Requiring four touches on a screen to change the seat heater level is one of the things that has irritated me about my 2020 Outback. There is ample screen room for four buttons, but they only have one.

Everything should be physical buttons. I don't need that screen, I need to feel my way to controls without looking away from the road. We all know the screen is cheaper, but I'm paying 30-40k for a new car I want my buttons.

Interesting, I am considering a Subaru to replace an analog ‘04 Honda. Will pay extra attention to this when test driving, thanks.

I don't know if it's been improved with the latest models, but the CPU in the 2020 is dog slow which makes using the map painful.

Otherwise? Great car

It has been fixed. Buttons are on the main screen now.

That new Nissan that uses CAPACITIVE buttons I saw today gave me cancer.

Imagine, not even a touch screen. Fucking tactileless buttons embedded into your dash. Fucking kill me now.

There are plenty of OEMs not forcing screens on people. Vote with your wallet.

I don't get it... I set my car to 68 auto the day I got it and it's never been anything different

I just wish my car knew when I need the AC compressor on. How hard is it to use the outside thermometer to decide?

Meh I don’t have a big issue with it. I keep it on auto mode 99% of the time and know what temps I like. Not much more to it.

Here's what it needs, imo. Three modes.

auto

auto (no a/c)

auto (no heater)

The best vehicle climate control system I've used so far was in a 2004 Honda Odyssey. It's so simple and works so well even my wife doesn't fight back against it.

Are you saying you're upset that it's using the AC compressor when it's cold out? It's doing this on purpose to dry the air so as to help keep the windows from fogging. The old style systems turned the AC compressor on with the defrost option for that reason.

[deleted]

people complain -- but the real cause of this shitfest of control is this: engineering as a discipline continues to slide to new lows. a long time ago, engineering was about efficiency, doing more for less. efficiency in communication, efficiency in time. but now Apple with Iphones has fudged the whole philosophy -- its all about fuck the consumer make it hard for them and charge them more anyway. fuck efficiency. and this philosophy has spread everywhere. into car design and manufacturing, into hairstyles, into teslas etc etc. humanity is doomed.

just buy 2nd hand. never buy new. the new cars are truly shit.

The physical controls on cars from 2010s were already quite minimal and worked well. Most of em used 5 buttons and a knob for the temperature, and another 5 buttons and a knob for the audio. These new touch based systems should aim to replicate that rather than put in a menu system like its a tablet. Reserve 1/3 of the screen for these 10 buttons, put in 2 physical knobs, and use the rest of the screen to do whatever fancy shit you want. Just make the 10 buttons static toggles. Hitting the heater button should turn on the heater, not pop up a menu to select the level of heating. Use it like the toggle it has always been.

I remember old Top Gear episode where Jeremy was complaining about this very thing. And that was about 15-20 years ago.

He said that it's not just stupid but dangerous because I need pull my focus away from road to set temperature, or tune radio. Which could all be done with a simple knob or button in older cars.

Muscle memory is an effective multitasking tool when we can’t take our eyes off the road and putting everything on the touchscreen nullifies this capability.

on 2023s. the old ones haven't gotten the software update yet. as far as I know.

Subaru's steering wheel controls are pretty good though, MUCH better than in the Camry rental car I'm driving.

I get in my extremely hot car and even though the temperature is set to cold I have to reach over and hit the ac button to get it to actually start to cool. It’s an annoyance but I just think it’s pretty obvious it needs to be on.

That’s because Engineering is subservient to Finance. It’s just how our entire economy is structured. Money is what matters. I see, and bitch about it, every day.

Doesn't everyone just set their AC to about 21 degrees, leave it on auto and forget it?

Why turn it off at all?

I’ve always been happy with the Hot/Cold slider + fan speed combo in my old truck. Takes half a second to move it a little in whatever temperature direction I want, and 4-5 fan speeds on the dial is completely adequate.

Sounds like off is the default in their vehicle.

Fuck touch screens. I will not buy a vehicle with a touch screen.

Amen, brother (or sister)!

Nope. I live where it gets really hot in the summer and really cold with snow and ice in the winter. I want to be able to put full blast heat on my windshield sometimes, either recirculating air or pulling it from outside depending on whether there is ice on the outside or fog on the inside. In the summer I want full blast AC. In the spring and fall I generally just want air circulating from outside the car.

Sure, defrost/defog buttons get used, but summer or winter, with climate control you set a temp you want and the car sorts it out and maintains that temp. I guess with older style aircon with no temp sensing you might need to manually fiddle with it but on modern cars - I don't see the point. I don't want to be cold in summer, I want to be comfortable all year round...