With all the gadgets, bells, and whistles that come on todays vehicles what do you like the best and what do you like the least?

I love my butt warmer! The reason: it warms my cold butt on a cold winter day, and that makes me happy.

I love my keyless starter. I might not if something happens and it breaks down. I don’t know what happens if you are out somewhere and it doesn’t work. So that may be a like and a dislike.

The fact that it turns over when I turn the key is the thing I like most about it.

It was obviously built to last under the most adverse conditions.

It has a basic internal combustion engine with a carburetor.

It has no computer chips and does not require a computer diagnostician to tell me what is wrong with it.

It runs on nearly anything flammable.

I understand what I’m looking at when I look under the hood.

It’s become a convertible due to dry rot. I like convertibles. No need for review video cameras.

It’s a beat up old Jeep CJ5 of a vintage sometime in the mid 70’s.

What services it can’t perform, my mare will.

I love the combination lock in Ford cars.

Heated steering wheel in cold climates is awesome.

My side camera for the blind spot.

Back up camera.

My Volkswagen had a two second hold so you didn’t roll backwards down the hill on start up in first gear. Other cars have it too.

I have a mid-level CRV. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. I have a backup camera. Starting in 2015, backup cameras were standard on all Hondas.

I don’t have a built in GPS. I am happy with my GPS appliance.

I don’t have keyless entry. Times I’ve rented a car, I loved keyless entry.

I have built in bluetooth which I love. I can also control the radio from the steering wheel which is a luxury but it’s also a habit now.

I like that the back seat folds down in case I want to put a lot of stuff in the car, or sleep in the back. I have not slept in the back yet but I like that I can if I wanted to or needed to.

My heated seats. Oh my god, my heated seats. I live for those things. Back up cam is also a nice feature, but I always worry that I’ll become dependent on it and forget how to back out without it.

Remote control locks\

Bluetooth

With all the bells and whistles, the thing that irritates me most in my truck is not a gadget or doodad, it is the way the air vent trim, which someone decided needed to be chrome even though the rest of the dash is grey, reflects in the window right at the side mirror level so I always, at least in daylight, have this slash of silver across whatever I am trying to observe coming up beside me. If it was the vent it could be moved but it is not, it is the trim and it is set up at the perfect angle to reflect into the mirror at all times.

I generally keep my cars for a long time. so I like the things that help make the car start, go, and stop reliably. i also like crash mitigation devices like air bags, low speed energy absorbing bumpers. I question anything else.
I like ABS, greatly improved Electronic control modules, better suspensions, better tire compounds,
I like an entertainment/comfort system that is intuitive, quick and easy to operate. Turn a knob to make the radio louder. Slide a lever to make the air warmer. Turn a knob to make the air flow stronger. Don’t make me take my eyes off the road to make simple, common adjustments.
I like airbags but not cars boasting “Now with 14 air bags!” If a couple of airbags deploy you can exceed the price of car.
I like the LED lights that take less power than the old incandescent or halogen bulbs. But they are incredibly expensive. One tiny fender bender and they cost $750.to replace. Also they blink at ~60 times per second that some people (me) find annoying. I would wait another year for the technology to improve to a point where they only cost $20 and are a standard shape.

I dislike anything complicated and expensive connected to entertainment system. Any piece of consumer electronics we buy today will look, and act, like a fossil in 5 years. An 8 year old dash installed GPS looks like a joke today. You can’t get updates; the black and while LCD display looks ancient. My 2000 Tahoe came with one of the most sophisticated audio system out at the time: a cassette player and a CD player with a 6 disc changer located in the rear of the vehicle. It is ridiculous now.
It also has an integrated cell phone antenna and microphone for analog phones that no longer work today.
One of the big selling features today is “connectivity”. Every car is boasting some new form of “connectivity”. If that stuff worked so well why do we still see so many people holding their phones. Apparently they are not using it either because it doesn’t work or they changed their phones and can’t figure out how to pair it or are too lazy, rendering a very expensive system useless.
I’d better stop now before I start sounding like a curmudgeon.
Now “Get off my lawn!”

I have a 2000 Taurus station wagon.

I like the convertible third-row seating – good for taking big groups of kids out for a day. I like the fact that the second row divides to lay only half-flat in case I have hubby and kid in the car and still need to haul something too long for the regular hatchback. (I can lay the whole thing down, too, if necessary).

