Thanks. I had forgotten that those were available that late.In 2011 you could get a base model VW Jetta with no radio and no air conditioning:
Did You Know That You Can Still Buy A New VW Without A Radio? - 1A Auto
VDub2625 over on VWVortex spotted this new Jetta in a local dealer. It is the meaning of a base model, like no radio sort of "base". Why you ask? Well, because they are selling it brand new for $13K, and viola, it is posted all over the interwebs for being a strange bird. Win? Lose? I don't...blog.1aauto.com
I remember seeing a bunch of them show up as trade-ins with a few thousand miles on them, because people discovered that while they could live without a radio, or install an aftermarket one, they couldn't live without A/C.
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2024 Ford Mustang Drops AM Radio From Infotainment
- Thread starter davideduardo
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While this topic isn’t exactly related to the topic at hand, I think that someone should say it: car radios are getting way too complicated. With every passing year, it seems to be getting harder and harder to access the radio function of a car’s “infotainment” system. In my partner’s Mazda, the infotainment system seems like it’s primarily designed to be used for streaming, however, I’ll give them points for including AM and FM and designing it to sound good after you figure out how to get there.
One of the best radios I ever used was the radio in my first car: my old 1979 Ford Ranger (hence the name). You’ve got AM, FM, a tuning knob, a volume knob, and some preset buttons. No menus to navigate though.
One of the best radios I ever used was the radio in my first car: my old 1979 Ford Ranger (hence the name). You’ve got AM, FM, a tuning knob, a volume knob, and some preset buttons. No menus to navigate though.
If it helps, I've been writing about cars for 25 years, I drive 104 different cars a year, and Mazda has by far the worst interface of any manufacturer.
While my wife's Volvo was in for service recently, they gave me one of their current model loaners. This thing was loaded with every option, including their version of auto-steer. Now I've used Tesla Model S and Model 3 touch-tablets just fine, but the Volvo one was ridiculous. If I wanted to change the radio station or adjust volume, pressing the touchscreen "Entertainment" tab while driving usually means one hits the seat heater tab. It then requires taking your eyes off the road to figure out where the radio tab went, and carefully touch it, or risk opening some other friggin tab.
When I got back to the dealer to pick up my wife's car, one of the sales-weasels was trying to convince me to trade in my wife's Volvo on the one I got for a loaner. The dejected look on his face was obvious, when I told him that there would be no way I'd spend over 80 large on something with that clunky of a UI. It was good to get back in my wife's car and head home.
Agreed.
Volvo has buried everything in the touchscreen---and they are among the first manufacturers to adopt Google's native automotive operating system, which might look familiar to someone with an Android phone, but otherwise---yikes. Worse, they were so early to that party that for the first eight months, Volvos were incompatible with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. They fixed that, but it's still a terrible system.
I don't know if you got this far, Kelly, but there is also no physical owner's manual in new Volvos (this has been for the last few years). It's all inside the touchscreen.
Actually our existing Volco XC60 T6 has the owners manual available on screen, plus they gave us a good ol' fashioned paper version that resides in the glovebox. Our current XC60 uses a jog roller in the steering wheel to navigate around the screen, which once you get used to, works great. The screen in combination with knobs and buttons below the screen, make it easy to do common tasks like changing radio channels, switching between navigation and other functions, or turning on/off the seat heaters. Their new touch screen interface is abysmal, and I would argue, dangerous.
I looked at all that when buying a new car last month. I went for one where I could do almost everything by voice or easy commands and ended up with a Cayenne. A lot of the scrolling I can do on the steering wheel without looking at the scree
I've got a 2015 Mazda3, and I actually REALLY like Mazda's infotainment system except for one thing... how long it takes to boot up when the car starts.
Otherwise, with the wheel or touchscreen option (at least on the "older" models), I've really liked it
I don't need the distraction.
My family had a '66 Ford Falcon.
And my Grandfather owned a Model A. How is that relevant to this discussion? Answer; it isn't.
2015 is eight model years ago. I had to go back through my old reviews to be reminded of what they had at the time. It wasn't bad then, apart from being laggy on startup.
The smartphone as currently defined didn't exist, but by that time I had heard it was possible to read news on phones.
I thought I was replying to a post about how long it was before all cars had radios.
The radio in my 2004 Honda Accord is great. Very simple, nothing fancy, and no touch screens. My car is one place that definitely doesn’t need a touch screen from my perspective. If I ever buy something else, I’ll try to get a bare bones base model (the kind I normally get, low end, manual transmission, low tech) that doesn’t have a ridiculous infotainment system. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure every car in 2023 has a ridiculous audio system so I’ll probably pick one that is the least ridiculous if I ever buy another car.
For some reason I thought you drove a Ford Ranger. Don't ask me why. 🤔
That’s a totally fair assumption. My first car was a Ford Ranger! Hence why I ended up with this username. That was a great vehicle!
The touch screens in cars are beginning to resemble Netflix' home screen! Totally confusing and no help in finding what you want.
At least in my living room I'm safe. While driving and looking at the oncoming traffic I'm starting to wonder.
It’s definitely not for me. And quite frankly, I’m a bit of a cheapskate sometimes (could have something to do with my humble beginnings of working in radio). I want to drive the cheapest car I can find, and I don’t want to pay for any extra entertainment services. Radio is not always great, but it’s always reliable and free.
You were, but someone here enjoys being a donkey's rump.
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