My wife recently fulfilled her long-time dream of owning a “gold Lexus.” What model did she want? She couldn’t tell you, nor did it matter. Any gold-ish, crossover-shaped Lexus would do, and in her case, twas a 2023 NX250 that fulfilled her dream. The little 250 is hardly the most feature-laden Lexus model, but as she was coming from a 2015 RAV4, it was absolutely loaded by comparison, and she loooves it. Mostly.
There are two features she does not like, and I mean really does not like: the lane departure system, and the stop-start system. Frankly, I don’t like them either. Make no mistake, I’m not against these features, but as executed in the NX 250, I (and my wife) would much rather do without them. In the case of the stop-start system, we do do without it; it’s now a muscle-memory thing to press the on/off button for the feature right after engaging Drive. I’d leave it on if the system stopped and restarted the engine more subtly, but I can feel the restart to a sufficient degree that it’s annoying, and it takes a beat longer than I’d like to restart.
As for the lane departure system, I keep that one on, as it is useful and a nice bit of added safety just in case, though it’s never engaged for me in the way it’s intended, as I’m a good enough driver to stay in my lane. Where it does engage, frustratingly, is whenever I intentionally move right to enter the turning lane at the 4-way intersection that I navigate on virtually every drive. Every time, the NX fights me and tugs the wheel left. I’m like, “I know what I’m doing, let me steer!” I suppose I could avoid this by swerving into the lane like a maniac, but that seems worse.
So I could happily do without those two new-car features. What’s on your list?
Top graphic image: Lexus
Touchscreens.
I despise lane departure systems that make you fight for the wheel.
I’ve never encountered automatic wipers or automatic lights that worked to my satisfaction, but both are easy enough to avoid. Same with start-stop.
I can’t remember the last time I used AM or FM radio; terrestrial stations in this area are mostly garbage.
Automatic wipers were nice when on a road trip when the weather kept varying from dry to rain to drizzle within minutes. But I would leave them Off when it wasn’t raining because they would be fooled by the flickering from driving under trees in bright sunlight.
I can’t provide a full list because I have no idea what they’re putting on cars these days. My point of reference for everything is an ex-rental base model 2017 Veloster.
Off the top of my head…
You know what I want more than a power liftgate? I want some kind of basic mechanical latch/locking system that holds my hatch open. On my sloped driveway, the gas pistons don’t hold it up on their own. That’s the kind of feature I want.
I should add, I’m not in agreement about every technology people have mentioned here. I like my electric windows just fine, I like having traction/stability control, I definitely like cruise control.
I’m not an advocate for “dumbphones”. I just want a smartphone that’s actually cool, well-designed, respects my privacy, lets me run my own software, etc.
I like having a smartwatch. Just a PebbleOS one. You couldn’t pay me to wear a WearOS/WatchOS watch.
Yeah ppl like to start by saying “I just want 4 wheels and somewhere to sit!” or whatever. But then you ask them about air conditioning. Or power mirrors and locks. And eventually most ppl will concede “actually, that power liftgate is really handy.” the old saying that what start as luxuries eventually become necessities.
Many things considered necessities now were once considered luxuries, but I think it’s wrong to say that as a rule in the other direction. There were a lot of stupid luxuries throughout human history that were rightly forgotten.
I can do without:
-heated seats (I don’t need my ass warmed up. It’s my feet and hands that get cold in the winter)
-tire pressure monitoring
-Stability control (I know how to drive and handle a car).
-rain sensing wipers (actually hate this feature on my c-max because it works so inconsistently… plan on disabling it soon)
-power liftgate (another feature I dislike on my c-Max)
-built in navigation (just give me a good built in cell phone holder instead)
-wireless chargers (most of them are inefficient crap… just make the phone hot while charging very slowly)
-power seats
-glass roofs/sunroofs/moonroofs (adds no meaningful functionality. Completely unnecessary in a daily driver).
