Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

Sorry QB, my sincere sympathy.

driver100

Saw a friends 2019 new F-150 yesterday....beautiful inside and out.
Interesting why he got it. He was looking at them a month before he bought it when his 2009 F150 was in for service. He asked how much they would give him on a trade....they said about $3500. It has 200k miles on it...but, he thought for that much he would keep driving it.
The next month he gets rear ended. He is stopped at a light, a car plows into him. By the time he pulls over, some workers call the police, the other driver took off.
His truck is a write off, insurance company offers to give him $12000. Buys a new one for $36k.
The only thing is his GPS has no voice. He says he doesn't care, uses his phone and the picture. Ford says they don't know why it doesn't work, might have to unplug everything and restart the system....kind of a reboot.
In my opinion, I told him I would get it fixed, you don't want to trade it in and have a broken GPS added to the depreciation bill.

pensfan83

My condolences @qbrozen

ab348

driver100 said:

The only thing is his GPS has no voice. He says he doesn't care, uses his phone and the picture. Ford says they don't know why it doesn't work, might have to unplug everything and restart the system....kind of a reboot.
In my opinion, I told him I would get it fixed, you don't want to trade it in and have a broken GPS added to the depreciation bill.

Brand new truck, under warranty, Ford better fix the thing. I would be screaming bloody murder otherwise. If it is the same dealer that offered him $3500 for a truck with a book value of $12K I might try another dealer for service since that one strikes me as somewhat contemptuous of their customers.

oldfarmer50

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

That’s nothing, I see people where I live ride down the shoulder passing multiple cars with their right turn signal on and make a right on red without even slowing down. It’s frustrating when someone uses your law abidingness (is that a word?) to flaunt the law. I secretly hope that someone would swing out and clip those drivers as they go by.

As to walking out without paying, some cities in CA won’t prosecute theft under $750 if the person is poor and the items are “necessities”.

Weep indeed.

explorerx4

@Q,
At least your family got to say 'Goodbye', although not much solace.
Tough to lose both your parents in such a short time.

explorerx4

@driver100,
Your friend's truck doesn't have that interior, although the picture is very similar to mine.
That is real wood trim, and the trim around the vents and steering wheel controls is metal, not some faux metal.

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

The only thing is his GPS has no voice. He says he doesn't care, uses his phone and the picture. Ford says they don't know why it doesn't work, might have to unplug everything and restart the system....kind of a reboot.
In my opinion, I told him I would get it fixed, you don't want to trade it in and have a broken GPS added to the depreciation bill.

Brand new truck, under warranty, Ford better fix the thing. I would be screaming bloody murder otherwise. If it is the same dealer that offered him $3500 for a truck with a book value of $12K I might try another dealer for service since that one strikes me as somewhat contemptuous of their customers.

I thought the same ab....but, he loves his Ford dealership. He was going to leave the voiceless GPS, can't be bothered, but, I agree, he should insist on them fixing it. The service manager told him they weren't sure why it wouldn't work, like I said before, they think they may shut it all down and start it up and hope that fixes it. You would think....if there is a problem, the "technicians" would be able to find a way to fix it, and not want to try something that sounds like a lot shot..."Maybe if we shut her down and boot her up miraculously the sound will be there". And why not call the GPS company and ask them what they think is the problem.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Your friend's truck doesn't have that interior, although the picture is very similar to mine.
That is real wood trim, and the trim around the vents and steering wheel controls is metal, not some faux metal.

I knew that. The first picture I did wouldn't work...must be encrypted, so I went for the 1st one that would work. His F150 is much plainer, but, still looks really nice. I like the large side front windows, and the big - high console, and that everything is so square.

explorerx4

@driver100,
If the dealership won't do it, he should do a 'Master Reset'.
You can look it up and show him how to do it.
It is pretty easy.

berri

I saw something not long ago about the current Highlander having a funky no voice issue in its ETune nav. Something about some procedure you have to go through at start up or it remains silent? It also doesn't have Apple, so that its a hassle if you have an iPhone. So if your phone is not Android, apparently all you can do it turn it on and put it in a cupholder when using nav. I think the 2020 Highlander is supposed to also take Apple though. The latest Ford system is supposed to be good, so maybe something got messed up during set up, or the nav unit itself is bad. But yeah, make it fix it.

abacomike

qbrozen said:

Thank you everyone for your best wishes. Mom passed at 2am this morn in the hospital with her children by her side. She and my dad finally got to celebrate their 50th anniversary together, just 26 hrs late.

