# Physical buttons/knobs vs touch screens **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197 "2025-05-09T19:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/81 "2025-05-17T13:55:06Z")
That A-H was a significant step up from the SPL class of car. The SPL was more like an MGB. Both 4 cylinder cars. The A-H 3000 was a powerful (by comparison) 6 cylinder car. Really, none of the Brit sports cars were above average in reliability. They all seemed to require a monthly tune-up to keep them running right. When I was racing we could always find where the Brit cars were paddocked when the cars were on track… We just looked for the area with the widest oil stains! ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/82 "2025-05-17T14:29:59Z")
> [@Mustangman](#): > > none of the Brit sports cars were above average in reliability. They all seemed to require a monthly tune-up to keep them running right. But, they probably _did_ start in cold weather if they were properly tuned. The “safety feature” on the SPL-310 was that it was impossible to start the engine if the ambient temp was below ~40 degrees, so it wasn’t likely that someone would drive on icy roads. After a couple of fruitless visits to the dealership, we gave up on them after the dealership owner (tough-talking, with a shiny suit and a broken nose) convinced us that our health would be in danger if we kept coming back to try to have them fix their crappy car. So, on our own dime, we took the supposedly-warrantied car to an indy mechanic, who discovered a weak ignition coil. After that, it was easier to start the engine, but that didn’t help with the incredible water leaks, the ill-fitting convertible top and tonneau cover, or the fact that you had to remove the dual side-draft carbs in order to replace the air filter. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/83 "2025-05-17T14:33:53Z")
From the forties to the eighties most American cars had the high beam switch on the floor. A friend’s Caddy had the radio station seek button on the floor next to the high beam switch. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/84 "2025-05-17T14:35:30Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > After a couple of fruitless visits to the dealership, we gave up on them after the dealership owner (tough-talking, with a shiny suit and a broken nose) convinced us that our health would be in danger if we kept coming back to try to have them fix their ■■■■■■ car. sounds like the “dealership” was a front ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/85 "2025-05-17T14:38:25Z")
I read the article by Aaron , how do I get that time back? ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/86 "2025-05-17T15:24:08Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > sounds like the “dealership” was a front That’s entirely possible. The two brothers who owned that Datsun dealership had run a buy-here/pay-here used car lot for quite a few years. Back in those days, Datsun apparently sold dealership franchises to… anyone who could come up with the cash. They had no service department–aside from one very elderly man who removed the plastic from the seats and washed the cars prior to delivery. We found out–accidentally–that their “service department” was a Gulf gas station a couple of blocks away. The guy who owned the Gulf station had no training from Datsun, did not have any of the specialized tools that were necessary to work on those cars, and apparently had no interest in doing anything properly/thoroughly. Maybe the two Mafioso-type brothers were stiffing him on his fees. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![johnlump\_191311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@johnlump\_191311](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnlump_191311)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/87 "2025-05-17T15:33:27Z")
Hallelujah! ---
**Author:** ![johnlump\_191311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@johnlump\_191311](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnlump_191311)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/88 "2025-05-17T15:37:09Z")
I’m with you Bing. Musk must have never seen snow or worn gloves in his life. Probably doesn’t even know people live there. His screens are NFNG in winter. ---
**Author:** ![johnlump\_191311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@johnlump\_191311](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnlump_191311)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/89 "2025-05-17T15:42:47Z")
Now I understand why NY taxi drivers don’t use voice commands either. Yo takken ta me! ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/90 "2025-05-17T20:28:40Z")
> [@Purebred](#): > > From the forties to the eighties most American cars had the high beam switch on the floor. A friend’s Caddy had the radio station seek button on the floor next to the high beam switch. We had both in our 1964 Series 62 hardtop. I loved that floor seek. > [@db4690](#): > > sounds like the “dealership” was a front I worked for a company for a year and a half that was a mafia front. I was talking to the guys in design engineering while the management was out of the office. I mentioned that their manufacturing skills were absent and had a hard time understanding how they could stay in business. Every one of them told me to quiet down because someone might hear me and report me to the executive management, and they might rough me up. The company owners were of Italian heritage and I told the guys that I was skeptical. Just because they were Italian didn’t mean that they were mafioso. They told me a couple stories about their other business in Northern New Jersey and insisted that the bosses were, well, the bosses. I thought about it a while and decided that my friends were straight with me. They moved to Maryland from the Jersey operation mid had no reason to lie to me. I kept my thoughts to myself after that. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/91 "2025-05-18T13:29:19Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > sounds like the “dealership” was a front There was a Datsun dealership in Syracuse NY years ago and I’m convinced it WAS a connected to organized crime. They lost their dealership license after being caught rolling back speedometers. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/92 "2025-05-18T13:43:23Z")
> [@MikeInNH](#): > > They lost their dealership license after being caught rolling back speedometers. I’m not exactly sure why the Datsun dealership that I mentioned eventually went out of business, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if it was a result of something of a criminal nature. They managed to stay in business even after the vehicle brand was changed to Nissan, but it could actually be that they went belly-up because of their reputation. When customer after customer comes away with negative feelings, they have lost that customer–probably as well as friends, neighbors and relatives of the original customer. The father of a friend bought a new Datsun 1600 sedan (predecessor of the 510?) and–like with my SIL’s SPL-310–it was very badly assembled, and riddled with problems. After being disrespected–again–by the guys who owned the place, he told them, “You should fix that sign out front”. “What’s wrong with the sign?”, asked one of the Mafioso-type brothers. My friend’s father replied, “You left-off the **P** ”. The name of the dealership was _Rick’s_. Somehow, this aggrieved customer escaped without having his kneecaps broken, but–just as with their other customers–he never went back there for service, or for anything else. If it wasn’t something of a criminal nature, then they probably went out of business because of a lack of customers. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/93 "2025-05-19T00:02:17Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > The father of a friend bought a new Datsun 1600 sedan (predecessor of the 510?) A friend had a Datsun 2000 in 1971. ---
**Author:** ![johnlump\_191311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@johnlump\_191311](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnlump_191311)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/94 "2025-05-28T18:00:24Z")
I worked for a company that wanted to be acquired by what I also thought was a mafia front. They never managed to make or sell the “new tech pager” under years of development but always had lots of cash. Note this was after cell phones came in the scene. Who’d want a pager! ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/95 "2025-05-29T01:19:59Z")
> [@johnlump\_191311](#): > > Who’d want a pager! Doctors come to mind… lol ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/96 "2025-05-29T11:07:49Z")
> [@davesmopar](#): > > Doctors come to mind… lol They are the ONLY ones I know of that still use them ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/97 "2025-05-29T12:12:38Z")
People working in secure areas might need alerts to leave and attend to important business that needs attention on the outside. They can’t carry two way devices. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/98 "2025-06-06T16:37:28Z")
**Just in case the younger forum members don’t recall the Datsun 510, here is an ad from 1971.** ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/8/7/8797f425f2e660f043919fd6824a540a56944e9d.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/99 "2025-06-06T16:43:29Z")
I noticed it came standard with tinted windows Typical cars sold in Europe in the early 1970s did NOT have tinted windows, afaik . . . it took several more years before that changed, afaik I was born in 1972, but even I remember from my childhood that the typical visitor to the USA was impressed, and jealous, how well-equipped the american-spec cars were, even the economy cars ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197/100 "2025-06-06T17:27:01Z")
That $1990 would be about $15,600 today. Sounds about right, Nissan could easily make that car today for that price. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197.md?page=4) [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/physical-buttons-knobs-vs-touch-screens/200197.md?page=6)