Good morning, and welcome back to The Autopian’s daily roundup of auto industry news, all condensed into one convenient place and filled with the witty commentary you deserve. As an added bonus, today is Friday. We did it. Congratulations to all involved.
Today’s news roundup includes yet another study about how much buyers hate overly complex cars; some potential truck news from Volkswagen and Mitsubishi both; and the latest on car dealers grousing about the growing electric vehicle market. It’ll be a non-stop thrill ride from start to finish, I can promise you that!
Car Infotainment, Driver Assistance Systems Continue To Vex
Another year, another J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study that reveals how drivers continue to be utterly baffled by new technology. It’s not so much mechanical dependability that’s the problem; that’s actually getting continually better and better. It’s driving assistance technology and complicated infotainment systems that frustrate owners to no end.
Let’s start with our overall winners. The list was led by Lexus, which is almost always the case, followed by Genesis and Kia, in that order. But many luxury brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and Acura scored below average, dragged down by tech and usability issues. Here’s a summary from Reuters:
Tesla owners complained about problems with the Autopilot driver assistance system and the forward collision warning systems, as well as wind noise, Frank Hanley, a senior director at J.D. Power, told Reuters.
Infotainment systems complaints, such as problems with wireless Bluetooth phone connections, dragged down scores from vehicle owners of several luxury brands, according to the report.
Even as luxury brands compete to offer more advanced digital content and dashboard features, luxury vehicle owners are finding fault with the infotainment systems at about double the rate as owners of mass-market brands, Hanley said.
The Infotainment category once again proved to be the most problematic with an average PP100 score of 49.9 — nearly twice as many problems as the next most problematic Exterior category. The main culprits in order of problems experienced are: built-in voice recognition; Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity; built-in Bluetooth system connectivity; touchscreen/display screen; not enough power plugs/USB ports; and inaccurate or outdated navigation systems and maps.
Bluetooth! Come on! Bluetooth has been around for what, 25 years now? Why is it still such a frustrating technology and why hasn’t somebody figured out something better? (Here’s an idea, Big Tech: How about you stop putting journalists out of work with inept chatbots and make my damn AirPods pair correctly every time?)
Additionally, the fact that these features are dragging down luxury brands—which historically tend to rank better in the J.D. Power studies—is interesting and also very telling. Those brands tend to be where automakers roll out the newest and most complex technologies, but they continue to frustrate their owners.
Anyway, we auto writers these days spend a lot of internet ink writing about the future of cars, from digital subscription features to increased automation. But if you look out onto any street in America, probably what you’re going to see is like, a bunch of 10-year-old Honda Accords and the like.
The point is, are people really ready for all these high-tech features when the overall UX satisfaction never seems to improve?
Volkswagen May Do A Truck For Us Truck-Loving Americans
The American automotive market in recent years has largely shifted away from being a car market to being an SUV and truck market. It took Volkswagen—a company that has struggled to understand and speak to American buyers probably since the days of the O.G. Beetle—a while to figure out SUVs. Now, VW’s American execs say they still want to get in on the truck game here.
It’s an idea VW has flirted with for years now; the Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak concept, seen above, was well-received when it dropped at the 2018 New York Auto Show. Granted, a… lot has happened in the world since then, but every so often it seems like VW wants to pull the trigger and never does.
We’re back to that again at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, which traditionally is a truck- and SUV-centric show. Here’s Motor Authority on what was said:
On Tuesday, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America Pablo Di Si told Motor Authority the automaker will look again at the pickup truck segment for America.
The timeline for a Volkswagen pickup to arrive in dealers isn’t clear, but the executive said the current plan is to bring a proposal to the board in Germany in the third quarter of 2023.
Should a pickup truck be approved it would be developed in America for America. Di Si noted that cars built in America for America are more successful as shown by the Atlas crossover SUV, which was designed and developed in America, and is built in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Our own Mercedes Streeter was at that same discussion in Chicago, and she reports back: “Only thing I’d add is that they said it would specifically not be solely powered by gas and it would be designed by Americans, for Americans.” Her account, and Motor Authority’s, indicate a VW truck would be likely to be a plug-in hybrid; I like that idea a lot and am very pro-hybrid truck, so here’s hoping it goes that route. That, plus manufacturing in America, would allow it to qualify for tax credits too.