-Leather/Leatherette seats (I would rather have cloth)
-powered/automatic parking brake (just given me a regular cable-operated handbrake).
-run-flat tires (They suck… give me normal tires and a proper spare tire)
-automatic high beams (these systems are supposed to turn off the high beams automatically when there is oncoming traffic. But in my first hand observation, these systems don’t fucking work).
-keyless ignition (I’m fine with using a key).
-active noise control (works fine when you have the windows rolled up, but gives odd sound results when driving on the highway with the windows down).
-Dual or multi-zone HVAC which has the effect of the cabin air filter being located in a very difficult to reach location.
-Any self-driving system that is not legally good enough to drive the car while I legally take a nap in the back seat.
-puddle lights
-Satellite radio. Don’t need it. Don’t want it. And I DEFINITELY am not subscribing for it. Just give me a good stereo with great sound, FM AND AM, bluetooth phone connectivity and USB ports for phone charging and so I can plug in a USB stick with my music.
-Stupidly oversized wheels with tires with an insufficient amount of sidewall.
-Anything “AI” related. I’m barely interested in having AI on my laptop or home computer. I don’t fucking want it in my car.
Re: HVAC and cabin filter – that might just be Ford engineering if it’s that way on the C-Max, based on a quick search on that replacement.
I’d almost guess it’s a Euro thing because the Saturn Astra was the same way, but Mk7/Mk8 Golf are as simple as Hondas or Kias with dual-zone climate that I’ve experienced: lower glovebox, pop a panel, while 2nd-gen Nissan Rogue was the annoying get-all-up-in-the-footwell placement.
All I know is when I replaced the cabin filter, sliding the new filter in nicely and evenly was nearly impossible.
And I don’t remember my old Focus being difficult like that… and the C-max is on the Focus/Escape platform.
But my old Focus didn’t have dual zone HVAC.
Maybe dual zone isn’t the reason for the stupid cabin filter location and it’s just bad kludge-like engineering on Ford’s part.
I think it is a silly engineering thing. Focus offered dual-zone too, so I doubt they shuffled it all around for the different HVACs. It’s almost like, when they stretched it taller the filter location fell down.
I have endured that type of filter location on the Astra & Rogue as mentioned and they were similarly hard to slide. It’d be one thing if it’s just hard to get to, but why does it feel like it’s fighting the new filter?!
Modern things I avoid
Modern things I appreciate and will pay extra for
Anything invented since 2006 I can happily live without. I know this because that’s the age of the most modern car I have driven (and which I currently own), and I’m quite happy.
Mind you, even my 2006 Polo has features I don’t use or want, like parking sensors and electric windows.
The top of my list is giant wheels and ridiculously low profile tires that barely last 30,000 miles before needing an expensive replacement. Even though I drive over 25,000 miles per year I couldn’t care less about any kind or cruise control. Whether it is regular, adaptive or self driving I never use it and wouldn’t pay a dollar extra for any of them.
If you use your turn signal the car won’t try to nudge you back into your lane. Use your turn signal.
If you’re an old man and you came to the internet to complain about how much better thing were “back in my day,” finally here’s your chance!
I remember talking about cars with my late grandfather about decade ago when he was in his mid 80’s, he said they sure don’t build cars like they used to – they used to build them like shit!
He went on to say you couldn’t get a 100K miles out of a car, if it didn’t rot out first the engine would need a rebuild well before then.
I remember living with some of that old junk, and it’s all very true.
Touchscreen controls for anything important. No HVAC, no cruise control, traction control or anything like that. I prefer buttons, and frankly I prefer buttons that go all the way to a relay to turn on a feature, rather than a button that tells a computer to do it. I’m a bit backwards, but on my preferred ride I can actually fix stuff without a laptop.
