if the door is ajar for several minutes, as in it didn’t shut tight. But not when someone is just deciding what to eat…
Even my grandma knew how to set up her fridge so gravity would close and seal its door if unattended. Then along with “man on the moon” came the side by side “improvements” with a fn soda fountain in the door etc etc. .
Our 2018 Grand Cherokee has the touchscreen for radio (and just about anything else).
“Oh but you have steering wheel selection for radio stations!” Yea, one at a time cycling thru till you hit the one you want, even that’s a distraction as you’re analyzing what’s what as you cycle the station selection. As mentioned, the mechanical buttons for station selection allows tactile feel near zero distraction. Also good luck stabbing that little spot for your station on that touchscreen, while bouncing along what passes for a paved road today.
Thinking about my 1979 Pontiac, everything from radio, to heat/cool, wipers, cruise control, headlights – all easily worked without taking eyes off the road. Each thing had a unique location & control knob, lever, button so the tactile muscle memory was really quick to develop. It was a two door, so no pillar next to my head blocking side view. Thin A pillars and a low window “belt line”, rear view mirrors mounted down on the door not up in the A pillar/door window triangle – great visibility, how’s THAT for safety?
(Also that door mount mirror setup, much less wind noise at the A pillar)
‘Thinking about my 1979 Pontiac, everything from radio, to heat/cool, wipers, cruise control, headlights’ — Sparkey
Thinking about 1960s and earlier American cars: labels were in actual words: LIGHTS, WIPERS, HEAT, VENT, etc. Probably it was Japanese imports which led the way to using icons in place of words.
Despite being a visual person, I have difficulty processing icons, emojis, and the like. Yesterday I was staring at the icon-based interface of Adobe Acrobat, cursing because most of the icon buttons were meaningless to me. They might as well be labeled in Chinese.
Smartphones are the wrong user interface template for vehicles. As third-rate talents, auto designers have always envied whatever was cool and high-tech at the time: airplanes and rockets in the late 1950s (thus fins), smartphones today (thus colorful, icon-studded Clownscreens).
I’ve gone from being a car fanboi in adolescence to a seething hater of both contemporary cars and the craven, EeeVee-licking industry that makes them. Burn it with fire!
It wasn’t just Japanese but any car maker that wanted to import their cars in various language markets had this issue. VW was putting icons on their controls, too. Detroit didn’t figure this out until they had to compete globally in the 1980s.
But what the Japanese really nailed is consistency in feel and location. The wiper and headlight stalks on a Toyota in 1983 are pretty much the same as one from 2005. For a long time the dash dimmer, heat controls, door locks and handles were also all the same or close. You could jump from a Corolla into a Pickup and be familiar in 30 seconds. That’s changed with U.S. Toyotas a little but all their global cars are still the same as they were 50, 60, 70 years ago in this regard.
Thats why my primary car is still my 1986 blazer. I have a 2013 grand Cherokee, but I mostly use it in super cold weather or on salted roads (the blazer is diesel) or for moving women or furniture around.
The thing I really hate is not being able to engage park reverse or drive with the driver door open to see lines or objects whatever. I still have that electronic shifter they recalled. It even goes to park if I open the door.
The blazer….I can go to anything anytime without even pressing the brake
Hi Anchar,
My old Trans-Am (not the one I own now) was a four speed-equipped TA and it was not necessary to push the clutch in to start the engine, which you could do by just turning the ignition key (tranny in neutral, obviously) while standing outside the car. Today’s cars with manuals have a saaaaaaaaaaaaaafety interlock that prevents you from starting the engine unless the clutch is depressed first.
But why would you want to start the engine with the clutch pedal not depressed, asks a Millennial? Well, for several reasons. One, to “bump” the car forward without needing the engine to be running, which can be handy when the engine won’t start but you need to move the car. Or you’re working on the engine and need to start it to check/do something with the engine running and don’t have to open the door, get in and push the clutch in.
