The dashboard lights...

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<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;">I don't know if it's against the law or not here in Arkansas like it is in other states but obviously it is frowned upon I just don't think they can ticket you.  I could be wrong though. </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;">I have my phone set up so when I'm driving it puts up a message for texts that Im driving and I will respond later.  Generally, I try not to pick up the phone while I'm in the car to even look like I'm talking or texting.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;">When I travel to PA and NJ for work I try to be mindful that it is against the law so that I'm not seen doing anything that looks like talking or texting.  Whether or not they would ticket you for looking at that screen is a really good question.  I suspect they would classify that as distracted driving just like they would if you were looking at your phone. </span>
 
I don't have any complaint about the brightness or quality of the dash/instrument lighting of any modern car I have been in. There are some designed better than others of course but I find it all works.

The BIG problem was when they decided to illuminate the dash anytime the car was running vs just when the lights were on. This has lead to a large amount of people 'ghost' driving at night forgetting to turn their damn lights on...

Were I King, the exterior lights on a vehicle would never be off when the engine is running, but that is a rant for another day.
 
Funny Keyfob Story

 


<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">I have a funny keyless fob story.</span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">A few weeks ago I was in PA on business.  My rental had a keyless fob.  I was there for two weeks so I got used to it in my bag,  jumping in the car and heading where I was going.</span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">It was about 4AM and I was getting in the car to head back to the airport.  I walked up to the car, pressed the handle on the trunk and it opened.  In went my luggage.  I walked up to the driver side door and opened it the way I always do.  It didn't make the normal unlock noise.  It just opened.  I didn't really think anything of it.  As I sat down, I noticed some halls drops in the console that I didn't remember putting there.  Still clueless, I started pressing the button to start the car and nothing would happen.  I couldn't figure out what was going on and I was getting nervous because I hadn’t allowed myself a lot of extra time.</span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">As I got out of the car wondering what my next move was, I noticed there was a car two cars down that was identical to mine right down to the color and hubcaps.  I had gotten into the wrong car because the person hadn’t locked it.  </span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">I had to schlep all my luggage to the other car and off I went.  Had I been using a real key I would have known as soon as I tried to open the trunk.  So, I’m not sure if this is an endorsement to use or not use the keyless fobs.  Hubby and I got a good laugh over it and I made my flight in time.</span>

 
I just recently went car shopping and negotiated a deal for my mom on a 2020 Subaru Outback after she totaled her 2015 Hyundai Sonata, and it has all the Eyesight features. I've driven it a few times so far and find that they are gonna take some getting used to. The only one I actually want for myself is the Adaptive Cruise Control, this feature just in the few times I've driven the car has saved me from frustration of driving behind lines of cars that can't decide what speed they want to go. It also has lane keep assist, lane follow, forward collision alert/emergency braking. 

 

The lane keep assist seems like it would come in handy sometimes, the lane follow (which can only be activated when adaptive cruise is on) seems to work good sometimes and other times has the car swerving like a drunk within the lines.

 

The forward collision alert actively deters aggressive driving and quick lane changes so you gotta watch out for that if you're used to driving in high traffic metros. It will beep at you then let up off the gas if you're trying to change lanes quickly, and eventually apply the brakes. 

 

All the features are nice to have, I guess, however I would only ever tolerate them as long as I can turn them off, which I can in the Subaru. I still want to be able to just drive without the car constantly intervening. 

 

It also has the auto start/stop, which I'm not really a fan of, but I've kept it on out of curiosity. Luckily that is also able to be turned off. 

 

 

Back to the original topic, I find myself dimming the dash lights on modern cars to about half brightness cuz it's just too much glare at night. Never used to do that on older cars. 
 
