this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
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Ah yes, it's safety that makes newer cars expensive you see. Not the wireless key-fobs, power seats, built in ipad to replace the perfectly fine knobs and buttons, autonomous driving features...
From what I've heard the lack of buttons is actually a cost saving measure, if you put in an infotainment system anyway
Thank god EU is starting to get involved in the matter.
For now it is only that cars only get a 5 star safety rating when they include buttons for a few things form 2026.
I hope there will be laws that follow after.
Yeah, good buttons are ridiculously expensive
That's a whole extra half cent per car.
You're vastly underestimating prices of car parts, even for manufacturers, even bought in bulk.
yeah i worked at a vehicle manufacturer a while ago as they were expanding into a new market with a budget model, and getting rid of all the non-critical buttons was very high priority for cost. not only do you save on materials directly, you can remodel the entire driving area which means you can redesign the safety features. less shit in the dashboard means less debris that needs to be crash-tested.
I didn’t even think about the crash testing angle that makes a lot of sense
That might be true as I haven't looked into it in detail. Though even then, if the goal is to make cars more affordable, there's lots of other features you can cut down on that has nothing to do with safety
And nobody is selling the basic no frills subcompact cars in the US anymore