Why do steering wheel locks seem so much less popular now? Same with the reflectors. Nothing’s changed about the best way to keep the car cool while you’re not in it but I almost never see them anymore and I’m in Australia of all places. Those things and to a lesser extent the steering wheel locks were everywhere in the 90s.
Because engine immobilisers are a thing, that’s also why car keys are so expensive. The engine won’t start without the correct key so no need to worry about the wheel.
As for reflectors, the people that use them might just opt for ceramic window tints.
The engine won’t start without correct key
Unless of course you drive certain models of Kia and Hyundai
And the older models as well
I drive a 2007 Kia and that thing has no special security features
Shit it doesn’t even have cruise control
Better not give Tom a ride, then. We’ve all seen how he gets when there’s a lack of control…
Really lol. So dumb but good
That’s a frequent description of my jokes 😁
Tinting your windshield is illegal, but I guess you could just use a super clear ceramic film… Except it’s still super expensive and not as effective compared to a simple reflector.
Tinting your windshield is illegal
Actually, in most places there’s a maximum opacity for safety reasons rather than an outright ban. Granted, some jurisdictions set the limit so low that it makes the whole thing pretty much pointless 🤷
I still see reflectors a lot. But I guess they might not be so popular anymore because with today’s ACs you can cool down your car in seconds, while with only ventilation cooling it took way more time.
This seems like the most satisfactory explanation. I totally forgot that not every car had AC when I grew up in the 90s and I’m pretty sure my mum’s old car that she used to lock with a steering wheel lock and try to keep cool with a reflector didn’t have AC now that you mention it.
Many EVs also have ways to either keep the cabin temp for extrended periods of time or precondition the car a few minutes before getting into the car (at the expense of a little energy).
Your steering wheel probably already has a lock built in from the factory, give it a tug without the key and it’ll lock in place, to unlock it you need the key
They did in the 90s too. Even in the 80s and 70s locking steering columns were a thing. I never understood the steering wheel locks.
Deterrent for when someone jams a flathead screwdriver in your ignition and starts the car you still can’t really drive anywhere because you can’t turn. Remember this was before expensive NFC or radio car keys.
In my area the wheel locks have come back a little. Not as ubiquitous as I remember in the 90s, but they are back here and there. The reflectors are quite common in Colorado though. See those constantly.
Man, I remember back when custom stereos were really popular. Almost everyone had some sort of variation of the detachable face stereos in their car.
Also, you forgot to add manually having to lock all the doors.
“Hey man, lock your door”
I still have to tell that to my friends when I drive them somewhere, they keep forgetting that I have such an old car. My girlfriend is the only person who locks her door every time. The moment I saw her doing that for the first time without me having to telling her even tho it was just the second time ever I drove her somewhere, I knew … she is the one.
The real romance story is always in the comments.
Also, you forgot to add manually having to lock all the doors.
All of this is still my reality. I got my first car a year ago for €100. It drives me to work every day. :) Love my baby, he is doing a good job even with no automatic windows, no AC, no remote key and all that stuff. My Custom radio has Bluetooth, what do you want more?
Also, you forgot to add manually having to lock all the doors.
I still do. Bought a heavily used base model piece of shit SUV for $12,000 couple years ago thanks to the shitty economy and its manual everything.
Yeah, back when factory stereos were utter garbage with no CD players, no mp3 support, no Bluetooth, and in my case, not even a fucking cassette player.
Or when you needed them for the preamp outs for the amp and custom speakers in your system
I still do bottom right. Whoever owned my car before me obviously didn’t and the steering wheel cover has melted into the wheel itself.
I am irritated by electric windows. Every time I park and turn off the car someone (often me) has left their window down.
Windshield solar visors will be making a comeback (if they ever even fell out of fashion) with climate change heating things up. I drive a black car with a black leather interior and the thing makes a huge difference when it’s sunny and 80+° F outside
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t cover their windshield when they leave in the summer.
Wait… I was born after the 90s and got my first Car a year ago. It still has a Detachable Radio, No Automatic Windows and also … is the last pic a trick against heat if you have no AC? Because I also have no AC and I always fucking die when I enter my Car after Work when the sun was blasting on it for some time. Are you telling me that I can just place that thing that is normally against ice in Winter in there and my Car stops overheating? I must be misunderstanding. This cant be so easy right?
Wait, your telling me I can just place that thing that normally stops your Car from overheating and it helps against ice in the Winter?
I always thought that’s its only use case
I have never known this was also for ice and now I must try. Thank you!
It’s not. It’s designed to be inside as a sun reflector. People just use them to block ice formation too but they won’t last as long that way. They weren’t designed to be rained/snowed on and frozen…but they aren’t expensive so does it really matter?
I think it stops ice forming by still being inside, by reflecting light and heating up the windshield, but I could be mistaken.
Thats the main usecase lol
It’s a pop out windshield shade, yes. Put it in your windshield when you get out and it’ll block the sun and keep your car cooler. They’re incredibly common, can find a dozen options at any Target, Walmart, etc.
Is this any different to the thing I put outside my Windshield in winter? Or can I just use that?