I’m getting to where Radar Cruise Control isn’t worth the pain. I’ve driven several systems and all of them apply the brake to harshly and release it too quickly when trying to maintain the set distance. Even as the driver that can easily see what’s ahead on the road it annoys me. For those that are prone to motion sickness in 2nd and 3rd rows it’s a quick road to puke-town. None of them can feather throttle/brake the way a human driver can and save their passengers from losing their most recent road snack. These have been out for 15 years now, do better!
My new Ram came with it; I was excited about it till I actually tried it. The first time I tried it, it aggressively braked within 30 seconds of turning it on.
Forget that, I’d rather pay attention and manually click down the speed 1mph at a time.
Despite the shortcoming of the system turning off every time it’s exposed to direct sunlight, my i3 excels in these situations. I once challenged my kids to tell me when they could feel the car start to slow down. They could not. My only note would be I wish it would accelerate quicker once the coast was clear (cruise control pun intended), but I get why an OEM would stay conservative.
I have actually found the Radar Cruise control on my Hyundai EV the single best feature since upgrading from my manual 90’s Honda.
I suspect the difference may be that an EV simply adds a recuperating force without ever needing to touch the real brakes.
It works well on the highway and makes the daily bumper-to-bumper constant stop-start peak hour traffic actually tolerable. It does however feel like I’m more of a system overseer than an actual driver, but I prefer the idea of that over the current FSD BS.
All that stupid safety shit they forced on the UK market sounds pretty bad.
I drive a 2018 Civic LX 6MT. No safety features except for a back up camera. Love the car. The infotainment hardware sucks but learned to live with it. 200,000 kms (125,00 miles) and the car is continues to be fun to drive.
Most of them.
But in particular:
Unfortunately, it seems inpossible to have ‘classic comfort’ in a new car without these things.
Ah, you want good sorted suspension? Here is a door to door touch screen that is impossible to turn off.
Want a quiet interior? Whell, the 2026 version changes color at the push of a button.
I’m currently renting a BMW 2 Series (American sedan version of the 1-series, with embarrassing ///M logo puddle lamps) and the interior mood lighting is…just terrible. The dashboard lighting turns white, red, or blue depending on what you are doing, which is distracting enough. But, even worse is how it creates huge reflections in the side glass, right where you would look in the mirrors.
You can turn the intensity down by menu diving, but it’s a frankly insane feature to have on by default. It’s dangerous and it looks cheap.
Although no-one else seem to see it but me, you can’t turn the intensity down because it then starts the high frequency distracting flashing!
The softer the light the worse it gets. It needs to be full brightness or off.
Interesting, I haven’t noticed that at all. I was able to dim the lighting enough where I don’t notice it anymore (though it took a while to figure out where the controls were in the UI)
The hundreds of pounds of extra weight, I’ll do fine with something around 2000.
People go on and on at me about how un-crash-resistant my ’87 truck is. I point out that it only weighs 2700 pounds. They don’t listen.
Camera’s which can see the speed limit signs, then complain when I’m 1kph over the limit…
and also not understanding that the school’s reduced speed zone not relevant at 2AM
AI anything, Microsoft Teams (thanks Mercedes Benz)., touchscreen climate controls, gunslit windows, and most electronic nannies. I’ve never needed lane departure or blind spot warnings and when I drove a Camaro in 2012, I swear an Abrams tank had better visibility.
I (not intentionally) got a Camaro as a rental out of LAX in about that time frame, and you’re not wrong. That was the car with the worst visibility I have ever driven. I was so happy when our company went from Avis to National and I could choose which vehicle I was going to spend the next 4-5 days making my way around wherever.
That Camaro was as close as I ever got to having claustrophobia.
My (ex) wife’s ’15 BMW X5 had both “features” you mentioned. The stop/start wasn’t subtle, but it was quick. (Probably not easy to instantaneously crank a big inline six into action.) And the lane departure alert was just a subtle vibration of the steering wheel. I didn’t mind either.
I had to ferry a neighbor’s Cadillac a couple of times, and the vibration of its seat when it was thinking you were getting too close to lane markings was so strong I thought a wasp had crawled inside my shorts. I suppose if I drove it daily, I would get used to it. But I thought it was an awful implementation.
