For me there's no set-and-forget-forever setting. Depending on the weather, how I'm dressed, how many other people in the car, whether there's a smelly diesel truck ahead, etc., that's a setting I need to change all the time.
I guess everyone is different, but what you described absolutely doesn't resonate with me. I never have adjusted my HVAC vents after their initial configuration. Winter, summer, whatever. I always want the air to flow the same way.
Same. That's the beauty of automatic thermostats. They target the temperature you specify automatically. So you specify your favorite temperature once and never interact with them again.