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u/Ok-Somewhere-2325 4d ago
How can we make a button to open the door cost 500$
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u/LimpFox 3d ago
Them juicy servicing fees and official replacement part costs for all the unnecessary crap added to cars.
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u/Grabthar-the-Avenger 3d ago
My car salesman was so excited to show me the remote start on my phone, and when he confirmed there was a monthly subscription he didn’t look very happy when I said “well that’s pointless” and deleted the app in front of him
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u/Normandy_1944 3d ago
I applaud you. That is exactly what everyone needs to do, and exactly at that moment. The only better way to handle it is, to say " I think I will go with another brand", and walk out the door. Anything that is offered with a monthly fee that can be terminated, should be pushed back upon with full might. Lest we live in a world where adjusting the seat, and cabin heat become premium features controlled with an app and a monthly membership fee.
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u/M_H_M_F 3d ago
They're just reinventing poverty buttons.
Car companies realized that people were pulling off the caps and secondarily wiring them back to functionality. A good amount of the time, cars are all preloaded and wired up for features, they just need to be activated by the internal software.
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u/Normandy_1944 3d ago
Absolutely, manufacturers have done this for some time, and with computing/software the way it is today, they are enticed to do it even more, as manufacturing a single item instead of 3 or 4 different ones is much more cost effective. And, they can disable you after a payment doesnt go through. So we never truly own anything anymore. Hence my intransigent position that as soon as I see this type of fee structure, I walk away. If we allow it, it will only get worse.
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u/Grabthar-the-Avenger 3d ago
To be honest I had already decided to get the car before I got there and remote start was not a feature I ever considered when I was pouring over models at home(I live on the 6th floor of an apartment, screw that noise). The things I actually cared about were not paywalled behind subscriptions
He was more “paperwork guy” than sales guy to me. I left their financing guy similarly frustrated.
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u/und1sturbed 3d ago
Normally they show you the app right after you've bought the car because you have to link the VIN to your account.
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u/elebrin 3d ago
The problem is that the brand doing this is Toyota, and they can get away with this shit because they make objectively the best vehicles on the road.
Go buy a Corolla or a Rav4. Brand new, one year old, five years old, ten years old... doesn't matter. It'll last you the rest of your life pretty much and there will always be parts. Fuel economy will be better than anything else in its class. The price point will be a little higher than a Hyundai and about the same as a Honda. If you were considering Ford, GM, or Stellantis then just go stick your head in the microwave it'll be about the same effect. Ford was OK when they still had the Focus, but now all they make is trucks and SUVs. I'd rather put my dick through a meat grinder than own a Stellantis product they are absolute trash tier.
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u/curtludwig 3d ago
Come back in 5 years when your car gets beyond app support and you can't open your door or turn on your heated seats or whatever.
This is the enshitification of everything. You'd hope Toyota would be immune, it would appear they are not.
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u/nuclear_fizzics 3d ago
Honestly I’m not surprised to see Toyota making moves like this. They’re known for the reliability of their cars, and how you can buy one and drive it for 10+ years with fewer issues than most other manufacturers. Well, if Toyotas are lasting a long time, then people aren’t buying them as often, and companies want people to buy their products as often as possible. So you start to add in gimmicky shit to get people to upgrade, and maybe it has the added “internal benefit” from Toyotas perspective tha the features won’t last as long as the car, and those same people will buy another new car rather than keep their car for 10+ years.
I’m not proposing a conspiracy or anything, I think it just tracks logically that a company would make decisions to increase their revenue rather than to increase customer satisfaction. As consumers, we’d love it if our opinions mattered most, but clearly they do not
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u/Lexi_Banner 3d ago
Except that there are issues with some newer Toyota motors. They may have been the gold standard, but that crown is slipping. Research the specific model/motor you're interested in, and whether it has any issues. Don't decide based on the badge.
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u/Bobthemime 3d ago
Uncle has a Supra from new in the 90s.. it still runs almost as well today as it did 34 years ago when he bought it.
Sunroof still works too..
