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How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

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Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#2
https://archive.is/9IU8W

I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles.

What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right to the center console, expecting a screen, then they dart from mirror to mirror, unsure of what to do or where to look or how to judge, and they keep glancing at the dash, as if a screen is going to magically appear.

At no point do they just throw their arm on the backside of the passenger seat, and turn around to look out the windows while keeping one hand on the wheel. It is as if this movement, this posture, is completely new to them. Asking them to use just one side view mirror to back all the way out of a gently curved driveway would be impossible. They need the digital guidance lines on the screen to go in reverse.

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#3

https://archive.is/9IU8W I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles. What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right…

2010 car here. Maintaining it well to reach >=300k. New cars also have oil-burning issues and I anticipate difficulty of obtaining parts due to large, diverse BOMs from all those useless features.

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#4

https://archive.is/9IU8W I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles. What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right…

That’s great for you, but there’s been amazing advances in the world of automobile safety in the past 20 years. I’d rather improve my safety chances in an accident than worry about “tracking”.

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#5

https://archive.is/9IU8W I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles. What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right…

2005 CR-V coming up on 230K miles and still runs like a top. I did add a CarPlay-capable head unit that has a connection for a rear-view camera (which I haven’t gotten and probably won’t).

Wireless CarPlay is pretty big usability and modest safety improvement (to have a 7” map display and voice control instead of futzing with a phone to get GPS guidance).

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#6
post #3

https://archive.is/9IU8W I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles. What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right…

2010 car here. Maintaining it well to reach >=300k. New cars also have oil-burning issues and I anticipate difficulty of obtaining parts due to large, diverse BOMs from all those useless features.

The scrap yards are very efficient at pulling out all those parts and selling them. Any reasonably popular vehicle you shouldn’t have a problem sourcing parts.

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#8
2019 car here, equipped with a rear camera. Been driving for 43 years and I refuse to use the cam. The thing that bothers me is now I have to check the mfg connectivity TOS and must opt out instead of opt in to what data is transmitted - it’s ridiculous. Don’t get me started on the ever increasing software subscription services these manufacturers are trying to levy on consumers.

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#9

https://archive.is/9IU8W I've got an old (2002) car, I love the buttons and knobs. No cameras, no screens, no key fob, no voice control, no electronic "safety" features, no tracking. The 4L straight six engine is still going strong at almost 300,000 miles. What's funny is watching my friends attempt to back out of the driveway or parking lot without a camera and screen. They put it in reverse and their eyes go right…

That’s great for you, but there’s been amazing advances in the world of automobile safety in the past 20 years. I’d rather improve my safety chances in an accident than worry about “tracking”.

Why is it a forced choice?

Re: How the most popular cars in the US track drivers

#10
post #7

Are there any new cars / car brands that credibly promise not to track their drivers? Any car with a network connection for software updates seems likely to be harvesting driver data, or is at least capable of doing so.

I HIGHLY doubt there are any that make that promise.
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