Also interesting, Mercedes notes a potential VW truck “will also not be based on a Scout product as that brand will be separate from VW.” Whatever Scout’s up to, I get the sense they really want it to be its own thing and aimed specifically at the American market.
Mitsubishi Also May Do A Truck For Us Truck-Loving Americans
As I wrote earlier this week, the renewed wedding vows of Nissan and Renault could mean some nice things for junior partner Mitsubishi too. In particular, the new terms of the Alliance will put some additional resources into production in Mexico, which could boost Mitsubishi’s sad, aging, tiny lineup for North America.
One other thing Mitsubishi would like to do is a pickup truck for our market. It hasn’t offered one here since the Mitsubishi Raider of the 2000s (here’s a fun fact: if you ever see a Raider on the road, it’s a symbol of good luck and you will probably be unable to die that day!) and even that was a DaimlerChrysler joint-venture jam. But Mitsubishi offers trucks in other markets, so it’s hardly a total newcomer to this world.
Also interestingly, Mitsubishi would also want its truck to be a PHEV, reports The Drive. But it would also need to be built in North America to avoid the Chicken Tax we slap on trucks, so either a team-up with Nissan or something in Mexico could make sense:
[Mitsubishi] wants a bigger piece of the pie, and it’s interested in reentering the huge U.S. pickup truck market as revealed by its Director for Product Planning in North America, Cason Grover.
“It’s another one of those things we want to try to figure out,” Grover said of the U.S. pickup market at the Outlander PHEV’s launch. “We’d love to be able to do it.”
[…] A unibody Mitsubishi pickup may be easier to bring about than you think, too. Mitsubishi already uses the platform of the Nissan Rogue—made in Tennessee—for the Outlander, so it’s not hard to imagine tweaking that architecture more to build a pickup in that same plant. For now, however, Grover emphasized that a Mitsubishi pickup remains hypothetical, appealing though it may be.
“We know it’s been a growth area,” Grover said of the U.S. pickup market. “At this point, it appears that’ll continue.”
Dealers Coming Around On EVs, But Blame Biden
It’s a well-known fact that America’s car dealers—and I certainly don’t mean all here, but many—aren’t super amped about the growing EV market. It means they need to invest in charging infrastructure and salespeople training at their dealerships, plus those cars make less money for them over time because they generally require less maintenance. And it’s an industry that’s historically very resistant to change. For example: Right now, in the Year of Our Lord 2023, I can order a delivery of sanctioned, regulated, legal cannabis to my doorstep in New York anytime I want, but I still can’t buy a car online from most brands. This is a business that doesn’t love evolving with the times.
But while they probably aren’t thrilled at the prospect of direct online sales or subscription ownership programs, America’s dealers are coming around more and more to EVs, a survey from Automotive News reports. It’s actually pretty positive:
To get ready, most respondents surveyed in January said they have installed charging infrastructure, followed by purchasing and installing service department equipment and training or hiring technicians specifically for EV maintenance and repair.
Lorenzo Serrano, a former general manager of a Subaru store in California who is now the general manager of Zimmer Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Florence, Ky., said both stores are having to make investments that are “too big” for the slow ramp-up of electrified models.
He said the Subaru store poured $150,000 into EV chargers and other related infrastructure investments despite the Japanese automaker having just one all-electric model in its lineup.
“The investments that we’re forced to [make] by the manufacturers are not consistent with a good business plan,” Serrano told Automotive News, noting the Kentucky store also is adding electrical system infrastructure to support a required number of EV chargers.
“Quite honestly, I would say I blame the Biden administration,” he added. “I think the push comes from Biden to manufacturers, and they have to react to it.”
I tend to be more critical of the dealer system than not, but I’ll be fair here; I do get their side. It’s a big investment to make that’s a kind of bet on the future—a likely future, but not a guaranteed one—and the point about having to build chargers just for the Subaru Solterra is a fair one.
But it’s a bit far to blame Biden for this (although it helps to remember the car dealer business leans very heavily conservative and Republican.) A lot of this is driven by tightening emissions standards worldwide, especially in China, the world’s biggest car market. And even the American automakers want to play to win there so they’re going EV for it.
There’s also the climate-related imperative to reduce emissions from vehicles (and, yes, other sources too, obviously) that doesn’t necessarily square with corporate profits. Still, we’ll toss the dealers another bone and note that we recognize car buyers in the Bay Area and in rural Texas are going to have different charging infrastructures and preferences. Getting the entire car dealer industry to shift toward electrification is going to be a process.
