Useless features in modern cars

[GaryS]

I hate the TPS systems. My 2006 Tundra has a reset switch, as does my wife's 2007 Highlander. That's bad enough, but my friends newer RAV 4 doesn't have anyway to reset the system.

The sensors fail on a semi regular basis and it's close to $100.00 to get one replaced.

All because people are too danged lazy to use a tire gauge.

Harumph!

I was coming back from Myrtle Beach last week in my Grand Sport, when my left rear tire warning light came and my LR tire showed xx PSI. Pulled over, kicked the tire , felt it up , and it appeared normal. Told the missus to get back in, drove another 150 miles with no warning lights, no issues.
Might be a defective TPS
I just bought an air pump nonetheless, those run flats are only good for limited distance and speed.
I found out about the TP light on my gladly departed RAV4 when it lit up. I checked the tires on the ground, all ok. It turned out to be the spare that was low, but stumped me for about a week.
Now with only 4 tires , the GS takes the guesswork out.

 

[chief38]

I have routinely checked my tire pressure weekly (for 45 years) way before TPS ever existed - but I'll bet 99% of women, young drivers and elder drivers don't. For them the TPS are indispensable.

 

[Skeet 028]

Well I drove those old cars with the dimmer switch on the floor and never had my lights go out This was before all this high techie stuff too. BTW...I like those rear view cameras.

 

[ChuckS1]

My wife's Honda CR-V has all the bells and whistles. The one thing I think is stupid is that a camera on the passenger side mirror displays on the touch screen when the right turn signal is on. Just shows what you see if you were to look in the mirror.

 

[steamloco76]

I hated the TPMS on my Honda's and Subaru's because it was just an idiot light. No indication of actual pressure or what tire. The Subaru system was so ridiculously sensitive the light would come on just about every morning because the tires had cooled and the pressure went down from 32 PSI to 30 PSI. I taped over the light.

The GM system is a royal pain to re-set so it pays to have your tires rotated at the dealer or a shop with the scan tool. That said, the system works and is very informative. I had a flat last month and knew about it before I went outside because the TPMS is monitored by OnStar. OnStar (big brother is sometimes useful) emailed me that the left rear tire was flat. Since it was a rainy nasty day, I called AAA and had them change the tire.

Now, for a totally useless feature- the forced first to fourth gear skip shift for "fuel economy" used on high performance cars with V8's. Makes you look like you can't drive a stick. Everybody disables it, so why inflict such stupid technology on us in the first place.

 

[NYlakesider]

I hated the TPMS on my Honda's and Subaru's because it was just an idiot light. No indication of actual pressure or what tire. The Subaru system was so ridiculously sensitive the light would come on just about every morning because the tires had cooled and the pressure went down from 32 PSI to 30 PSI. I taped over the light.

The GM system is a royal pain to re-set so it pays to have your tires rotated at the dealer or a shop with the scan tool. That said, the system works and is very informative. I had a flat last month and knew about it before I went outside because the TPMS is monitored by OnStar. OnStar (big brother is sometimes useful) emailed me that the left rear tire was flat. Since it was a rainy nasty day, I called AAA and had them change the tire.

Now, for a totally useless feature- the forced first to fourth gear skip shift for "fuel economy" used on high performance cars with V8's. Makes you look like you can't drive a stick. Everybody disables it, so why inflict such stupid technology on us in the first place.

Well I have owned 4 Vettes and I Camaro and driven about a dozen more with that thing, and if you know how to drive a performance car it will never engage and force a shift.

The reason for that "skip shift" was to beat the gas guzzler tax. When you take into account fleet mileage and requirements by the Feds to make a average mileage, it can save you serious money on purchase. Its sort of like the cops have Radar and we get Radar detectors. THEY make the rules and we have to live with them as best as we can.

For $20-30 you can by a eliminator. Only a wire to hook up and it will work no more, you will still get the light on the dash. A computer "tune" will also get it out, but like I said above you drive the car right and it will not bug you.

 

[johngalt]

The sensors fail on a semi regular basis and it's close to $100.00 to get one replaced.

All because people are too danged lazy to use a tire gauge.

Harumph!

My 98 Corvette has the sensors, and it is a real tire pressure system that measures the actual tire pressure and not the system that simply counts tire revolutions. All 4 still work and are using the original batteries.

So you get your gauge out and check all 4 tires before EVERY trip? Both directions? I bet not.

The sensors are there in case you puncture a tire while on the road, to warn you to stop before it blows out or melts down. It is especially important today because a lot of cars have no spare.

