Comment by overgard | Hacker News Reader

Comment by overgard | Hacker News Reader

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So Ive bought two cars this year, a 2013 Kia and a 2022 Subaru BRZ.

On the Kia, the first day I used it the radio just froze up. I had to get a tooth pick to push the hidden reboot button. Every time I start the car the volume on the radio is deafening even though I turned it off at a low volume. It also attempts to download my music off my phone even though Im using spotify. Every time. There are firmware updates... if you have the 2014 model. The worst thing it did is randomly dial 911 when my phone was connected despite absolutely nothing having happened.

My BRZ has a more modern setup, that absolutely does not work with apple car play. I had it working for ten minutes and then it just randomly stopped. This is a brand new car and a brand new phone. Also replacement keys are absurdly expensive in order to provide me the benefit of... not turning a key? Its a stick shift so remote start is pointless since someone has to press the clutch in.

Im basically better off with the aux port.

Yes the internal engine electronics are nice but my experience with anything in the cabin is that it quickly becomes trash. The thing that annoys me is that when I inevitably have to replace these things, Im certain its going to be incredibly overpriced and I will have used like zero of its broken features.

The car I used to have, a 2013 FRS... perfect. Very basic stereo. All analog guages. Nothing went wrong ever.

I've got a 2016 Honda Accord. The Apple Car Play sometimes freezes up completely and the whole system becomes unresponsive. I wish there were a hidden reset button though - if there is, I haven't found it. The only fix is restarting (rebooting?) the car.

Sometimes the whole stereo just freezes up even when I'm not using Car Play, or the FM radio just stops with some Android error message.

Generally I find the Bluetooth is more reliable than Car Play so I just use that. I now keep my old iPhone around and tether it to my new iPhone and use the old one for navigation.

Unfortunately the car does not have an aux jack, so Bluetooth is the next best thing.

I've thought about replacing it but Crutchfield flatly says they don't recommend replacing it at all, which makes sense - the backup camera displays on there and the whole unit has controls on the steering wheel, which I doubt would work with a third-party replacement. If a company that sells car stereos recommends that I don't buy one, I'd be a fool not to listen.

I have rented newer cars that have better infotainment systems but they make other changes I'm not crazy about - they now have entertainment information in the main instrument panel, leading them to shrink the speedometer to make space for it. Speed is the most important thing I need to know when driving, so don't shrink the speedometer. So I'm just not convinced a new car will be any better on the whole (and it's hard to get a new car now anyway) so I'll just keep driving this one.

Another data point from Honda: I have a 2016 Civic, which I've owned for three years. The infotainment system froze up once, I restarted the car and it was fine. No other issues, Carplay has worked great. My car is the Touring edition, so it also has about 80% of the self-driving functionality that I'd get from a Tesla at a fraction of the cost, and it gets incredible gas mileage while being impressively fast for a cheap compact.

You had an FRS and just bought a BRZ.

I have really wondered how fun they are to drive. They are super fun, right?

They seem really fun and they look great.

Also, Be honest: Initial D fan?

They are fantastic cars! The glowing reviews are not wrong. Incredibly fun, but also practical in a sense that you won't get yourself killed driving them to the limit.

Counter-anecdote. I have a 2010 BMW and everything on the car still works flawlessly. It doesn't have BT audio which is a pain since Apple removed the audio jack I have to choose between charging and audio out. It has a built-in hard drive in the infotainment system so I could load music on that if I want, but it's a bit clunky.

The built-in mapping/nav system is light years ahead of even the latest apps by Apple and Google. With just a couple taps of the iDrive knob I can add a stop for a rest area or gas station en-route. There is even a prompt for this when the gas reserve is reached. Maps are easy to read and convey useful information like street names and arterial/freeways even when navigation is disabled.

> Its a stick shift so remote start is pointless since someone has to press the clutch in.

I have driven stick shift cars my whole life, and never encountered one where I had to press in the clutch to start the engine.

Unless you park uphill/downhill, and leave it in first as an added safety measure with the parking brake...

