I’m not sure how much it really adds to the cost of a vehicle, if it adds anything at all. Not the total cost of research and development - that will be same whether it is a standard feature or optional. I’m talking about how much does it add to the cost of an individual vehicle - and my guess is that it’s a very small amount. As far as the usefulness - well, it might not be of any use to you in your particular life but it is very common for disability accomodations to be useful to many who we wouldn’t consider to have a disability. Think about curb cuts and wheelchair ramps , for example. Sure, they help wheelchair users and that’s the reason they exist - but the also help those with baby carriages, wheeled luggage, shopping carts, people who can walk but can’t manage steps and so on. How useful it will be depends on the gesture needed - if it’s like one I saw where the gesture is apparently mimicking grabbing the door handle and pullng , just without actually touching the door handle , then it’s useless , really to anybody. If it’s a gesture that can be performed with your hands full, it will be useful to lots of people.
That reminds me of the “meet cute” of a long ago significant other of mine… did you know that you can unlock a 94 740il BMW with two 9v batteries linked in series and then applied to the power leads to the in trunk cd player? He honed that skill in 90’s Moscow. He later on explained that the power / ground wires for the cd player is somehow interconnected with the central locking system of the car and all you need is 12v to power it and get the drivers door unlocked to be able to get to the battery under the backseat or to pop the hood to jumpstart the car.
This recent thread might be useful:
Found On Road Dead?
Fix Or Repair Daily?
You got ninja’d by a toaster? 
….I do miss handcrank windows, especially when driving a car with window buttons in unusual places. I recently purchased a Honda element, kinda boxy and not great MPG, but minimal tech and good for my needs. Low miles too.
The fault codes on modern cars quite helpful. I Haven’t tried any AI questions about repair yet, YouTube videos are my go to helper. (appliances too) That will probably change.
Bet she didn’t see that coming!
Many Toyota models are similarly reliable. Many of the posters on the Scion xB Reddit have over 200,000 miles. So much so that Toyota offers “High Mileage Club” stickers you can put on your car. They make ones for 200,000 through 500,000 miles at least. I need to get one, my 2006 is at 220,000 uneventful miles.
One of the issues with my mom’s Ford Focus is that it has hand-crank windows… only in the back seat. If anything, it should be the other way around: If you want to put all of the windows down, you can reach cranks in the front, but can’t reach them in the back.
My elderly uncle recently bought a deluxe 2015 Chrysler minivan and he loves it. But the A/C died in our hot summer. To fix it takes a $1000 electronic module replacement. The sad part is that A/C systems don’t need any electrical controls at all to operate. The clutch on/off and variable volume pumps are all controlled by pressure in the refrigerant. That module just runs the automatic fan speeds, dual zone temperature settings, etc. But I don’t know how to boot strap it so it just runs like a traditional system.
Your arms must be much longer than mine. There’s no way i can reach over and open the front passenger window without stopping the car and scootching over.
“People who buy things are suckers.” - Ron Swanson
I prefer handcranks, too. My 2002 Toyota has handcrank windows. My 1999 Ford does not. So far the ones on the Ford are still working although the passenger side one is…. a tad reluctant to close at times. I expect one day it will seize up entirely, the only question is if that goes first or something else does.
I swapped my inherited Xbox for the Element, my father had researched both before settling on the XBox. Great little car, my GF has it now, I have her Element, so I do work on both. All the XB and Element forums are SO SO helpful.. People love them. XB has the best off the shelf stereo, and simple dash controls as well. I used to have one of the first Datsun pickups, had a hand crank for the motor, with a slot cut into the front bumper. I had a steep learning curve with that truck.. could always walk alongside it to get it going, then jump in and jumpstart it. I was able to drive it down our sidewalk here at the house. I mean, small truck!!! Tough little guy, drove to Mt Whitney in the summer through the desert etc and all around the so Cal beaches….(a lot easier)
That’s because you don’t have a hugely overpowered stereo in your car.
Those who do need to be able to blast their booming music to their friends at gatherings, when the car is parked and people are outside of it.
My Wifes Subaru Ascent has a CVT transmission. It got weird. You can tell when under constant steady power on flat ground and the RPMs keep going up and down. It was ‘changing’ ‘gears’ for no reason.
She would take it to Subaru (100 miles away) and of course it would not do it. It was totally intermittent. She took it ~ 5 times. They did replace the transmission on about trip 3. But it kept doing it. Once in a while… She took it to them again and it was doing it. She said “don’t dare turn that car off, come with me”. So transmission #2. They could not figure it out, so they threw entire transmissions at the problem. Again.
Seems fine now.
It also has a weird radio problem. Sometimes you have to turn the car off for 5 minutes to get the radio to work. I’ve looked into this. It’s the amp. It’s under the drivers seat. As far as I know, it’s still doing it, but no one will listen to me.
That’s hilarious!
My ‘97 Volvo wagon has over 400,000 miles on it and I love it, but I sometimes forget to train folks on it’s electronic gremlins when they borrow it. My daughter called one night at 1am saying the alarm was going off and lights blinking and she couldn’t get it to stop. Oh shit, sorry, yeah, you must have tried to lock all the doors from the driver door. Just use the key to open the rear hatch and that’ll turn off the alarm. Sorry.
My very experienced mechanic said the cost of tracking down and fixing that was probably far more than the car was worth.
I totally agree! I have a newer version of a Maytag top loader that looks somewhat similar but with more controls, but still basic electro-mechanical. It replaced a fancy and expensive LG front-loader that only lasted about five years and I was glad to get rid of it. The Maytag has been great.
I concur with your opinion of the older models. I will say, though, that the newer but basic Maytag washer I have does use less water than older models and requires HE detergent, but it still uses a robust and simple design approach and has been flawlessly reliable.
A friend bought a combo washer-dryer unit about ten years ago. I think it was Samsung or LG; I don’t recall. It was fancy & pretentious looking with lots of LEDs and LCDs. It displayed a cryptic error code soon after the warranty expired, and the unit would not function. He partially disassembled it and spent many hours trying to diagnose the fault with a DMM, but couldn’t find it. He did some online research and concluded the controller board is the most likely culprit. He bought a new board for $150 and installed it. Error code was still there. He was pissed. He unceremoniously dragged it out of his house and threw it on the curb with a “for free” sign. He then went out and bought an old-school (electro-mechanical controls) washer and dryer.