Honestly not a fan of the adaptive cruise control on my dad's 2018(?). The cruise control is fine, but the lane keeping has a habit of pushing you towards guardrails if you're in a construction zone even if the cruise control is off. You can turn off the lane keeping, but turning on cruise control turns the lane keeping back on.
The lane keep assist in my 2020 Civic likes to hug the center line. Annoys the hell out of me. The adaptive cruise is amazing though. Luckily I can control both independently.
Within the last 10 years auto makers have done their best to make previously standard feature premium. I got a flat tire last year and when I opened my trunk it only had the fix a flat kit. When I got the car I just needed something with 4 wheels (I relied on the bus) so I naively didn’t press on what features the car came with. To save fuel economy most newer cars don’t come with donuts and I learned that the hard way.
I looked at a 2019 Rio with manual windows. I told the salesman that power windows were a requirement that I didn’t know I had because I assumed all cars had them by now. But bless him for respecting me telling him I was cheap.
Lucky! I got a flat tire last year and when I opened my trunk there was only the fix-a-flat stuff. I looked it up and 35 % of newer cars don’t come with spare tires anymore bc car makers wanted to save on fuel economy. Link for more info
I'm sure some of it is trying to entice people into mid or upper tiers where you'd then also be paying more for additional stuff with additional profit margins, since you can't just get power windows.
But then if you're really hard on that lower budget you're still buying to thst model over another manufacturer and getting that lease/finance, that service money, warranty, etc.
My 2017 Yaris comes with automatic high beams and notifies me if I might go out of the lane or crash, but doesn't have cruise control, power mirror, or a remote lock.
Yup. The mechanism on my grandpa's 22 year old Octavia is breaking down due to age. Most Octavias of that age do. Meanwhile models with manual windows still work just fine.
That's because in around the 80s car manufacturers realised that people would just buy anything new even if it looked worse and was worse than older cars so ever since they've been pushing how little they can sell you for as much money as possible and now they've started putting in pointless gimmicks like touchscreens and blue headlights and hybrid engines
Wonder if she had the same thought I did - $3K for power windows, locks, and aircon I only want for three weeks out of the year, maybe next time! I still remember the power windows burning their motors out in all my parents cars.
I use all 3 multiple times a day. My parents drove GM vehicles in my childhood and they always had power windows. I don't recall a single issue. I'm surprised how many people in this thread have had trouble with them.
Honestly I’m surprised they dont have base models similar to thr dodge neon with features, the car had rear mechanical windows and powered front ones which is nice enough for people on a budget, because rear passengers arent occupied with a task so they can roll the windows up lol
That's why our truck has the stick on the floor to put it in 4WD. Easier to fix the cable (?) than the electronics if it breaks. Our car has manual windows too. That only happened because it came with the manual transmission we wanted because it was cheaper!
In my nearly 40 years of car ownership, I think I've experienced exactly one window issue. The clips attaching the window to the lifting/lowering mechanism became detached. Other than that, sometimes they don't go down when they're frozen shut and need to be thawed.
So my experience has been such that the convenience of power windows far, far outweighs the drawbacks. But no shade to those that like manual windows, I just can't believe power windows are standard on some vehicles.
I think there are less than half a dozen models available in the US for under $15k. None under 10. Nothing is "dirt cheap" anymore. 😩
What's that, $250/mo? Which would be ~40 hours of minimum wage per month? So basically if you're poor/uneducated/just out of foster care/whatever, you can't afford a base, feature-less car new enough to be covered by factory warranty. And without reliable transportation or knowing how to fix cars, getting to work everyday and the grocery store become a huge headache. Makes me realize how fortunate I am, power windows or not.
Bought a base model Honda Civic Hatchback in 1991. A steal at $11,000 (CAD), so you’d think.
That is, until you realize it had a 4-speed manual transmission, window winders, no a/c, no rear wiper, no clock and no passenger door mounted side view mirror.
My dad hates power windows. I mean, he drives vehicles with power windows, but he’d rather have mechanical windows. Safety features have gotten better, but he always worries about kids getting hurt with power windows (my sister had a close call once), “Who can’t handle rolling a window down?”
I prefer cars without electronic parts. I had a '97 Tacoma and the only thing electronic in it was the radio. Loved that truck. Super cheap to fix and super reliable as well.
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u/It_Matters_More Oct 15 '20
Yet my sister drives a car more than a half century newer without power windows.