Wait, what? You... start your car in neutral? Like... with the clutch out? I have never actually tried that. I will have to experiment next time I am in my car.

On the other hand my 1990 Honda motorcycle must be in neutral to start (there is no clutch position switch) and I don't use the clutch there. Very handy because people love to sit on it for selfies when I park it and they tend to jam it into gear while crawling on it. I assume it is in neutral (I always park that way) and if I hit the starter in gear it would shoot across the street. Thinking about it I suppose that protects me from bumping the starter while riding as well.

Be advised that you increase the risk of driving off accidentally at start by just being in neutral. The clutch is a good double safe that you feel the whole time whkle starting where as the gear is just a check in advance that you can mess up.

I always put the clutch in when starting my car. On the bike I trust the neutral switch, which you are right, I shouldn’t.

It had to be in neutral to park but no guarantee randos haven’t crawled on it. So far the switch did it’s job.

Ye I believe that fundamentally the check "am I pressing the clutch down" is simpler than "did I put in neutral" when cranking since the former requires no memory.

In case the future internet cares I tried this in my 2010 BMW and with the transmission in neutral and the clutch out the car will turn on but not start until the clutch is depressed.

Wait, does that mean you park in neutral?

Yes, I engage the hand brake usually.

Ah ok. I usually use the hand brake as well, but I also park in gear so that the engine will help stop the car from moving, especially if the brake fails. I use 1st gear except when facing down a slope in which case I use reverse, for obvious reasons. I guess an argument could be made that if you're on flat ground, leaving it in neutral will protect your gears if someone were to hit your car hard enough.

Really?

Every stick car I've owned (2.5 Saturns, 1 Subaru) has had some sort of interlock switch set up such that if the clutch pedal was not pressed in, turning the ignition would do nothing, whether or not the Car is in gear.

Wait so you just park your car in neutral? I mean, I know you CAN do that, but it's generally frowned upon. With the push button start I dont have the option, clutch and brake have to be pressed in or it doesn't even attempt to start

When I was taught to drive a while ago (but at least still this millennium) I was instructed to park in neutral with the handbrake on. I was also taught the drill of starting the engine would involve checking the car was in neutral and to this end the instructor would always leave it in gear to catch me out if I didn't check. To this day I still instinctively wobble the gear stick to check it's in neutral. There was a recommendation to consider leaving it in gear if on a steep hill. I had three different instructors over my time, and all said the same thing.

This was in the UK where driving a manual is the expectation for a test - if you take the test in an automatic you are issued a limited licence which prohibits driving manual cars (which is the large majority of cars in Europe).

I have noticed when driving/being driven in the US that handbrakes are hardly used. I have partly assumed as 'P' on an automatic is sufficient most of the time, and also that education seems to be different - lots of people call it the e(mergency)-brake, i.e. not something to be used regularly.

That all being said, all the manuals I've driven in the last ten or so years require the clutch depressed to start the engine, which always felt like a strange requirement as I knew it was in neutral. I've never driven a manual in the US so I have no idea what's standard there.

Same in Eastern Europe. Park in neutral with handbrake on. I leave the gear in when parking on an incline. Older generation always parks with the gear in though.

Weird, in the US the way it's taught is you always put the car into first gear when it's at rest (and pull the hand brake, and turn your wheels towards the curb). But yeah, most people drive automatics and just leave the transmission in park.

I have also driven stick shift cars my whole life, and I've only had one that would let you start it without depressing the clutch. It was a 1985 Honda Accord. I had never driven stick before, so when I went to start the engine, the car immediately lurched forward and stalled.

Every car I've had since then has required me to depress the clutch before it will attempt to turn over the engine.

> I have driven stick shift cars my whole life, and never encountered one where I had to press in the clutch to start the engine.

I think it's mostly a USA thing? Too many lawyers.

My 90s BMW (US market) didn't need the clutch pressed to start, but all my other cars have had that annoyance. I usually disable it so I can start the car normally.

Why did you buy two broken cars?

The cars are fine, they just both have had unpredictable infotainment problems

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