 

[johngalt]

Well I have owned 4 Vettes and I Camaro and driven about a dozen more with that thing, and if you know how to drive a performance car it will never engage and force a shift.
The reason for that "skip shift" was to beat the gas guzzler tax. When you take into account fleet mileage and requirements by the Feds to make a average mileage, it can save you serious money on purchase. Its sort of like the cops have Radar and we get Radar detectors. THEY make the
rules and we have to live with them as best as we can.

For $20-30 you can by a eliminator. Only a wire to hook up and it will work no more, you will still get the light on the dash. A computer "tune" will also get it out, but like I said above you drive the car right and it will not bug you.

My 98 Corvette used to have the skip-shift, which has been disabled. It never actually activated much - it is designed to only work under a very narrow set of parameters that matches the EPA test cycle.

Driving even just slightly aggressively (don't shift out of first until rpms are above about 2200) usually defeats it. It seems to only kick in if driving like a granny.

 

[BigBoy99]

Because her car was in the shop, my wife had to rent a car so she could go to her grand sons birthday. It was some Japanese car. The drive was about 5 hours. She called me and told me there was no fuel gauge in the car! Just a display which told you how many miles you could drive with the fuel you had left. What a stupid way to display the amount of fuel! Your fuel economy will differ greatly if you've been city drive or highway driving so the number of miles of fuel left in the tank maybe far different than what is really there. I guess it is too hard to have a direct reading instrument so they put something in its place with is totally subjective.

 

[NYlakesider]

Because her car was in the shop, my wife had to rent a car so she could go to her grand sons birthday. It was some Japanese car. The drive was about 5 hours. She called me and told me there was no fuel gauge in the car! Just a display which told you how many miles you could drive with the fuel you had left. What a stupid way to display the amount of fuel! Your fuel economy will differ greatly if you've been city drive or highway driving so the number of miles of fuel left in the tank maybe far different than what is really there. I guess it is too hard to have a direct reading instrument so they put something in its place with is totally subjective.

Vehicles that have that type display are changeable so it can show different things. My wife has to rent cars often and all cars are set up different and UNLESS YOU ASK the drone at the rental counter will not tell you anything about the car except where it is parked.
Many time she has to go back to the counter and ask how do you do certain functions!

My Vette and one Toyota have those type changeable displays and you can bring up and keep up a real gas gauge if you know what button to push!

 

[steamloco76]

I remember on completely useless and downright maddening feature from cars of the early 1990's- TALKING WARNINGS!- Some quazi-realistic female voice blathering out " Your door is ajar" "Your headlights are on" "Low Fuel" "Please fasten your seatbelt" "Your keys are in the ignition" SHUT UP!

 

[GaryS]

That, along with the one year only "Seat belt interlock". You couldn't start your car if your seatbelts weren't fastened. That was so unpopular the feds dropped the requirement after, I think, the 1974 model year. People stuck with 1974 model year cars were allowed to have the system bypassed.

I remember on completely useless and downright maddening feature from cars of the early 1990's- TALKING WARNINGS!- Some quazi-realistic female voice blathering out " Your door is ajar" "Your headlights are one" "Low Fuel" "Please fasten your seatbelt" "Your keys are in the ignition" SHUT UP!

 

[GaryS]

It can take a while to figure those out, especially in a rental car. I had a nice Nissan Altima rental last week in Texas. Not too fancy, but it had a changeable display in the dash. I waited until my wife was doing some shopping to play around with the switches and controls. I got my phone hooked into the Bluetooth, set the radio stations, and figured our how to play around with the various displays.

A nice thing with those displays/controls is that you can often set things like whether the doors lock automatically or not. That used to require a trip to the deal so they could enter the "secret code" and do the programming. For about $100.00.

It took me a while to get used to the key fob and push button starter. The guy at the Hertz return told me that people walk off with those in their pockets all the time. He's taken to asking every customer for the keys. Which is smart and saves the customers $250.00 if they leave with the keys.

Another thing I've noticed recently is that the owners manuals are often in rental cars. They never used to do that, but cars are so complicated these days that they pretty much have to.

OTOH, I had a Ford Fusion last year that I couldn't figure out all of the features on. Even with the manual. It also had a rough shifting transmission, which surprised me for a car with under 10K miles.

Vehicles that have that type display are changeable so it can show different things. My wife has to rent cars often and all cars are set up different and UNLESS YOU ASK the drone at the rental counter will not tell you anything about the car except where it is parked.
Many time she has to go back to the counter and ask how do you do certain functions!

My Vette and one Toyota have those type changeable displays and you can bring up and keep up a real gas gauge if you know what button to push!

