My current car is old. I had a lot of repairs done on it recently. If I get a new car, I don’t want features. Lane assist, backup camera, DUI Camera, telemetry, auto breaking or other frankly silly features. Call me grumpy, but I find modern cars very distracting.
Can I ask a dealership to disable these at purchase? Is there a car that works best for being private besides just older cars?
I drive very little in a year. No, I can’t ride a bike.
I get not wanting the internal camera and telemetry crap, but not wanting the other stuff puts you in the same group of people that opposed seat belts when they first became mandatory for cars.
Backup cams, lane warnings, blind spot detection, and auto breaking are all incredible advancements that have significantly improved vehicle saftey.
The features I don’t like are things that take total control of the car like auto pilot, lane merging, auto park, or lane correction. It should not fight you trying to avoid something on the road. A little beep to say, “hey you’re leaving the lane” is okay, a little beep to remind you to keep your eyes on the road is theoretically okay (but we all know the massive privacy concerns with that one.)
I feel backup cameras are a gateway drug for cars. I would not turn a car down for having one for example. As other features go, I drive so little that the car doesn’t need to be fancy. It’s a way to get from point a to b.
Tell that to the kids and pets that got run over because they were in a blind spot, backup cameras help to prevent that.
I completely understand not wanting the whole suite of modern safety features, I hate most them too, but they do save lives. If you don’t drive that much, then they shouldn’t bother you if they are there. Most can be turned off anyway. If you’re that desperate to not have a rear cam, just tape over it, but please don’t.
Even the “cheap”, sub $30k new cars come with a lot of the safety features standard now. (Based on general internet rumblings), a used 2018-2022 higher trim car will probably be the sweet spot between having some of the safety features (that can be turned off), physical AC controls, and not having the ads and giant tablet screens. Personally, I wouldn’t go any older than 2020 unless you find something well taken care of. A 2018 model year would have be released summer 2017, 9 years ago.
I followed up with similar comments. The backup screen just seemed like a gateway drug to all the other distracting touch screen slop. I don’t actually hate back up cameras, it’s that it’s required to function for inspection and it’s one more part that can break.
It’s a way to get from point a to b.
You’re the perfect customer to buy a Corolla! 😄
Sadly all those assist features come standard now even on the lowest trim, but I think you can easily disable them from options, bar the reverse camera. Plus, at least on my 2020 software one, they’re not always-on, I think the lane-assist and cruise-control have to be turned on by a button, I use them only on longer trips.
Only the auto-breaking part I’m not sure if it can be disabled, but it doesn’t work in lower speeds, so it’s as good as not there in less intensive situations.
Top picks of cars I was eyeing up were a Miata, Carolla, Honda Fit, Mazda 3, or Hyundai K-2.
I’d think about electric if it were possible to charge it. It seems like a pain in the butt as I don’t have the ability to use bank cards for payment.
I don’t know where you’re located, but backup cameras are legally required on all new cars in North America starting May 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_camera
Take a look at this list:
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-best-new-cars-for-people-that-dont-care-about-technology/
It’s a couple years old, but the info is likely still good.
Short answer is no. All new cars do it. Dealers can’t disable it. It is what it is.
There are a few niche cars that don’t have all the tracking cruft, good luck getting one.
If you go for the absolute base model of a Camry or something you’d probably only have the backup cam. Which to be honest is a nice feature.
If you live in the USA:
Despite all of the arising automobile safety technologies, there are just a few that are required by regulations. These mandated safety functions consist of Seatbelts, Airbags, LATCH child safety seat system, Tire-Pressure Display, Electronic Stability Control, and Backup Cameras. All-new vehicles will certainly have that tech and in addition, the NHTSA recommends the following Motorist Assistance Technologies:
FWD Crash Warning
Automatic Emergency Situation Braking
Lane Departure Warning
Whether you can ask the dealer to turn them off is dependent entirely on whether the manufacturer will allow them to do that. Generally the manufacturer is the one who allows the dealer access to scan tool tech that would be able to do this and what access they have varies by manufacturer.