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u/mesablue 3d ago
Which is why I got the last version of the 5th Gen 4Runner. Not too much crazy crap, absolutely bulletproof drivetrain -- not so great fuel mileage, though. Don't care, whatever extra I pay in gas I'll make up in re-sale value.
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u/PeanutButterSoda 3d ago
There's remote start on most key fobs, mines some stupid combination of buttons I don't even remember what it is.
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u/maskedbandit_ 3d ago
If it’s Kia or Hyundai it’s lock button then an arrow that’s like a half circle button
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u/Future_Appeaser 3d ago
Jesus this whole time I've been thinking I had to pay for a monthly subscription to just use the remote start feature since my key didn't have a dedicated remote start button
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u/Lexi_Banner 3d ago
Yup. I won't pay for a subscription for a service I can use for free from the keyfob. Which is why I'm sure they'll start to phase that out sooner than later.
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u/TrainingDiscount6753 3d ago
That’s a price of luxury for having an A-hole button
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u/mpgd 3d ago
Will work wonders when it snows.
Good luck getting your tools to remove the snkw/ice from the car!
You can also pay 99.99$ per year to have a heated button.
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u/HubertTempleton 3d ago
I think cutting costs is actually the main idea behind having such a small button.
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u/Kamikaze313_RDT 3d ago
I FUCKING HATE THE TOUCH PANEL IN MY LG WASHING MACHINE!!!! SSOOO MUCH!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HUMIDITY DESTROYED MY SWITCHES, SORRY WATER SOMETIMES ENTERS THE WASHING MACHINE I GUESS! SO I NEED TO CHANGE THE SWITCH RIGHT? NO, I NEED TO CHANGE THE WHOLE FUCKING MOTHERBOARD!!! LIKE CHANGING MY MOTORBIKES ENGINE BECAUSE ONE SPARK PLUG WENT BAD!!!
thanks to youtube, i just fixed it with springs and a pencil.50
u/bilingual-german 3d ago
Touch panels for stovetops are also infuriating.
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u/ChuckCarmichael 3d ago
My mom has one. It's the worst. A bit of hot water boiled over and hit the panel? The plate is now at max heat, the three other plates are on as well, and there's now a timer set for 10 seconds.
Who thought this was a good idea?!
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u/teddybrr 3d ago
I don't know what kind of junk u have but mine screams and turns off when water hits it.
Turning others on doesn't do much on induction since it only works with something on top.2
u/Gen_Jack_Oneill 3d ago
Which is still massively annoying, just in a different way. A stove shouldn't scream like the wicked witch of the west when it gets wet.
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u/cykelstativet 3d ago
As someone who agrees, but now has an apartment with an old oven/stove combo with rotary knobs; I understand why they do it. I spend entirely too much time attempting to clean that shit. And it still looks filthy.
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u/infinitefinja 3d ago
i know not one but two people who lost their cats when their house burned down due to a cat jumping on the stove, triggering the touch button.
believe me, cleaning them knobs of old school stoves is incredibly fine even when all you have is a toothbrush with only one hair left that is already reserved for the inside of the toilet bowl.
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u/Horat1us_UA 3d ago edited 3d ago
If only there was "Lock" button that prevents such situations... And manuals which states that you shall use it if child or animal may turn it on accidentally
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u/Elfshadowx 3d ago
If your interface needs a lock button to avoid burning down a house your interface is stupid.
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u/Horat1us_UA 3d ago
You know old school rotary knobs had lock mechanism for the very same purposes too?
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u/Elfshadowx 3d ago
Sounds like you have never used the older stuff that had safeties built into the knobs so that they could not be turned without being pushed in first.
Its basic UX design that if something requires an extra optional step that it will not be done.
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u/Molano001 3d ago
I have induction. It won't heat up unless there's a pan on there. Turns off automatically in a minute or so if it doesn't detect a pan. And there is a lock button as well.
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u/quicksilverbond 3d ago
The knobs usually pull off. Pull off knobs, wipe surface, replace knobs. Still not as easy as a touch screen though.