I've been driving a 2001 VW Passat for a few years now, that was a freebie from a family member who was buying a new vehicle.
The dash lights are one of my favorite things about it.
They have sort of a blue backlight, and the numbers and stuff light up red.
It makes for great contrast without being too bright.
This past summer, I just drove my 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix for the first time in 19 years.
The couple of times that I drove it at night, I was surprised by how dim the dash lights seemed.
Maybe they have dimmed with age, but they may have always been this way.
The gauge faces are black, and small bulbs around the edges just highlight the white numbers and the orange needles.

Barry
 
My old Malibu had fairly subdued lighting and green LCD display. My Taurus I have now has 3 color screens and the white lighted control buttons. The guage cluster is silver and blue.

I quite like the lighting and it doesn't bother me much. I did change the radio screen from black on white (daytime) to black on white (night time) and leave it there all the time. It's supposed to change automatically at dark but it doesn't. I prefer the black background anyway since the interior in my car is dark gray.

I just found recently I can turn off the radio display completely if I wanted to.

RE: adaptive cruise, etc. My car came with all of that: adaptive cruise, parallel parking, forward collision warning, backup sensors, lane keep assist and blind spot monitoring.

I don't care for the adaptive cruise and I've never used the parallel parking, but I really do like the backup sensors since they really help when backing up and not being able to see oncoming traffic. Can't be totally relied on of course, but they really do help. I also really like the backup camera, and can't imagine not driving a car with one again.

My car however, will not automatically brake if a pedestrian or car is in front. Going by how some of the cars are having issues with braking for no reason, it might be a good thing.
 
Re: Reply#23

The forward collision alert actively deters aggressive driving and quick lane changes so you gotta watch out for that if you're used to driving in high traffic metros. It will beep at you then let up off the gas if you're trying to change lanes quickly, and eventually apply the brakes.

Oh Hell to the No! I think this feature would be fine for a self driving car, but I sure as hell don’t want some on board computer second guessing my maneuvers while I’m trying to negotiate my car in heavy traffic. To have the car put on the brakes while a driver is trying to get out of a dangerous situation that requires split second judgement could be disastrous.

I’m all for changes that are beneficial and make good sense. But frankly, every driver should be able to have complete control over their vehicle at all times and be paying close attention to the task at hand, DRIVING, and not by texting, talking on the phone, monkeying around with a touch screen to change the radio, heater or A/C, or looking at a navigation system. If you don’t know where you are going, look up the directions BEFORE you leave on your errand/trip, or pull over to the side of the road and consult the navi system.

Part of being a good, defensive driver is using good common sense and paying attention to driving, not technology.

If this makes me a “whiner” and and “old coot” that doesn’t move with the times then so be it.

Rant over.

Eddie
 
Toyota Tacoma

Yes toploader, your tacoma 5 speed will probably outlive you.


The more I hear about the newer cars and the maintenance nightmares.....
the ridiculous cost of parts and the evaporating market of service personel, I'm happy I have a cheap, 2014 5 speed car with crank windows, no cruise, incandescent lamps, no power locks, no touch screen anything.
In fact.... to start it you need to turn the crank that sticks out of the grille.

OK, I'd like cruise, but can order after market.
I can honestly say I've never even turned on the radio. I don't even know if it has a CD player or an input jack. lol.

