My current car is old. I had a lot of repairs done on it recently. If I get a new car, I don’t want features. Lane assist, backup camera, DUI Camera, telemetry, auto breaking or other frankly silly features. Call me grumpy, but I find modern cars very distracting.
Can I ask a dealership to disable these at purchase? Is there a car that works best for being private besides just older cars?
I drive very little in a year. No, I can’t ride a bike.
I get not wanting the internal camera and telemetry crap, but not wanting the other stuff puts you in the same group of people that opposed seat belts when they first became mandatory for cars.
Backup cams, lane warnings, blind spot detection, and auto breaking are all incredible advancements that have significantly improved vehicle saftey.
The features I don’t like are things that take total control of the car like auto pilot, lane merging, auto park, or lane correction. It should not fight you trying to avoid something on the road. A little beep to say, “hey you’re leaving the lane” is okay, a little beep to remind you to keep your eyes on the road is theoretically okay (but we all know the massive privacy concerns with that one.)
And to answer your question, yes you can get still cars with less of those features. Often the more advanced automation features are sold as an add-ons package or at higher trim level. Unfortunately, comforts like heated seats or motorized trunks are part of the same package, there is no getting one with out the other.
I feel backup cameras are a gateway drug for cars. I would not turn a car down for having one for example. As other features go, I drive so little that the car doesn’t need to be fancy. It’s a way to get from point a to b.