I like cruise control (this is my first car where cruise control actually works!)

I like that it has a cassette deck so my old Iron Maiden and Fate’s Warning tapes can be played (I have a cassette converter thing so I can plug in my phone to listen to MP3s or Pandora or whatever.).

I like that it doesn’t have a squillion bells and whistles that talk to me and a bunch of flashing screens to distract me when I’m driving.

Hate to be a buzzkill but all I want is a “System Off Button”.

I have no tolerance for finicky sensors that beep relentlessly, or fancy electronics that flip out for no apparent reason.

Fancy gadgets serve only to ballon the sticker price.

My dad fought getting a car with automatic windows for years. He wanted nothing to do with a system that might fail in the up position in the summer or the down position in the winter and him having no recourse.

Let’s not forget the crash that killed an off-duty police officer that was due to the push button start.
The officer was in a panic situation and was trying to shut off the engine. He kept hitting the button but it would not shut off. Why? Because, for safety, Toyota and others required the button to be pushed and held for a length of time before shutting off the car. They did not want the engine to ever shut off inadvertently if a driver or passenger accidentally brushed against it. .
“The start-stop button was cited as a factor in the crash that killed an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three family members outside San Diego more than three years ago. The investigation found that in a panic situation, a button required a much longer push than intuitively would be expected to turn off the engine. But Toyota officials defended it at the time, saying it was important to make sure that drivers or their passengers didn’t turn off the car inadvertently by brushing against it.”
“Toyota has modified the start-stop buttons in most of its models so that they shut the engine off after three quick pushes, or after being continuously pushed for two seconds. That’s two big changes from the old policy that required a continuous three-second push to shut down the power.”

I’ll stick with a key. Thanks.

@rojo Automatic windows are a slight irrigation to me. Not that they might fail but because they steal a tiny bit of movement and a little effort. I’m not a weak disabled old guy. I can roll the windows up and down very easily without pushing a damn button.

Don’t tell my wife but I hate her Prius (I think it’s an ugly looking car) with the GPS system that never worked right and the dealer can’t fix.

If people would just concentrate on driving their cars safely and lay off all the gizmos then there wouldn’t be so many deaths and injuries on the roads.

I’m now driving a stripped down 2007 Ford Ranger (short cab for that sporty look) pickup with manual windows and no AC. I love it.

Oh yeah, recent comments on this thread reminded me that I have cruise control, but I never use it because it makes me feel like I’m not in control. I also have automatic windows which I take for granted. I also have a car that the doors lock automatically when I’m driving for more then ten seconds, which I love.

Interesting answers thanks, I am looking for a new pickup and getting very discouraged because most come with everything, 19 years ago I bought a Dakota very plain jane but had to factory order it, and over the years have had very little trouble with it.
Today car dealers don’t want to even discuss plain jane, they just want to sell you a full load one off their lot.
Today I can’t even opt for the type of floor covering, just have to accept carpet, you used to be able to get rubber flooring not anymore ,come on for a truck?
Or push button 4 wheel drive, why because reaching down and pulling a lever was way too tiring ?
A friend has a 2015 4X4 and this winter during a bad snow storm the truck failed to go into four wheel drive, because the push button failed , he had to take it to the dealer three times before they finally fixed it, and yet all todays 4×4’s have this, the lever on mine has never failed when I pull it it goes into four wheel drive.
Now almost twenty years later I will go for a few options such as AC,( power windows,Mrs Squeeky wants those)but want the rest plain jane but it seem that is not an option.

A car dealer told me a few years ago that they can’t sell cars that don’t have automatic windows, etc. They can’t even find them around here, he said. He said he’s have to go to a dealer up in Maine or someplace like that. That was over ten years ago. It’s probably even more so now.

A car dealer let it slip that the rental industry can still get plain jane vehicles,I would like to know how to get one of those brand new?
And if the rental industry can still order plain jane vehicles, why can’t the average joe blow?

@SQUEEKY2 but they don’t. When was the last time you saw a plain jane rental car? They are all up to date with the latest innovations.