May your mom Rest In Peace!

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
If the dealership won't do it, he should do a 'Master Reset'.
You can look it up and show him how to do it.
It is pretty easy.

I'll check it out...but if I can do it why can't "The Guy" at the dealership?

driver100

Accident near Toronto last night at 9:30 on Canada's busiest highway. Lanes are still closed this morning. Corvette was driving erratically, tried to change lanes, clipped a transport truck, truck turned over took out the guardrails was on other side of the highway and was on fire, it hit other cars....2 dead including the Corvette driver....more injured;

bwia

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

dino001

My condolences, Qbrozen. From what you wrote I surmise, your mother had a long happy life and passed the way anybody would wish. Which of course won't change that you'll miss her.

roadburner

bwia said:

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

I suspect it was the nature of the accident and not the design of the car. The law of natural selection is seldom thwarted.

laurasdada

My condolences, QB. Her children were there, RIP.

jwm40517

My condolences QB, I lost both parents within 3 weeks when I was 41.

driver100

bwia said:

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

I sometimes see what looks like it would be a nice sporty fun car to own. One of the tennis guys has about a 2000 Mercedes that looks something like this.

Great looking car, looks as nice as most new cars, and looks like it would be fun to drive to Ellicottville NY which is where I saw it. But, then reality sets in, do I really want to be driving that if a big truck slams into me?

driver100

The first picture I chose I didn't use....I think the phony looking wheel covers ruin this car....is it just me?

tjc78

I agree on those wheels. Sadly, I bet they cost big bucks.

graphicguy

@qbrozen .....Sincerest condolences to you and your entire family!

stickguy

QB, adding to the condolences. You certainly have had a rough year.

PF_Flyer

qbrozen said:

Thank you everyone for your best wishes. Mom passed at 2am this morn in the hospital with her children by her side. She and my dad finally got to celebrate their 50th anniversary together, just 26 hrs late.

So sorry to hear QB.

jmonroe1

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

You better hang on longer than that. I can't keep this place in line by myself. :@

jmonroe

jmonroe1

bwia said:

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

From the looks of that wreckage no manufacture could have helped that Vette driver. Too bad he had to take another life due to his feeble brain.

jmonroe

carnaught

driver100 said:

bwia said:

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

I sometimes see what looks like it would be a nice sporty fun car to own. One of the tennis guys has about a 2000 Mercedes that looks something like this.

Great looking car, looks as nice as most new cars, and looks like it would be fun to drive to Ellicottville NY which is where I saw it. But, then reality sets in, do I really want to be driving that if a big truck slams into me?

driver100 said:

bwia said:

I understand that modern cars are designed with crumple zones fore and aft but this Corvette provided little protection for the passengers. What a horific crash. It sends chills down my spine.

I sometimes see what looks like it would be a nice sporty fun car to own. One of the tennis guys has about a 2000 Mercedes that looks something like this.

Great looking car, looks as nice as most new cars, and looks like it would be fun to drive to Ellicottville NY which is where I saw it. But, then reality sets in, do I really want to be driving that if a big truck slams into me?

Had the identical car except gray leather interior. Bought it new. The car cornered great but was otherwise, meh.

houdini2

roadburner said:

qbrozen said:

Thank you everyone for your best wishes. Mom passed at 2am this morn in the hospital with her children by her side. She and my dad finally got to celebrate their 50th anniversary together, just 26 hrs late.

My condolences.

Good way to look at things Q. My condolences also.

thebean

How do you all think short trip mileage on a car counts against long trip mileage? When we traded in my wife’s ‘01 Lexus ES300 two years ago, it only had 65,000 miles, but probably 70-75% of those miles were trips of less than 10 miles, while the rest was vacation driving. It would seem to me that the many short trips would age the mechanicals much more than a 40/60 split of short/longer trips. But, I really don’t know if that is right or not.