 

[dben002]

With all the modern tech for vehicles....

Self Parking
Lane overstray adjustment
Self braking
Automatic distance control adjustments
GPS self driving

The useless features in modern cars is becoming us...the drivers.....

 

[sasu]

Once my car did not start on a forest road when returning from hunting. The car had a fancy for that time computer system with a button to perform vehicle diagnostics. When I pressed the diagnostics button, the computer thought for some time and then told me that the door is open and some other useless piece of information, but nothing to help diagnose the real problem. What a hoot!

The car was towed to a garage, turned out the crank position sensor had a poor connection and thus the engine refused to run.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I recently bought a 2016 Yukon SLT (loaded) and it has all the bells and whistles - some of which I did not even know were included until I took delivery of the vehicle. To my surprise I love most of them such as these:

Lane Keep - will vibrate seat on side you are drifting to and actually steer SUV back into lane. Not an excuse to daydream but at one time or another we are all guilty of that.

Accident Avoidance and Auto Braking has saved me from two fender benders so far in 9 months. Neither was my fault, however I emerged unscathed both times.

Auto Folding Mirrors are really nice when in parking lots with tight parking spots.

The 3 blink lane changing turn signals are also a nice feature in my opinion. Not a necessity, but I do like them.

The Auto Sensing wipers are also really perfect for intermittent rain. I had a caddy years ago and back then they were an annoyance - now they really work well. I could definitely live without them, but since I didn't order them and they are included - I'll use 'em.

While I always thought of it as a "female accessory", the auto opening and closing rear hatch opens when you wave your leg under it has become quite welcome when approaching the SUV with a handful of stuff in your arms.

The A/C & heated seats & heated steering wheel are another thing we could do without but I kind of like them The electrically operated 2nd and 3rd row of seats are also new to me and a bit eccentric, but again that's the way the vehicle comes and are nice when traveling with 5 or 6 people.

The one option I could do without is the TV/DVD player mounted on the ceiling for the rear passengers. I have never used it except to test it. I have not used the live Wifi feature yet either.

I do like my sunroof on those crisp cool Fall days or the once in a blue moon I fire up a cigar in the car - which I do admit is rare. However with the sunroof opened, the car smells 100% not smoked in when I get to my destination.

I do like my creature comforts and maybe I am getting soft - but while we did without many of these features including GPS for many many years they make driving more pleasurable, a long trip go bye faster and easier. many of the features I mentioned above (actually most) were just part of the SLT trim level and the one or two extra ones I didn't know about are a welcome surprise.

I've always owned well equipped vehicles and have found that these "fancy features" if you will, are more reliable than most would think. With the exception of a broken element in the drivers heated seat of my Escalade (which was a reasonable price to repair), I've never had any of them fail in any car I've ever had over the last 20 years. Since I do keep vehicles for about 10 years and do travel far a few times a year I do like most of these "wuss" features. Of course you are correct and they do add to the price of the vehicle, but not different than any other kind of consumer product.

Items such as the retractible running boards & heads up windshield displays are what I'd consider over the top and unnecessary. I went out of my way to find a vehicle in the color I wanted that did NOT have those two items. What I do really object to is that many of the added features only come as a "package" and to get one desired item you have to go for big bucks! I'm sure the Auto company's burned the midnight oil figuring out what to package with what to max out the sale.

If ya gotta fold in the mirror to squeeze into a parking spot how do you get out of the car???

 

[johngalt]

If ya gotta fold in the mirror to squeeze into a parking spot how do you get out of the car???

That nice panoramic sunroof

 

[sasu]

If ya gotta fold in the mirror to squeeze into a parking spot how do you get out of the car???

Like this:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dd32h5wdSE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dd32h5wdSE[/ame]

 

[joeb1]

I love the options on my 2011 Dodge Charger RT. 5.7 HEMI, Adaptive Cruise Control, saved me from IDIOTS exiting shopping centers at 3mph when I'm doing the speed limit of 45mph, Remote Start, at 110° in Phoenix, the car is cooled before I get in, Sun/Moon roof for when it's under 100° at night, BackUp Camera, bad back & neck, can't lock keys in car or trunk. It senses key fob and unlocks door or pops the trunk. Heated & Cooled Cup Holders. Radio controls in steering wheel. Phone button on steering wheel, hands free. Phone, not steering wheel.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

[jdh]

If you miss the three flashes of the lane change feature you are not paying close enough attention and should not be driving.

I would rather see the car in front of me give three flashes that no flashes.

I would rather see three flashes than see the car go 857 miles with the left turn signal constantly going.