overall, it’s a good idea… but doesn’t this just add another level of user and repair complexity?

yes, but it will remove alot of problems. Such as people complaining about cheap buttons, parts falling off, bad plastics and so on and so forth…

This is going to be a nightmare when it comes to repairs and that bill that comes after the repairs are done.

Sounds like this will be pretty slick. I agree the repairs could be much higher in the event of failure. If they use a reliable ‘head unit’ it would be a sweet deal. If it is standard on all cars then if it goes out it should be easy to find a replacement unit.

Great. Now stupid blond girls driving VWs that daddy bought for them can text on their cellphones with their left hands and filter thru 280 touchscreen submenus with their right hands while keeping an eye on the road.

Thanks VW for making my insurance rates go up to pay for this crap, you teutonic idiots.

This is something I thought I would see in a Volvo first with their recent innovations on the “thin” dash design. I wonder what the cost benefit looks like. I imagine one costly componant is cheaper to assemble and produce than dozens of components especially if they delete a CD player and go with a MP3/Ipod input device.

cookie4me – I agree with you: I would have expected this innovation coming from Volvo first with their thin center console. The problem with touch screen is that it takes your attention off the road for too long. And with so many functions in one single interface, I can’t imagine it being as straight forward and intuitive as buttons and knobs. Anyway, as long as they can make this system very simple and intuitive, it might be a good idea. It might attract new customers to the brand. I’m curious to see how reliable these touch screens will turn out to be though.

I don’t understand how this will realistically aid in VW’s US domination plans. By making their already over-priced vehicles potentially more expensive with a feature that consumers don’t seem to need. It’s a non-value added feature and VW’s efforts seem to be misguided. Those efforts could be better applied to value-added items like improving vehicle dependability.

Right on Ricardo. And don’t forget about the rest of us in our declining years who while taking our eyes off the road while fumbling for our reading glasses just read the bloody screen, will also be taking our eyes off the road just to switch from heat to defrost. Yeah, way better than a quality set of switchgear that you know by heart by the time you get it home from the dealers lot.
What’s the old adage: “just because you can do a thing, does not mean you must do a thing”

make it voice activated and i will be impressed, otherwise its just another liability as everybody above mentioned.

Famililarize yourself with the kick-assness of Volkswagens new RNS510 navaigation headunit supplied by Siemens VDO. Be sure to see the second page for on screen DVD images.
http://www.lutschi.biz/album/RNS510/

Guys, have anyone experienced iDrive? This is brilliant compare to iDrive. The only disadvantage is that with iDrive blinde would not be able to move car forth, the screen will give ability to get to the next tree or telephone pole. That is if damn thing will start (either engine or screen). In any event, it will will enhance income of tow truck operators.

I can’t see how jayjc08 comments on bad plastics or cheap buttons on the interior of VW’s. VW’S and the VW and VAG probably have the best interiors of any automaket. AUDI still sets the standard for interior quality

How reliable are these touch screen devices going to be 10-15 years from now? A car has to deal with so many temperature extremes that it makes me wonder how long the touch screen device will work problem free. I don’t like the idea of all the cars features and controls being dependant on a single unit. I’m sure when it comes time to replace the unit it will be very expensive.

More accurate headline: “VW to equip all vehicles with more stuff to break outside of warranty”

planet_drive when did you see 10 year old VW? I’ve seen few in Arizona and CA, but much much older specimen. For the last 20 years product obsolescence was build in to function in 3-4 years, but unfortunately for VW it starts much, much earlier. It does not matter for VW how long touch screen will last.

I’m with autonut. Touchscreens are the lesser of any of the other evils. iDrive is ridiculous, even the more intuitive interfaces from Audi, Mercedes, Infiniti, Acura, etc. involve lots of scrolling and button punching. The interface systems are ALL distracting, but the touchscreen takes the least amount of time.

As far as longevity, I imagine that the touchscreen should hold up much longer than the life of the car, and probably even in the used car markets. As long as there are secondary controls for HVAC and radio, the touchscreens don’t get that much abuse–it’s not like you’re punching them all day long, everyday you’re driving.

Who complains about cheap buttons on a VW? you must have that mixed up with GM.

As long as they give us analog controls for things like the A/C and audio system, they’ll get no complaints from me.

