[citation needed]
> Instead, you want buttons on the dash or wheel for commonly used actions,
Yes.
> and you want less common actions on a nice large touch screen that also functions as a good GPS screen.
No, I don't want a whole second set of controls tossed willy nilly into an entirely different physical interface as a second-class afterthought because the designers were too lazy to figure out how to do it properly with physical controls. Consoles like the XB1 and PS4 have been doing fine building gamepad-driven user interfaces with a relatively limited number of physical inputs, no touchscreens required. Yes, including such things as scrollable menus. And given the disappointing nature of bespoke car GPSes (my current one can't even handle my home address!) I'd honestly prefer a proper phone dock replacing that touch screen, and allowing my car's manufacturer to focus on their core competencies, and allowing me a modular choice for handling what the car lacks.
> [...] gives significantly more customization opportunity than pure physical controls allow.
A power which is used for evil far more than it's used for good. "Customizable" and "bespoke and standardsless" are synonymous here. The limitations and constraints of physical controls are a wonderful forcing function that made for more consistent, tactile interfaces, that will inevitably be skipped over for some gauche touchscreen based vomit whenever there's an opportunity to do so.
> [citation needed]
Yeah, citation isn't going to convince me. Touchscreens are still shit. Data can be tortured into submission depending on how and what metrics we look at. To be fully thorough is hard.
So you are not against touch screens, but against poorly designed touch interfaces
Put another way: I dispute the existence of touch interfaces - at least for cars - that aren't poorly designed. I will admit the possibility of the existence of touch interfaces for other things that aren't poor, but I'm becoming ever more skeptical of that over time as well.
You can do this while also having actual physical interfaces. You just have to put actual effort into making a design. Touchscreens are not the end-all-be-all of good design.
I do want a screen for GPS navigation, and for the backup camera, but I don't need it to be touchable at all. I'd rather have fewer features that need customization than add a whole system that allows me to customize those features.
Oddly (perhaps not?), I use this same thought process when shopping for smartphones. One or two physical buttons is not enough, especially with screens being prone to the same failures they were 10 years ago.
Just always thought it was odd to have a physical control for something but then relegate the display for that control to a pop up on the touch screen.
I’d also point out many of the things they asked the driver to do are things you wouldn’t normally be doing once you’re already driving, you’d do then before you started. A much more representative sample of things you’d do while driving would be something like “turn down volume, turn on windshield wipers”.