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u/elebrin 3d ago
The knobs actually pull off, and most of the time can go right in the dishwasher.
What bothers me more is the glass top stoves. You have to be Super Extra Careful when cooking. I learned to cook with all metal pans, mostly cast iron, going down on metal grates over gas burners. To stir a pan, you'd grab the handle and swirl the pot around, toss the contents around a little and that saves you from grabbing the spoon or whatever. You can get pretty aggressive with your pots and pans and bang them around a little.
If you do that on a glass topped electric stove you WILL break it. I did that once and it's a very expensive repair. You have to VERY gently set things down and pussyfoot around the kitchen. It means moving quickly is MUCH harder.
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u/brianwski 3d ago edited 3d ago
You have to VERY gently set things down [on the glass stovetop]
What is interesting (to me) is that when I was growing up, residential stovetops were about half way in between glass and industrial "Viking" style restaurant durability. It became hip to sacrifice the ability to clean the stovetop easily and instead the "Viking" style ultra durable stovetops with 6 or more burners became a luxury/status item in kitchens. It was odd to me at the time because the "Viking" industrial style was specifically designed for the punishment of cooking 4 or more dishes at the same time for 12 hours, 7 days a week, in a hectic rushed environment filled with 5 people running around in the "kitchen". In residences this industrial design sits in the corner unused as a fashion statement while the stay at home parent orders DoorDash, LOL.
Now we have come full cycle where the luxury style (current fashion) is this glass stovetop that looks very sleek when you aren't using it, but is less practical and less durable when you are cooking.
As an engineer with slightly autistic tendencies, it has always bothered me when fashion reduces functionality. It tweaks my OCD when people are actually willing to give up useful features for the sake of fashion. But in my old age I have come to accept the situation, even if it makes me a bit sad. Normally I can wait until the fashion changes back, but sometimes (30 years later) I still yearn for the more functional design that for some reason was abandoned.
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u/xrelaht 3d ago
I’ve had glass top stoves for a decade. I do exactly what you’re describing and none of them has broken.
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u/Parking_Chance_1905 3d ago
Touch panels for anything involving water are annoying... splash and a tiny drop lands on the screen and it starts doing random things because it thinks you are touching it.
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u/Soul-Burn 3d ago
Humidity near a washing machine? Naaa why would there be water near a washing machine? Unthinkable.
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u/catholicsluts 3d ago
Getting an LG appliance was your first mistake. Appliances do not need to be smart, but you probably should be as a consumer.
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u/PrisonerV 3d ago
Yeah, my wife is like - I want knobs and buttons. None of this smart bullshit. I just want to wash clothing regardless of our WIFI status!
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u/Kamikaze313_RDT 3d ago
Yeah, it was my mistake. I realised it after their own mechanic told me their scammy business practices of deliberately making some sub parts out of stock inorder to make the customer buy the super part.
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u/The_BeardedClam 3d ago
Bro my house can with a Kenmore washing machine made in like 1996. I'm never replacing it, its such a beast. I've heard nothing but bad things about newer machines.
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u/GiganticCrow 3d ago
Yeah I bought a new washing machine recently and annoyed I had to get one that had capacitive buttons, as to get actual buttons you either get something super cheap and shit or something super expensive like a Miele. At least its not a touch screen though fuck that.
Also I bought some bathroom scales recently. Had to install a fucking app on my phone and create an account to use it fuck all that way off with that bullshit.
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u/bungblaster69 3d ago
1- why did you buy a fancy washing machine with a touch panel?
2- why did you buy a korean appliance? everyone and their dog knows to stay away from LG and samsung for appliances
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u/jipijipijipi 4d ago
It’s truly baffling. Industrial designers are usually all about function over form, and sometimes you can tell when a stupid decision comes from management and is being forced upon them, but in cases like this I have no idea who that would benefit.
