Advanced Driving Hub

Yet another reason for me never to buy a new car.

https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/18/aws_toyota_alliance/

Would be nice IF one got a bleep BEFORE the insurance company got interested. Trouble is it would get lost with all the other B..dy bleeps!
I'm with you, can't find anything new/secondhand to replace 142,000 mile Micra!

Now if only they could insist that dashcams auto upload so those who want to throw rocks at others first have to prove they are without any blame....

My RenaultSport Clio has an onboard sim card buried somewhere that can 'phone home' to the manufacturers data about use of the vehicle. It also has premium navigation services that require two way comms. Both are turned off in the menu's and the SatNav often asks me to turn them back on. I haven't even renewed the maps subscription because of the horrendous price of updates. Why can car manufacturers realise they are useless IT companies and stick to building cars that actually work and not ones where we have to debug their code.

It was always the case that the driving electronics and driver facilities electronics (audio, navigation etc.) had to be separate. I find it hard to believe that is still the case. On one instance my Clio stalled (reason unknown, it's a dual clutch auto) but the infotainment system also crashed. I couldn't restart the car. I had to get out, walk away from the car and let it auto-lock (keyless) and get back in to restart the car. The queue of traffic behind were not impressed as I walked away from the car blocking their lane!

Entirely agree with the OP. My M135i was off the road for a week when the whole iDrive system crashed due to hard disk failure - an ailment I thought unique to computers, not cars! BMW had to import a new one from Germany at vast expense (to themselves). Have happily taken the opportunity to re-purchase my old Subaru with every intention of keeking it going indefinitely. Engine management apart it is entirely mechanical.
As an aside, here in Kent we get overflown by Spitfires doing pleasure flights daily in the summer months. Numerous examples of these 80-year-old masterpieces still fly. Not a single Vulcan, though!

Mmm! I am not sure I agree being the driver of an MX5 (2000 vintage) and recently a 2020 model Renault Clio with all he knobs and buttons.
Yes the MX5 is entertaining but living in Spain cannot be used every day (it has no air conditioning) whereas the Renault which I am getting more used to has really decent handling and much of the safety gear is also useful.
I also increasingly find the modern auto boxes so controllable as to make, in many cars, manual changing superfluous
The MX5 is easy to repair (and incredibly prone to rust) but the Renault comes with a 5 year guarantee in an age in which technicians and computers play a huge part of any necessary repairs.
The vehicles are both competent in what they do but for a regular drive in all weathers the Renault will win.
In August when the high humidity and temperatures make escaping to the Pyrenees an attractive 4 hour drive which would I use? The Mazda for the last two hours on the N230 up and down the mountains but insufferable in the heat of the plain before. Or, the Renault which is entertaining to drive but has the necessary comfort to make the entire route comfortable (it sticks to mountain roads in a completely competent manner).

sussex2 wrote:In August when the high humidity and temperatures make escaping to the Pyrenees an attractive 4 hour drive which would I use? The Mazda for the last two hours on the N230 up and down the mountains but insufferable in the heat of the plain before. Or, the Renault which is entertaining to drive but has the necessary comfort to make the entire route comfortable (it sticks to mountain roads in a completely competent manner).

MX5. If I put up with driving the Caterham from the UK to the pyrenees for some decent roads, driving the MX5 shouldn't be much hardship in comparison. And at least when the thunderstorm arrives yours will keep the water out (last summer I did around 6 hours of UK and French motorway on the hottest day of the year on the way to a french trackday. That was /not/ a pleasant experience).

Sounds like you should have a-c fitted to your 2000 MX5 - or swap it to a newer one which comes with a-c.

My 2002 MR2 has a/c. Just sayin’

Jonquirk wrote:My 2002 MR2 has a/c. Just sayin’

2000 Micra ditto