Whether it’s because you’re the second or third owner of a car acquired in a private sale, or the fault of an inadequately informed salesperson at the dealership, or you just didn’t read the manual, it’s not unusual any of us to be blissfully unaware of features and niceties built into our vehicles.
It’s usually the smaller things that elude detection or go unnoticed, but sometimes important – indeed, crucial – features may be completely unknown to some drivers. In college, a buddy of mine went a full month thinking his Ford LTD (pretty sure it was an LTD) simply did not have high beams. As you have probably already guessed, the car did have brights, but they were activated via a button on the floor, not a stalk control. “What does this even do,” he lamented, stomping the button on the way to lunch. “It’s the high-beam switch, dum-dum,” I replied helpfully. He had never tried the thing at night.
More recently (like, 30 years more recently), my Mom was shocked to discover the CD player in her 2008 RAV4 could actually hold six discs. Six! She was popping out Whitney Houston to put in Dionne Warwick, and I was like, “You know you can put both in there, right? Plus four more?” Sadly, she was doing this from the passenger seat because she no longer drives and missed out on a full decade of not having to swap discs, but at least we had a good laugh on the way to Dollar Tree. And then we got ice cream.
Small conveniences are often far more appreciated than expected when one has suffered long without them. When I showed my wife her rear seats could be folded down via remote latches in cargo area, she was thrilled not to have to open each rear door and walk around the car to flip the seats directly. The little holder-thing on the gas door, so the gas cap doesn’t just dangle against the paint? A revelation. And don’t get me started on how many people have been thrilled to discover there’s an arrow on the fuel gauge that points to the side of the car with the fuel door.
Your turn: What Feature Did You (or someone you know) Not Realize Your Car Had For Way Too Long?
Top graphic image: Toyota
My mother was docked points at a professionally judged car show because the ashtray was dusty. She didn’t smoke, she didn’t know there was an ashtray. To be fair, they are well hidden on the G-Bodies.
Speaking of hidden things, a previous owner had installed a trailer wiring harness on my Oldsmobile. It took me maybe 15 years to find that. It was under the trunk carpet, and I had no reason to look there.
In 2010 I bought a 2007 VW Rabbit. The “CD Player” had an “MP3” label on it, so I thought I would burn a bunch of CDs and go with that. Worst case I would have to use one of those infernal FM modulators.
But then a week later, I was poking around in the glove box and found an AUX jack. I plugged it into my phone, started playing, and then messed with the stereo controls until… viola! Line-level aux input!
The jack looks like an Apple product that was a day two item.
Well, the MP3 label is still referring to CDs; it can play CDs with mp3s written to them as opposed to only playing the standard CD-DA format.
Pretty much, the manual even used the term “burned CD”.
Headlights that work like they should! For decade after decade I’ve driven cars that make screechy warning sounds if I turn off the car and try to exit with the headlight in the “on” position. But I turn them on during the day to light up the taillights, and honor things like “lights on in constructiion zones”. But after owning my GV60 for months, I realized I’d just been leaving the headlights on, and the car would politely and without complaint turn them off for me. Will wonders never cease? Will Ford & GM and other brands discover that they could program their cars to add this convenience?
My 2005 Buick Rainier (as well as a lot of other GM products of the era) have this feature as the default automatic headlight system. As a matter of fact, in order to stop this you must manually change the headlight switch EVERYTIME you start the vehicle!
It a requirement now in Canada to have auto headlights.
My 2017 Subaru Outback has this ‘courtesy’ feature, and the amount of seconds the headlights will stay on after turning the engine off and opening the door has 3 timed settings, I think. I appreciate the extra 30 seconds to help see around the car when leaving it at night.
I’ve had a 21 Outback XT for a couple of years, was on the road yesterday and was going to miss the ALCS game 7. Didn’t know the Sirius channel, didn’t want to stop and find it, didn’t have my phone paired, out of normal radio reception. Out of curiosity and desperation I pressed the talk button on the wheel and asked it to find the Mariners game and to my surprise it did. Now I wish it hadn’t. Go Canada!?
Yeah, I’m surprised that the parking garage is full at Seattle Municipal Tower; I assumed people would be mourning today.
The Blue Jays spring train here in little Dunedin FL. We couldn’t be more pleased.
Honestly, I think for me, the answer will end up being “all the things.”
I don’t think I’ve ever read a car manual, so I’m always finding things I didn’t know the car could do. I just had one a couple weeks ago where I accidentally realized I could change the order of the screens within Mini’s latest in-car OS. Technically, I don’t know how I got into the feature, so it’s going to be a future discovery too.
