quote:

Originally posted by 400m:

How are the visors?

Visors are REALLY average! Room for improvement there.

Best visors I've had were in a 1995 S-10 Jimmy. They were "doubles." Looked conventional, but you could swing the first one to the side window, and the second one would shield the upper portion of the windshield from early morning or late afternoon sun. The second set had pull-out extension sections, so it was possible to extend them to make a full width shield.

The physical climate control buttons on my 2025 CX-5 were a big factor in choosing this car. I was interested in the BMW X-3, but the new version has done away with physical buttons and I couldn't find a sufficiently late model certified pre-owned 2024.

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
Is that just for the radio or for the navigation also? I’ll admit the newest vehicle I own is 2015. The nav unit built into my car reminds me of a Nintendo. I’d rather it just mirrored Google maps from my phone.

Music, navigation, and more.

Apple CarPlay was introduced in 2014, with Android Auto following in 2015. But it took a few model years before they became widespread.

Many apps for your phone are designed to be CarPlay/AA compatible, and carry over to your car's infotainment system fairly seamlessly once the car pairs with your phone.

You can then control them using the infotainment system, or steering wheel controls, or voice controls, or using your phone.

No more fiddling with the janky built-in navigation, or paying for pricey dealership map updates. And you can do stuff like preplan a Google Maps route on your phone ahead of time to use the next time you get in your car.

What bugs me is it doesn’t let me pair my phone while driving, it’s literally touching two spots on the screen to make it happen. Can’t do that! But hitting eight different spots to change the massage seat settings while driving, that’s no problem.

My 2023 MINI Clubman has a good blend of physical and virtual controls. I don't know if the 2025 and newer still have physical.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

you can do stuff like preplan a Google Maps route on your phone ahead of time to use the next time you get in your car.

My car's nav system is powered by Google. I can pre-plan a route on my computer or tablet or phone and send it to the car's nav system.

Buttons, levers and dial rule.

^^^ And the levers operate cables to the various HVAC doors. I can count the failures of these on my thumbs, whereas electric motor actuators are broken all the time, usually by stripped gears.



If you hear clicks or thumps under your dash, this is what happened; the position sensor is in conflict with the position commanded by the dash control and the motor is trying to return to it. Very seldom are they easy to get at, either.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore, May 08, 2025 10:27 PM

I Have a 24 Expedition King Ranch with a huge screen. While great for Navigation I find it to be finicky for everyday functions and a distraction also. Give me buttons and dials any day for common use items.

Getting rid of the hideous giant screen and returning to physical buttons for the HVAC controls may make me take a good look at the 2026 Subaru Outback. I loved my 2014, but the screen was a deal-breaker for me when I replaced the vehicle 9 years later.

I heard Subaru had a lot of problems with those screens. We recently got a letter from Subaru stating they were extending the screen warranty to 10 years.

Chevy just replaced the button row on the center console in the 2026 Corvette with another screen, and added a few switches under it.

I'm not a fan of having all the screens, there is no way it's not part of distracted driving, but they did do a good job of getting rid of that row of buttons.

quote:

Originally posted by 2Adefender:
Getting rid of the hideous giant screen and returning to physical buttons for the HVAC controls may make me take a good look at the 2026 Subaru Outback. I loved my 2014, but the screen was a deal-breaker for me when I replaced the vehicle 9 years later.

I heard Subaru had a lot of problems with those screens. We recently got a letter from Subaru stating they were extending the screen warranty to 10 years.

Yep, they did away with that screen in this next gen Outback, releasing early next year. However, the next gen Forester Wilderness, releasing later this year, will have the big screen the Outback just left. I’m hoping mid gen changes will have the new screen in the Foresters.

Also, was sent extensive surveys by Subaru after my purchases, and I could tell the screen controls were an issue. My replies were always in the positive for more physical controls over screen controls.

The INEOS Grenadier has a good share of physical controls, which I love. Sad more auto makers won’t go that way.

V-tail, my experience mirrors yours with visors. I had a ‘94 Blaser that sounds like the same setup your Jimmy had. I have never seen a better setup. Sadly that vehicle was destroyed 8 days after making my last payment.

Luckily my ‘18 Mazda3 GT has the touch screen and redundant physical buttons and knobs. Once I set up my sons drums in the garage and parked my car outside in the freezing 40 degrees Southern California winter, within I think a couple weeks, the underside of the touch screen cracked and spider webbed about half of the screen. I have a hard time seeing the screen though the touch feature seems to work for now, but I almost never used the touch and still don’t. Mazda actually has the physical buttons very nicely situated behind the shifter for easy use. Yes it’s a shifter…manual, I posted about it here in 2019

HVAC controls should always be knobs. ALWAYS! I'm certain people are crashing trying to adjust these table stakes elements of cars.

Heated seats should be like Subaru, physical switches that stay where you put them. It's winter for 7 months, I hate having to remind the car of this each time we set out.