[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest]
I don’t turn on the defrost until the engine has been warmed up for a minimum of 5 minutes.
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[/QUOTE]
I have heard reports of motorists cracking their ice-cold windshields when they turned on the defrost: turning on the defrost immediately after starting the car…on low fan…will allow the temperature differential to gradually equalize and thus prevent thermal shock from shattering the glass.
Yup, that’s what I do here, Enipla. I didn’t know the physics behind it, but it just seemed like the logical thing to do - turn on car, turn all defrosters on full blast, hop out of car and scrape/sweep, hop back in car and go. My idea for unfrosted windows is make them slippery so the frost and snow can’t stick in the first place. Teflon glass or something. Course, that would totally throw my routine off, if I could start driving as soon as I started the car.
It’s not just Detroit who don’t know how to make winter cars, Shirley. Japan’s just as bad (probably worse). I’d like to see a Canadian car company making Canadian winter cars, built specifically for our winter conditions (let’s just leave little details like cost and production out of this discussion, shall we? 
)
A car alarm that blasts NOT the outside with noise, but the passenger compartment itself…where the actual car thief is sitting!
[QUOTE=Nanoda]
I want
[ul]
[li]a car that I fit in. I’m 6’6", and of all the cars I checked, precisely 2 fit me. (Hello Chevy Malibu).[/li][li]Fuel efficiency in the +60mpg range. Totally possible.[/li][li]A 1/8" line-in to the stereo, so I can play my mp3 / laptop / whatever sound over my car stereo like I should be able to do now.[/li][/ul]So long as it’s got a good safety rating, you can pretty much do whatever you have to to make this happen, and I’ll buy it anyway.
[/QUOTE]
I have the car for you! It is my 1979 GMC Sierra. Although the gas mileage isn’t quite what you had hoped for (11mpg highway), I jack my laptop to the CD Player I have in it and jam my Arlo Guthrie mp3s all the time! You would have a very comfortable ride…
And as long as you don’t get nailed in the side and blow up, it is pretty dang safe. I never fear that someone won’t yield to my 4,000 pound rolling steel monster.
It even has new windshield wipers. Come get it. I will trade you clean for whatever you are driving… 
[QUOTE=Enola Straight]
A car alarm that blasts NOT the outside with noise, but the passenger compartment itself…where the actual car thief is sitting!
[/QUOTE]
How about a car alarm that alerts you via text message to your phone or email to your computer when Something has Occurred?
I have a Mastercard that does this, confirming that I’ve used it and what the charge was. This has already enabled me to detect a false charge as it occurred, instead of waiting for a bill.
All electric conveniences must have manual backup alternatives for performing the same function.
Especially door locks, moon roofs, windows, and seat adjustments.
*still pissed that they can’t make a car whose power window motors don’t get sluggish or fail completely leaving me to drive in the rain in the winter with a window stuck halfway open *
I want a volume knob. Not buttons. And I want knobs for bass, treble, balance, and fader. I don’t want to navigate menus to change stuff like that. It’s a safety issue as much as anything. I know it’s cheaper to make everything software driven, but I want to be able to operate a radio safely while looking at the road.
[QUOTE=bouv]
All I want is a damn windshield washer fluid holder that can actually hold slightly more than a gallon, so when I buy washer fluid, I don’t have half a jug of it rolling around in my trunk.
[/QUOTE]
Best suggestion EVER.
The carpet in my trunk has been bleached to pure white by all the quarter-full washer fluid bottles that I’ve left back there and proceeded to explode in the heat.
[QUOTE=St_Ides]
Realistically.
An all-wheel drive roadster, with over 300 horsepower… No frills, starting under 25k.
[/QUOTE]
All-wheel-drive is, by definition, a frill.
[QUOTE=Boscibo]
You’ll get my seat heater when you pry it from my cold dead ass! I love my heated seats!
[/QUOTE]
Dead as it may be, with heated seats your ass is supposed to stay warm.
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
All-wheel-drive is, by definition, a frill.
[/QUOTE]
Depends on where you live. There are times I simply couldn’t get in or out with 2WD. Having 4WD or AWD is part of the definition of “reliable transportation” for me.