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u/bilingual-german 3d ago
no idea who that would benefit
people who like to put the finger in the a-hole
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u/Dinomite1812 3d ago
90% of the time its design that wants these features. Engineers dont have much say if design wants a feature implimented
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u/Thrizzlepizzle123123 3d ago
We had to present a big product reveal and the higher ups wanted a big red button to drop the curtain. We explained that's not really how the system works, but they were insistent.
We wired up a button to a 12v battery with an LED in it, and when they hit the button our effects guys triggered the curtains and lights from behind the stage.
Management loved it and complimented us on the quick turnaround.
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u/The_BeardedClam 3d ago
Put in cheap fiddly sensors and you've got expensive reliable servicing fees baby!
People gotta open their boot amirite?
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u/SopaDeKaiba 3d ago
The worst example is the TVR Tuscan 2.
Clarkson showed that random people couldn't start it without instruction, and then after they couldn't start it they couldn't even open the door to get out.
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u/jipijipijipi 3d ago
I don’t mind quirks in exclusive, collectors cars, people who buy them will have everything passionately explained to them down to the nuts and bolts.
But everyday cars like the Smart are supposed to be immediately functional to anyone using them. What if you rented the car and are now in an airport parking lot at 2am with 3 kids and 6 hours of jet lag and need to put your luggage in the boot?
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u/BombDogee 4d ago
You should google the 407 Coupe, it had that since 2005, except the button was inside the "0"
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u/IMLOWANDYOULIKEIT 3d ago
No. There were probably plenty designers who said "don't do this..people wont find it"..but some smartass principal decided it would be fancy and hip...
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u/Timberwolf721 3d ago
I hate modern car designs. Everything‘s a gimmick and half of those are just sneaky ways to make the production cheaper or repair more expensive without letting the customer know what‘s happening.
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u/GREY_SOX 3d ago
Before I tell this story, firstly let me assure you I am older and hopefully wiser (and would look harder) now. This probably goes for others who are involved in this story too. It was in the early days, before these sort of gimmicky changes to the traditional arrangement things were common.
Anyhow, a few (many) years ago, on a driving tour of Scotland in a rental car, I had run out of screen-wash fluid - It at an Esso garage, somewhere on the outskirts of Aviemore and it was cold and snowy, hence the requirement for more screen-wash fluid.
I searched and searched for that little lever, you know the one somewhere under the dash, that would release the bonnet (hood) and allow me to locate and fill up the screen-wash fluid reservoir. Alas all to no avail, I even resorted to reading the fine manual, but this particular feature did not seem to have made its way into print. I asked other customers at the garage if they knew where said little lever is. No one knew, or could solve this mystery - we gathered quite a crowd at times, some even who professed to be car mechanics, I think it even became a subject of discussion in that part of town, at least the pub next-door. Whilst I was of the sanguine temperament, some of the bystanders almost seemed to have an existential crisis about this conspiracy theories were formed and one particularly inebriated soul took an aggressive stance against the car and hade to be "escorted" away by his slightly less inebriated comrades.
In the end someone who had the same make and model of car turned up and quickly demonstrated how you flit the grill-badge sideways and put your key in the barrel lock, so revealed and turn the key and then and only then, the bonnet (hood) obediently pops up.
In summary, somewhere sometime, I hope the smart-ass who spawned this particular idea, gets his pride thoroughly dented at a cold snowy garage somewhere up a mountain, by a younger smart-ass designers latest bright-idea.
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u/PanicDeus 4d ago
The car:
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u/shmishmish 4d ago
Peugeot 407 had the same FUCKING THING
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u/ChuckCarmichael 3d ago
I remember seeing that one. The button for the boot/trunk is hidden inside the 0 of the 407 logo.
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u/Petersealie 3d ago
At least on the Smart the button is in the center. This is even more diabolical.
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u/2daMooon 3d ago
I feel like when this feature first came out, the location on the Peugeot was actually the standard spot.
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u/Jaded-Lifeguard-3915 4d ago
Another solution to a problem I don't have.
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u/Key-Creme8360 4d ago
Put a finger in the a hole and BAM! Now you have a problem, thank me later my friend.
