My wife and I shopped for a car recently. We've always been a one-car family, even when we were working. But that situation is such a rarity these days that it's almost amusing - and a little enervating - to observe, as we did at the Washington DC Car Show and later at individual dealers, how much carmakers seem to believe there will only be one person in the car.
Because passengers (Rodney Dangerfield, where are you?) "don't get no respect." We found, for example, that in terms of seat adjustments and comfort amenities, very few manufacturers offer the passenger the same deal as the driver. Across the board, even in some relatively high-end makes, even in the premium trims, the "shotgun" gets a short stick: 8-way seat adjustment v. 4-way (or even two-way), power seat adjustment v. manual, lumbar support v. none, heated seat v. no heated seat.
The dichotomy varies, but there seems always to be something where the manufacturer cuts a corner or two at the passenger's expense. (Kudos to the one exception we noted -- Volvo.)
Also, we found no brand offering seat "memory" to the passenger, even if it's available for the driver. Since we share a car and the driving, this lack bugged us more than a little. Do they think the passenger seat has no need of memory? Not so. It's eminently practical, for the times when drivers switch off, or the passenger is someone other than the second driver, or when you turn your car over to a car wash.
Remote keyless entry hasn't been thought through for two drivers in one car, either. In most of these systems, if you're the only driver, your master key will automatically adjust to your settings for seat, mirrors, and even heat and music in some cases; but it will be confused if it encounters two keys with different "favorite" settings in the same car. In today's cars, technology has trumped convenience.
Maybe the answer, for us old clunkers, is to go find and drive an old clunker? Like the 1954 Nash Ambassador that was "my" first car, perhaps.
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