What options do you think all vehicles should have?

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by Brian553
Are we saying "what ought be on every car?"
or What should be just an option when buying a car (from the factory)?


On every car


Then it isn't an "option", is it?

Making the title one of those "military intelligence" stylee oxymorons.

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted by Ducked
Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by Brian553
Are we saying "what ought be on every car?"
or What should be just an option when buying a car (from the factory)?


On every car


Then it isn't an "option", is it?

Making the title one of those "military intelligence" stylee oxymorons.


Getting all technical and intellectual on me eh?...

 

[DweezilAZ]

I've seen the options list when configuring new cars I've had a glancing interest in.

There is nothing I would order outside of the standard safety and convenience items already included.

They all come with AC, PS. PB, ABS, radio, heater, many with automatic and features that 15 years ago would have been reserved for luxury cars.

Floor mats and a cargo net perhaps.

I would like to see a console delete option, though.

 

[spasm3]

1/2 ton trucks with a carpet delete option. Rubber flooring and floor drains like jeeps have.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Option wise,I HAVE to have a cruise control because I commute so much.

Standard equipment which imo is unacceptable not to have are dipsticks for the engine oil and transmission fluid,and drain plug for the transmission.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

Automatic-on headlights and taillights.

Toyota execs and whatever other carmaker bean-counter bosses who insist the dash lights be on with the daytime running lights, thereby making victims of those drivers who don't turn on their headlights at nightfall, should be prosecuted, imprisoned and fined $10 million for every phantom car wrecked or ticketed. It really is criminal, in my opinion.

I haven't had to turn on my headlights in 24 years (three GM cars), except in some rainstorms and entering mountain tunnels from bright sunshine, to turn on the taillights (which should be always on, anyway.)

Toyota must be kicking and screaming as it resists being dragged into the 20th century.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by spasm3
1/2 ton trucks with a carpet delete option. Rubber flooring and floor drains like jeeps have.


I deleted my carpets about 4 years ago, so they are inherently optional. There were floor drains with plastic plugs underneath them.

Downside is rats probably now have easier access. I suppose grilles should go on the to-do (and maybe the options?) list

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways
Automatic-on headlights and taillights.

Toyota execs and whatever other carmaker bean-counter bosses who insist the dash lights be on with the daytime running lights, thereby making victims of those drivers who don't turn on their headlights at nightfall, should be prosecuted, imprisoned and fined $10 million for every phantom car wrecked or ticketed. It really is criminal, in my opinion.

I haven't had to turn on my headlights in 24 years (three GM cars), except in some rainstorms and entering mountain tunnels from bright sunshine, to turn on the taillights (which should be always on, anyway.)

Toyota must be kicking and screaming as it resists being dragged into the 20th century.


I hate when they don't have auto-headlights (my Sonata doesn't). My 00' Camry does though and I see BMWs and other fancy new cars with people driving at night with no headlights. If my old cheap Camry has auto headlights, then these fancy models should too.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Nick1994
Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways
Automatic-on headlights and taillights.

Toyota execs and whatever other carmaker bean-counter bosses who insist the dash lights be on with the daytime running lights, thereby making victims of those drivers who don't turn on their headlights at nightfall, should be prosecuted, imprisoned and fined $10 million for every phantom car wrecked or ticketed. It really is criminal, in my opinion.

I haven't had to turn on my headlights in 24 years (three GM cars), except in some rainstorms and entering mountain tunnels from bright sunshine, to turn on the taillights (which should be always on, anyway.)

Toyota must be kicking and screaming as it resists being dragged into the 20th century.


I hate when they don't have auto-headlights (my Sonata doesn't). My 00' Camry does though and I see BMWs and other fancy new cars with people driving at night with no headlights. If my old cheap Camry has auto headlights, then these fancy models should too.


They probably do, but forgot to switch their headlights to auto. Mine has front and rear fog lights (the rear right brake light stays on) and you have to turn the headlights to on and then pull the switch out two clicks to have them both on. I mostly leave mine on auto, can't stand it when people drive with fog lights on and there's no fog. Plus mine has active curve illumination so the individual left or right fog light comes on when you're turning left or right. If you just had the fog lights on all the time, you wouldn't see them come on and off.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways
Automatic-on headlights and taillights.

Toyota execs and whatever other carmaker bean-counter bosses who insist the dash lights be on with the daytime running lights, thereby making victims of those drivers who don't turn on their headlights at nightfall, should be prosecuted, imprisoned and fined $10 million for every phantom car wrecked or ticketed. It really is criminal, in my opinion.

I haven't had to turn on my headlights in 24 years (three GM cars), except in some rainstorms and entering mountain tunnels from bright sunshine, to turn on the taillights (which should be always on, anyway.)

Toyota must be kicking and screaming as it resists being dragged into the 20th century.


I hate when they don't have auto-headlights (my Sonata doesn't). My 00' Camry does though and I see BMWs and other fancy new cars with people driving at night with no headlights. If my old cheap Camry has auto headlights, then these fancy models should too.


They probably do, but forgot to switch their headlights to auto. Mine has front and rear fog lights (the rear right brake light stays on) and you have to turn the headlights to on and then pull the switch out two clicks to have them both on. I mostly leave mine on auto, can't stand it when people drive with fog lights on and there's no fog. Plus mine has active curve illumination so the individual left or right fog light comes on when you're turning left or right. If you just had the fog lights on all the time, you wouldn't see them come on and off.


GM does it best, the switch always defaults to auto. You can cancel it for one trip, next time you get in its back at auto.

 

[Ducked]

Er...If I can't see, then I put the headlights on.

If I can see, then I don't need the headlights on.

What am I missing by this not being automated?

I'm TRYING to feel deprived here, but I'm not really managing it.