There are things you can potentially do yourself including pulling fuses or relays (where applicable), disconnecting antennas (depending on your level of skill to get access), and asking an aftermarket shop to physically disable certain systems.
The main problem with this is, 1. It could void your warranty which may mean you aren’t eligible for some warrantable repairs including but not limited to recalls. 2. You could potentially do some damage to systems yourself by accident that you would be on the hook for. 3. You will likely lose other features you paid for. This is of course dependent on how the manufacturer integrated the systems you want to remove or disable.
It may be a better idea to see what options you have to avoid paying for those optional features and make your decision based on what manufacturers allow you to remove them when you order the vehicle. This may be better for you than trying to drive a dealer vehicle off the lot. It will take more time though.
I think if I were you and I had to have a newer car I would try to buy a used car that doesn’t have these features you don’t want.
Very well said. I plan on keeping my car until it dies. Eventually, I know I will need to get a newer car.
I wanted to make it particularly clear that some safety features are non-negotiable if you buy a new car from a dealer because the manufacturer is required by law to include them. But some people do believe that more safety features are required by law than actually are and even in the event that some of them are telemetry isn’t, and may be disabled in some instance depending on the vehicle.
I personally am willing to fix my older car until it dies and I can’t anymore over buying a brand new one but I’ve also never bought a brand new car in my life. I understand that my approach is possibly prohibitively expensive for quite a lot of people.
Anyway, I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Thank you, your comment was kind. I plan on fixing my car until it’s not an option. 50k for a car is ridiculous. Especially when I can find C7 Corvettes for 37k (more than I ever need)
Adding to your point… “impaired driver detection” is already federal law, however it is still held up in the federal rulemaking process. There were (if I recall) deadlines in 2024 and 2026, but the rule making process can take a long ass time, so for now, it is still a future thing, but I mention it to say that there is broad congressional support for in-car surveillance tech. It’s definitely coming.
The main problem with this is, 1. It could void your warranty
Manufacturers cannot void the warranty because of aftermarket modifications. They can deny claims for failures that are caused by the aftermarket modifications, but they cannot “void” a warranty. In several years of working on this stuff, the only times I ever saw voided warranties was when cars were salvage branded titles, such as from total loss accidents, flood recoveries and so on. And even in those cases, federal emissions equipment warranties remained in effect. There are reasonably strong consumer protections for aftermarket modifications that go back several decades. They don’t entirely stop manufacturers from doing dodgy shit, but it has limited it.
Good point, and a good thing to add to things to consider. Thank you.
I was more thinking along the lines of the different classes of warrantable repairs and different classes of recalls.
You could absolutely have a recall pertinent to your vehicle that turns out to be voluntary and the automaker refuses to honor it if that system has been deactivated, tampered with, or modified.
You could absolutely have a recall pertinent to your vehicle that turns out to be voluntary and the automaker refuses to honor it if that system has been deactivated, tampered with, or modified.
Yeah, this could happen, but in most cases, you take your car to the dealership for recalls. And the dealer isn’t the manufacturer, they don’t care if you disable manufacturer shit. The dealer could get stinky and say no on the manufacturers behalf, but they would rather do the simple work and get paid for it, then try to upsell you on preventive maintenance like an oil change, tires, etc… Unless you’re doing something that’ll come back to them (like odometer fraud), they’re not gonna go out of their way (and spend 5x the time) to deny a recall claim that even the manufacturer doesn’t give a shit about paying. That was my experience anyway.
The automatic emergency braking is probably one of the absolutely best safety features in “recent” cars…and i say “recent” because this has been standard equipment on all trim levels for probably a decade.
ABS brakes were a game changer. People used to panic and spin around taking out 5-6 cars.
I always thought ABS stood for Antilock Braking System.
In this case it’s automatic breaking systems.
I just don’t like the idea of my car making driving decisions. Plastic bag goes across the highway and I get rear ended due to the car breaking for me. Nope, don’t want it.
