Modern cars = wow aren't they smart!!

[philKS2]

What a shocker ... the standard kit in a non-exec car these days !!!

At last my wife's 15 yo Gold TDi is gone. I'm (of course) driving my 15 y.o. S2.

So what's the deal.. well we got her a 3 year old Seat Leon 2.0 TDi DSG (auto)... and it's incredible how technology has moved on. The S2 had ABS, 6=speed box, autocheck....


But this middle of the road Leon has:

ABS, ESP and Traction Control
7-speed DSG auto, with sport mode and manual tiptronic
air con
airbags all round
bluetooth handsfree phone system with voice dialling
see you home lights
cruise control
reversing sensors
tyre pressure sensors
steering wheel controls
adjustable steering wheel and drivers seat

wow... and it drives brilliantly 140 bhp VW engine !

and does 50mpg

double wow


Sorry but after £800 for a brake upgrade, £200 to sort the seized up 4-wheel allignment, £350 for tyres and I still hve a steering joint that needs attention...

gulp but modern cars seem so attractive !!

(wakes up with heart pumping and checks with relief the S2 is still on the driveway... ok NOT trading it in just yet !!! SMILES)

[Flat on my back]

.

Just you wait till something goes wrong...££££££££££££££££££££££££

You want how much...

[Le S2 Audi]

Bet The DSG gearbox would cost more to fix than a S2 @ current prices....

[curlyks2]

Just think about all the electronics behind that kit... and how much of it can have a glitch in it. I know we're talking about a Seat here, but anyone for a Toyota brake control unit?

(My daily drive Seat Leon has some of that list too, and the traction control is so crude it's more a pain than a help. Irritatingly, I can't turn it off without also turning off the ABS, since it appears to be the same sensors and control unit.)

[GazzaG60]

electronics are much more stable than mechanical parts though. unless they are rover central locking motors or windows.
if they dont break in 12 months then should be ok. at 3 years "run-in"

[LYT4X]

Everything you say is absolutely true, but once you have all these 'essential items' you will soon discover how meaningless they are when the car has no soul........

[Rusty]

Modern car for the daily grind, classic car for the weekend thrash. Done.

Of course, I'm adhering perfectly to this mantra with a 20 year old BMW daily and a 16 year old S2 for the weekend...

[philKS2]

Yup all points taken... tho' I guess a lot of the technology is just a couple of printed circuit boards which is why it's so cheap to include, and perhaps cheap to replace... I hope.

[dest]

ESP and Traction Control: Wouldnt want them!
7-speed DSG auto, with sport mode and manual tiptronic: Manual every time
air con: Open the window
airbags all round: Fair enough
bluetooth handsfree phone system with voice dialling: Get a 150 headunit which can do that
see you home lights: A decent alarm can do that
cruise control: Do you really need it?
reversing sensors: For people that cant park
tyre pressure sensors: Whats wrong with checking them?
steering wheel controls: Added with the stereo above
adjustable steering wheel and drivers seat: Im yet to see a seat that doesnt adjust lol

I cant see anything benefical or special apart from the extra airbags

[Jamo]

Yup all points taken... tho' I guess a lot of the technology is just a couple of printed circuit boards which is why it's so cheap to include, and perhaps cheap to replace... I hope.

They are cheap because they are made in China, as such I'm staying old skool

[istoo]

Everything you say is absolutely true, but once you have all these 'essential items' you will soon discover how meaningless they are when the car has no soul........

utterly agree.

[93URS4Avant]

With an A4 sat on the drive, and my UrS4 starting at me from the works car park, I understand. But answer me this: which car when driven makes you feel happy and smile - which car are you sorry to get out of, and you think about when you are not driving it - that said, which actually gives you a driving experience?
Remember how old mobile phones went on for years - and how through forced upgrades we are left with overly complex devices which are slow, excessive and problematic. It is the nature of things - underneath is a basic (crappy) car which has gizmo's and gadgets to try and set it apart from the other boring cars available today.

[90/90qs]

IMO, luxury cars are always test beds for prototyping and market acceptance. Once the bugs are all worked out from real field testing it's easier to tweak the design: remove the over-engineering, fix the oversights, and sell the plans to someone who will produce the now proven designs at minimal cost.

[dubmeister]

As said before wait till it fooks up!!!

'56 plate cmax 24k first MOT cat shagged £500 +2 hrs labour+ the dreaded
'06 307 37k DMF rattling £400+ .......new unit standard old skool steel flywheel......oh and its on its 3rd set of Rear wheel bearings(abs light on- magnetic sensor in bearing)
'55 Smart 13k fooked engine £1600 and counting............waiting on parts.....

and thats only in the last fortnight

1995 a6 tdi 256k front snubber rubber £12.50................

Guess what i drive..............................

[quattronutter]

i find newer cars are backward engineered,sensors monitoring sensors,20 electrical componets to do the job of one simple mechanical part,newer cars are pretty much *****,everything made of plastic so it goes brittle and breaks when trying to do the simplest task,modern vag cars are more problematic than old ones