On a Tesla S, the media controls are not in a predictable place, and the climate controls need a menu for anything other than a temperature change.
Driving a recent Model S.
Selecting the temperature can be done on the wheel, or with a single press on the screen in a predictable spot.
Same with media: play, stop, volume, next, previous.
Other adjustments, yes, those may need a modal interaction. Much like physical dials. I would slightly prefer physical dials, but not something I would need to adjust during drives almost ever, so I don’t see a problem here.
And the media controls are a mess that changes periodically with updates.