Back To You
Have you had a negative experience with infotainment systems or other tech features on modern cars? When I drive Teslas, I hardly use Autopilot, both because I enjoy driving them and because I don’t want to end up parked inside an Arby’s by accident. I don’t have many complaints about our 2018 Mazda 3 hatchback’s infotainment system, besides the fact that it’s just old now and the navigation isn’t worth using.
On newer cars, I too am frustrated by the litany of menus you have to sort through, often with clunky control interfaces and a lack of physical buttons for essential functions. Buttons are not the enemy, car companies!
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Guess that Kia’s being the easiest car to steal in the past 30yrs means they are still dependable!
My question is who is going to fix all these garbagetainment devices in 5-10 years sure isn’t going to be me.
I had to drive my mom’s Lincoln Corsair a number of times over the past few weeks and while the driving experience is numb and unsatisfying in every way, the infotainment and controls were just frustrating at best.
She’s got a USB stick plugged into the car that has a bunch of music stored on it, and this is what I primarily listened to. Except 50% of the time the car would fail to read the USB stick upon start-up and then would default to …Sirius? So you’d have to wait and then change audio source about 30 seconds later once the car finally did register the USB stick.
Oh, and effing push-button transmission gear selectors in the center of the dash is the WORST.
And there’s no at-ready visual representation about what vents are activated on the HVAC. I didn’t even waste my time trying to figure out what my options were just to see this information. I just turned the fan speed down and cracked the windows. I effing hate new cars…
My biggest tech frustration is Android Auto. When it works it’s the most awesome experience on the planet and I can’t imagine going back to one of my old cars without it, but when it doesn’t work, which is quite frequently, it’s the most frustrating feature on the planet. And who should we complain to? Google who develops Android Auto and the Android OS? Samsung/OnePlus/Google/Sony/whoever built the phone? The car manufacturer who probably isn’t aware how Android Auto works?
So instead I’m stuck rebooting phones and head units and swapping USB cables over and over again until I finally get it working then I’m on my way. Until I hit a gentle bump and the USB cable loses its connection for 1.5ms and I have to start the dance all over again.
I like having a screen in my car and do, but man, I can only imagine what it is going to be like in 20 years with most used cars being mechanically drivable, but the screens and tech all broken for the last 5 years of it’s life. It will make used car ownership much more costly than it is.
As a followup on my thoughtline, I am mostly talking about those one off screens in the luxury models. I can’t imagine the cost of a screen like that, that is no longer produced. The common source and sized screens I don’t see being an issue for the most part.
In the near future, 10 year old cars will end up in junkyards due to some combination of outdated or non-working screens, electrical gremlins, and for EVs, outdated or unserviceable batteries. These problem cars will have no resale value because they will be cost prohibitive to repair or be unable to be repaired. There’s already a problem with unavailable parts or shoddy replacement parts for existing less complicated cars. This is going to be a huge problem for the many Americans who depend on used cars for their mobility.
“(here’s a fun fact: if you ever see a Raider on the road, it’s a symbol of good luck and you will probably be unable to die that day!)”
I almost bought a Mitsubishi Raider several years back. Does that mean I would’ve been immortal? That puts a new spin on “There can be only one.”
Just give us the fucking Amarok. And their smaller trucks, too. I’m actually surprised they’re not already made in Mexico, since VW is very popular there.
Also, this can be Mitsubishi’s lineup:
Mitsubishi Twizy
Mitsubishi Zoe
Mitsubishi Kwid
Mitsubishi Sandero
Mitsubishi Lancer (rebadged Megane)
The RS can the the Evo XI
The GT can be the new Ralliart
The Estate would be sold here too
Mitsubishi Duster
Mitsubishi Mighty Max (Oroch)
Mitsubishi Triton/L200
Mitsubishi Montero (Sport, since the regular Montero was killed off worldwide, but we don’t need to use the Sport name here, just call it Montero)
Possibly also
Mitsubishi Kangoo
Mitsubishi Trafic
Mitsubishi Master
That’s the Dacia Sandero!
I have “This American Life” somehow permanently stuck on my podcast menu and can’t remove it, it just randomly starts playing at different times, usually related to my cell connection dropping. So, I can relate, a lot of infotainment systems are reasonably user friendly for most routine things, but have weird quirks that crop up here and there that are harder to figure out than they should be
If I want tech, I’ll use my phone. Can I please opt out of this worthless (to me) stuff and get maybe a sunroof or a better suspension in exchange?