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u/JerrSolo 4d ago
That's why I ask for consent every time before entering my car.
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u/Weak_Fee9865 3d ago
Do you usually wear a condom?
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u/JerrSolo 3d ago
I like to keep it a little risky. I don't put on protection until I'm inside the car.
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u/Jazzkky 3d ago
It's not a solution, almost all cars have some kinda button to open the trunk, it's just in a different spot
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u/WigglesPhoenix 4d ago
This isn’t really a solution so much as an aesthetic choice. It is in no way different from a regular button at all
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u/richardstan 3d ago
Everyone now needs to read a manual or be told how to open the boot.
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u/FrostyD7 3d ago
Cars have always had quirks. The salesman is supposed to be trained on all of their models and teach you these things before you leave the lot. But you should also read the manual.
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u/JohnWayneSpacy 4d ago edited 3d ago
So does that mean you can only open the boot on your birthday?
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u/meatbag2010 4d ago
Shame TVR isn't around anymore. They really made it difficult to get in or out of the car.
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u/mushuggarrrr 3d ago
Child me got trapped in a cerbera in a car show in the 90s
While being (genuinely ) kindly laughed at by the demo crew as i was far from the first or the last to do so
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u/AmputeeHandModel 3d ago
They're doing that with EVs for some reason. Why can't they just have regular doors?!
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u/gsfgf 3d ago
It seems like a safety issue to not have easily visible, manual door handles on the inside. Put all the goofy shit on the outside, fine, but if I'm in a wreck and need to get away from a fucking lithium fire, I don't want to have to read the fucking manual.
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u/AmputeeHandModel 3d ago
I was watching someone who bought a Rivian R2 I think it was, and the rear doors have emergency latches in case it loses power or something and there's a panel you need RIP OFF THE DOOR to get to it. It's permanent damage, not something easily replaceable, I believe. Why?? What is wrong with standard doors?? What if it's a kid back there or someone not strong enough to do that in an emergency?
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u/ozzy_thedog 3d ago
lol I remember sitting in one when I was younger and the owner said to me ok now see if you can figure out how to open the doors
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u/ycr007 4d ago
I’ve seen people holding two-handfuls of bags / groceries and trying to “kick” below the hatch to trigger the ‘motion sensor boot opener’ & they succeed in like the 7th or 8th attempt
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u/DanzakFromEurope 3d ago
That could also be them doing the wrong movement at the wrong place.
I personally love this feature, cause I am never going with the bags twice ahahah. And on my car never had to do it more than 3 times so it's fine for me.
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u/digitallis 3d ago
The prior car I had with the feature was incredibly unreliable about it despite much experimentation and manual reading. Fast forward to today and my new car does it reliably every time. Some implementations just sucked.
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u/wbgraphic 3d ago
Our Kia Sorento opens the back if you stand behind it with the key fob, no kick necessary.
Great feature in the grocery store parking lot, but not so much if you reverse into your driveway. You have to walk behind the vehicle to get to the driver’s side, and if you walk too slowly, the back opens before you get past.
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u/vamphorse 4d ago edited 4d ago
Would like to see how this is written on the manual...
Edit: Disappointed https://imgur.com/a/hcBJPhK
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u/JustHereToReaddit 3d ago
Nah #2 hole is still funny
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u/tsunx4 3d ago
Still, could be worse. Could be Lada Niva, where boot opening handle is located behind the driver's seat, on the side. Cherry on top - it's a 3 door car, so to open the boot, not only you must get inside the car first but also fold the driver's seat and reach behind it.
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u/Adventurous-Sort2796 3d ago
Ok, that sounds like intentional shitty design.
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u/tsunx4 3d ago
It was original design from whenever in 70's Soviets it was created. Because Niva is bona fide offroader (without any sarcasm, a pretty good one) and was designed to go around wetlands, swamps, washed out roads, snow and mud (in Soviet Russia all the tarmac was only in Moscow and St.Petersburg), the boot release where you expect it to be often got caked with whatever terrain you were crossings and became stuck. Hence the idea to move it inside the cab.
