You make some solid points, but don’t get me wrong, I like nice features; I haven’t had a backup camera in any vehicle yet that I’ve owned, and I’d love one, simply because it would make life easier. Hell, even a blindspot monitoring system would help at times when I’m driving home tired from work and my attention…

WITNESS MEEEEE!!

Fair enough. Everyone’s got their own style and comfort when driving; I do the head-turn in my 300 because the visibility is OK and it’s just how I was taught how to drive. You’re right on the large commercial vehicles, you do have to utilize your mirrors, as the blindspot is massive. Personally, I find crossovers to…

I agree on your point about visibility in some vehicles, however turning your head is standard practice - and there’s a very good reason for it. Even with properly adjusted mirrors and blind-spot monitors, you can never be 100% sure that a car doesn’t just suddenly appear in your blind spot; turning your head ensures…

Great points. Environment’s a big one, and you’re right about the isolation problem. No one has yet figured out how to make autonomous cars function properly in chaotic environments, where both intense, unpredictable traffic is combined with inclement weather, notably snow, which has been known to cause problems with…

Volvo and Mercedes also comes to mind, though I think all major automakers have done that at some point or another. Also, they don’t advertise it as a replacement per se, they imply it:

Neutral: All Smart cars, pre-2018 Jeep Compass and Patriot.

From the very moment automakers started implementing this “autonomous” tech into mainstream vehicles, it was a fallacy. Because they marketed it as a replacement for healthy driving habits everyone should have, such as physically turning your head when changing lanes, turning or backing up, checking your mirrors, be…

I don’t see ANY 300 in this thing. All I see is Stinger, some 3 Series and a bit of Audi. 

Well, shit. 

Not without his passport he won’t. 

I had a 2000 Impala and a 2004 Silverado, and both had the same issues; to replace 2 sensors on the Impy was $300 because the whole wheel hub had to be replaced as well, so much of that cost was just labour. They must’ve made the sensors separate from the wheel hubs in later years. 

That does sound awful :/ what car do you have this feature in? I ask, because it’s one of my considerations for the 2018 Accord and Mazda 6. 

This is a great feature, as long as it’s not on a vehicle by GM. All your sensors will go bad within 5 years and GM does this wonderful thing where you have to replace the whole ABS sensor (because the tire pressure sensor is built into it). Got pretty tiring on my Impala when the damn things started going out one…

Fo reals. And even when you get an option, it’s usually at-cost.

It would be nice if all cars came standard with an automatic highbeam switch. It’s useful and low-tech, especially when you’re tired af driving through pitch black and having to adjust every time another car approaches on the other side.

Didn’t (doesn’t?) BMW have similar issues with Chinese auto manufacturers copying their X5 (and other models)? From what I remember, BMW sued... and lost.

I can see BMW trying to scale back its design to earlier times (E39 gen) when the 5 Series was more sublime. Not saying this looks anything like the E39, but it’s a lot more reserved than previous M5 iterations.