Does anyone else but me think there are way too many electronics in today's vehicles?

[TheHouseOfElijah]

My 2004 Jeep is my favorite ride. 202,000 miles on it. Crank by hand windows. Tops off and 99% of the trips are in it. The Ram gets the long comfy drives.
It still has too many electronics. I miss my old Gremlin with points and a cassette radio.

Admitting to driving an AMC Gremlin on a public forum earns you credit.

You must be the 2,000-yr old man.

 

[BWL]

Gremlin makes a good donor car for a guy who wants a challenge on the drag strip.

 

[NETim]

I miss the old '65 Scout we had on the farm. 4 banger/3 on the floor. Had an AM radio for entertainment.

Although on one icy, snowy day driving home from school, I got a surprise when I rolled up on a stop sign and the little Scout just chugged right on through despite mashing the clutch and brake pedals to the floor. From then on, if I really honked on the brakes, I could stop but the engine would die. Engaging the starter got it moving again but you wanted to be sure you wanted to be moving again.

An autopsy later showed that one of the fingers on the clutch pressure plate broke.

 

[corneileous]

I purposely bought a 2018 Ram 1500 Limited so what does that tell you?...lol. I love all the creature comforts. If the new bodystyles weren't so ugly on the outside, I'd probably get into one some day.

However, the only electronic stuff I don't care for is all that crash-warning BS. That, I could do without and to say the least, I don't have to worry about it because my truck doesn't have any of that nonsense.

 

[jejb]

However, the only electronic stuff I don't care for is all that crash-warning BS. That, I could do without and to say the least, I don't have to worry about it because my truck doesn't have any of that nonsense.

All that 'crash-warning' BS is the reason I upgraded from an 18 2500 Laramie to a 22 Ltd Longhorn. Wife has all that stuff in her 21 Pacifica, and laid on the guilt trip when I balked at the trade-up idea. "So you don't want your wife driving a vehicle with features that may save her life?". Hard to argue with, plus I got to order out a new truck! And I do appreciate the safety features. I have not had an accident in over 20 years, but it never hurts to augment your awareness, IMO.

 

[turkeybird56]

All that 'crash-warning' BS is the reason I upgraded from an 18 2500 Laramie to a 22 Ltd Longhorn. Wife has all that stuff in her 21 Pacifica, and laid on the guilt trip when I balked at the trade-up idea. "So you don't want your wife driving a vehicle with features that may save her life?". Hard to argue with, plus I got to order out a new truck! And I do appreciate the safety features. I have not had an accident in over 20 years, but it never hurts to augment your awareness, IMO.

Well, yup, if Momma "talks" U into ordering and getting a new truck, hey, what the hay, LOL. Easy there though, do not jinx yerself.

 

[corneileous]

All that 'crash-warning' BS is the reason I upgraded from an 18 2500 Laramie to a 22 Ltd Longhorn. Wife has all that stuff in her 21 Pacifica, and laid on the guilt trip when I balked at the trade-up idea. "So you don't want your wife driving a vehicle with features that may save her life?". Hard to argue with, plus I got to order out a new truck! And I do appreciate the safety features. I have not had an accident in over 20 years, but it never hurts to augment your awareness, IMO.

Well if people would go back to paying more attention to the road ahead rather than looking at their phones or doing other miscellaneous distractive things, there wouldn’t be a need for that stuff.

I get it, it does help but I guess to me, it’s just the way it’s promoted to how so many people look at it and treat it like it’s an alternative to be or an excuse to not be an attentive driver. It’s just like with that commercial that used to come on TV quite some time ago, the one that had the lady driving the little red car and she’s daydreaming about being on America’s got talent or whatever the stupid show was and the next thing you know while she’s singing away and not even oblivious to the fact that she’s driving a car, she’s being woken up out of her daydreaming haze to the sound of her car beeping at her and then applying the brakes so that she doesn’t plow into the stopped cars in front of her.

I guess I’m just too old-school to care for it and why I’m glad they make it to where you can at least turn this crap off but I guess that’s just me… Lol. At least one good thing about it, if you really want to call it that, a lot of insurance companies offer discounts to people who have cars that have that junk. I don’t know why because I would think a lot of people that have that would probably be a lot more prone to having an accident because they're not paying attention.

And no, I’m not judging you or your wife, by saying this but my wife would never say anything crazy like that because she knows how to drive.