My parents will be in the market for a car soon (in their 60’s) to likely replace their ’09 Elantra Touring. I am terrified. I get phone calls from them all the time asking me to walk them through some of the most basic “tech” stuff. If they buy anything other than a base Kia Rio to replace it, I’m totally screwed. Might as well just block time for a bootcamp-style weekend to read through the manual with them. In all seriousness, these systems tend to suck, and I don’t really blame them.
I don’t really understand the war on buttons from manufacturers. Nicely damped buttons and levers and shit are simply fun to use. Tapping furiously on a screen sucks.
I have been looking for an Elantra Touring for a while. Not red, no leather, not beige interior. Whaddya got?
“Infotainment” itself is the problem.
I want a large dumb screen in the dash that mirrors my phone. An amplifier and speakers in various strategic locations around the cabin. Buttons and switches for the HVAC, seats, and driving controls. Pretty much NOTHING else.
Every dollar spent on “infotainment” is a waste of money that drives the prices of cars up and satisfaction with cars down.
Good phone connectivity with a volume knob and three rotor climate is all I want. I barely interface with my car’s infotainment because Google (and probably Apple) do everything better.
Our F150 has been paired with both phones. Mrs Hondaimpbmw’s phone has been set to preferred, so when I want to use my phone, I have to plug in rather than use Bluetooth or, she has to turn off Bluetooth on her phone until mine and the truck do their handshake, kiss and make up.
A couple of times a year, the infotainment system on my 2016 Volvo S60 just locks up, without any input from me, just driving along listening to music or a podcast from my phone and suddenly silence. The instruments still function and the car runs fine, but it requires pulling over and power cycling the whole car, not simply the stereo.
I wish we could enact a Non-Truckular Proliferation Treaty. I’m f’ing tired of trucks, and my second favorite vehicle of mine is a truck.
I want to drive down the road and be able to see what’s going on ahead of the vehicle in front of me again.
This unAmerican treachery will not stand, Sir!
You need moar bigga truck! No other solution is imaginable!
I’d just like to see through the window of the car ahead of me for brake lights again. Nope another F150 in front and no go on visuals.
I’m not surprised on the infotainment issues dragging scores down. I hammered my TLX in the survey over it. And I’m not coming from a position of any of this being “new” tech to me; its simply that bad of a system compared to what I had in my previous vehicle (GMC Canyon) or the one before that (Jeep Wrangler).
If its constantly failing to connect to carplay when I plug in my phone, or finds a way to continue ringing the phone during the phone call its simply bad tech.
I paired my phone to a new Ford Explorer. It wouldn’t let me make an outgoing call while driving, via it’s controls. I had to use my phone. I unpaired the phone and now it always pops up a message saying I can’t call 911 unless a phone is paired LOL
In a new Subaru Forrester, I paired my phone and the system will text to speech all my text messages even though I told it to stop.
Most of the ones I use are pretty easy to figure out. With the exception of CUE, hard to figure out, constantly locking up, getting instructions wrong, etc.
Granted the splash screen looks good.
The Infotainment Crisis is no joke and other than saving money I really have no idea why manufacturers are continuing to try to drag us kicking and screaming into a tech hell world that no body outside of Tesla stans actually wants. It’s engineers coming up with solutions to problems that no one has. Do you know what works? Buttons, knobs, dials, switches, etc.
No one has been asking for them to go away but Tesla became a huge success by selling cars operated by tablets and now there manufacturers think it’s what everyone wants. It isn’t! Having to swipe away at screens, fiddle with haptic bullshit, use sliders for volume, et cetera is distracting, frustrating, and dangerous. If a car doesn’t have buttons and/or has everything controlled through the infotainment system it’s an automatic no dice for me, and for lots of others too.
I’m currently trying to find my 60 year old mother a new car because her 2013 Allroad has hit the classic German car “everything is breaking and expensive” phase and it’s a nightmare. Every newer car she gets in to is confusing for her because of how much infotainments and basic functions have changed…and honestly it’s not even something I can give her crap about being old and fussy on because I’m freaking 32, grew up with a ton of technology, and even I get into some of these modern luxury cars and can’t tell you how basic stuff works.