The Good:

ABS (being able to stop very quickly even on slippery ground is great and prevents accidents – just make sure you don’t brake so fast the person behind you rear-ends you)

Power steering

Good defrost/de-steam and heat and AC

Good radio antenna that doesn’t involve a long fragile metal telescoping rusting thing.

The Bad:

Computer control of driving of car in any way: I hate this and it makes me feel very unsafe, because I program computers and have seen malfunctions, and I don’t want to ever be in a vehicle that is maneuvering based on a malfunctioning computer.

Wi-fi access to vehicle computers: Combined with the above, means a hacker or assassin can remotely cause a car to crash. NO! Horrible, horrible horrible!

Computer tracking of my driving: obviously evil and intrusive. hate hate hate!

Rear-view mirror that changes its reflectivity to match light sensor data, so I don’t need to flip it when bright lights shine from behind. Except it doesn’t work well, and they removed the ability to flip the mirror. Awful awful non-feature that also no doubt cost more for a worse thing.

Headlights that are always on, even in bright sunlight, and can’t be turned off: NO! Does not improve safety. Headlights in drivers’ faces messes with vision. Wastes energy and lightbulbs.

Chirping sound when unlocking car: This should be an OPTION. I mostly don’t want it to chirp when I unlock it.

Voice-activated controls: SO annoying! I end up yelling at them, and hating them. They are slow and annoying and unreliable. They tend to be horribly annoyingly programmed. Give me actual physical controls.

Door locks and starters that don’t even have an actual key & lock: No, I want to be able to physically unlock using a physical key & lock, in case the electronic stuff breaks.

The Ugly:

Computer-controlled headlights: I have this, and the computer broke and flashes high beams randomly. Only repair option is replacement of the $600+ computer. I had my mechanic disconnect the high beams instead. I hate that. I don’t need or want computer-controlled headlights. A wire and switch would work just fine, and if it somehow broke would not cost $600+ to replace, This seems mainly like an excuse to charge more for the car and more for repairs. Awful.

Power windows: Ok, except when it breaks and has to be expensively replaced. Hand cranks can be very easy to use and inexpensive to repair.

Power door locks: Ok, except when it malfunctions and the locks stop working, as has happened to me. Oh look, another reason to buy more parts. Oh look, I can’t refuel my car until I repair the right rear power door locks because they’re all on the same circuit.

Doors that auto-lock after driving a distance: No thanks. Seems like another way to wear out parts so they’ll need to be replaced sooner, especially when opening any non-driver door opens all the locks at once.

Fancy keys that cost $100+ to replace or get copies: Not worth it. I’d rather have a metal key I can replace for $5.

Key that when I try to lock/unlock twice quickly, starts rolling down all the windows, supposedly as some sort of safety feature???: No, all this ever does is accidentally get activated and makes me walk over to the car and close the windows when I was just trying to make sure it was really locked. Often when raining…

Push-button start: no thanks.

Windshield rain sensor: Ok, except it doesn’t work all that well and costs tons more to replace the windshield. Just give me enough different speeds on the manual wiper adjustment.

In-car televisions: No thank you!

Automatic transmission: These strike me as uncontrollable transmissions. I prefer a good European-style manual transmission.

Cruise control: I never use it. Would rather not pay for it.

Butt-warmer: ok.

@SQUEEKY2: The times I’ve rented a car, they are fully loaded with all kinds of special stuff that I’d not be interested in to have in my own car, nor could I probably afford it.

When buying your new vehicle, ask if you can have rubber instead of carpet. You may have to pay extra because it will be custom, but if you want it, you want it.

@jca I can see that in a high end type car, but we are talking work type pickups and the ones I have been exposed to are exactly what type of truck I am looking for.

The dealer said there was a type of rubber flooring called weather teck that they could install over the carpets.

There are weather tek mats you can buy after market (ordered through the dealer). They’re a few hundred dollars and each mat is like a tray, with a high edge on it so the water doesn’t go onto the rug.

http://www.weathertech.com/

@Zaku I agree with your answer , just wish they would offer more plain jane models for those of us that don’t want nor need all the crap that comes on todays vehicles.

I would like a heads up display on the windshield. I understand some vehicles are trying that again.
i think they tried that in the 70’s/80’s but supposedly from what I hear marketing said people didn’t like it. Something about it being distracting.