 

[turkeybird56]

Admitting to driving an AMC Gremlin on a public forum earns you credit.

You must be the 2,000-yr old man.

Hey, I had a '74 Jeep Cherokee, AWD, 304 Motor, AT, AM Radio, roll crank everything and Heater. It did Have Power Steering, modern marvel. Dat puppy ran forever and went everywhere. It just had a bad habit of stopping into every gas station more often than not, LOL. Wasn't one fancy gadget in them years, but somehow made it from Point A to B to A, miracle, LOL.

 

[turkeybird56]

Well if people would go back to paying more attention to the road ahead rather than looking at their phones or doing other miscellaneous distractive things, there wouldn’t be a need for that stuff.

I get it, it does help but I guess to me, it’s just the way it’s promoted to how so many people look at it and treat it like it’s an alternative to be or an excuse to not be an attentive driver. It’s just like with that commercial that used to come on TV quite some time ago, the one that had the lady driving the little red car and she’s daydreaming about being on America’s got talent or whatever the stupid show was and the next thing you know while she’s singing away and not even oblivious to the fact that she’s driving a car, she’s being woken up out of her daydreaming haze to the sound of her car beeping at her and then applying the brakes so that she doesn’t plow into the stopped cars in front of her.

I guess I’m just too old-school to care for it and why I’m glad they make it to where you can at least turn this crap off but I guess that’s just me… Lol. At least one good thing about it, if you really want to call it that, a lot of insurance companies offer discounts to people who have cars that have that junk. I don’t know why because I would think a lot of people that have that would probably be a lot more prone to having an accident because they're not paying attention.

And no, I’m not judging you or your wife, by saying this but my wife would never say anything crazy like that because she knows how to drive.

100% agree. Too many distractions in vehicles. I plug in my I Phone, which turns on Apple Car Play, throw phone into center console and drive. I find sometimes, even the radio may distract and I just hit mute.

 

[yrraljguthrie]

First I'm 77. It's hard to understand why people complain about the electronics in today's cars. If you can't get used to a knob for shifting or a push to start then why and how can you use this forum? Someone complained about the backup camera. Wanted to turn it off. Ah...just don't use it, even though it's possible to see people in parking lots that you can't see with mirrors. You do realize that the large flat-screen TV in your house is the result of electronic innovation? And the velvet ride and very low noise level in your Ram is the result of electronics? Do you want to get rid of that and go back to the ride of a 1972 Dodge pickup? How about a 1972 Chevy truck with a 350 engine? It got 10-12 mpg no matter how you drove it. The 5.7 will run circles around it. Get far better mpg. Same size engine. One is filled with electronics one wasn't. I guess you would rather reach and turn on the headlights rather than have them adjust automatically. Take that hands-free cell phone feature and throw it out. Can't have heated seats. How about brakes that because of electronics will stop the vehicle quicker? Maybe you should get a horse and saddle. Maybe no saddle. Oh...wait a minute you like all that automatic electronics, just can't learn anything new.

 

[corneileous]

First I'm 77. It's hard to understand why people complain about the electronics in today's cars. If you can't get used to a knob for shifting or a push to start then why and how can you use this forum? Someone complained about the backup camera. Wanted to turn it off. Ah...just don't use it, even though it's possible to see people in parking lots that you can't see with mirrors. You do realize that the large flat-screen TV in your house is the result of electronic innovation?

Quite frankly, I love my backup camera and I love the front and rear parking sensors in the bumpers. I’ve been in some tight parking lots having to back out where those have come in very handy and before anybody says it, I can see better out the side mirrors in this 20-year old Peterbilt than I can in my 5 and a half year old pickup…lol.

I pretty much rely on my mirrors more than anything but that backup camera sure is nice for hooking to a trailer, just sayin’.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Quite frankly, I love my backup camera and I love the front and rear parking sensors in the bumpers. I’ve been in some tight parking lots having to back out where those have come in very handy and before anybody says it, I can see better out the side mirrors in this 20-year old Peterbilt than I can in my 5 and a half year old pickup…lol.

I pretty much rely on my mirrors more than anything but that backup camera sure is nice for hooking to a trailer, just sayin’.

How does it help you? The hitch disappears below the frame several feet before it get to your ball so you still don't know when to stop.

 

[corneileous]

How does it help you? The hitch disappears below the frame several feet before it get to your ball so you still don't know when to stop.

