Mazda has a better UI than Toyota

We’ve got two cars. A Toyota and a Mazda. We bought the Mazda because at the time the Toyota we wanted was going for a premium. So we paid less than asking for the Mazda. The Toyota is mechanically the better car. They’ve got about the same number of miles on them and the Toyota is still ‘taught’ while the Mazda has loosened up somewhat.

But the Mazda has a better user interface (UI) than the Toyota. Two examples:

The Toyota has no indicator on its radio about what the volume is. The Mazda has an LCD bar that extends from min to max, indicating a midpoint. Its helped me know that while driving on the freeway (lots of wind and road noise), I’ve got the stereo cranked way up. On the Toyota, I don’t have any idea how loud I’m listening to the stereo.

The two companies also designed their keyless entry systems differently. On the Toyota, if you press the lock button on the remote, the car beeps once. If you press the unlock key, it beeps twice. This happens regardless of whether the car was already locked or unlocked.

So if your car was unlocked and you press the lock button, it beeps once. If your car was locked and you press the lock button it beeps once. i.e. you have no way of knowing what the state of the car was before the lock key was pressed. (If a door is ajar and you press lock, the car makes a sound like its being strangled, but that’s another story).

The Mazda changes its behavior depending on the prior state of the doors. If the car was unlocked, it locks the doors then flashes the lights once. If the car was locked, it does nothing. But if you press the lock key a second time, it honks the horn, as if to say (I HEARD you.) Its very reassuring. Press the key twice, and you get no lights flashing, but a HONK, and you know that the car was already locked, you’re just being obsessive.

So, which car would I buy again? Probably the Toyota because of its mechanical soundness. And wish it would have a UI as friendly as the Mazda’s…