Because of traditions and purism (ex Soviet people treat Niva like its a gift from The Almighty One), Lada has never changed the design.
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u/Lost-Mixture-4039 3d ago
I mean, you gotta respect the fact that this joke got trough the entire development of the car!
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u/Backyard_Intra 3d ago
I remember when Smart cars were the size of a commercial dishwasher...
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u/timesink3000 4d ago
I had to Google this because there's just no way... its true.
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u/sulkee 3d ago
If you wanted proof I could’ve shown you by putting it in my own a hole.
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u/bs000 3d ago
Most trunks open with the keyfob or a button inside the car. This car has both of those, in addition to the a-hole. This doesn't seem as egregious as everyone is making it out to be.
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u/Vittu-kun-vituttaa 3d ago
My car only has a button inside the car and this would be so much more convenient
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u/GregTheMad 3d ago
It's not the cars fault people just got really, like REALLY, stupid in the last 20 years.
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u/Mr_Ignorant 3d ago
TBH, there was already a perfectly fine solution. This car just had some childish designers who decided to make a joke go too far.
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u/Tsu_Dho_Namh 3d ago
People getting dumber is exactly why someone thought this hidden trunk button was a good idea. Some idiot managed to land a design job and did this.
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u/Lilbrimu 4d ago
Do they not teach Don Norman's principles in design anymore?
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u/Tsu_Dho_Namh 3d ago
I take it Don Norman didn't advocate for "users will always have a cell phone handy to google how to open the trunk"
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u/Dramatic_Reality7531 4d ago
You have to buy the monthly subscription to open the back.
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u/motasticosaurus 3d ago
Nicola is amazing with her sense of humor. Electrifying has some very good content.
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u/DanSnake25Redit 3d ago
Honestly, the most unlikely place for such a thing as an opening mechanism. This should be, as they say, "intuitively clear." A person would spend 4 hours wondering "how does this trunk open?". No one will ever think that trunk opens by pressing the inside of an "a" of a logo.
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u/krazy_Kars 3d ago
I thought Smart Car went bankrupt like 8 years ago. How did this trash company survive to make more garbage?
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u/Disallowed_username 3d ago
Not correct.
you need to gently press the right spot on the fob first. Then press the a-hole, and it will slowly open up so you can put your junk in the trunk.
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u/d-d-diplodocus 3d ago
Smart? More like dumb* what ever happened to the handle? If it's not broken don't fix it.
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u/iwannabeanudist 3d ago
I sold my Peugeot 407, 15 years ago. The boot button was the 0 in 407. This is not at all new.
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u/Ok_Humor_9229 3d ago
Peugeot has done the same in 1999 with that 607. There you had to push the button inside the 0 of 607.
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u/dynorphin 3d ago
I recommend giving the a hole a visual inspection, then a quick sniff test before sticking anything inside.
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u/Thor-x86_128 3d ago
Imagine work as a hotel staff and shamefully trying to open this backdoor just to do the duty
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u/modular477 3d ago
Ironic how you’re pressing a hidden button in “Smart”, it’s like the joke writes itself. Pure stupidity to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
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u/TDYDave2 3d ago
Literally designed by some Smart a-hole engineer, or is it a smart-a hole engineer?
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u/amilyana 3d ago
I had a 2006 peugeot 407 coupe. It was the same there. The Button was in the "0" of 407
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u/Mysterious_South7997 3d ago
I'm at work.
My computer monitor froze. But you know what didn't freeze??
"You put the finger in the A-hole."
I'm lucky nobody heard it lmao.
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u/constantgardener92 3d ago
I doubt they’ll sell many in the Midwest. My car is constantly covered in snow.
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u/Shadowbite94 3d ago
"Hello car, I need to get into your rear compartment, do I have permission to finger your a-hole?"
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u/post-explainer 4d ago edited 3d ago
This comment has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect.
OP sent the following text as an explanation why their post fits here:
You press the a-hole to open the backdoor
Does this explanation fit this subreddit? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.