I'll never understand this phenomenon

"cuts_off_prius" (cutsoffprius)
10/17/2015 at 21:53 • Filed to: None

It seems like every other new expensive luxury car is driven by people actually holding their phone in their hand or pressed to their ear to talk. But paying that much for a car, it surely must come with hands-free Bluetooth that, when set up, automatically connects your phone every time you get in the car. This tech is not new either, it’s like 10 years old! Why do something that’s more difficult, illegal, and dangerous when there’s an easy solution? Just goes to show that money doesn’t buy you brains.

DISCUSSION (15)

jariten1781 > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:00

Personal cell, business cell, international cell, burner cell; choose one.

jkm7680 > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:02

Old people.

/end thread

Hot Takes Salesman > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:08

People who know how to use the tech do. Otherwise it's kids whose dads bought them that BMW for their 21st birthday or someone who bough it for their 71st birthday and can't figure out these newfangled iphones

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:10

IDK, I never understood the appeal of hands free. You only ever need two hands if you’re driving manual, and it’s the conversation that is the distraction, not holding the phone. To me, its not worth the battery drain, but I never answer the phone in the car anyway.

samssun > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:16

The answer is: You think I paid [price here] so I could “set up” things?

(And regarding the “illegal” part, that’s only in 12 states. Pretty much the ones that ban everything else, plus a couple wildcards)

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:21

Yeah, people my mother’s age can’t use a smart phone very well let alone the car’s systems.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:26

Following the rules and playing it safe is not how they got ahead in life. Those petty things don’t apply to them.

That being said, even though I’ve added Bluetooth to my Mazda (not standard if you want the manual - grrrr), I mostly use it to stream audio and control Siri to text people that I’ll call them when I get to my destination.

smobgirl > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 22:57

See: every episode of Top Gear when they try to sync the Bluetooth. Hell, I can’t even get the usb connection to cooperate in half the cars I’ve rented.

We synced my phone to my car at the lot when I bought it and it hasn’t cooperated since.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > cuts_off_prius
10/17/2015 at 23:07

I don’t own a luxury anything, but the bluetooth in the Taco unfortunately decides when it feels like working properly. Maybe it’s not reliable in other cars either.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/17/2015 at 23:48

The kit I added to my Mazda is hit-and-miss. Most of the time it synchs up just fine, but other times it just plain refuses to connect. When streaming audio and I get a call it doesn’t always switch over, and the person on the other end isn’t aware of that. A few more button presses are required to connect the call, thus eliminating part of the reason for Bluetooth in the first place...

Since I mostly use the phone for audio and not calling when driving, I’ve developed a module to control the phone using a factory switch and the aux input. This way I also get back the steering wheel controls and sound out of all of the speakers (the Bluetooth kit only plays through the front speakers).

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed
10/17/2015 at 23:49

Finally - someone that gets it!

cuts_off_prius > samssun
10/18/2015 at 00:06

Yeah I know that legality varies state to state, but I’m in Illinois and ripped this off my facebook status... my bad haha

Slant6 > cuts_off_prius
10/18/2015 at 08:24

That’s perfectly legal in most states. I prefer holding it up to my head because it gives me a more private conversation and I don’t have to bother with Bluetooth (which can be horribly troublesome).

Rykros the Disdainful - Supposed Petulant Capitulant Junkie > cuts_off_prius
10/18/2015 at 09:29

They just don’t want to be bothered with such pleb concerns. If it wasn’t set up to begin with, they probably won’t bother.

With the topic of “olds”, my parents are in their 50s and the first thing they did with any of their newer Fords, is pair them up to Sync. My mother absolutely loves it and hasn’t put a phone to her ear in the car, since.

Probenja > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
10/18/2015 at 13:53

I set it up for my mom in her Nissan and never had a connection problem, and it is controlled with a button in the wheel so its not hard to use. That said it is illegal talking on the phone in my country.