It’s the same if it has this silvery surface which reflects radiation. Also don’t expect miracles. If you park in the sun, the air inside will still be super hot. The actual advantage is that your dash, steering wheel and seats won’t be lava when you get in the car.
Ah sad… because I looked all around my Workplace. There is not one single parking spot in the shadow… So my car will still be burning… I was exited here for a second.
The other guy isn’t technically wrong. But I know from experience that while your car will be warm on the inside, using the shade will mean the difference between unbearably hot and warm.
Just park so that your car points mostly towards the sun so that the windshield has the most direct sunlight and put up the shade.
The reason it works is because the sun gives off IR radiation (in addition to visible light and UV). Glass traps heat when given by IR. The IR passes through the glass, hits the interior surface, then gets converted to physical heat. Which is then trapped by the physical barrier of the window. The cover reflects most of the IR back into the sky. So the car mostly warms up from heat absorbed by the ambient air temperature, instead of being blasted by direct sunlight.
Exactly right. I just meant that it definitely still will be uncomfortably warm when you get in at first, but overall hear will be lower. So definitely use it!
Preventing the interior from being hit by direct sunlight also has the huge advantage the once you let out the warm air, there are no superheated parts that continue to radiate heat for many more minutes, making the actual ride much more enjoyable as well.
You can use the same Windshield in winter and summer (I did many years). When it is used from outside, it helps even more against the temperature.
It is a bit more fun though, to use one with big eyes to be positioned inside and make your car look like from Cars movie. Example on Pinterest
We have the red version (strangely ours was much cheaper here in Germany than what I just found on Wallmart website) in our little red Toyota and aside from keeping the car cooler it is looking really cute.
I’m also from Germany :) You can see that from the Server I’m on. Tchncs.de
It is a small world in the Fediverse :)
yes you can use that, and to be most effective you also obviously put it outside
Thanks
I hate to break it to you but your car is a piece of shit
It’s not lol It works perfect, it just has no AC or Automatic Windows or anything because this is an old car. Pretty normal for the first car.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Your car would be incredibly easy to work on too which is great for saving money if you’re willing to do the work yourself.
I don’t know anything about cars, but my Brother is a Car Mechanic, so yea. :)
That thing does indeed keep the car cooler.
These are tricks no one tells you anymore today because everyone has AC. I will try this Monday. You guys saved my life.
It helps but it’ll still be hot as crap inside. You just won’t need your oven mitts to grab the wheel.
Top left and bottom right is something I still do.
People still steal those?
No, afaik, but my car’s radio didn’t even support USB/BT, so I swapped it with an aftermarket equipment an it came with removable front anyway.
Those three shits are pretty much needed in my country lol.
Except that I have electric windows.
Afrique du Sud?
The detachable radio ?
Probably, my car has one 🤣
just upgraded my car but i miss my crank windows
Ikr? They give you precision the electric ones can’t match. I wish there was an option to have both simultaneously.
Never have I ever, on any occasion, felt I needed any kind of precise control over any car’s window.
I’m guessing precise control is nice when you need a gap of very specific height in order for the air to make a difference but not be overwhelming.
Yeah I’m either a fully open or fully closed kinda guy.
Lucky you; each to their own.
You can use it while your car is off. And like another said it’s more reliable. But obviously its a minor thing and there’s a reason new cars dont have them. Still miss it tho lol
The electric ones could match it, but the designers choose not to give you a “slow mode” button, or any other number of ways to do it. I’m sure it has been suggested and shoot down by someone deeply concerned with costs and overcomplication.
This. If they made a kind of toggle switch, think like an analog stick on a controller or like the dimmer adjuster that you roll. Something like that would be nice so you could just get that exact spot you want.
Maybe I live around people who prefer old cars, but I feel like crank windows are still used quite a lot.
In addition to the precision some other lemming mentioned, they are more reliable, because a lot of stuff can go wrong in electrical systems and button windows rely on those being in working order (I also imagine that less people would know how to repair the electrics).
My dad used to put a brake pedal lock on his crappy Isuzu Panther. Such a pain to put on and remove. I don’t think anyone would even steal it.
Surely it’s basically exactly the same now still? Take the radio faceplate so it can’t be nicked, lock the wheel, make sure the windows are rolled up and if you live somewhere hot, use a reflector to help keep the heat away.
I haven’t seen a car with an aftermarket stereo in a decade but I’m probably speaking from a place of privilege. I do think they’re far less prevelant now though
Probably, but there was a time when you could easily make your old car feel new just by adding an aftermarket stereo with bluetooth (and mic compatibility) and a USB port and an aux-in port.
My car’s 6-cd changer (which could play MP3 CD’s) broke so I replaced it with one of a new one with all those features and it almost felt brand new. I could connect my phone to it, take calls via bluetooth, change all sorts of settings including balance and equalization, it was actually a revelation.
It was so good that I had my sister get the same thing, because while her radio worked, her CD player did not, and it was also very useful for her as well.
I actually got the idea because of all the features that my mother’s (then new) 2013 Kia Soul had with its bluetooth and mic equipped stereo. Nowadays I think most new cars have a pretty decent entertainment setup with an integrated back up camera, so it’s no longer necessary to get something aftermarket.
