Why some people are too stupid to own a car

[NoTrespassing]

I don't find 'smart phones' to be all that smart in the first place other than loaded with Apps I don't need or want anyway. Only want to do 2 things, send and receive calls and infrequently text. Don't need or want all the rest of the useless (to me) junk.

I'm about 50/50 calls and texts. If the subject is complex I prefer to call. My wife on the other hand will almost never call. About the only people she will talk to is my father and mother since they don't text.

Speaking of texting, tech, and cars. My wife's SUV will read the texts she receives. A lot of the time they are a mix of Tagalog and Visayan combined with English. It's hilarious to listen to the computer interpret them. My son and I replay them when they come in and just roll

 

[3930dave]

If you think cars are complex, try operating a newer agricultural tractor. Automotive is pretty intuitive in comparison.

It's been bad, for a while..... something like 15 years back, I had lunch with an old HS buddy who was in town for business.

He's an Ag Eng, who I hadn't seen in a very long time. This ^ topic came up, and the example he gave was one his customers...

Their "kid" went away for some school or other trip, and Pa spent a lot of time on the phone with him. Not a helicopter-parent (more like the reverse), just turned out that the 13 y/o was the only one who really knew how to program their latest piece of machinery.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Jstpssng]

I remember the first time going with my father to buy a new pickup. It was a big deal to have power steering/brakes because my mother would drive it to.
Still had 3 on the tree.
A rear bumper was an option because it wasn't considered a safety requirement.
Pa grudgingly sprung about $35 so I could have an AM radio to listen to.
Now a new vehicle competes with the Starship Enterprise for electronics, computing power and gizmos.
Even the cheapest one out there would have sent NASA to the moon and beyond.
The new vehicles don't even come with regular old school wind up/down windows.
My neighbor still has an old Cavalier and he was taking his girlfriends kid somewhere. He noticed her looking around and asked what's wrong. She asked him how to lower the window. She had never seen a winddown window.

Yet the radios are sub-par. I would like to put my SupertunerII in my truck, since the one which the manufacturer provides is so poor.

 

[Oaktree]

Yet the radios are sub-par. I would like to put my SupertunerII in my truck, since the one which the manufacturer provides is so poor.

Agree the radios in most vehicles made in the last 15 years or are pretty awful, but the old-school car radios were quite good. Maybe not as many features as the aftermarket ones, but no dinky little buttons either.

 

[masseyrider]

Agree the radios in most vehicles made in the last 15 years or are pretty awful, but the old-school car radios were quite good. Maybe not as many features as the aftermarket ones, but no dinky little buttons either.

How old are you, 25?
Do you remember the old school am radios. Or the old am/fm units that you had to slide a big bar" across that changed between them.
The old school speakers that always rattled.
That's why as kids we always went and changed the sound systems in the cars when we got them.
You obviously forget the old 8 tracks that changed tracks mid song or casette eating systems.
Even the cheapest new car sound system beats crap out of the old Tyme crap.
I call bullshit on your statement.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, the stereo in cars today are much better. I also like my smart phone and the features on modern vehicles. What I don’t like is having to go through a touch screen for certain features, like heated seats. It’s more distracting than a button.

 

[KennyG]

I am so glad the automatic HVAC works well in my truck and it has defrost buttons because I wouldn't trust myself to navigate through the menus to make any other adjustments on the touchscreen while driving.

 

[tallyho8]

A few years ago I was in a friend's car with him as he arrived home. His wife's phone was paired with the car and as we started down his driveway his wife's phone connected and we heard her excitedly say "my husbands coming home, quick hide". He flipped out and could think of nothing except getting in the house quick and finding his wife's lover. Storming through the front door and nearly pulling the hinges off, he stopped short when everyone jumped up and yelled Happy Birthday.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Not sure about stupid in the title … more ignorant… some folks live in cities and know nothing about cars but it doesn’t necessarily make them stupid … I have worked with young engineers and I tell ya sometime they are so smart they are stupid at least it seem that way …

one time my boss ask one to go fill up the truck of oil because it was low, it just happens I was around so he asked me i just fill it up to the top ?? good thing I was there he would’ve filled it right up …

one other guy ask the mechanic for a funnel to pour oil in … he was like it’s odd but what ever he dosent want to make a mess so what ever, he gave him a funnel, the guy was like it’s way too big i need a small one … confuse the mechanics ask him to show him where he was planning to put the oil in … so they when outside to the truck and he pointed at the dip stick hole

 

[kenmbz]

Since I spent about half my life in cities, half country, I find it funny when it's always citi folk who don't know how to do things.
Have a number of citi people I know who worked on cars in high school/college and went to engineering school. Know country folk who hurt themselves putting gas in the car.
Matters more if they have good mentors or family to show them how to do things.
I did a head gasket and valve adjustment on one of our lawn tractors and walked my son through all of it. He may never use it, but at least he has seen the "process".

I see a lot of people on this site out doing stuff with their kids, this will help them with getting through life even if they never have to take a motor apart.