When infotainment systems first made their appearance in cars many years ago, there were quite a few flops. Yet today, most manage to hold their own quite well. Despite this progress, some brands still struggle to equip their cars with a system that customers genuinely enjoy. So, which infotainment system takes the crown for being the absolute worst?
Again, most systems are at least passable. On top of that, many come available with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity that should come handy to a lot of users. Surely, a few are really terrible though. The one in our lead image, from a Volkswagen, has been widely criticized for its steep learning curve and horrific climate controls.
Maybe though, the worst infotainment system is one that would appear to over-promise and under-deliver. For example, the expansive and crisp screen in the Toyota Crown looks great but it’s not very configurable. In fact, despite its size, you can really only have one function on the screen at a time. The gauge cluster doesn’t offer much more configurability either.
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Worst could also apply to infotainment systems that lock one into a specific ecosystem without objectively better technology on offer instead. Just one instance of that is Tesla which pioneered big excellent touchscreen infotainment systems but doesn’t offer Android or Apple connectivity. It appears that the automaker might be about to open up the ecosystem, but Tesla promises a lot, doesn’t it?
Rivian is also notable for a lack of Android and Apple connectivity but on top of that, it’s not exactly well-regarded when it comes to infotainment. Sure, it has lots of cool features like Gear Guard, but the system itself is reportedly quite buggy.
That evidence might be anecdotal but keep in mind that almost everything is baked into that system. Customers who do experience issues, even if they’re rare, could be locked out of things like the ability to move their climate control vents.
Those are just a few of the options we could think of but what do you believe is the worst infotainment on sale available today? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to vote for your favorites.