Actually @clif@lemmy.world was right here, the abbreviation is antilock braking system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system
but it seems this is the thing that does emergency braking too nowadays.
Good call, mine used to rapidly brake because it saw nonexistant obstacles. More than once.
what year?
Quite new. PM me if you really need to know
You might want to look at just pulling the sim card (assuming its physical).
For long term (meaning transfer of vehicle) you might want to buy a second head unit. When you sell the car have it swapped out so none of your history is in it. Because even if you remove the sim it will still collect data, just not be able to send it back home.
There’s a lot of variables in threat model and budget though so I just mention these as options, not necessarily recommendations.
Is it hard to remove the sim?
All cars now have these:
That’s the AM/FM antenna and data antenna. Remove it, wrap the data antenna in foil. Or, just unplug it.
You think a dealer would unplug it as part of a sale? Never bought a car at a dealership yet.
It’s unlikely that any dealer would disable features. They’ll tell you they can’t do it for “liability” reasons.
A sharkfin antenna is just a design feature. It says nothing about what data is being transmitted.
The key to answering this question is knowing where you live.
United States
Some cars have a favourite button to disable the more annoying features like driver monitoring and lane assist with one button press once its set up in the menu.
The features are required to be installed by law.
Can you pay someone to ride a bike while you sit comfortably in a little covered wagon behind the bike?
Too hilly here. I wish I could ride a bike.
Looked into Ebikes at all? I’ve seen ppl, even some old ppl using ebikes in hilly areas. They really help with hills.
Not trying to say it can replace a car. For most ppl it can’t replace a car, so you still have to figure out the car issues. But it can sometimes be used instead for many trips. Cheaper to run, better for the environment, and lowers repair costs for the car over time. Also the car will last longer so you don’t have to worry as much about whatever new privacy hell exists years later.
I have.
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I have poor balance. I don’t even know how to ride a bike.
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I live in a crime filled city. It will get stolen.
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The city is essentially walled around by non-bike friendly highways. So, I still need a car for things unfortunately.
Not to take away from your post but the trick to riding a bike is not to go slow. The faster you go the easier it is to balance.
Just like walking a tray of glasses, if you slow down (especially abruptly) the change in momentum can topple some, but keep moving and ‘she’ll be right’.
I get that your not into the idea of biking. For the sake of the environment I want to mention that I live at the top of a hill where the first soap box derby tournament was held. If you’ve ever seen one of those, it’s a pretty steep hill they race down. My ebike goes up it with no problems other than from cars on the road. I don’t even have to pedal, I just push a little lever and up it goes. This city is 5th highest in murder rate in the U.S. and auto thefts are just as bad but a good lock and smart parking helps. Oh and I have all the balance of a newborn kitten on a pile of fresh laundry.
I now want to see a newborn kitten in fresh laundry
Everyone wants that.
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Sounds like you might want a Classic Car. In some countries you can get very cheap tax/insurance, but there’s a low maximum yearly mileage.
Or you might be better off just renting as you need a car.
Hell yeah I want a classic. But, reliability is the issue.
You could buy two classic cars for the price of a new one.
Classic cars are unreliable and suck gas.
Yeah but if you have two you spread the risk. Plus you have a parts car.
auto-braking
It was really cool driving a uhaul that was way too big for me to be qualified to drive only to find it did some automatic ffucking braking or downshifting shit going down hills and it’s like, yes, thank you, that’s exactly what i want when i’m maneuvering something unfamiliar the size of a whale- random automated bullshit i don’t understand randomly fucking with what Im doing
stick to cheaper models and lower trim levels.
I was able to disconnect the cellular antenna on my 2015-2020 car and replace it with a dummy load. funny enough I found the lojack device the dealership had in their while doing this so I removed that too. that’s good enough for me.
when you buy the car they will most likely try and setup your phone to it to “activate your warrenty” just decline this if they ask you to do anything with your phone say no and just dont link anything for the most privacy an the other features should be able to be disabled in settings
That’s a thing? Ew.