What say ye, oh knowledgeable ones? It doesn’t matter, but I think it’s an interesting topic. Thanks.

thebean

jmonroe1 said:

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

You better hang on longer than that. I can't keep this place in line by myself. :@

jmonroe

I’ll try, but you know there things out of our control.

ab348

A Tesla (Model 3 apparently) was in an accident over the weekend in Moscow and subsequently burned to a crisp. When these things blow, they really blow. Captured in the second video here:

Here is the video pic.twitter.com/JhtTwYl41J

— Paul Smith (@GreatPaulSmith) August 10, 2019

berri

Lithium, aluminum and other modern materials can be quite flammable.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Accident near Toronto last night at 9:30 on Canada's busiest highway. Lanes are still closed this morning. Corvette was driving erratically, tried to change lanes, clipped a transport truck, truck turned over took out the guardrails was on other side of the highway and was on fire, it hit other cars....2 dead including the Corvette driver....more injured;

Shame that these wild drivers have to take innocent victims with them. Today as we were finishing up work we were driving on an urban section of the interstate when a motorcycle came flashing by at well over 100. Right behind him was a police SUV with lights and sirens. As the cycle hit a straightaway he continued to accelerate and the cop called off the pursuit. Hopefully he got close enough to get a plate and didn’t want to endanger traffic.

I can’t imagine what would happen if the cyclist had hit someone at that speed.

oldfarmer50

thebean said:

How do you all think short trip mileage on a car counts against long trip mileage? When we traded in my wife’s ‘01 Lexus ES300 two years ago, it only had 65,000 miles, but probably 70-75% of those miles were trips of less than 10 miles, while the rest was vacation driving. It would seem to me that the many short trips would age the mechanicals much more than a 40/60 split of short/longer trips. But, I really don’t know if that is right or not.

What say ye, oh knowledgeable ones? It doesn’t matter, but I think it’s an interesting topic. Thanks.

Scotty Kilmer says 1 mile of stop and go short trip is equal to 10 highway miles. I think that’s a bit extreme but I have to say my PT Cruiser fell apart in under 50k miles of nothing but short trips.

abacomike

driver100 said:

The first picture I chose I didn't use....I think the phony looking wheel covers ruin this car....is it just me?

Yes! 🤪😜😝😛

cdnpinhead

FWIW, I think that highway miles are much less stressful on a car/engine than 2-10 mile local jaunts to the Circle K or whatever. I was happy to run through the otherwise normal intervals when we recently drove over 11K miles in five weeks -- that was relatively light duty for the engine. Not so much for the suspension -- our buddy from Fairbanks will concur, I think.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

A Tesla (Model 3 apparently) was in an accident over the weekend in Moscow and subsequently burned to a crisp. When these things blow, they really blow. Captured in the second video here:

Here is the video pic.twitter.com/JhtTwYl41J

— Paul Smith (@GreatPaulSmith) August 10, 2019

I think I'll stick with my '14 Malibu. Teslas don't seem safe to me. We're seeing more of these explosive decompositions occurring.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Accident near Toronto last night at 9:30 on Canada's busiest highway. Lanes are still closed this morning. Corvette was driving erratically, tried to change lanes, clipped a transport truck, truck turned over took out the guardrails was on other side of the highway and was on fire, it hit other cars....2 dead including the Corvette driver....more injured;

Shame that these wild drivers have to take innocent victims with them. Today as we were finishing up work we were driving on an urban section of the interstate when a motorcycle came flashing by at well over 100. Right behind him was a police SUV with lights and sirens. As the cycle hit a straightaway he continued to accelerate and the cop called off the pursuit. Hopefully he got close enough to get a plate and didn’t want to endanger traffic.

I can’t imagine what would happen if the cyclist had hit someone at that speed.

I can.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

thebean said:

How do you all think short trip mileage on a car counts against long trip mileage? When we traded in my wife’s ‘01 Lexus ES300 two years ago, it only had 65,000 miles, but probably 70-75% of those miles were trips of less than 10 miles, while the rest was vacation driving. It would seem to me that the many short trips would age the mechanicals much more than a 40/60 split of short/longer trips. But, I really don’t know if that is right or not.