I can't wait to get a fully electric car. teeheehee.
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I have a 2016 Dodge Durango. It has some of the features listed here. I don't mind the lights on the dashboard. I don't think they are that bright. The radio screen though is a different story. That is bright and there is no way to shut it off. You can shut the screen off to it, but it just puts up a black screen that is lit. Makes no sense. There is also no way to shut the radio off on it. You either have to turn the volume all the way down or press the mute button. Even if you turn the screen off, the radio will still play.
I believe on the newer Durangos, they have corrected both of those issues. Another thing that the newer Durangos have, is the ability to turn on the backup camera at any time. On mine, you have to put the vehicle in reverse for the backup camera to turn on.
The on/off feature that will shut the car off, while at a red light is an ok feature. There are times where I don't mind it and then other times where I wish I didn't have it. It is supposed to have a delay before it shuts off. So once you come to a complete stop, it isn't supposed to shut the engine off until like 5 seconds or so. However I've noticed that mine sometimes will and sometimes won't. I'll come to a stop sign and see that I can just stop and go, since no vehicles are coming. So I come to the complete stop, let off the brake and then the engine shuts off and then will start back up again. I wasn't even stopped for 5 seconds, yet it shuts off and then it does it after I have already let off the brake. Then there are other times where I will be at a stop light and I'll have my foot on the brake and it won't even shut off for 10+ seconds.
In regards to the comments about the a/c working when the engine shuts off. If the engine is under a heave load, such as the a/c is on full blast, the engine won't shut off. So it is 100+ degrees outside, you get into the car and it is of course much hotter inside. The a/c is on full blast. You come to a stop light, the engine won't shut off, since it is trying to get the car up to a comfortable temperature. If you have been in your vehicle for a while and the temperature is down to a tolerable degree and you stop at a stop light, the engine will shut off, the a/c will continue to run, just not at full capacity. If the a/c needs to come back to full power, the engine will automatically start up again, so the a/c can continue to run. I'm only basing this on my Durango though, so I can't say how other manufactures work.
I was told that some of the Chevy cars do not have the button to shut the stop/start feature and that you just have to deal with it. I do enjoy having the button to shut mine off though, when I want to.

I don't have the adaptive cruise control, but have driven a vehicle with it. I really didn't care for it. It seemed to slow down way to soon, when approaching a vehicle. And no I don't tailgate.

I do have a key fob on my Durango and it is nice to not have to use a key to unlock it all the time. I just go up to the car, put my hand in the handle, as long as I have the fob, the car will unlock. You can do this from either of the front doors and even the rear hatch. The hatch is powered and will lift or lower with the press of a button. My husband likes that, so he doesn't have to worry about lifting the hatch. He has a bad back and it could cause a strain on his back if he had to.
When I go to leave for the day, I just grab the fob and put it in my pocket. I get it, push the button to start it and leave. When I get to where ever I am going, I just shut the engine off, get out and push the lock button. At the end of the day, when I get home, the key fob goes back on the key hook near the back door.
The only problem with this, is I've found myself leaving the keys in the ignition on my 1989 Thunderbird and then getting out, locking the doors. Luckily it has the keypad on the door, so I can just unlock it to get back in and get the keys. Most of the time, I realize it before I leave. One time I didn't realize it until I got back to the car.

When I first got the Durango, I would get someplace and put the car in park. With my foot on the brake pedal, I would push the button to shut the car off. I'd get out, lock the door, and leave. When I return, the car would be running. It took me a while to realize that by me keeping my foot on the brake pedal, while shutting it off, it would just restart. Because to start it, you have to press down on the brake pedal. I now just let up off the brake pedal after I put it in park.

Another thing the Durango has is the shifter knob. I'm not a big fan of it though. I've seen the memes about turning the radio up and accidentally turning the shifter knob and throwing the car into park or reverse. It doesn't actually work like that. If you turn the knob, while it is in motion, it will just give an error on the dash board that says you can't do that. I don't recall if it stays in drive or goes into neutral.

Sorry for the long reply.
 
"coolest"dashboard lighting...

...is the electroluminescent lighting used on certain 1960s Chrysler products:1960-63 fullsize and 1966 charger,possibly some other models too-A little transistor driven inverter providing the ~90 volts AC to excite the phosphor coating for the nice blue-green glow also seen on some clock and telephone dials- mostly around the 1959-72 era :)
 
gotta love Scotty...

good ol' Buffalo NY boy, and he knows whereof he speaks! he drives ancient Toyotas himself.

I'm fond of the orange lighting on our 2 Xterras, and the fact that everything in analog/knob controlled, no touchscreen, only the radio has digital display, and there's no drive, brake, or steer "by wire". If they still made them that way I'd buy another.