The start/stop on the ’18 MDX we replaced the BMW with was a little slow and I learned to anticipate the change of lights by keeping an eye on the other signals around me. Which wasn’t bad as it made you keep an eye outside of the cabin in case someone was going to blow a red light. Which did happen a couple of times. It’s been a few years, so I don’t remember what the lane departure warning was. And its adaptive cruise control was far more abrupt than I was when controlling the speed.
A “feature” on my ’17 Accord that I wish was better implemented are the voice control and phone buttons on the steering wheel that go off with just a brush of the hand when making a turn. It mutes whatever you are listening to and messes up the display until you hit the right button on the touch screen. No distraction there… /s
Back in the 70s, my ’68 Datsun 510 only had an AM radio and I wired a Panasonic cassette recorder into the (single) speaker and played mix tapes I’d make with music I liked better than the local offerings. One time, I was driving through town and a song that I didn’t really like came on from the tape deck. I put the clutch in and hit stop on the tape deck and didn’t move the shifter to the next gear and then let out the clutch to a healthy lurch. And then burst into laughter when I realized what I had done.
Otherwise, I wish there was a unified UI for all the stuff cars can do today so that every time I get in a rental it’s immediately familiar. Stop messing with my head!
My next car’s license plate will be “Analog.”
Anything that contributes to poor outward visibility.
Stellar outward visibility – the new luxury.
Plastic interiors, hard seats, iPad in the dash, non-servicable transmissions, wet timing belts, aggro styling, giant consoles, electric motors that replace simple mechanisms… yeah, get off my lawn.
I’ve got two relatively modern vehicles (less than 10 years old) and my 2002 Ranger, and honestly when I drive the truck I don’t miss any of the newer features. Most of them are curiosities that can be kinda fun to play around with, but I enjoy the analog experience.
I had to think about this for a little bit, but the one that bothers me most on my 2025 Leaf is the lack of physical key locks.
I go up to the car and press the unlock button, pull the door handle and it’s still locked, so I have to press unlock again for it to unlock. If it just had a god damn keyhole and the fob had a flip out key I’d just put it in and unlock it in half the time.
I’m not saying go to entirely manual locks, but I think every door should have a manual lock backup and keyhole to unlock it with.
Does it not? I see mention of it in a manual online but not how to get to it. Might be under the cover for the non-opening part of the handle if that can be popped off (can’t tell based on Leaf pics if it’s exposed or not, could have been a small change during the run). Having to slide out the physical key from the fob isn’t as handy to do it then but it is at least there.
The driver’s side does, and the fob has a removable key.
I’d prefer physical key locks for every door, and a flip out style key.
I see where you said “every door” now.
All of them. Cars peaked in the 90’s.
Nearly a solved technology like bicycles. If they would restamp 90s/2000s cars (reasonably safe standards) with modern materials and powertrains (ice and electric) but the same appointments, that would be the dream.
Our newest vehicle is our 2024 Chevrolet Trax LS. The auto start-stop feature is honestly the least obtrusive example of this feature I’ve ever used.
I didn’t think I’d like it, based on rental cars I had driven previously and found the on/off switch right away, but I found out I actually didn’t mind it at all.
The only time I used it was after I was notified of a recall involving the ECM engine-timing-after-start-stop-event. I made an appointment to get it reprogrammed and disabled the ASS (funny!) when I brought it in for service. After the appointment I re-enabled it and it’s again been unobtrusive ever since.
As far as new car features I personally could do without:
1.) Anything requiring a subscription.
2.) Anything requiring a cell-phone. (remote access, Bluetooth, wireless charging, car-play/android auto)
3.) Auto-dimming rear view mirrors.
4.) Push-button start.
5.) Dashboards being all touch-screens
6.) Only having two pedals. (Bring back more manuals, please)