What say ye, oh knowledgeable ones? It doesn’t matter, but I think it’s an interesting topic. Thanks.

Scotty Kilmer says 1 mile of stop and go short trip is equal to 10 highway miles. I think that’s a bit extreme but I have to say my PT Cruiser fell apart in under 50k miles of nothing but short trips.

I don't really care what Scotty says. I know for a fact that highway miles are easier on a car than stop and go city driving. When I traded in my '09 Genny on for my '15 Genny I had 72K miles on it and I put front brakes on it about 2 weeks before I traded it. Other cars I've had needed brakes at around 30K miles because they were driven mostly around town except for a few vacations. Whereas, the miles on my '09 Genny were almost exclusively PA Turnpike miles, about 40 miles round trip while I was still working just before I retired. Unless your highway miles are at high RPM's due to being a lead foot, highway miles are easy miles for a car. Especially if you use cruise control like I did with my '09 Genny.

jmonroe

andres3

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

Sounds like you should be in my camp for less speed enforcement, and more actual policing (such as these blatant red light runners). No need for cameras, let's not go backwards.

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

That’s nothing, I see people where I live ride down the shoulder passing multiple cars with their right turn signal on and make a right on red without even slowing down. It’s frustrating when someone uses your law abidingness (is that a word?) to flaunt the law. I secretly hope that someone would swing out and clip those drivers as they go by.

As to walking out without paying, some cities in CA won’t prosecute theft under $750 if the person is poor and the items are “necessities”.

Weep indeed.

Where can you go on a shoulder to make a right turn? I'm curious where this road is? Sounds odd.

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

thebean said:

How do you all think short trip mileage on a car counts against long trip mileage? When we traded in my wife’s ‘01 Lexus ES300 two years ago, it only had 65,000 miles, but probably 70-75% of those miles were trips of less than 10 miles, while the rest was vacation driving. It would seem to me that the many short trips would age the mechanicals much more than a 40/60 split of short/longer trips. But, I really don’t know if that is right or not.

What say ye, oh knowledgeable ones? It doesn’t matter, but I think it’s an interesting topic. Thanks.

Scotty Kilmer says 1 mile of stop and go short trip is equal to 10 highway miles. I think that’s a bit extreme but I have to say my PT Cruiser fell apart in under 50k miles of nothing but short trips.

Man, those things fall apart with pure freeway miles, so don't feel bad about that part regarding short trips.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

That’s nothing, I see people where I live ride down the shoulder passing multiple cars with their right turn signal on and make a right on red without even slowing down. It’s frustrating when someone uses your law abidingness (is that a word?) to flaunt the law. I secretly hope that someone would swing out and clip those drivers as they go by.

As to walking out without paying, some cities in CA won’t prosecute theft under $750 if the person is poor and the items are “necessities”.

Weep indeed.

Where can you go on a shoulder to make a right turn? I'm curious where this road is? Sounds odd.

Most of the main roads in my area have wide shoulders equal to another lane past the white line. Proves irresistible to the lazy drivers. I suppose they’re useful as bike lanes as well.

But lack of pavement doesn’t stop some people. I’ve seen cars go bouncing through the dirt to get places a second faster.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

thebean said:

Ever since Texas outlawed red light cameras, it’s become a veritable free-for-all at stoplights. I’ve seen 5 cars going through AFTER the light turned to red. Normally, I see 2-3 going through every red light after it turns at high volume intersections. I know there were problems with the cameras, but I really think they solved way more problems than they created. Unless you have a squad car parked at these high volume places, people are just going to charge on through since there is no deterrent. It’s really sad that people can’t obey the law these days. What’s next? Just walking out of stores with merchandise because they didn’t want to take the time to pay? With the minuscule number of checkers in most stores, it doesn’t appear to be hard to so, unless you take something worth $100 or more with a tag on it. Even then, most employees just ignore the alarm and continue on with what they are doing across the store.


Truly, I weep for the future of society and I’m glad I’ll probably be checking out in 5-10 years.

That’s nothing, I see people where I live ride down the shoulder passing multiple cars with their right turn signal on and make a right on red without even slowing down. It’s frustrating when someone uses your law abidingness (is that a word?) to flaunt the law. I secretly hope that someone would swing out and clip those drivers as they go by.