I remember – and miss – the days before we transitioned into a Safety Culture. This generation would have shat its pants over the Apollo Program. Not because of the cost. But because it wasn’t “safe.”
Yup, still this worlds only officially recognized human survivors of Van Allen radiation belts.
And green too ! Tin foil lunar lander left NO BLAST CRATER in moondust during landing !
As to those Hasselblad full frame photos. Another magic miracle how film images survived the return trip thru those pesky Van Allen radiation belts.
All accomplished with analog calculators and maybe a legacy level MAC ?
And 55 years later the blueprints for Saturn V booster are of course missing.
Ya rrrrrrrrrrright
The “dangers” of the Van Allen belts is just another propaganda story. Not unlike the dangers of “nuclear radiation”.
Funny, how there’s no actual data to be found on the belts. If they’re so dangerous, why can’t I find any measurements that have ever been taken of it? What IS the amount of exposure one would receive in the “Van Allen Belt”? Funny, how this information just doesn’t seem to exist.
Kind of like, “Fluoride is good for your teeth.”
“Ok, how much per day?”
“We just dump it in the water.”
“Ahhh…ok…I was looking for something a bit more…empirical…”
“We just dump it in the water. It’s good for you. Shut up.”
The Van Allen belt is the same kind of “mystery science”, in other words, total bs.
One, total radiation exposure transiting the Van Allen Belts is the same as one would get working at a nuclear reactor for a year. James Van Allen, who discovered the belts, said that it was safe for the astronauts. They’d also be shielded from the ionizing radiation by the spacecraft’s aluminum hull. Two, while the paper plans for the Saturn V are long gone, there are copies available on microfilm. Three, the LEM’s descent engine only had to produce enough thrust to support the vehicle’s weight; since the moon’s gravity is 1/6 of that on Earth, the engine had to support even less weight. Also, since it was traveling slowly just prior to landing, the thrust would be low enough to not leave a blast crater.
See, this was what I thought the condition of the Van Allen belts would be…the “space isn’t real” wacko crowd is always “but but the Van Allen belts”. But never any data. Not one iota of data. All you have to do is put the idea in their heads, and they’ll honestly believe that without a foot of lead shielding, the astronauts faces would melt. It’s like, wtf. They’re like parrots. Van Allen belts! Van Allen belts! Squawk! Don’t bother looking for actual data.
It’s not an automobile, it is a motorized device to control you.
Can’t even drive it, you are not the driver. Evidently, the thing will drive you insane.
A lot of EV owners are now experiencing buyer’s remorse.
Is that correct that once the VW is moving you can’t change the radio channel using the touchscreen? I looked at a the tutorial below and it didn’t help me out. Looks like I’ll never be owning a modern car now though.
https://www.hallvw.com/how-to-customize-infotainment-system-in-your-volkswagen-vehicle/
Toyota’s “infotainment” system in my 2018 Camry prevents me from navigating the directories of the flash drive I use to store my MP3s while the vehicle is in motion.
While the car is moving, the system limits me to shifting backwards or forwards one album using virtual “buttons” on the touch screen, with increment/decrement of track available via physical buttons on the steering wheel.
Just the clue that if a car needs a ” tutorial” to fire up and go is ENUF for me. Only thing I ever needed the owners manual for in my 2000 was in fact those silly icons. Car was also sold in europe so. . .
My grandmother & an uncle of mine were visiting me 2 years ago, and, IIRC, my uncle was renting a 2023 Nissan Altima for driving in town. The car had a backup camera that turned on whenever it was in reverse, and somewhat ironically, whenever it was on, it sometimes displayed a message saying something like “Check your surroundings for safety”. Uh, Isn’t that what a driver is SUPPOSED to be doing? But instead, it appears many people have been lulled into thinking THEY don’t have to drive an automobile; the myriad of computers & self driving technology will do the driving for them. But then we had Pete Buttigieg decrying automobile accidents being up when he was the Biden Thing’s Transportation Secretary. Could it possibly be from all this technology that we were made to believe was infallible? And with Trump announcing he was terminating the Biden Thing’s so-called “EV mandate”, will he do the same with all these saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety regulations? That remains to be seen.
