Newer Cars Rant, Why must they complicate things so much?!? Options

[d3ath2009]

Just wanted to rant about how newer cars are becoming less and less customizable. Honda has done a mid-life refresh of my current car that has a few little odds and ends I would LOVE to have on mine, but such things are impossible because of how stupid auto manufacturers have become. This refresh includes a new, much cleaner layout for the gauge cluster as well as an updated infotainment system. The new cluster looks better, but swapping is not possible due to everything they have routed through it (think new safety features, adaptive cruise, etc.) and forget about trying to update the odometer. The new infotainment, however, is the best upgrade to the whole damn car. It's amazing how something so simple as bringing back a volume knob instead of a stupid sliding feature on a touchscreen (and Apple Car Play) will make you envious. And of course that can no longer be swapped as modern units are coded to the cars computer and VIN. Stupid, stupid, stupid.. Whatever happened to the easiness of swapping out newer parts for newer features without needing a coding expert or dealership to make it work? I fear the golden age of easy customization and upgrading is behind us... Rant over... for now.

This post has been edited by d3ath2009: Nov 26, 2017 - 9:55 PM

[d3ath2009]

Oh these cars can definitely be saved, but at what point do you stop throwing money at a car thats seen years of neglect and just move on to something newer? I love my celica even though it could use a lot of work, but I also dont daily it anymore. Some of these cheap 90's jap cars are getting to the point that the value is so low, it cant be justified to keep sinking money into them.. What started out as a rant on how modern cars have become impossible to mod (at least in comparison to the extent of cars from 20 yrs ago) has somehow turned into a discussion about how any car can be saved as long as the unibody is still sound. Things like changing out a stereo now require a specialized scan tool and online registration through a manufacturer database to be done at your local rapist er, dealership. yes, some of these older cars are worth saving, but if one were to buy a winter beater, at what point would you just say "screw it, im not fixing this new problem bc ive already thrown $xxx at this car and its not worth that".. the progression of this thread has taken a few interesting turns.