She and my dad want to go with a Macan but the second they have to interact with all the haptic bullshit on the center stack it’s game over. Unfortunately she will only drive German cars (that I do give her a hard time about but like a lot of folks around her age personal experience trumps facts and Google is too much trouble) and it’s going to be hard to find her one that isn’t going to confuse her at this stage.
Anyway, bring on the mini trucks. I’d trust Mitsubishi way more than VW to figure out a competent one because they’ve made trucks for the US market fairly recently and they actually know how to build a reliable car. I’m sure VW will come up with some underpowered EV lightbar monstrosity that’s entirely controlled by voice or something. I’m rooting for Mitsubishi to get it together in general. Even though they no longer have the capacity to give us actual enthusiast cars they have a lot of history and by most accounts the limited lineup they still have is decent. Maybe a Maverick/Santa Cruz competitor is their ticket…just don’t put a damn CVT in it.
I think the infotainment thing boils down to two things:
1. A screen is already there anyway, putting controls there is cheaper than also adding knobs, dials, buttons etc. Not saying that’s good, just cheaper for the manufacturer
2. Between crash standards, emissions, and electrification all the cars are pretty much becoming the same so they are trying to separate themselves by how they implement a living room.
As far as VW and Mitsu trucks, wasn’t the VW truck based on a Nissan? Who also own Mitsubishi. So they will probably just actually be the same truck.
Regarding pickups, the Mercedes X-Class sold overseas was a Nissan Navara Cimarron, while the Amarok’s entirely VW’s work.
Right you are, my mistake.
From Wikipedia:
The second-generation Amarok was released on 7 July 2022.[3] Designed and conceived in Germany and Australia, it will be built by Ford at South African assembly plant in Silverton and share the new Ford Ranger’s platform as part of the 2019 Ford-VW global alliance cooperation agreement
I had bad experiences with my Polestar 2 at the beginning, since everything is in the screen, sometimes you will lose internet connection, bye bye google maps, spotify, “onstar”, the only things you can use is the climate controls since everything else becomes useless, even the dashboard the map goes away. This was when they didn’t have CarPlay so now if that’s the case, you just plug your phone and continue like nothing happened. Also using the phone as a key was so unreliable, its getting better but one day I got stuck at the grocery store because the car didn’t recognize my phone at all, here I am outside of Aldi with a rented shopping cart full of groceries, luckily I was close to home so my spouse brought a spare. Since then I always carry a key with me. The last 6 months its been working good, fingers crossed
I have a 2023 Polestar 2 and it’s been flawless after I did a total reboot of the UX. I’ve always hated the idea of having a screen in the car, but after test-driving and renting multiple modern EVs, I found the P*2 had the fastest, most user-friendly, intuitive and seamless UX of any car I’ve tried. Unbelievably, my wife, who is German and is a bit of a technophobe and privacy freak has fallen in love with saying “Hey Google…” and asking it to do things. I haven’t reached that point yet but I love the fact that you don’t have to pair a phone with it in order to have a fully functional car (unlike the Mach-E, for example).
”Poverty” spec is looking better and better.
Yup. My car is 15 years old, and it has too many goddamn buttons.
All I want or need, is RWD, with stereo, AC, wipers and lights.
I’m not that bothered about navigation, my phone can tell me directions from wherever it’s been wedged, or passengers can learn to co pilot and provide directions (yes, I know, but I’m TRYING to train them to do better, at least…)
Everything I own is pre 03. Bluetooth is nice but that’s ALL I need! My daily driven 1962 Lincoln Continental has no cameras, warnings or a boat of other doodad bullshit to impede going down the road effortlessly. My 2001 Chevy 1500 only has a blue tooth, once again no cameras or anything else same with my excursion. I got to back up to a trailer with skills, not a self taught system built into the vehicle… I got to look around to check blind spots and behind me… I slow down when I see slower traffic or a stopped vehicle… All this extra shit let’s people with less common sense not learn anything and they just become another plugged in brainless driver on the road.
Wish just one manufacturer…current or new that would make a all analog vehicle again. I know for sure I would be interested.
I’ve been saying for years that if international would bring back a cheap, no nonsense, basic analog truck, like they did in the 60s/70s they couldn’t build them fast enough.
I have an ’02 Silverado 1500, and all I have is an AM/FM radio, which is fine with me. But I’m confused how you have Bluetooth; I didn’t think it was available until the GMT900 came out.