I hadn’t owned a car for 36 years when I bought my retirement gift to myself (ex-NYC). I read every page like the nerd I can sometimes be. Thankfully a 2015 Fit isn’t that complex.
And this is why I read the owners handbook
If there’s a great feature I want to use it from day 1, not find it by accident 3 years from now *
Although it’s easier when you have physical buttons and can be curious about “what does this button do”, much harder now that so many features are buried 3 levels deep in a menu on a touchscreen and there’s nothing visible to rouse your curiosity
*(It’s also why I watch the annual announcement of the new OS version for my phone / tablet)
Took a couple of days before I realized that my old BRZ had a backup camera. Never had one before, so first thing I did was look behind be when shifting into reverse…
Old Subarus had a secondary point for the hood prop rod so the hood could be opened about 90*. I don’t remember when I discovered it, but it took a while.
On the current car, it took me too long to realize that I could turn off the center display and ACP would still work and could be controlled through the steering wheel buttons.
I know I’m missing some like the first one where it’s a clever detail with some aspect that you don’t necessarily encounter often.
On my w124 MB, there was a lever you could press on the hood hinge that would let the hood go straight up vertically. On my e38 BMW it was a bolt you removed to allow this. It’s called the service position.
When I purchased my Mercedes-Benz pre-owned, I downloaded the owners manual to my iPad and read the thing pretty much cover to cover the night I bought the car.
However there was one thing I never noticed until a few years later:
Since I tend to drive with the roof down almost all the time, I’d occasionally get cold in the winter or hot in the summer – So even with the roof down and side glass up, I turn on the heat or AC as appropriate.
But what it took me years to figure out was that I could close the vents to the rear cabin (located in the back of the armrest – just find the thumbwheel and spin it closed) and I’d get more heated or cooled air up front.
Derp.
A friend had an Acura a while ago that had power memory seats and I think he had the car for just shy of 2 years when I pointed out that every time he or his wife unlock the car the seat moves to the position the other driver would prefer. They both just manually adjusted the seats each time they got in thinking the car only remembered the other one’s preferences and didn’t realize they accidentally swapped keys about a month after buying it.
OMG this one is pure gold.
Hahaha! Love this! My car wash old enough that the memory didn’t kick in until you put the key in the ignition. I used the spare key one day (accidentally locked the regular key/fob under the hood) and found myself with my nose on the windshield.
Going the other direction, i KNOW my Fiesta ST has heated mirrors but they have never worked since i bought it brand new 10 years ago.
Whats worse than that? I worked for Ford Motor Company at the time.
Whats worse than that? i worked on the team designing mirrors, at the company, who’s car i bought, who’s heated mirrors did not work.
Now that i write that out it seems pathetic that i never fixed them. Pretty sure its an ECU configuration thing and i don’t have the tools for that…
You didn’t pay your heated mirror subscription?
No FORscan? I thought that was an automatic purchase for any Ford-owning enthusiast.
Typical Ford employee. Fake it till you make it all the way!
I tend to like cars with panoramic sunroofs, and I tend to like the cover open while driving. The problem is that I will forget to close it while it’s parked, leave it out in the heat, and then return to an oven.
It was only recently that I discovered my Range Rover has a setting that will automatically close the cover upon locking, and open it again when the engine is started.
My wife had a 2011 Forester with a moon roof, and it always annoyed me that the roof didn’t have a vent option, it only slid forward and back.
Eventually the car I was driving was rear-ended and totaled, and I only learned it was totaled and not fixable while I was out of the country (initially told it was an easy repair until the body shop realized the frame was damaged). As I wanted a manual that was less than the replacement value of the totaled car, I got a 2013 Veloster. It also had a moon roof, and it also didn’t vent, it only slid back and forth.
One time I was riding with my brother and complained that even though the control for the moon roof was a little picture with it opened in a vent position, the moon roof didn’t vent. My brother looked at the button, pushed up on it (I’d only ever moved it forward and back), and the moon roof vented lmao.
This article’s lead image has what the button looks like basically – https://hyundaihowtos.com/videos/operating-the-sunroof-hyundai/
I was driving a 90s Toyota as a rental with power locks and windows and was shocked when the key could unlock all or lock all the doors. As as far as features allegedly not enabled stock that I was surprised was already enabled my daughter’s Subaru had the auto hibeams already enabled.
Somewhere around 2 years into the ownership of my Colorado, I hit the turn signal stock just right and it did the 3 blinks thingy. Never owned a vehicle that did that, and I’m so conditioned to either push it past the detent or hold it right up against the detent for multiple blinks that I can’t figure out the timing for the auto blink thingy.
I used a plug in tool to reprogram my wrangler to remove the 3 flash thing. I hated it.
My parents never realised their Skoda has this, until I drove it last year, and remarked on how similar it was to my Polo.