And with this push for artificial intelligence (AI), what could possibly happen if someone like Larry Ellison pushes AI driven automobiles? He’s already pushing for mRNA cancer vaccines made by AI, which is something I found concerning when he spoke of it at President Trump’s address last week announcing a project called STARGATE.
Hi John,
Ellison announced as part of the STARGATE initiative that it would guarantee that everyone would have to always be on their best behavior, since they would be being spied upon at all times. His vision is for everyone to live in a panopticon society in which there is no privacy and in which their every move would be tracked. Basically 1984 on a global scale. Ellison, Gates, and the other tech moguls who are advocating the use of advanced AI to create this panopticon society are soulless sociopaths.
It should also be pointed out that they’re quite Jewish.
(Gates is, anyway…I haven’t looked into Ellison).
Hi Martin,
I saw that remark by Larry Ellison, which begs the question “Who watches the watchers?” Of all the things militant Trump haters speak out against, this crap being pushed by technocrats such as Larry Ellison isn’t one of them. Don’t you find that interesting?
Yall see this? The euroweenies don’t learn:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/eu-considers-german-chancellor-olaf-scholzs-proposal-europe-wide-ev-incentives
Insanity. Just like a gambler, bet more or an alcoholic, drink more.
Hi Mike,
What I found ironic in that story is the German Chancellor’s warning of harm to the automotive industry. Ironically, it’s this obsessive push for NOTHING but EVs that is harming that industry, NOT doubts about it. By the way, you may like this story I found last night about EVs…..there are people out there who bought an EV who LIKE it, but there are FAR MORE people out there who bought one only to regret it.
https://chemtrails.substack.com/p/ev-owners-are-even-more-fcked-than
Germany needs its most (in)famous Chancellor more than ever. But he probably likes swapping dictator stories with “Uncle Joe” and won’t consider coming out of “retirement”.
Germany needs to stand up and get rid of the JEWS in their government so their people can actually QUESTION THE HOLOHOAX.
Not unlike what we need to do here.
Holohoax impliers were quite annoying
The entire holohoax conspiracy theory is a wash when you look at the actual documentation which clearly states around 280,000 TOTAL died in the work camps. At some point, the Germans (in fact, all of us) need to begin standing on FACTS rather than Jewish propaganda.
Mr. Bond for President of Germany.
One more reason the AfD needs to win the next election in a huge way.
My 26-year-old Sierra has five programmable presets for the radio. Remember those? By just tactile feel, I can swap stations whenever I want. The amount of wear on the buttons tells you how much I did so over ten years.
The BMW has the stupid touchscreen but also the steering wheel controls to change stations and volume. I guess that’s a good enough.
And like BaDnOn was saying, I can pop the door open of the old truck and peek out to see where I’m backing. Not so on the Bimmer. It’ll throw itself into park. Very annoying.
When Motorola produced the first practical car radio there was a vocal minority that tried to ban them from doing so, under the guise of distracted driving.
BMW resisted cup holders for years. If you’re thirsty you should pull off at the service plaza. Driving is the only thing you should be doing behind the wheel.
Colorado made distracted driving violations primary offenses. You can be pulled over if a LEO witnesses you operating a phone while driving. Carveouts are permitted for calling 911 or other emergency situations. If it is determined your cell phone use caused an accident, it is a class one misdemeanor and may carry a penalty up to one year imprisonment, $1,000 fine, or both. BTW, amateur radio operators are exempted from this rule, as are first responders.
Homer Simpson’s car included a separate soundproof bubble dome for the kids (with restraints and muzzles) so they didn’t bother the driver.
