New cars and modern tech

The tech (digital instrument panels, lane assist, speed warnings ,etc) doesn’t really bother me so long as it can be turned off

I’m more concerned that this stuff will start failing when the car is older and , because it’s safety related and mandatory, mean your car fails it’s MOT and costs a fortune to fix. I can see it causing cars to end up being scrapped sooner than they otherwise would.
 
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I drive a 2018 Mini. It seems to be the sweet spot in terms of tech as it has stuff like heated seats and windscreen, without all the nannying.

We recently rented a Skoda Kodiaq and I was very happy to give it back, the thing would beep for anything. I also very firmly believe that tech is creating the most inept drivers we've ever seen, like blind spot monitoring, I've clocked a few people on my bike who are very clearly relying on it rather than actually checking their mirrors.
I've had people not use their mirrors or clock the flashing light telling them there's someone in their blind spot and try to drive into me.

That's a really special kind of special.
 
My Corolla has a load of driver aids.
I turn them off. Apart from the front crash assist thing, that stays on minimum.

When I initially test drove it I thought there was something wrong with it.
Nope, just the lane assist.
 
Front crash assist on Audi didn't spot a monk jack wondering into the road on friday~30mph or again/A10 this evening~50mph, so had to DIY - missed out on a tasty meal, but the freezer is pretty full already.
thought the Merc system was prone to phantom braking, also tesla lane system which killed multiple people failing to understand concrete lane dividers on usa roadwork contraflow.

e: I guess the OC spelling assist doesn't work Muntjac monk jack
 
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Lane assist is useful if you are texting or watching a YT vid. The car will gently bounce from the inside to the middle and back again

Front crash assist on Audi didn't spot a monk jack
lol saw a muntjac a few months back. Told my daughter to look - she missed. I tired to change convo so she wouldn't get sad and asked her what her fav animal was. She said muntjac :mad::rolleyes::cry:
 
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The driver aids work better on some cars than others, but once you get used to it for a given car (very quick) it's usually fine and to me a complete non issue.

Also, bmw driving assistant professional is brilliant.
 
I had a sit in a new 5 series yesterday at a dealership and it felt more like a nightclub than a car,

It’ll be interesting to see how well these cars age and how they depreciate with all of this tech..
 
my car has the lane assist. in general I welcome the ncap safety test and blaming it on EU safety crap is just nonsense..... it has saved a lot of lives. however making the lane assist turn on by default to get a 5* rating I think is a miss step.

in my car when I 1st got it it definitely made me jump a few times so not ideal when on bad roads however so long as you hold the wheel correctly it should not cause a crash.
a person at work rages about it because it constantly fights him when he overtakes or pulls out on a motorway, as well as the irritating blind spot alarm.
turns out it seems he doesn't bother with indicators and by the sound of it is happy to cut people up..... which is a driver problem not a car problem.
 
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The tech (digital instrument panels, lane assist, speed warnings ,etc) doesn’t really bother me so long as it can be turned off

I’m more concerned that this stuff will start failing when the car is older and , because it’s safety related and mandatory, mean your car fails it’s MOT and costs a fortune to fix. I can see it causing cars to end up being scrapped sooner than they otherwise would.

It's all made to be disposable really. Cheaper for manufacturers but costs loads for customers.

You already see it with LED headlights, a DRL dies and you need to replace the entire lamp for the sake of an LED. Otherwise it won't pass an MOT. What used to cost a few pounds now costs four figures.
 
My IoniQ gives a beep and a gentle nudge if it thinks you are leaving the lane, but doesn't try to overpower you or enforce its will on you, which is how it should be done IMHO.

Was talking to a colleague a while ago who had borrowed his Dad's new BMW, and apparently nealy had an accident with it, came up behind someone who was stopped/or moving slowly and didn't have enough time to stop* and as the next lane was clear, moved across to go around (could have been traffic with longer tailbacks in one lane than the other - don't know full details) but apparently the system tried to fight him to keep him heading towards the obstruction in his lane, and apparently it was an effort to overpower it and get over to the other lane


*Yes, he was very likely going a bit too fast, knowing him
 
On my does you can set the nudge intensity from 0 to 3, on zero it just vibrates the steering wheel a little as an alert or you can completely turn of lane assist which I have done.
 
Several times now I've had emergency breaking slam on. Happened for pedestrians walking on the path next to a corner, when passing a left turning car on the right side etc.

Lane departure I have to switch off every drive as it's utterly useless and will try and drive off the road within a minute or two of leaving the house.
 
It's all made to be disposable really. Cheaper for manufacturers but costs loads for customers.

You already see it with LED headlights, a DRL dies and you need to replace the entire lamp for the sake of an LED. Otherwise it won't pass an MOT. What used to cost a few pounds now costs four figures.

Couldn't agree more. I don't want to sound conspiratorial but if feels entirely deliberate that manufacturers are increasingly designing cars to ensure they won't be economically viable to repair and maintain 10 years from now !

I guess it makes good business sense to build a product that needs to be replaced after 7-10 years. However it does make a mockery of all the greenwashing they're promoting when they're clearly building cars with a shorter shelf life than they otherwise need to have.
 
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Couldn't agree more. I don't want to sound conspiratorial but if feels entirely deliberate that manufacturers are increasingly designing cars to ensure they won't be economically viable to repair and maintain 10 years from now !

I guess it makes good business sense to build a product that needs to be replaced after 7-10 years. However it does make a mockery of all the greenwashing they're promoting when they're clearly building cars with a shorter shelf life than they otherwise need to have.

It seems to be going the same way as other consumer electronics. People like to claim their EV is going to last 20+ years. Yea keep dreaming, it's full of bespoke and none serviceable parts
:D
 
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guess thisV shows it all - tesla assisatnce couldn't spot a child (or a muntjac ?) so doubt my aforementioned audi would ... would be a bit more useful than lane assist.
e: maybe if they wear a tinfoil jacket (with a radar based system tesla anyway)

 
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I’m more concerned that this stuff will start failing when the car is older and , because it’s safety related and mandatory, mean your car fails it’s MOT and costs a fortune to fix. I can see it causing cars to end up being scrapped sooner than they otherwise would.



......it's almost like they designed all that intentionally, so you keep having to buy new cars......
 
I've yet to drive a car with faultless driver aids. Each brand has their own faults, but I've found that the premium German brands' seem to work the best.
Having said that, Audi win with the easy button on the end of the indicator stalk to turn lane assist on and off. It gets confused with line markings in roadworks and on slip roads, so I disengage it pre-emptively quite often. Trying to do that in a modern BMW is almost impossible.
 
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