It’s been a long time since I looked but I hope most cars still have physical buttons/controls for all important functions! Besides being easier and faster to use, without them if a touchscreen malfunctions (hardware or software) everything is gone and you wouldn’t be able to drive the car. Then there’s the tracking and spying, and sometimes bugs and UI changes after updates–and now ads!?# Cars are becoming as enshittified like everything else now.
Too bad, i liked the way it was going… in my experience 80% of the buttons are unnecessary, provided of course that the automation is well thought out .
That 20% though…you want that to be physical.
This may in part be motivated by new guidance from NCAP, which will from next year require that all new cars have physical controls to earn the highest safety ratings.
Whatever the motivation though, I’m glad for it. Getting rid of buttons was always a dumb idea and I’m happy to see pushback.
Hyundai (motor group) and some time later VW group announced that they are bringing physical buttons back.
March of 2023
As it turns out though, sometimes the old ways are best. Hyundai certainly thinks so, as it has pledged to employ real physical buttons in products to come.
December of 2023
https://insideevs.com/news/701296/vw-physical-controls-to-return/
Fair :)
Aw, just when they were about to get rid of the steering wheel, shame.
Not sure how they were able to remove so many buttons in the first place and not be marked down on safety. Suddenly trying to find a demister on a touchscreen menu while in motion was never a great idea. Surprisingly, Volvo off all companies have been one of the worst for this. That’s why I like Dacias, little tech = little to go wrong.
And Volvo went from this:
To this:
Which is quite the change…
OTOH now we will get to enjoy dashcam videos of car rollovers where the driver is like, Where’s that playlist… OH GOD OH SHIT !!!
I mean it was a great idea of you wanted to reduce costs while also increasing the price of the vehicle.
And it looks nice.
Now, take out the bullshit that’s tracking you and sending the information back to them to sell, and we’ll be doing something great
That’s very positive.
That’s why I love brands like Hyundai. Never got rid of the knobs.
I have now a tucson and I can tell you with all the stupid an superfluous buttons everywhere that I need te press each time I start the car it is definitely not adding tot the security on the road.
So, you’re saying that a touchscreen where you have actively look at because you don’t have any haptic feedback is saver on the roads?
Honda as well.
Subaru went all in on the touch screen and it suuuuucked.
My uncle’s outback looks like a video slot machine, and everything had to be done through the touchscreen. But to add insult to injury, the Subaru touchscreens are super slow and unresponsive, so they feel like they aren’t working.
Yup, that was my experience with the in laws Ascent.
Yep. And mazda has physical climate button/knobs, with a physical dial to control the infotainment (it’s pretty convenient, if a bit of an older design on most of their vehicles).
Same as BMW iDrive. I’m sure some are touch screen, but you don’t have to use it.
Mazda is a physical dial by default, but if you want to you can go into the settings and enable the touch screen. Best of both worlds.
I consider it space-age. I haven’t driven a non-Mazda that seemed as well thought out and functional. I wish I could rip one out and put it on my non-Mazda car. I breath a sigh of relief that my partner didn’t buy the Honda with a long finicky touchstrip to control the volume instead of a knob.
Which Honda had the touchstrip instead of a knob?
I don’t doubt one might exist, just haven’t run into one yet.
Its been a few years, but I think it was a Honda Fit.
I got in right before Subaru went that way and ended up with the best of both worlds: a touchscreen for CarPlay and knobs for…everything else. I still have knobs for the radio if need be.
Plus it’s a six speed manual (Crosstrek).
I get a flyer from the dealership every other week asking if I want to “upgrade.” Sorry, fellas, nothing you have is an upgrade to me. You can’t get a manual gearbox here any more.
You can’t get a manual gearbox here any more.
Another factor contributing to the discontinuation of manual transmissions is the increasing emphasis on safety features and the integration of advanced driver-assist technologies.
Ew.
It’s frustrating because “the consumer” doesn’t want manuals, yet car makers add all these things that keep people from paying attention to the road making it - in my opinion - too easy to get distracted. I like that I can’t hold my phone in my hand and drive because I need to shift.
Last summer I was in Ireland, and I was peeking in a few cars on parked on the side of the road just out of curiosity. Almost every one was a manual, it seemed like. It’s not that we COULDN’T have fun, manual cars here. But Americans are lazy.
Thats the reason they dont have me roped into payments right now
I have a Hyundai ioniq 5 and it definitely has touch buttons for some of the things, like climate control.
We got the new Kona and besides the touchscreen we have all the buttons.
I’ve never had this problem because I’m too poor to afford a car new enough to not have any buttons lmao
That’s me as well. We have two cars, and both are old enough to drive. We need to replace them, but I’m holding out as long as I can.
Same, I’m hoping “ol’ reliable” will last another 200k-500k miles so I won’t have to decide if I want to ride around in a privacy invading, poorly designed smart automobile, or if I’d rather just ride my bike everywhere. To be fair, my car is only around a decade old, but it’s old enough to be missing most of the smart tech, and none of the car’s functions tie in with the stereo.
Definitely set aside a repair fund and watch YouTube videos on how to do maintenance and common repairs on your vehicle. If its Japanese, the motor and transmission should hold on. But you’ll need brake rotors/pads, tie rods ends, struts, stabilizer links, etc. along the way. Its way cheaper if you buy your own parts and do it yourself. Good luck keeping your ol’ reliable going!
Not out of the goodness of their own hearts mind. It’s probably more because Euro NCAP are going to be deducting score for not having physical essentials in 2026.
Nah, this „news“ is from early to mid last year. Their designers simply took notes and realized touch screens suck for a vehicle.
And I doubt they’re much more expensive.
Thank you!
I don’t care what the reasoning is behind the decision (customer feedback vs. changes to safety ratings), I’m just glad it’s happening and I hope all manufacturers follow suit.
This has been my gripe with new cars ever since I found myself needing one in 2022. Everything I looked at had a huge infotainment system front-ending climate and cabin controls. Want to turn your steering wheel heat off mid drive? Ha! Tap this specific spot on this screen 3 times and hope the car doesn’t bounce while you’re doing so or you’ll accidentally turn something else on. Want to use voice controls? Joke’s on you, they only work 50% of the time.
God forbid something happens to the control board (which costs thousands of dollars to replace if you’re outside warranty), because then you’re completely hosed.
You know what always worked without fail? The buttons in my 2005 Corolla.
I literally did not buy/straightout refused to buy new Golf because of this crap. It does not get simpler than that: other producer got my money, VW group did not. Period.
Volkswagen should be forbidden to produce anything. There were even touch-SLIDE commands on the steering wheel. God only knows how many lives were lost in accidents, because someone ‘‘touched’’ something and switched something off or on. Horrible.
Hopefully they can hit some middleground so we don’t end up back in the crazy button-hell that cars used to be. Having a billion buttons is equally as bad as having none.
I swear I‘ve read this headline like 4 times in the last month in this very community.
Learning from Scout, which is also under the VW umbrella:
