I was just wondering what people think about some of the stupid options the put in cars today. I am talking about some of the stuff they put in cars that people can easily live without. I have seen on some cars that dont use a dipstick(its electronic), the Lincoln LS that can parallel park its self, electronic steering, tire pressure monitors, auto suspension leveling, drive by wire, thats all I can think of for now.
Favorite pointless automotive options.
- Thread starter dan2286
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Much of it only serves to make a vehicle obsolete faster due to high repair costs. Even if you can fix it yourself, it is still cost prohibitive to even purchase the parts for some issues as compared to the vehicle's book value once it passes 5 years of age. Take the MINI's CVT trans for example. MINI (BMW) will not sell parts to repair the trans, and will only sell you a complete remanufactured trans-for $6,000!!! Now this is a subcompact hatchback, not a luxury sedan so the owners usually trade it in at this point or try to get a used trans. The Prius also has a CVT that I recall reading is $18,000 from Toyota! So, if you have these cars and you are out of warranty, you are REALLY screwed. Granted, this info is a few years old on the Prius, but still what transmission is worth that kind of money?
how about the dodge (magnum? excalibur?) with multiple "beverage coolers"? automatic windshield wipers, auto trunks(i talking about push-a-button-it-goes-down), back-up radar (learn how to freakin drive!!!!), SUV's in general, hybrids, 14 airbags per car (kia), multiple windshield washer resevoirs (bmw), front DVD players, 22in rims on a truck...
somethings are safety.( airbags, tire pressure monitors, backing up radar ect.) but i dont get things like voice activated gps, and multiple dvd players.( yeah i kinda understand one dvd player "to shut em up" while driving), and whats with now people getting computers in their cars. Is the internet so important that you need it at home, at school, at work, on your phone, and IN your car! what about all the trunk space in cars? I use my trunk in my malibu as a locker, and fit two 12" subwoofers in there and I still have more than enough space, hell Ive even got regals parts floating around in there.(a bent flywheel). somethings are nessecary, somethings are added luxury, and somethings are just idiotic.
TPMS and back up radar are only safety for idiots. how hard is it to check your tires and mirrors? and on most systems, the tire alert doesn't go off until the pressure is too low anyway. now people think that if the light is off the pressure's fine. when i was a mechanic i had loads of cars with low tires and no light.
the absolute worst has to be fixing Check Engine Lights--"what do you mean 4hrs diagnostic time? the computer tells you exactly what's wrong!!!"
megaladon6 said:
You can thank Ford and Firestone for the TPMS. It's fallout from the Explorer rollover epidemic of a few years ago. Since neither Ford nor Firestone want to call their customers idiots, in true American fashion the underinflated tires that caused the accidents could not possibly have been the fault of the owners. Clearly it was necessary for Congress to mandate TPMS instead...
ain't it amazing how congress can push that through, but not something that's actually useful to the country?
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