I can do without the heated seats and heated steering wheel down here in the land of pineapples and mangos, but let me tell yah, a backup camera is a darn nice thing to have, especially for us elder fossils. Once you have had a vehicle with a backup camera, you will wish all of your vehicles have them. And they will if we live long enough. They are mandated for 2018.
Why is it that for most of my adult life I have been able to back up everything from cars and trucks to heavy machinery and tractor trailers and managed to never hit or run over anything that makes the government think we need to have just an other useless gimmick built into our vehicles that will cost us even more money than the previous model.
I never had a window fail to go up or down until I purchased a car with power windows
I never had a car or truck that couldn't run on its own with a dead battery the 10 or 15 miles to the store (after jump start)) to buy a new battery until I purchased a car with a computer.
I never got a speeding ticket with a car that had a cable operated speedometer because it wasn't right but did so when we had our first car with digital speedo
I never got stuck at the roadside with a car for a trivial part not working with an old car but have been stranded now 4 times with computer problems that were related to non essential things that IMHO should not make a car stop or at least let it run in limp mode to get you off the higway
I have never seen someone stuck in traffic unable to push the car to the side of the road because something with their electronic steering would not let them steer the car unless it was running with a full battery charge until they started taking the electronics and adding them to the steering
I never got stuck in the snow with a 4 wheel drive until the wife brought home a car with traction control (You know the ones they advertised that the wheels with grip get the power and transfers the power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip ads ) Yep I left that piece of crap sit there all winter and sold it at the first sight of spring then got her a jeep with lockers installed and she didn't get stuck as of yet! Better if all the wheels get power weather they slip or not if you live out here!
I don't need heated steering in the winter for I have more than enough sense to wear gloves, a Hat and dress appropriately for all weather conditions
I don't need controls for the radio on the steering wheel because I can remember the placement of the dashboard controls and easily am able to reach the few extra inches over to change a station without taking my eyes off the road heck I don't even need them to be illuminated like they are
Power seats are just a waste of money because they cost more, weigh more and that means your paying to haul them around as well, and they don't ever get moved once their set just like the old fashioned manually adjustable seat. That is unless your a teenager and are going parking with your girl
(found Memories of that here)
I don't even need power brakes because I never seemed to have a problem stopping a car with non power disk brakes and still don't.
Anti lock brakes? The jury is still out on this for me because I see too many people trying to play Mario Andretti style stops on pitt road now a days and they are making more and more mistakes by becoming overly dependent on them and just hitting things without any skid marks. At least in the old days you felt a little better when someone slammed into you because the skid marks proved they at least did try to stop and didn't just ram into you because they didn't like the color of your car or the hat you had on today.
I have been out looking for a medium duty truck the past few days and have test driven many new and used trucks. My best thought right now is to buy a 1964 update the engine and add non power disk brakes, move the fuel tank to the center of the frame rails and be happy because it will get me anyplace I need to go just as well as any of the overpriced overrated trucks on offer today. Yep I noticed something no one seems to mention the speed limit is the same as it was back then and in most cases lower with less places to pass than ever. So what do I need more options for when they are essentially useless gimmicks designed to give one a false sense of security.
For instance the road between my home and town used to have 5 places where passing was legal and now only has one. The speed limit was higher and constant from stop to stop but now with all the Better brakes, better steering, more power, better handling, heated steering wheels, power seats, dash board read outs that show up on the window so you don't have to look down at the speedo, better lighting, Electronic traction control, ESP and all anti roll devices that just aren't coming to my mind right now and better tires. they have taken away the passing zones lowered the speed limit built a retaining wall, installed more and more guard rails and then lowered the speed limit again! I would have to say if they spent half the time mandating proper driver training and no time mandating safety options on the cars we could still safely manage this road at the old higher speed limit in our 1964 chevy, ford, doge or plymouth without half the accidents we have now and still be very happy without all the gimmicks many think we need!
I do however have to admit that the heated seats are worth their weight in gold when you get old and become littered with arthritis and they are the one luxury I would be willing to pay for!
