"and once or maybe twice in 5 years of ownership have I manually adjusted vents."
I'm going to guess you daily drive mostly and don't pickup many groceries then, and probably don't have a wife/kids.
Blasting heat is usefull when e.g. you don't have windows, blasting cold is usefull when you have raw meat in the back and you don't feel like freezing too.
Or, you drive with someone with larger/smaller body mass or metabolism, you want to blast cold air, they want to be warm (adding/removing layers is not always an option).
There are numerous ways auto mode falls apart here, there are probably others I am not thinking of...I do know that when I take cars that have an auto mode in them it can be nice, but I usually get annoyed with them because something (blast of air, heat through the windshield) messes it up and I just want "cool" or "hot" air not to fiddle with bad UIs on dimly lit displays I can't see in the glare from the snow/blue sky to figure out the "right" temp to reconfigure too...
The "dual climate" does work decently well, though we don't actually use it that often. Seat warmers do a better job if you're actually cold (and my wife usually puts hers way higher than mine).
> Blasting heat is usefull when e.g. you don't have windows, blasting cold is usefull when you have raw meat in the back and you don't feel like freezing too.
You can still "blast" heat or cool: by turning the temperature way up or down it goes to "MAX" (I don't recall exactly, but something like below 16 or above 25C) and the fan will also run at full speed.
I'm not sure how manually "blasting cold" to keep raw meat in the back cold also doesn't freeze you in the front, or what that has to do with auto mode, but we typically don't have groceries in the car for more than about 20 minutes and don't worry about it. I know people who have a much longer trip to get groceries and they use a plug-in cooler; that seems like a more sensible option.
> auto mode [...] messes it up and I just want "cool" or "hot" air not to fiddle with bad UIs on dimly lit displays I can't see in the glare from the snow/blue sky to figure out the "right" temp to reconfigure too...
Just not reality, in my experience. Auto mode just works. I've been in other cars where it's bad so I understand where you're coming from. I adjust a couple degrees up or down, usually based on what we're wearing, and that's it -- and no need to use display or touchscreen for this.
On the display: About the only time it's hard to read is if there's direct sunlight coming through a non-tinted window. I usually drive with polarized sunglasses and then it's basically never an issue at all.
> I'm not sure how manually "blasting cold" to keep raw meat in the back cold also doesn't freeze you in the front, or what that has to do with auto mode, but we typically don't have groceries in the car for more than about 20 minutes and don't worry about it. I know people who have a much longer trip to get groceries and they use a plug-in cooler; that seems like a more sensible option.
Ofc you can have a cooler, but that eats up space, and not all grocery trips are planned. Re 20 min - sounds like you are lucky - if you get into a traffic jam you might get stuck.
How it helps - not a universal feature but you can often adjust heat/cool for back/front, I've also seen it where each seat gets their own climate control knobs.
Regarding MAX - that's nice, but that's not auto, which was my point.
And yeah glasses definitely help - I love my transitions for that reason. But display tech matters here - glossy vs matted, and in my experience glossy holds up a bit better under sun while matted holds up better to e.g. night city driving. Backlights are important too - but again to my point this is all overcomplicated and a knob is just easier/cheaper/less prone to breakage.
It's nice you have an auto mode that 'works great' but as you admit there are a fair number of cars where that's just not true. I suspect in part that's because this is a difficult problem, that is partly self mfg. And I don't think most people at dealerships have time to test it to the degree you seem to have (although you didn't mention how it handles in open air, i.e. with sunroof or retractable hood) - a knob is something I can test in 5 min and know it "just works".
I'm going to guess you daily drive mostly and don't pickup many groceries then, and probably don't have a wife/kids.
Blasting heat is usefull when e.g. you don't have windows, blasting cold is usefull when you have raw meat in the back and you don't feel like freezing too.
Or, you drive with someone with larger/smaller body mass or metabolism, you want to blast cold air, they want to be warm (adding/removing layers is not always an option).
There are numerous ways auto mode falls apart here, there are probably others I am not thinking of...I do know that when I take cars that have an auto mode in them it can be nice, but I usually get annoyed with them because something (blast of air, heat through the windshield) messes it up and I just want "cool" or "hot" air not to fiddle with bad UIs on dimly lit displays I can't see in the glare from the snow/blue sky to figure out the "right" temp to reconfigure too...