Um, no, it actually doesn’t. Not on my 4th Gen, anyway. Even with a heavy duty aluminum 6 inch adjustable drop hitch back there that’s all the way down on the slide or is as far up as it will go to the top which is about the equivalent to a standard 2 inch hitch you can get at Walmart, Oreiley’s, etc etc, I can see when the trailer hitch goes right over the top of the ball. The only time I kind of have a problem using the back up camera to latch on my trailer is when the sun is shining from in front of me on a bright sunny day that creates a shadow back there behind my truck but other than that, my camera allows me to flawlessly hook up to a trailer.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Um, no, it actually doesn’t. Not on my 4th Gen, anyway. Even with a heavy duty aluminum 6 inch adjustable drop hitch back there that’s all the way down on the slide or is as far up as it will go to the top which is about the equivalent to a standard 2 inch hitch you can get at Walmart, Oreiley’s, etc etc, I can see right when the trailer hitch goes right over the top of the ball. The only time I could sort of have a problem using the back up camera to latch on my trailer is when the sun is shining in front of me, that creates a shadow back there behind my truck but other than that, my camera allows me to flawlessly hook up to a trailer.

On my camera, the hitch disappears below the bottom of the frame probably 12" - 18" before it gets to the ball, so I still have to step out and check. And, since there are no lines on the camera screen it's an educated guess as to how close to lined-up I actually am. Although I've been towing for years and usually one check is all that's necessary.

 

[ramjam65]

ya, you think you want it, until you get it, then you realize you hate it.

 

[corneileous]

On my camera, the hitch disappears below the bottom of the frame probably 12" - 18" before it gets to the ball, so I still have to step out and check. And, since there are no lines on the camera screen it's an educated guess as to how close to lined-up I actually am. Although I've been towing for years and usually one check is all that's necessary.

Hmm. I wonder if those new trucks actually give you the ability to change the viewing angle on the camera just like how I know my wife can on her Honda Civic. She’s got like at least two, maybe three different camera angles just on the one camera that’s back there on the back of the trunk.

If you do, maybe you have the view set to the wrong angle? I can’t imagine why ram trucks would take that ability away to virtually hitch up to a trailer all by yourself and not have to worry about slamming the tongue into the bumper but who knows, maybe us fourth GEN guys probably never were intended to be able to use our back up cameras to hitch up a trailer, it just worked out that way… Lol.

 

[corneileous]

ya, you think you want it, until you get it, then you realize you hate it.

Is there a specific item we’re talking about here because I believe in the Burt Gummer school of logic that if you need it and you don’t have it, you sing a whole different tune that you would if you had it and didn’t need it.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Hmm. I wonder if those new trucks actually give you the ability to change the viewing angle on the camera just like how I know my wife can on her Honda Civic. She’s got like at least two, maybe three different camera angles just on the one camera that’s back there on the back of the trunk.

If you do, maybe you have the view set to the wrong angle? I can’t imagine why ram trucks would take that ability away to virtually hitch up to a trailer all by yourself and not have to worry about slamming the tongue into the bumper but who knows, maybe us fourth GEN guys probably never were intended to be able to use our back up cameras to hitch up a trailer, it just worked out that way… Lol.

No sir, no ability to change camera angle. At least on mine. Besides, I hate the dang camera anyway. I use my mirrors for backing, always have, always will. That darn thing comes on the screen even when I have the system turned off and it's irritating to see it out of the corner of my eye, so I put a piece of electrical tape over the lens.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Is there a specific item we’re talking about here because I believe in the Burt Gummer school of logic that if you need it and you don’t have it, you sing a whole different tune that you would if you had it and didn’t need it.

He's talking about the back-up camera. I just put a piece of tape over mine because it bothers me.

 

[corneileous]

No sir, no ability to change camera angle. At least on mine. Besides, I hate the dang camera anyway. I use my mirrors for backing, always have, always will. That darn thing comes on the screen even when I have the system turned off and it's irritating to see it out of the corner of my eye, so I put a piece of electrical tape over the lens.

Hmm, I figured they would have incorporated that ability by now. My wife’s Civic is a 2017 model and it has that feature. Kinda nice, really.

But yeah, me being a professional truck driver for close to 15 years and being a rock truck driver for 10, backing up is part of my job so I know all about the looking in the mirrors but I still have to appreciate the backup camera on my tailgate. It serves it’s purpose as far as I’m concerned.