My old cars with sealed beams both had aerodynamic lense covers (that are lost) that went on the body to streamline the area around the light, looks like a $5 part Seal beams could definitely have a place in a variety of cars and trucks but it’s not fashionable
But would it remain a low cost part today? Same question for the sealed beam itself. A halogen bulb is $8 to $22 a piece. The housing has the lens and reflector. These are now several hundred dollars. The 'housing' will be lower cost with a sealed beam, because the reflector is part of the bulb. That increases the cost of sealed beam over the bulb. There is also the added cost of the lens to the beam, which will reduce the amount of light hitting the road compared to current halogen headlights. Sealed beams now cost in the same range as bulbs because of low demand. The only cars that need them are old, and their numbers are dwindling. They might only be available because they are used on other vehicles, like tractors, now. That will change if sealed beams for cars become vogue again. I don't think the return of the sealed beam will bring back low cost. I also suspect a sealed beams in new cars will result in poorer lighting.
My volts halogen bulbs are a $40 affair, not sure why single beams cost more but yeah sucks They don’t need to be poorer lighting my 82 diesel suburban had 4 of the bastards plus running and fog, felt sorry for anyone facing the truck
Now who's sounding like a TROLL??? I said SUVs, not crossovers or compact SUVs. Nitpicking my post and then Introducing a different class of vehicle as if it were the same thing does nothing other than stretching out the debate. Sounds like troll bait to me.
A year ago my wife was looking to replace her 10 year old car. We went to a dealer. Drove 5 cars. She disqualified one (Venza) because some of its critical safety controls were shiny black touch locations. Well that and the aero shape made the rear window viability a disaster. Other than setting a GPS destination, I'm not sure I've seen her touch the touch-screen infotainment system in her Avalon. She listens to one station.
But all the airliners have autopilot that works and even can land. Its a feedback system that interacts with the other machines around it. Autos will get there and are being pushed as we speak. Agree 100%. Fooling with a small phone while operating a car is the new DUI and has killed plenty of people. Personally I think smart keys and pushbutton start is the best thing Toyota managed to standardize for all cars.
My 2017 X3 is similar, but without the touch screen. It's all controlled by the rotary knob, and it's really very easy. The voice control is also surprisingly good. A lot of AI voice recognition systems struggle with Northern English accents, but this system has no problem understanding me.
I agree, but..... My car sometimes won't recognise the smart key if it's in the same pocket as my phone.
I was reminded last week why I hate push button -15F and the damn key died no warning, had to try to pop the damn cover over the key hole then fumble around trying to find the hidden key pocket in the upper center console as the alarm system blared. Went to battery mart to replace the “lifetime” battery that lasted 3 years, the first time I replaced the battery I did it myself with a multipack and the damn things would only last 3 months Push button start should be banned just give me a key
Push button start is really a throwback. In early cars, they couldn't integrate the start button into the linear sliding rack driven by a rotating pinion or rotary switch connected to the rotating key.
Its more than a mechanical key replacement. Its effective security, atuomatic unlocking of the doors and the elimination of mechanical interlocks.
It's a long time since I was that cold. I TOLD THEM they shouldn't outsource the design of "lifetime" batteries to hedgehogs. This was asking for trouble.
The reason this happens is the phone is interfering with the fob signal. There is no problem between the car and fob itself. Also typically the "smart key or fob" will have a mechanical key that can be easily accessed to open the door and a provision to put the dead/dying smart key or fob right next to the pushbutton start to activate it. Manufacturers have thought these situations through to keep someone from being stranded. A new battery or two for the smart key/fob kept in the vehicle glove compartment or center console is a prudent plan also. New lithium type batteries are long lasting for these devices. It is easy to forget about the old locked up door cylinder, broken key in the door, ignition switch that refuses to turn or an ice storm that makes the car door lock cylinder completely inaccessible. All that being said I am fond of the early VW beetles and for years owned a 1968 Chevy Step side truck with an inline 250 6 cylinder engine mated to a manual 4 speed transmission. I enjoyed that truck and continued to drive it after the floor rusted out by tack welding and using epoxy for metal to secure some metal plates to the bottom of the floor. It had an AM radio and that was it. The gas tank was in the cab located directly behind the bench seat-you could tell how much gas you had by the sloshing sounds the remaining gas made as you were moving.
If you want a dumb car Kandi K27’s are for sale $10,000+ They are so stupid they won’t buy DOT compliant airbags from the 2 legal suppliers insisting on their own so now we get a NEV with full safety systems and no fed tax break
If you want a really dumb car, there's always this.... I heard about it on the radio yesterday. Well That Didn't Work: The 1899 Car With a Full-Size Wooden Horse Head Stuck to the Front | WIRED This Horse-Shaped Car Is Not (Quite) as Dumb as It Seems From 1899 Horsey Horseless - The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME Somewhere between an early car and the head-in-the-bed scene in The Godfather, the Horsey Horseless, the brainfart of inventor Uriah Smith of Battle Creek, Mich., was intended to soothe the skittish nerves of our equine servants. A wooden horse head was attached to the front of the chuffing buggy in order to make it resemble a horse and carriage (Smith recommended the horse head be hollow to contain volatile fuel — another great idea). "The live horse would be thinking of another horse," said Smith, "and before he could discover his error and see that he had been fooled, the strange carriage would be passed." Stupid horse! It's not clear if the Horsey Horseless was ever actually built or if it is a chimera of auto history, but it reminds us just what a radical, hard-to-conceptualize thing a horseless carriage was.
Here's why I prefer a car with the least tech available. Another fine product from GM Daewoo. $700 for a rebuilt module. Glad it's not my car.
Yeah. I'm gonna hang onto my 06 and 08 for a while...... The truck in the vid was 8 years old, and the guy was right about a $400 repair.....at an independent shop. I checked the price of the module ($125) and even 'my' independent mechanic would have charged about another buck 25 for troubleshooting/labor/programming. That's still a bargain-basement $250-300 price for.....an HVAC controller! (Something that even EVangelists are going to want fixed!) One wonders what a dealership would have charged.....
Even in home automation touchscreens have sort of run their course. We are fickle beasts, we will flip flop to whatever seems new even if it is actually an old concept. I do prefer the option of knobs and older cars, but being new to driving our 2008 Prius more I have to appreciate some technology like keyless entry even though it does have it's concerns too. Android auto and Carplay seem like a good way to have universal tech that you can take from car to car, but we already ask too much from our phones, and things that just work are preferred in a vehicle. Normally I opt out of built-in Navigation, but in a relative's newer Honda Accord I am glad we opted for built-in Nav. I tried having them use Google Maps instead via Android auto, but it didn't stick and they preferred the Garmin solution. Also the reason we went from Camry to Accord is that their old Camry had a hand emergency brake and the new Camry had a foot-version, so Accord with the hand-version made more sense for an old person set in their ways. Now with push-button electronic emergency brakes it just adds more unnecessary complication and expense.