As to all the auto-pilot, self-driving, and computerized driving features on new cars, you can keep it, I'll stay in control and let the "world whiz on by" perfectly happily, thank you! I know someone who paid over $700 for a new keyless ignition "key"... no thank you!
 
Everything that I remember, Ford, Chrysler, American Motors used to glow green...

General Motors glowed in regular yellowish, except for Pontiac, using orange, but now it glows in a sort of blue...

Not too familiar with foreign, maybe they’d glowed green or some in neutral, as well...

I miss under dash courtesy lights, even small, cheap compact and sometimes subcompact had them, but now you have to buy up pretty big, and to me, other than additional cargo space, see no need to—my Jeep Compass has adequate passenger room, as the lease payments are easier than a Cherokee or Grand...

— Dave
 
I was driving home from Nashville tonight and encountered a ghost driver in a BLACK (of all colors) Ford Fusion driving on I65.  From behind it looked like the inside of the car was glowing because the dash lights were still in daylight mode...no headlights only DRL led's which are pretty bright, no taillights, and to top it all off he was yacking on the darn phone!  It's in my dashcam.

[this post was last edited: 12/16/2019-04:07]
 
well, odd story....going back to the days of keys.....1985 Dodge Daytona, went in to the dealer for warranty service on the tires.....the mechanic came out and got me, inquiring if I could show him which tire was having the problem....apparently rear driver side was not a good description....

anywho.....we walked out into the service bay....and stopped at this car....with a blank look on my face, I asked "where's my car?"......he said isn't this one yours....NO, this one is Black, mine is Silver.....

apparently my key unlocked several cars on the lot......

good to know, I'll be back after closing.....lol

________________________________________

I guess my biggest issue with the keyless fob and push button starting....is force of habit, without looking, I could insert a key and start the vehicle....plus there was this reminder to grab your keys....

at least on the Prius, they had a slot on the dashboard you slid the fob into.....not a bad transition for most.....

if all cars were push button, may not be a big deal, but when you have to switch back and forth...it plays a trick on your brain...

also had a rental with the turn knob shifter....WTH is that!....all the more reason to take your eyes off the road......at least with the traditional lever shift, whether on the column or console....you know what gear your placing the vehicle from touch...

same thing with AutoStick....you have to look down at times to see what gear your in.....with a manual shift, I know by placement of what gear I'm in without looking....

I like knowing how to operate my Jeep without fumbling and searching for controls.....I can operate everything without taking my eyes off the road...
 
Just talked to a friend of mine that bought a 2019 Camry a few months ago.

Touch Screen is giving her all sorts of problems. But here is the real kicker...

It has Lane Assist and that Auto Braking feature. She was trying to avoid a car drifting into her lane so she went to swerve and accelerate and the car pulled her back into the lane she was trying to get out of then would not allow her to accelerate. Escaping a collision by the Grace of God (or who ever you want to think helped her)
She drove the car back to the dealership and had them disconnect all that crap. The sales person without missing a beat said "Absolutely we'll do it right now".

So I guess all this safety crap is not all what it's cracked up to be. Sometimes technology cannot (in some cases)be used against Human Judgement.
 
Re: Reply #37

Eddie, this is exactly the scenario I had in mind when I posted my reply #27. What crazy programer thought that this would be a good idea? With the way people drive today and the increased traffic just about everywhere a driver had better be able to make split second decisions and maneuvers to avoid a potential collision with no second guessing by “Alexa”, or whoever. No on board computer can possibly be programmed for each of these individual hazardous situations.

The salesman that sold her the car did the right thing by disconnecting the system ASAP upon your friends request. I would suggest that car salespeople everywhere should go one step further and ask every buyer BEFORE they drive off the lot in their new car if they want the system disabled, after thoroughly explaining the pros and cons of this device. When my Mom bought a new Maytag Wringer in 1969 the salesman asked if she wanted that stupid safety pedal for the wringer disabled before he delivered the machine, and she opted to have him do so.

Eddie
 

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