Techosta Where Tech Starts From
Craig Sakowitz could be considered a technologically adept driver. As an e-commerce project manager for the Gap in San Francisco, he often rents cars and relies on hands-free technologies to get work done.
But that’s when he can make them work. When he rented a car recently, he had problems with the Bluetooth system.
“I’m a technology guy, and I couldn’t figure out how to get my phone paired to the car,” he said. “And once I was connected, it seemed like it would randomly decide to either connect or not connect.”
The road to the autonomous future, it seems, is not as smooth as it appears. Problems related to cars’ rapidly advancing technology are now at the top of the list of consumer complaints, according to the 2016 J. D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study.
The biggest issues are balky voice recognition systems and problems with Bluetooth pairing, accounting for 20 percent of all customer complaints. Over all, the discontent drove a 3 percent decline in vehicle dependability in the study.
Mr. Sakowitz adjusts the aftermarket Bluetooth stereo in his VW bus. Balky voice recognition systems and problems with Bluetooth pairing account for 20 percent of all customer complaints in the 2016 J.D. Power survey of auto dependability.CreditJason Henry for The New York Times
“That’s a pretty big shift,” said Renee Stephens, vice president for United States automotive at J. D. Power.
She added that problems like those with Bluetooth suggest that automakers face a challenge as they introduce increasingly sophisticated technologies in cars.
“It begs the question, can this vehicle handle all the interactions that have to happen in order to get me from Point A to Point B without my involvement?” Ms. Stephens said.
Complaints about technology have gone from being fifth most troublesome in the 2014 study, to third last year, to now being first.
The vehicle dependability study, which is closely watched in the industry, measures problems experienced during the last 12 months by the original owners of three-year-old vehicles. In this case, the study covered 2013 models; in that model year, many newer technologies were becoming more common in cars.
Of owners who had a problem with Bluetooth pairing and connectivity, 53 percent said the vehicle did not find or recognize their mobile phone or device. Among those who had a problem with voice recognition, 67 percent said the system did not recognize or misinterpreted verbal commands.
And the problems are not limited to communications. Another J. D. Power study found that owners of cars with blind-spot monitoring had been getting false readings in which the system said it was safe to change lanes when it was not, and the other way around.
If automakers don’t get it right, “consumers will not trust that they can take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road,” Ms. Stephens said.
[“Source-nytimes”]