Phones have changed in size rapidly too. It must be hard to forsee that in another industry.
I don’t understand how I’ve had cheap aftermarket car radios for 10 years that have USB and my '09 Jetta doesn’t (just the aux jack). File this under more stuff that offends me about the supposed invisible hand of capitalism.
I think it has to do with very long product cycles, mass purchasing, and industry only thinking. When I was at frog we worked with a lot of automakers on HMI (Human Machine Interface) and I was surprised at the level of awareness on what was going on in mobile technology. This was 5 years ago now and I know a lot of automakers have invested in Silicon Valley think tank groups so hopefully we should be seeing the benefits of that now.
I think they are just milking the cow while they can and tend to have the impression that the cows are completely blind and dumb. The German “premium brands” seem to be a mile behind Ford and Chrysler if we are talking about the seamless integration of digital services. What is standard in a Fiat costs a “fortune” in a Beamer.
It is a different story for a different thread. But actually we got a 5series on order right now. IF you want seamless integration of all your gadgets you need to order the “big” navigation pack, plus internet, plus online streaming services. On a car like that it jacks up the price by 5 percent, but on a 1-Series it would have been prohibitive. Thus our second car does not have navigation at all and the phone integration was aftermarket. Both solutions work reasonably well.-> Your bad VW.
“best” thing about the BMW base configuration is the “stereo”. You actually get 3 speakers (German market.) More speakers = Markup for
“HiFi”. Real Hifi = Markup for Harman Kardon, Brilliant system = Markup for Bose.
Does this read like a rant? Well I still ordered and I will be taxed for it, but I don’t have to pay for it…
New Ride! After 9 years of trusty service, I got rid of my wife’s Yellow Mini Clubman and switched her out for A Golf R… which she immediately named “The Black Panther”. I brought it home for her today. At first she cried because she loved that dang Mini to death. Then she started The R and giggled… then she laid the hammer down on the R and loudly laughed like an evil villain in a movie… 292 horsepower will do that. Three stressful days of negotiating with two different dealers… worth it for the husband brownie points… and now we will trade cars more
LOL, nice… The R is a full second faster 0-60 (5.2 seconds) and the 0-100 time is fantastic (13). Wait until I get her the software update that boosts it up over 300 HP…
They did a nice job with the details on this little guy… though those tail lamps on the GTE are super nice. Maybe I can swap them out
Very nice - I’m in a MKVII GTI these days too. Contemplated going for the R but I’m only driving 2 miles a day for my commute to the train and dealers are almost completely unwilling to negotiate on the R’s. My former coworker had to fly from NY to NC just to find a dealer willing to give him a price break.
The detailing on the R is so much tidier…can’t argue with the quad pipes and none of the little front fog light vents the GTI gets.
Good deals on the R are hard to find. I ended up picking up a highly used 2017. The guy that had it just used it as a highway commuter, albeit a long commute. Traded it for an SUV. It has a couple of very minor body issues I need to correct but interior was mint.
Just had both cars ceramic coated yesterday… but I’ve been thinking about getting a Fiat 500e Abarth or maybe the new Volvo EX30 to replace the TT when they come stateside. I just don’t drive the TT much and would love to replace it with another electric… but part of me says to just hang on to it until an EV Miata or something similar happens.