As to walking out without paying, some cities in CA won’t prosecute theft under $750 if the person is poor and the items are “necessities”.

Weep indeed.

Where can you go on a shoulder to make a right turn? I'm curious where this road is? Sounds odd.

But lack of pavement doesn’t stop some people. I’ve seen cars go bouncing through the dirt to get places a second faster.

I have seen that too. Most days I come to a stop sign at an intersection, two country type roads intersecting with a four way stop. One day, there were about 5 cars waiting to stop and go through. The 6th guy was impatient, went up the right in the gravel with deep ruts and potholes, then went between the stop sign and the telephone pole ..to make his right turn and...just barely got through. Anything is possible these days.

oldfarmer50

Hey driver100, didn’t you used to own a BMW 5? Yesterday I got to drive a 2019 5er for an extended period.

Great car but why do they make everything so complicated? Took me half the trip to figure out how to tune the radio. Some functions were on the panel, some on the screen. Very confusing. I finally realized it had voice control and just told it what station I wanted.

driver100

OF, I had a 2012 BMW 535, and I liked that car a lot. I see new ones and I am tempted to go back to BMW,. I think they handle better than an MB. They aren't quite as comfortable, and MB generally makes their cars a little more luxurious and easier to use. Also, my MB dealer is easier to work with and is much closer.

Sometimes voice control is easier to use on the newer cars. Navigation is much easier to use with voice controls. Even the radio, to change stations I have to push control lever over, find PRESETS, scroll down to the other station, press it, then repeat to go back. In the old days I just pressed the correct button....much easier.

Also, in my E400 it has that large screen display.....I really like that. But it takes a few seconds....maybe 5 to 8 before it sets the radio and the navi and rear camera etc. start up....can't even change the climate controls or fan etc. In the old days this came on when the car started. More advantages than disadvantages...but, makes you think.

fintail

Doesn't your car have steering wheel controls? I haven't manually tuned a radio (in my modern car anyway) in years. My E wagon has the updated steering wheel with small touchpads on each steering wheel control. These little pads now control preset scrolling, and once you are used to it, are quite intuitive, muscle memory. Easier than using the wheel or the big touchpad in the console.

The screens are like a computer booting up, as you probably know. You can probably do some manual adjustments on the console/stack inputs while it is getting ready. I don't use steering wheel or touchpad controls for climate control, I just use the manual inputs.

driver100 said:

OF, I had a 2012 BMW 535, and I liked that car a lot. I see new ones and I am tempted to go back to BMW,. I think they handle better than an MB. They aren't quite as comfortable, and MB generally makes their cars a little more luxurious and easier to use. Also, my MB dealer is easier to work with and is much closer.

Sometimes voice control is easier to use on the newer cars. Navigation is much easier to use with voice controls. Even the radio, to change stations I have to push control lever over, find PRESETS, scroll down to the other station, press it, then repeat to go back. In the old days I just pressed the correct button....much easier.

Also, in my E400 it has that large screen display.....I really like that. But it takes a few seconds....maybe 5 to 8 before it sets the radio and the navi and rear camera etc. start up....can't even change the climate controls or fan etc. In the old days this came on when the car started. More advantages than disadvantages...but, makes you think.

stickguy

My tlx has touch screens with preset buttons, so effectively line an old fashioned radio. But also has a neat little 4 way scroll wheel. Roll up and down for volume, flick left or right to go up or down a preset. Very intuitive, requires no eyes. Very little reason to ever look at or touch the main screen.

ab348

I'm clearly a Luddite now that I'm in my dotage despite working in tech for the first half of my career. Voice commands never work for me and I can never remember what the magic words are to make it respond. My Regal had the little scroll wheels on the steering wheel for certain functions and again I could never remember what they controlled or did. Same now with some of the buttons on the Caddy steering wheel - I can deactivate cruise control for instance, but as far as turning it off so that the icon doesn't show in the display, no idea. And there is a "Menu" indicator there that nobody seems to know how to turn off or what it does, according to both the manual and the online forums. When you get right down to it cars are like cellphones these days, both having too many functions for some people to be able to remember.