Fact is, interstate driving outside of rush hour or bad weather is boring. Mile after mile of nothing, maybe the occasional truck convoy or cop. Not saying you should watch movies while driving, but without some mental stimulation you’re going to suffer from highway hypnosis. The current laws (AFAIK they haven’t been rescinded yet) require your car to monitor your face for highway hypnosis, yet won’t allow you to reengage your mind by switching to a different radio station? That’s going to be a recipe for disaster. And good luck trying to staying awake without some stimulation while your “level 3” autonomous vehicle system is engaged.
It is said that 90% of accidents happen within 1 mile of your home. I don’t doubt that since 100% of your driving begins and ends within 1 mile of your home. But highway driving isn’t exciting, and most everyone is smart enough to realize a rush hour traffic jam isn’t the time to play with the radio. How many times have you instinctively turned off the radio while looking for a street or when the weather goes south?
This is all solved with 15 minute cities where you will never be allowed personal conveyance on an Interstate anyway, right?
I do a lot of long distance trips in southwest Kansas and west Texas, cruise control and audio books are a Godsend but they do tend to cause the driver to zone out. Which is important to note because I’ve hit my share of roadkill and debris, like thrown tire treads.
It’s exhausting to really pay attention and time consuming to stop to eat and drink but these things aren’t without physiological merit. I build it into my schedules where possible to use rest stops for a 10 minute shake out the cobwebs and get the blood flowing. You don’t really see a deer coming but you do get split second perception that might tilt the chances in your favor to avoid abrupt reactions and avoid a roll over if you’re sharp.
None of this is to suggest I support nanny cars. I do not. But it’s a chicken-and-the-egg situation. People have to take responsibility for themselves to eliminate the demand for hand holding. Remember that the majority of people think self driving cars are a good thing so even if you and I are excellent drivers (I acknowledge I am not, I force myself to pay attention) the majority of people on the road would be binge watching reality TV instead of driving when they really should be focused on the task at hand.
It started with automatic transmissions, if you ask me. That was the first step away from driving being an interactive activity to the operator being an increasingly passive occupant.
Total agreement, Jimmy –
Especially as regards automatics. They made it easy for people who probably ought not to be driving to drive.
Autopilots are for airplanes in relatively un cluttered airspace. A billion x oversampled sensor data is still too slow to safely predict delta activity in humans rush hour traffic.
My car is self driving, when I drive it myself. Im semantics challenged and getting confused.
The griftgod tossed out a feature rich snob trinket to turn its” $35k base model” into an HOA golf cart on steroids.
That self driven autopilot might serve best navigating around hot spots in those damn pesky Van Allen radiation belts when we send unobtanium mining pricks back to mars or wherever they belong.
I guess all of this is why an 87 Chevette brought 30 grand.
Exactly, Zane!
I expect this trend to continue. My ’02 Nissan’s value has gone up. I could probably get $4,500 for it – which is about two thirds what I paid for it 15 years ago. If Nissan were still selling this truck asa new truck, mine would be would maybe $1,500 – because you could buy a new one. But you can’t. So that’s why it’s worth what it is.
That’s because it’s a TRUCK. Not a rolling computer/multimedia device with alloy wheels and a sunroof. IDK vehicle prices in “Verginny” (not “NOVA”, thank “Gawd”), but methinks you could do even better on that 23 y.o. small pickup. But WHY sell it? It’s utilitarian value greatly exceeds its private party sale value, let alone the pittance any “stealership” would offer you to trade it in (they’d either sell it to some kid of their sales manager or simply wholesale it, and you see it on a seedy lot for $7,995 in “Jig-Town” with “EZ payments” and only 37.99% APR financing…), as you’re avoiding high purchase cost, taxes, the Insurance Mafia, etc, etc, of a new or late model used truck to perform the same function. Also, you can beat the shit out of a old truck and think nothing of it. That’s why I admire some old boy with a beat up but running and obviously maintained old Chevy, Dodge, or Ford pickup, or even an 80s vintage Toyota SR5 pickup, as he obviously doesn’t give a shit who he “impresses” or doesn’t!
