“Tech” is a conflated term. The way I read OP is that they don’t want their cars main user interface to be a smartphone app. Doesn’t mean the car can’t be technologically advanced.
This kid will start pushing this boundary in like 3 weeks (like every kid pushes every damn boundary all the time) and then OP will have a problem on their hands, when the kid decides that OP is toothless.
A nearby liquor store has 19.2 oz for $3, and there is usually a buy-2-get-$2-back rebate. At 9.5% alcohol that’s basically six drinks. Get smashed for $4
So you see the issue and have a workaround. Good! But that doesn’t mean that, as you said, “it’s not the cables that are the issue.” Why throw them away if they’re not an issue?
I love a nice thick spline shaft in my tight bore