it's no wonder why people hate new cars

If you want to know why so many people hate new cars so much, just look at the steering wheel.

Yeah, I am middle aged. Yeah, that means I have a bias towards older things because that's what I know best. But when it comes to cars, there's absolutely no question that the older stuff was much easier to deal with.

The example I will show is a 2005 Toyota Tacoma vs. a 2025 Toyota Tacoma.

This is what you see when you sit in an '05 Tacoma:

No buttons on the steering wheel except for one, the horn itself. The only screen is a small orange LED strip in the gauge cluster, which is either for odometer or trip odometer, depending on your preference. The only slightly complicated part of this design is the cruise control, which is a stubby little stalk behind the steering wheel at lower right - but it does have a very plainly labeled "ON/OFF" physical button. As for the other two stalks, the left is for turn signals and lights, and the right for windshield wiper control. All gauges are easy to read. Tachometer on the left, speedometer in the middle, fuel and temperature on the right.

This is a vehicle where you get in, turn the key (a real key, thank you), start the engine, and drive. Other than that stubby stalk you could figure out in 5 seconds, there's nothing else to figure out because it's all simple and easy.

This is what you see when you sit in a '25 Tacoma:

Yikes.

You're presented with a gaggle of buttons on the steering wheel. Forget the giant screen just out of view to the right for a moment.

I'll first start with the only improvement in that the cruise control that used to be a little stubby stalk is now on the right side of the wheel. That's almost okay. Why almost? There's nothing there that states how to turn the cruise control on. Which button does this? You're not told. You're just magically supposed to know.

And things just get worse from there.

Let's look at the left side of the wheel. You could guess the bottom left two are for volume control, but volume of what? Stereo? Phone? Both? Again, you're not told. At bottom right of the left side cluster, an image of someone speaking. What's that for? You're not told.

Of every button on the left, the only one that explains what it is somewhat is the one with a phone image on it. Why somewhat? Well, does that button prompt for a Bluetooth connection to your smartphone? Or does that mean the vehicle itself has phone connectivity all on its own? You're not told. It's just "some phone thing". For all you know, pressing it might place a call you didn't want to happen.

On both the left and right side are arrow buttons. What do they do? Once again, you're not told.

The '25 Tacoma is a vehicle where STUDY is required in order to know everything that it does. You will have to take time out of your life to read the owner's manual just to figure out the STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS.

And as for the infotainment screen, plan on taking more time out of your life just to figure out how THAT crap all works, because you'll need to.

Is the '25 Tacoma a vehicle you can just get in and drive? Technically, yes - as long as you don't do anything else but that. You'll look at that steering wheel see two "MODE" buttons literally on top of each other (there's a "big mode" and a "little mode" button labeled directly above it on the right side of the wheel), and be confused. You'll just have to deal with being confused until you study that manual.

Is this just a Toyota thing? Heh, no, of course not. All the automakers are doing this crap with their new cars.

And don't even get me started with EVs. The modern gas cars are bad enough. EVs are even worse because you're basically driving a phone. And yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

I'm absolutely positive that anybody under 30 would be simply amazed at how easy it is to drive regular (meaning not luxury) cars made 20 years ago, provided the car is in good working order. No dopey screens! Easy controls! Amazing!

For the overinflated prices new cars sell for, they should be simple and easy to drive. They're not.

Published 2025 Jan 9