(Couple of weeks ago I was deliberately driving with them off because I suspected the alternator was on the blink. THEN I felt a bit deprived)

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways
Automatic-on headlights and taillights.

Toyota execs and whatever other carmaker bean-counter bosses who insist the dash lights be on with the daytime running lights, thereby making victims of those drivers who don't turn on their headlights at nightfall, should be prosecuted, imprisoned and fined $10 million for every phantom car wrecked or ticketed. It really is criminal, in my opinion.

I haven't had to turn on my headlights in 24 years (three GM cars), except in some rainstorms and entering mountain tunnels from bright sunshine, to turn on the taillights (which should be always on, anyway.)

Toyota must be kicking and screaming as it resists being dragged into the 20th century.


I hate when they don't have auto-headlights (my Sonata doesn't). My 00' Camry does though and I see BMWs and other fancy new cars with people driving at night with no headlights. If my old cheap Camry has auto headlights, then these fancy models should too.


They probably do, but forgot to switch their headlights to auto. Mine has front and rear fog lights (the rear right brake light stays on) and you have to turn the headlights to on and then pull the switch out two clicks to have them both on. I mostly leave mine on auto, can't stand it when people drive with fog lights on and there's no fog. Plus mine has active curve illumination so the individual left or right fog light comes on when you're turning left or right. If you just had the fog lights on all the time, you wouldn't see them come on and off.

With my Camry, you have no choice. The headlights come on no matter what when it's dark, regardless of what you put the switch to.

 

[Garak]

How about just an electric shock if you put the vehicle in motion in the dark with no headlights?

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Ducked
Er...If I can't see, then I put the headlights on.

If I can see, then I don't need the headlights on.

What am I missing by this not being automated?

I'm TRYING to feel deprived here, but I'm not really managing it.

(Couple of weeks ago I was deliberately driving with them off because I suspected the alternator was on the blink. THEN I felt a bit deprived)


I don't think I follow you. You might be able to see without the headlights on, but other drivers/pedestrians might not be able to see you as well.

It's bad enough with cyclops driving around with one headlight. But a car without headlights is basically cloaked. I normally just glance in my mirror scanning for headlights in the dark, much harder to switch lanes if you have to stare at the mirror to make sure that there isn't some car out there in the dark driving around without their headlights on.

I think if someone smashed into you without your headlights on, it'd be automatically your fault, like driving down the wrong way on a one way street.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

Originally Posted by Ducked
What am I missing by this not being automated?

I'm TRYING to feel deprived here, but I'm not really managing it.


In Canada, daytime running lights are mandatory. They're dimmer than headlights, despite some of them using the same headlight bulbs, as does my Chev. When darkness falls, the daytime lights brighten to full power and the taillights come on.

Not so with the phantom Toyotas. Their dash lights, apparently, are on full with the dimmer daytime lights, and the taillights don't come on until the driver manually turns on the headlights. But all appears normal inside without the headlights on.

It's not such big a deal in the city, but at night on the highway it's dangerous, especially when the weather's dirty and the back of the Toyota is covered with mud or snow or both, as are the reflectors.

Last spring while driving through sleet on a highway I was behind a Toyota SUV, its taillights off. The back of the SUV was so filthy the reflectors could have been painted black. The vehicle was part of the surrounding blackness.

How many people has Toyota injured or killed over the years because of this half-wit design?

 

[Ducked]

I find being dazzled by ****wits driving on full beam with their thermonuclear aftermarket lights (endemic here) a significantly bigger hazard than the odd vehicle driving on sidelights only.

Given the straight choice I'd probably prefer the latter, in any situation where you don't need headlights to see where you're going.

Its pretty much the difference between not being able to see at all, and something being slightly harder to see, but still easily visible.

 

[jakewells]

no cruise
no air
no power steering
no power brakes
no radio
no navigation, blue tooth, or back up camera
no onstar
no auto trans
-------------------------
manual trans only
heat only
cloth seats
rubber flooring
4x4 manual locking hubs
twin stick transfer case
king pin front axle
wing windows

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways
In Canada, daytime running lights are mandatory. They're dimmer than headlights, despite some of them using the same headlight bulbs, as does my Chev. When darkness falls, the daytime lights brighten to full power and the taillights come on.

They're doing something to address these half wit designs up here, with something changing in the standards. I'm not sure about the exact wording, but it's supposed to be automatic headlights or if not automatic headlights to make it bleedingly obvious that you're on DRLs at night and not your headlights. I'm not sure if my shock to the pants idea fits within the regs or not.

 

[jeepman3071]

I like auto headlights, but if people can't make sure their headlights are on at appropriate times (it's the law in CT they need to be on with wipers) then they shouldn't have a license.

 

[zorobabel]

Originally Posted by Uphill_Both_Ways

In Canada, daytime running lights are mandatory. They're dimmer than headlights, despite some of them using the same headlight bulbs, as does my Chev. When darkness falls, the daytime lights brighten to full power and the taillights come on.

Not so with the phantom Toyotas. Their dash lights, apparently, are on full with the dimmer daytime lights, and the taillights don't come on until the driver manually turns on the headlights. But all appears normal inside without the headlights on.

It's not such big a deal in the city, but at night on the highway it's dangerous, especially when the weather's dirty and the back of the Toyota is covered with mud or snow or both, as are the reflectors.

Last spring while driving through sleet on a highway I was behind a Toyota SUV, its taillights off. The back of the SUV was so filthy the reflectors could have been painted black. The vehicle was part of the surrounding blackness.

How many people has Toyota injured or killed over the years because of this half-wit design?


My wife's 2004 Corolla has daytime running lights and automatic headlights. The dash lights come on with the headlights at full power.