Jmai22

Remember in the early 90's where toyota camery's and cressida's, maxima's, and other car had automatic belts that retracted and come down when you close/open the door. well when these first came out i always thought it was going to be standard in all cars within 5 years. all of a sudden it disappeared. i always wondered why.

Another thing that has got me thinking is all this new electrical stuff like engine start buttton, infared keys, parking assistant and all this other good stuff. what do you think will happen in 5-10 years. do you think it will still work perfectly fine? i know 1/2 the cars that my family has own has always had a problem with the electrical window going up or down when the car got older.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

The automatic seat belt primarily disappeared due to safety and liability reasons. You must use the manual lap belt with the auto shoulder belt to be safe. However, many people inlcluding myself I must admit did not use the lap belt. In a bad accident severe injury can occur.

mmarshall

Not really.....although you are close.

The electric shoulder belts, used primarily in the late 1980's-early 90's, which ran back-and-forth along a channel in the upper portion of the front doors, were used by some manufacturers ( Toyota was one ) as a lower-cost alternative to the more expensive air-bag units. Federal law for new cars at that time mandated either air bags or passive seat-belts that required no driver action (though the lap belt still had to be pulled out and bucked manually). Many of the lower-priced vehicles, obviously, used the passive belts instead....air-bag assemblies are expensive due at least partly to the gold plating used to cover the connectors and sensors and shield them from corrosion so they will work for at least the Federally mandated 10 years/ 100,000 miles.
A few vehicles used BOTH air-bags AND the passive belts...but most had one or the other. Air-bag cars usually had the standard 3-point belt system still in use today. Most vehicles that did have air-bags used them only on the driver's side until the early-mid 90's.
By 1995 the automatic door-mounted shoulder-belts pretty much became a thing of the past because the new air-bag rule took effect that year that mandated dual air-bags for ALL new vehicles sold in the American market.....under a certain size and weight truck class.

The automatic belts were convienent in some ways but could be a major PITA if you just opened the door to lookout at something or to get a better view.....the electric motor would force the belt forward around your neck and head where you didn't want it, then back when you closed the door again. Many people just unclipped the motorized shoulder part and didn't use it at all...only the stub holders would run back and forth.

Jmai22

well what about all these electrical problems on older cars like mid 90's where the windows don't roll up anymore or litlle things like that. all these new cars have so much electrical stuff like parking assistant, cruise control, and push start button. its going to be an expensive future in 5 years when all these warranty expire.

Lexusfreak

I personally never buy a car with new technology new to the market (it's too expensive when it just comes out not yet proven........plus it usually arrives on the high end models). Seems to me that some items that come to market is just for technologies sake........Nav systems for example or a system like BMW's 'I-drive'. See if 5 - 10 years down the road if your corner garage can repair something like this? They will come down in price as they trickle down to the less expensive model cars & will be more main stream......but I still like the idea of buying a map for $3 & asking for directions. Stuff like this is not necessary & is not as useful as say, traction control, side air bags & other 'safety related' features.

mmarshall

Well, several responses here. First, the average car buyer keeps a new car around 5 years or so and either sells it or trades it for a new one....so the warranty issue is usually minimal. Second, that trade-in car is inspected at the dealership and usually has things like power windows and door locks repaired before it is re-sold.......ESPECIALLY if it is to be a Certified Used Car, which carries virtually a new-car warranty. Third, even old-fashioned hand-crank windows often need repair or adjustment after a number of years....windows can shift in their channels, cranking mechanisms can bind, water can leak in and corrode or damage window linkage, the crank handles sometimes loosen and fall off, etc.....

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Nav system is definitely good for safety also. How many people look at a map while driving for one thing? Second, how about driving through a bad neighborhood? Want to ask for directions? Not me. Even if it's not a real bad neighborhood, maybe a female for example isn't comfortable getting out of the vehicle. How about driving in foul weather? Rain, ice, snow, etc. Want to stop and ask for directions? Not me. Want to stop at all even to check the map? Not me. How about finding a gas station when you're running real low? A nav system can point you to one.

My GS400 nav system was introduced in 1997 so it's basically an 8 year old system. I still LOVE it and it works perfectly. Newer systems are faster and have more data and features, but nav systems are here to stay and are incredibly useful as well as a safety feature.

Lexusfreak

I don't think your suppose to look at your Nav system while your driving either And of course, common sense has to take over at some point.....that goes for driving in a bad neighborhood, driving in ice & snow. Additionally, I never let my gas level get so low that all of a sudden I need to find a gas station in the next couple of miles or I'm in trouble.

What is the average replacement cost of a Nav system let's say on a 97 GS should it fail & is no longer under warranty? Just courious.