How about retained accessory power (everything still works with key off until you open the door) I like this.
Options I’d pay more for:
- Stereo. Rock on!
- A/C, for obvious reasons.
- Premium seats (both in terms of support and leather clad). Since you drive “by the seat of your pants,” a good, supportive seat is almost a performance upgrade. Also, a supportive seat means less pain and distraction from the task at hand.
- Intermittant wipers/rear defrost (assuming these can still be called “options.”)
Ones that I wouldn’t pay more for:
- Electrically powered anything. More weight, more expense, greater tendency to fail in use, and more expensive to fix when they do. (I actually would pay slightly more for a car without such features.)
- Power steering. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I’ve driven a number of vehciles without it, and you don’t even notice its absence above 5mph. Parallel parking is somewhat more work, but hardly objectionable. (Plus, over-assisted steering just feels wrong).
- Climate control! I noticed several posts extolling its virtues, but they are forever lost on me. First, I can’t “set-n-forget,” because I don’t always want 70F. (When the sun’s shining, I’ll want it cooler than when it sets, if I’m all bundled up vs. underdressed, etc.) Plus, if I’m in an “old-school” car, and I decide “tepid” air blowing on my arm is too cool, and I want it “warm” (but not quite “hot,”) I can just twist the mixer knob 'till the air coming out feels “just right,” as Goldilocks would say. Getting the same temp. output air in a HVAC car is a maddening bracketing of the desired setting.
- Heated seats. Not only is this “decadent,” it’s only useful when it’s VERY COLD. Any other time, it makes me feel uncomfortably like I’d peed my pants!
I cannot stand POWER SEATS!!! We have 4 drivers and 3 cars and getting the seat back into one’s favorite position is a hassle.
I Like
a/c
p/w
traction control------my Taurus seems as if it has 4wd at times with this. It’s great
good radio/good speakers
sunroof----but i would never pay for it on a new car
etc
etc
Yep, sorry. It was an Imperial . . biggest car I ever owned. I learned a lot about cars with that baby . . . good thing that gas was cheap in those days! Rocketman
I like power steering/brakes, A/C, nice stereos, Message Center/trip computer, and cruise control.
Electric windows, mirrors, power antennas, rear window defoggers, fall into the lukewarm category.
Heated/cooled cup holders, run flat tires, rain sensing wipers, and a box full of wiring/relays/sensors to operate a heating/cooling system fall into the overpriced garbage category.
backup-distance beepers? On a truck, or a bus, maybe, but on a car? oy!
I had them on a locally produced car in Malaysia, a Proton Wira (based on a Mitsubishi Lancer). The device beeps slowly initially while you are backing up and then faster until you are 2 feet away from the wall or solid object, then it buzzes continuously! There is no flashing light on the roof like on a commercial vehicle, and the beeps are only heard INSIDE the car.
Malaysians are very short people, and not the greatest drivers; hence the popularity of the device! In the US you can get it for about $200 installed. You can now buy backup cameras as well, but the lenses constantly get dirty, and the reports on them are that they are troublesome.
Very handy for backing up into tight spaces.
While I was living in India, I noticed that almost every car had an aftermarket backup beeper added. Most of them did not beep, but played music.
The one I had worked only when the car was in reverse!
No, they were actually an add on that played music when the vehicle was put into reverse.
Think of replacing a truck’s reverse beeps with the solo from Free Bird!
The one accessory I seriously missed on my 1960 VW bug was a fuel gauge. One of life’s more interesting experiences was driving in the fast lane at 70 plus with a big rig bearing down, and shazam! the maint tank has run out! Getting my right foot on the reserve tank switch at those moments and waiting for the engine to catch added a few premature gray hairs. Usually i’d anticipate but sometimes forgot.
Thats why power memory seats and mirrors are the ‘best’ option for a car driven by 2 people. Depending on which FOB is used to enter the car, the seats and mirrors adjust to the driver before they even sit down. I wish they would make that option available for more lower end cars.
I agree an audio backup warning device should be another ‘standard’ item on every car sold. If that was the case, they wouldn’t be $200 aftermarket but more like $75 extra in a car’s price. I never heard one that played music.
On the same note, I do not think a backup camera is necesary, it is just overkill for a very useful safety feature.
I’d like to think the heated front windshield of the Sport Trac would be a nice feature to have during the winter months here in Ohio.
The one feature on most new cars that I think most would agree we could live without is blind spots. In the Chevelle I owned, I had very little I could NOT see when looking around. Now, A, B and C pillars block quite a bit of one’s line of sight. The smaller rear and larger front windows make it difficult to judge how far away you are from someone’s bumper
Resetable trip odometers are my favorite, it makes it real easy to keep track of my gas mileage.
Factory gun racks would be nice also.
Agree; the only use I can see for a backup camera is when you are trying to hook up your trailer. The audio backup signal would prevent numerous injuries and deaths of careless parents backing up over their small children.
Taking a very rough summary of responses so far, it appears that most posters like the accessories that make everyday driving, especially urban, less of a chore. In that category I would put:
- Cruise control
- Windshield wipers with variable speed and washers
- Multi-position adjustable seats, not necessarily with power adjust
- Rear window defrosters
- Resettable trip meter
- Air conditioning, not necessarily climate control
- Backup beeper to facilitate parking
- Tilt steering wheel
- Better windhield defrosters
- Easily adjusted rear view mirrors.
No one has said they really need a sliding roof, some want traction control (others not), few mention ABS (anti-lock brakes), and most want to be in control of the car, not let the car control itself.
I would conclude from these responses that many options are oversold, and most drivers would not miss themn if they were not available.
In most new cars, especially wagons and SUVs, blind spots come standard.
Why do they need to have the back windows pinch out? Toyota and Dodge are some of the worst. Look at the FJ Cruiser, Matrix, Magnum, and Caliber.
A trailer hitch on the front bumper makes backing a boat trailer down a long launching ramp a snap. No jack knifing and you have at least 10X the control of the trailer’s direction not to mention you can see exactly where it’s going without having to twist you head around like in the Exorcist movie.
Yes, I’ve seen those; many boat dealers have picup truck with hitches on both front and rear.