modularama

I can see the purpose of having alarms for keys in the ignition, or lights left on, or unlatched seat belts, or the car relocking itself after you unlock it. However there are exceptions to all of these rules when the OWNER of the vehicle needs to override an unnecessarily annoying behavior, legitimately.

So why do the engineers insist on designing these "features" without an additional user override which disables any of them?

I think it's totally condescending and unrealistic of Honda to think they know everything about how I will use the car. Yet they insist upon second guessing my better judgement. In that case, I'll be thinking twice before buying another booby trapped car that nags me to no end.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Awjvail

Because there are a lot of morons out there.

And you can turn most of them off.

Also, good luck buying another car that won't nag you that was built within the last decade.

modularama

I know about the lowest common denominator and all, I'm always paying for it. So how do you turn most of them off? Is it in the manual? I don't remember seeing instructions in there. I think when I looked into it, the word was that other things would be disabled in conjunction, inappropirately...

Awjvail

I think you can disconnect the chime.

modularama

It sounds like its really hard to get at, so there should have been an on off switch for each buzzer, for my convenience, seriously, there are legal exceptions to the seatbelt law, and every other alarm should be an optional annoyance. The car relocking itself against my will really pisses me off. Who decided that I have to open the door immediately for it to stay unlocked... the absent minded professor... WTF?

Awjvail

It would also be more expensive to design a whole bank of switches just because you don't like some of the safety/anti-theft features.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i got rid of that auto lock "feature" very quickly by cutting a wire. all it did was lock me out with the keys inside. if i feel like locking the doors, i can do it myself when the time is right (once im sitting in the car seat). as for the chimes, yeah they are annoying but unfortunately the beeper is built inside the gauge cluster and usually not worth the trouble to rip out. the only thing thats saved me a couple times in my whole driving history is the lights-on chime when i had park lights on during a cloudy day. seriously is it not obvious when the door is open, you need a chime to tell you to close it?

sk8nbmxr411

Well having all of those saftey features lowers insurance so that is a plus

HLC

cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it. besides the average consumer (i.e. you) is a moron so we (engineers) must provide all reasonable necessary assists to ensure that you don't do something dumb, then sue the engineers.

lowlife9

lol this guy sounds like he gets annoyed at everything.

HLC

i mean cmon, this is almost like the retard who put cruise control on in her suv then got into the backseat to make a sandwich. meanwhile the car crashed and rolled. she sued because she thought cruise control means the car drives itself.

modularama

Don't stereotype me if you can help it, which I don't think you can. I explained the situation rationally, and yet you disregarded my point just to blow things out of proportion. Why?

lowlife9

i think you blew things out of proportion by making this pointless thred.and is that really a tru story i hope not cuz human kind is doomed if it is lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just be glad you dont have a higher end car like bmw or mercedes. the number of useless gadgets and "features" would make you throw up. in fact on many new cars, they do not even have an OFF switch for the headlights because i guess car owners are too stupid to know how or when to use a light switch properly. so the car gets to decide when to turn your headlights on and off, even if it means flashing on and messing up your $2500 hid system for 5 seconds every time you go under a shady overpass.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Yea... the civic does not even have that many bells and whistles... so i guess your riding a bicycle buddy... it's only got one chime and you decide on when to use it.

modularama

It's hard to believe that people in a car customization forum are against car owners having more choices, and for blaming the drivers for car manufacturers dumbing down their vehicles. What's up with that?

lowlife9

baron340

iTrader: (4)

I'm all for having more options and being able to control my car. Honestly.. all of these automatic features in newer cars drive me crazy.. auto lights.. and mirrors etc. Like BMW's side mirrors automatically shift down when you put in reverse to help you find curbs.. I don't need to find the curb.. I need to find the F-ing car behind me. But, you really only have two choices, get over it.. or buy an older car like I did.

modularama

Yeah if enough people stopped buying these booby trapped cars then the cars would go back to normal, or become more user friendly. Like I said, I understand the purpose of most features but there are exceptions...

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

drive by wire anyone? i dont think i could buy another new car with the way they are changing. i test drove a new civic and hated it. that being said, i still think our 01-05 civics are built so much better than other cars in its class. every time i sit in a different model car like camry, mitsu, etc im shocked how cheap and poorly built they are inside and out. even the way the door closes or how the dash looks.

modularama

Was that the red or the blue wire?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the thick yellow one under the dash fuse area for me. it screws with the dome lights a bit too, like there is a delay before they turn off cause it doesnt know if the door is open or not. most ppl wouldnt even notice.

DeX

It's usually a law put in place by the government and the auto manufacturers are required to follow it. Quite possibly something like Transportation Canada is requiring it.

modularama

Ahh okay well my dome lights are set to manual so that wouldn't be a problem I guess.

Maybe, but I doubt there's a law against an off switch, the basic consideration that it is (or would be). Like I was saying, the seatbelt law has exceptions, for example so that newspaper carriers don't have to buckle up 100 times an an hour, only to drive 20 feet at a time. Yet they get to hear a nagging behavior modification alarm go off for an entire hour. An off switch would be nice. I know there are other ways to fool the alarm, but it's the principle of it. Let me turn off my alarm if I need to, using my better judgement, rather than having to go to extremes, like breaking it, because maybe I only need to turn it off occasionally. Thanks, and duh (to whom it may concern)?

DeX

I wouldn't be surprised if it was required at all times and an off switch is possibly illegal. Even if this is not the case, the switch itself and placement would cost the company precious dollars in research/design/materials/labour that they would have to pass onto the customer. These companies are looking to save $10 on the price of the car anywhere they can so putting in a switch would not be high on their list.

modularama

Well it's high on my list anyway... if I ever buy another new car that is.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Start designing your own cars. lol What does the world owe you, really? Nothing. I dont see you inventing ****.