That said, there was a time where aftermarket was remarkably better than factory stock.
Backup cameras became required by law in 2016, so that is probably one of the reasons we don’t see a lot of aftermarket stuff now. Plus, there just isn’t a quality gap anymore. Want premium sound, pay $1,000 off top for Harmon Kardon.
I remember installing my alpine cd player and infinity 6x9’s in my 96 lumina. Man what a quality difference!
My new car has Harmon Kardon speakers and a massage function. It’s like a mobile pleasure pod.
I wish I had massage damn! I’d settle for a vehicle that’s not a truck that my thighs touch the seat though. I’m like 6’4” and all legs.
I like VWs because they tend to fit my 6’5" frame. This ID.4 is by far the fanciest thing I’ve ever owned.
I wish I had massage damn! I’d settle for a vehicle that’s not a truck that my thighs touch the seat though. I’m like 6’4” and all legs.
Backup cameras became required by law in 2016
That must be local to you, my 2019 car doesn’t have one and in my (European) country this is not mandatory.
Ope, there I go forgetting the rest of the world exists again. Yeah it’s a US law.
They’re referring to the US
They’re less prevalent because it’s more expensive to do really well now, at least with modern cars. You’ll really only see it in dedicated communities. I can’t say if they rely on faceplate removal as a security measure though. Security measures have gotten much better since then.
Every car in the USA made since 2018 is required to have backup camera from the factory.
So since every car has to have a screen for the camera, auto makers figured they may as well use for the stereo system.
This isn’t entirely true. I have a backup camera and the audio system is still separate. Screens aren’t all those giant dashboard ones. Some are small ones used to display simple data. Not even touchscreen.
I bought a new car earlier this year and I don’t think I could replace the stereo even if I wanted to. It’s built into the dashboard. It’s like a touchscreen control panel that also has the heat settings and everything else in it. I love it and hate it at the same time.
I haven’t been in a car that isn’t a decade old, so this is normal
I’m only like 3 years removed from having a car with an aftermarket stereo. But yes, they do seem to be on the way out.
Amateur, my ignition lock didn’t work and I’d disconnect my battery to shut the car off. I was the only one that knew the magic tricks to crank it back up. I dunno, my key got stuck in the ignition, so I just left it there. Like, who thinks to jam a flat screwdriver into the steering column tilt hinge to crank a car up?
Car thieves?
Nobody could steal that car even if they wanted to, unless they knew the internal mechanical structure of the steering column. When I used the screwdriver method, the screwdriver did not go into the ignition or any other intuitive location you might be thinking of.
The key that was stuck in the ignition wouldn’t turn to the start position, nor would it turn back to the off position to remove it. So it was a combination of connecting the battery then using the screwdriver as a lever in just the right spot in the steering column tilt hinge gap area to start it, and disconnecting the battery to shut it down.
I had never let anyone see exactly how I used the screwdriver on that car. Besides, it was such a rusted out beater, I could have parked it in a back alley in the Bronx and most likely nobody would have wanted to touch it, except maybe to steal the gas out of it LOL!
Northern California is exactly like this. I saw someone with the wheel jack thing just the other day and was like what the hell is that.
They tell visitors here in CA to leave cars unlocked and take your belongings so at least the windows don’t get broken into when the burglars break into your rental vehicle.
Theft is that rampant there?
No, but Republicans want you to think that it is.
There’s a lot of irrational fear mongering around crime in California that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
In the big cities, like other big cities.
Only in San Francisco and LA. My small town neighborhood has most of the cars parked on the street with doors unlocked because nobody steals shit here.
Yeah it is. There was a guy trying to break into the cars when my mother in law came out to visit, then her and my family went to SF for a visit and she had to call the police because there was a guy actively casing cars.
Got our bikes stolen after leaving them out in silicon valley too inside of a very upscale walled off apartment complex. Took me by surprise because we live in a nice area.
I’ve had a lot of different first hand experiences that have made me extremely weary.
I do this anyway, not for anti-theft reasons I just hate shit in my car, and I hate having to unlock it. So I leave the car empty and unlocked
Actually I believe it does from memory. Never gave that a thought. Did cars around in the 90s not commonly do this?
Took off the head and hid it under the seat. Like 90% of the people did in the late 90s early 00s. Lol.
I might be a bit dumb here, but I never got the detachable radio idea/need?
The radio interfaces were not exchangeable between different brands, right? Or was there an universal interface that I am unaware of?
Wouldn’t a bad actor need to dismantle the entire radio head as well, for the interface part to be of any good use?
It wasn’t so much to not steal the interface, it was to not steal the whole unit from the car.
If the front was left attached, a thief would break in and steal the whole radio.
With the front off, it’s basically useless to steal the in car part.
its anti theft because the unit doesnt work without the face and they were married with a code. car radio theft was rampant in the early 90s
Thieves would also steal the entire stereo head unit – so many had an additional anti-theft feature.
If you wanted to remove the head unit you had to enter a code using the front plate buttons before you uninstalled it. If you didn’t it would “brick” itself to discourage theft.
I still use the rotater for door glass