This is not a difficult question. Who is buying new cars? Senior citizens. Are they particularly tech-savvy? Some are, but not many.
Meanwhile, the young people who can easily adapt are buying twenty year-old Camrys on Craigslist.
I almost mentioned this too but took it out. I think it’s fair to say buyers of luxury cars, where all the most sophisticated features start out, tend to be a bit older. Your average Zoomer isn’t dumping $75,000 on a new Lexus. Having said that, plenty of older buyers are super tech-savvy too, and I think a good UX should be agnostic of age and experience.
2013 Ram 2500. Hadn’t even had a year and took a road trip to see the Henry Ford museum and a fort just across the bridge in Canada. While we were across the border, the nav just locked up. The wife was fussing with the touchscreen, trying to see where we were on the map, which was irritating me. my daughter piped up from the backseat and said “I have nav on my phone…” Thank goodness for her ability to see through the frustration and pull a solution that I should have thought of. She narrated the turn by turn back to our hotel in Dearborn.
I was just thinking this same thing this morning as I tried to figure out why my (relatively) new BMW isn’t automatically adjusting the front seat based on the key fob used. I work in software development and trying to google why this wasn’t working was more complicated than most things I look up for work. I have a growing list of questions on how to do things in my car. I’m pretty tech savvy, I can’t imagine how my mom would figure any of this out
Is your subscription up to date?
I know for a fact that his turn signal subscription isn’t
Turns out BMW removed the blinkers years ago as a cost savings but no one noticed.
Or were the signals just not properly optioned?
I admit, I’m a little confused by the consistent infotainment/screen/menu griping. 99% of the time while driving, I’m not adjusting anything outside of volume, next track and HVAC. If those controls don’t have physical buttons or knobs, I get the complaints, but most cars do.
Stereo settings are done once when I buy the car.
Pairing a phone, ditto.
Clock adjusts itself automatically or at most is changed twice a year.
I don’t use turn by turn directions, so maybe this is it?
What else are people using regularly that requires digging deep into menus?
The only one I can think of from my experience is trying to get to the camera display when I’m parking…it comes up automatically when I’m in reverse, but if I’m pulling into a tight spot, I have to go digging for it.
That’s a good one, my truck is my only vehicle with a 360 camera and there’s a dedicated button for it so I’ve never worried about finding it.
The issue is that these days a lot of companies are requiring you to dig deep into menus for basic functions.
To give you an example of some of the frustrations popping up, I wouldn’t have believed this could be an issue in 2023 if I hadn’t experienced it myself. My 2022 TLX occasionally decides its not going to let me change radio stations/songs with the steering wheel toggle for that purpose. Sometimes it resolves itself in a few minutes, sometimes it requires a restart before it works again.
My Viper is the same way, but I don’t see that as an issue with menus per se, just a glitchy system. The controls are designed and laid out intelligently, they just aren’t working right.
I’d be pretty upset if it was happening on a new car though. It took 9 years before it started as an issue for me.
Heated seats in a Subaru Outback. 2 “clicks”. Should be a button.
Need an edit button. If the screen is cold (like when you need/want heated seats) it’s more than 2 “clicks”.
I second this. I often see YouTube reviews (Doug harps on this constantly) complaining about the lack of physical buttons in their cars. I set my S4 to AUTO 70 about three years ago and I haven’t touched it since. Are people really messing with their climate controls that much? When your car is warm enough, it will start blowing hot air. If it’s hot out, it will blow cold. Works perfectly fine for me.
Now, if for example you have to go three menus deep for the defrost, I can totally see the complaints.
Also depends on whether someone else drives the same car. My wife’s natural setting is maximum heat for seven months out of the year, whereas I lean ambient or low heat so that I don’t have to remove my jacket.
I am sure that some engineer is saying “oh, but we can make smart keys that will adjust your setting automatically,” but I’d much rather just slide a lever over, please.
I can’t even comprehend this. I change the temperature on my car constantly even with auto controls. Get in the car after being outside in the winter for a few hours? Blast me with heat until I tell you to stop. Get in the car on a hot summer day after I’ve been biking for 3 hours? Blast me with AC until I tell you to stop. Sunny day? Less heat, more AC. Night? More heat, less AC. Having the sun beating down on you (or not) can make the same air temperature feel drastically different.