My current herd is best described as featureless, and I prefer it that way, but I will say it took me about three years of Lancia ownership before I bothered to check if the radio worked. It does, I just prefer to listen to the engine.
Italian cars shouldn’t even come with a radio.
I think I technically knew my Bolt has remote start (I mean, there’s a button on the fob, so I knew it did something), but it took me like four years to actually figure out how to use it. What a godsend in the summer to be able to get the AC going at least a little bit before you have to get in and melt!
Oh, I also just learned like a month or two ago that I can leave the fob in my pocket and push the button on the handle to unlock the door. You’d think I would already know this stuff, I read the manual every time I get a new car!
It took me months with my 2015 Genesis sedan that when you initiated a phone call via BT the speed of the HVAC fan would slow down. Once the call ended the fan would return to the previous speed setting.
A Couple here
I had a Saab 93 for years before realizing if you pull the volume knob out slightly it was used to adjust balance front-back.
Another good one, is VW feature to open/close windows in older cars with the key by turning and holding in lock/unlock position…. and now with key fob by holding unlock to lower remotely and annoyingly having to press lock button on door to raise (not intuitively lock button on key fob and not remote).
Also Alfa Spiders have a passenger foot well light that is hard to see but easy to accidently trigger, and if left on, will drain battery – ask me how I know…..
Which led to this ad… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CttdIFVusqg
it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to find the rear windshield defog button on my 3000GT as it was stuck right behind the steering wheel from my seating position…
It also took about 5 years of ownership to figure out how to change the screen brightness on our Gen 9 Civic… Who would have thought of twisting the trip odometer reset button?
Took me a long time, too, on my Mk. 8.5 Golf. Why? Because it’s to the left of the steering wheel, on the same panel as the headlight controls.
See, that makes sense to me, because you’ll usually only need to adjust the illumination at night, when you’ve just put your lights on. (Also, VW have been putting it there since the 1980’s at least)
I’m used to twisting the trip-odo reset button because Toyota has used this for the dash dimmer for decades.
I’ve never had a Toyota-group vehicle, but I’ll never forget the trip-odo reset button possibility going forward!
Given my unhandy proclivities, I’m surprised this one was easy for me.
There was always an irritating noise coming from the passenger side of the cabin. It took me awhile to zero in on it. It was just my wife. We’ve been married so long I sometimes forget she’s there.
Make her drive, problem solved!
I bought a used ’96 ZJ Grand Cherokee Limited from a Toyota dealership. First drive at night, a car came up behind me and the rear view mirrors darkened automatically. Electrochromatic mirrors! I was totally blown away by that.
Okay, it was only a few hours, but it was amazing!
my 95 had that but you could turn it off with the adjustment switch.
I’ve had this “feature” in several cars and they all SUCK. I’d rather have a regular manual one.
I went from a car with auto, back to manual. I didn’t think I would miss it, but I really did and was glad to have it again. “Dim” seemed too dark a lot of the time and I was always flipping it back and forth. Needed an in-between which the auto ones balance out better.
Couldn’t even really use the manual one to reflect high beams back at someone since they were usually in taller vehicles, so it would just be back at their grille…
I drive normal-height cars, so “dark” is never dark enough for me, especially with some cukdozer behind me.
I usually just set the mirror deliberately high, so the light hits my forehead, and I tilt my head back a bit to look through it.
Same on the vehicle height – I went from a midsize sedan with autodim to GTI with manual mirror, so the VW’s more vertical window and the closeness from no trunk probably exacerbated it all for me.
Manual-dimming mirrors are trash.
Flappy-paddle gearshift for the automatic transmission on my namesake vehicle. I’ve owned the vehicle for 5 years and a reader on this site mentioned this fact in the comments a week or so ago.
There’s a button in the trunk of my NC Miata that disables the trunk release button in the dash. It’s nice when you know it’s there, and annoying when you think the dash button stopped working, but really, something in the trunk hit the bottom.
Also, I had forgotten for a few years that my Ram will parallel park itself until I needed to parallel park last week. It will also back itself into normal parking spaces, but in all cases, it has to have vehicles on either side of space. It can’t park if it doesn’t have 2 vehicles as reference for defining the size of the spot. So it’s usually really useless.
So, now my answer is “there’s a button in the trunk of my Miata that disables the in-car trunk release.”
It’s a little bit to the right of the trunk light light. Just a little tiny button that is easily hit by cargo. Most people seem to find it when their trunk release stops working because they hit the button in the trunk by accident. It’s a handy feature though, if you park with the top down and want to secure your trunk contents.
I had my FiST for over a year before I realized the wheel also was telescoping, not just tilt.