I think its a great idea. I just don’t trust VW tech too much

As an owner of an iPod Touch i’ll say one thing – the lack of tactile buttons on an interface you’re not supposed to be looking at while your driving causes some issues… It’s a crap-shoot when i want to forward to another song when I drive… I cant imagine having to adjust temperature/control radio/etc on one screen while driving.

Exactly, carjackd. Look at computer keyboards, or desktop calculators — they all have some kind of ridge or bump on the “home” keys, and the layout is standardized so that from there you know where the others are located. And how much more dangerous it is to take your eyes off the road in your car than off of a piece of paper on your desk. Carmakers should be trying to move closer to this ideal, not further away from it.

Anybody complaining about the lack of tactile input buttons has obviously never use an acessory navigation unit. I used to complain the same way…needing hard fixed buttons for everything, but once I got a Garmin box, I found out touchscreen is the way to go.

let me get this staight, your complaining about something you’ve never seen let alone used. If it’s that bad stop the car in a safe place and make changes to the screen. Nothing could be so important that it couldn’t wait untill you stop the car, or better yet dont buy it. Progress happens people.

Sound more like something the Japanese would do.

But the concept is sound. Screens that can be adjusted to taste or function. But the touch screens need to react as quickly as firmly pushing a button. sitting with your finger on the icon for half a second to change the radio channel is a dangerous and a pain in the butt.

But repairing them could be fairly easy. Just swap modules. This assumes that the VW or any maker uses the same screens in more than one model line and for more than few years. It sucks when you have to get a new part for that exact year, and model, AND trim level. Tis could cut back on parts but could be a bigger pain in the butt.

My first car was a 1986 Olds Tornado. The instrument cluster was digital and it went dead. It cost about $650. While I love Digital dashes for their clarity and just looking futuristic, I would want some thought put into the repair or replacement of these things. Like someone said it is something else that will break outside of warranty and will likely cost an arm, a leg, and a few fingers to fix or replace.

Still workin’ on that iCar with Apple?

More things to break outside of warranty brings bad resale. But if you are driving a VW, you’d probably have better things to worry like the mechanical aspect of the car given how unreliable their cars are nowadays.

And don’t you worry about pushing the touchscreen too much. You won’t have the chance as the car will probably sit in the shop more than you sitting in the driver’s seat.

I hate scolling through pages for a lot of basic “Do it Now” commands.

Put 80% on the screen and 20% in buttons.

But about that VW quality……big ugly repair bills.

I don’t think this is such a big deal. For $1000 you can go to Bestbuy and get a JVC headunit that’ll do everything but suck your **** while you’re driving. How hard can it be to modify one to run the AC as well?

Deanster, for a thousand bucks I expect a head unit to give head.

The beauty of the GPS systems Garmin and TomTom is that they sit in your view of trafiic (which for all intents and purposes is also illegal) so you dont have to take your view away from traffic entirely.

JGUTS… 99.9% of the population wont pull over to change the temp in their car (at least here in NJ/NY anyway). Also, technology for technology’s sake is ridiculous when something works (and has) for years. I understand the want to eliminate the possibility of mechanical failure, but the mechanics of the controls makes it easy to use.

Kind of funny that VW is catching up with GM’s 1980’s technology. That’s right – the first application of a color touch screen interface for HVAC, radio, and trip computer function was a 1988 Buick Riviera. We rented one of these cars so I got to play with the touch screen system. It was a CRT based system (LCD’s weren’t really around then at any reasonable cost), but it was a really neat system. I remember the auto rags critizing it as “confusing” and “gimmicky”, but I thought it was great and wasn’t confusing at all. I’ll bet these same auto rags 20 years later will now praise the VW touchscreen system. Just like they love the digital dash in the new Honda Civic, but in 1984 they hated digital dashes and talking cars.

What is old is new again I guess. Welcome to the 1980’s, VW.

VW and electronics? Sounds like a nightmare.

Anyone remember the mid-80’s Corvette Video Game Dash ??

Yes. It was cool. But do you recall the Vector W8 dash. It was a screen system not unlike those used in fighter planes then and now.

The C4 Corvette had/has fixed digital readouts, not entirely unlike a pocket calculator. Digital numeric readouts and LED tachometer to name the obvious ones.

Today, that wold be done with a single screen that could be altered to meet need or preference. Digital readouts replaced with simulated gauges, if desired. I know. but the analog gauges in cars these days are simulated anyway. They aren’t hard connected to anything anymore, so swapping gauges for something not unlike Star Trek is not that hard.