That’s why I paid a steep premium to buy a 2006 BMW E46 M3 convertible last summer with 13,000 miles. Looked at the new ones. Don’t want one.
And a 1969 Chevelle SS brought $68,000
https://www.raleighclassic.com/vehicles/2238/1969-chevrolet-chevelle-ss
The red interior is a bit much, but what a beauty.
Am I the only one the gets giddy looking at the interior and not seeing an iPad screen? Just simple mechanics…analog knobs, roll down windows, lap belts, a key. I just don’t see how any of today’s models will be wanted over the next 40 years. It will be like owning a 1993 Blackberry. The more technology added will make the car inoperable, irreparable, and therefore, irrelevant.
Unreal how shocking it is to see again something with real style. What a wonderful car. Wish I could find the pictures from summer ‘68, my brother bought a one year old ‘67 GTO – another car that never should have left the family.
It was gold with a black vinyl roof, black interior with factory console and 8 track player. The “wide oval” tires. The 400 engine, Hurst shifter, real wood steering wheel. He and his buddies wanted to take off from town in the friends car so he tossed me the keys (I was 13) and I drove myself home about a mile & half. “ Just don’t say anything to mom and dad, it’s fine “. What fun, ‘Doors’ blasting on the 8 track.
“Hey, we gave you all this glorious electronic gingerbread. It’s the latest, greatest Wave of the Future that you didn’t know you needed!”
And car companies wonder why sales are down.
That’s the problem with vehicles today; to paraphrase the comedian Yakov Smirnov:
“In Russia you drive car, in America car drives you”.
I drive good enough and know my limitations that I can’t trust a car that second guesses me. For example if you are driving in a heavy snow storm, most people drive where other cars have driven as there is less snow under the wheels and you’re less likely to get stuck but what happens when your new car won’t let you leave your lane or “insists” you fully stop at that stop sign even though the car won’t move as it’s lost momentum. Just one of many scenarios that result from more advances auto tech.
“In Russia you drive car, in America car drives you”.
ROTFL
Wouldn’t surprise me if Yakov gets fed up with America and goes back to Russia.
He wouldn’t have to change his material any.
I’ll never forget, and never buy, a truck like the 2023 GMC I rented for a day to tow some equipment I bought. It has that stupid shifter knob and sure as hell put the truck in park when I opened the door as I was trying to line up the trailer.
And the drive-by-wire throttle response was complete shit. I almost smashed into that trailer.
The last thing I need is the radio to tell me “no” when I try to change the station.
I’m a middle-aged man now, somehow. I’m done with being parented.
I’ll never forget it, either!
The fist time it happened to me, I initially thought maybe I inadvertently bumped the range selector. Then I realized what was happening. My God! There is nothing “unsafe” about backing up with the door open and looking back to back up. I would never buy a car that corrects me. Ever. It’s beyond insufferable.
It makes you wonder, Eric. Was this done to solve some problem that actually had occurred, or just some hypothetical CYA maneuver? I mean, how many times did someone just get out of their truck while in reverse and let it idle out into traffic, causing chaos? And if so, is there a video, ’cause that sounds hilarious.
I just drove my neighbor’s 2024 Chevy 1500. I had to hold the shifter in reverse or it would put itself into Park. The turn signals also required me to hold them on until I completed a turn. No way to turn on the signal, then have it turn off by itself once I turned. I would not want one of these new, over priced trucks.
Yes, Bill. Paying extra to be hassled. I don’t know what all that business with the turn signals is about. They can’t just keep a simple concept simple, I guess.
Thats a total piece of SHIT. No way that nonsense can continue. But some of the kifs sure are stupid so I dunno?