For the most part, drivers find the technology in their cars to be pretty useless.
It turns out that more technology in cars isn’t necessarily something customers want, and it’s not really improving their driving experience. We know my thoughts on the matter, but I’ll do my best to stay impartial on this latest survey from JD Power that shows most customers don’t appreciate technology in cars unless they can see a clear benefit to them.
JD Power’s 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study evaluated over 81,000 drivers’ experience with “advanced vehicle technologies” in 2024 model year vehicles after 90 days of ownership, It turned out to be a pretty mixed bag when it came to what people liked using. There are a number of tech features that customers like using because they feels that it answers their needs, but at the same time there is a whole lot that don’t get used very often or are continually annoying, according to the survey.
I had a 2015 Maxima and I used to get mail from the dealership asking if I wanted to take the car into the shop to get an $150 map update. Fuck off with that bullshit.
I bought a $10 Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter hole and then an aux cord in our 2010 vehicle. It works significantly more reliably than our other, 2020 vehicle with built-in Bluetooth, touchscreen and all the bells-and-whistles. Seriously, I turn my 2010 car on, "successful connection" every time within seconds. The 2020, I inevitably get failed connections. I don't think my phone has connected to it first try, once. And then sometimes it fails to connect either the audio or the phone calls. Or, I get it connected and my wife gets to the car with her phone and suddenly my Bluetooth connection is gone and we're listening to her phone. It's just infuriating.
All I need is Bluetooth in the audio system and a place to hang my phone. Beyond that, things that don't make my car move or my body comfortable can go to hell.
Car companies don't care, they think the tech gives them an excuse to charge more even though a lot of the tech is actually cheaper (a single touch screen instead of all kinds of knobs and buttons) plus it's a way for them to collect more of your data to sell. Before buying my next vehicle, I want to make sure I can easily disable its internet functionality through hardware so that it doesn't phone home.
2014 impreza. No screen at all. I bought a phone mount that shows waze and charges my phone.
I have cruise control and heated seats. And I can operate both with gloves on!
Don’t need a backup cam because my windows and mirrors are good.
I will drive this car until it dies, and then I’ll replace the head gaskets and drive it until it dies again. And then I will replace the cvt and drive it until it dies a third time.
Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about the NY road salt. The frame will be left, flake by flake, in the gutters of 490. It’s the only thing that can take this car from me, and it is its inevitable fate.
I hate unnecessary, poorly designed tech in my car.
Current tech design unnecessarily complicates and obscures what should be simple and easily accessible functions. That’s more than just irritating, it’s dangerous.
While it would be nice to have a screen for music and nav, I absolutely hate any car where you NEED to use the screen to do things. It feels like distracted driving is designed into cars these days…
Depends on the tech. Touch screens? Those can go fuck themselves. Adaptive cruise control? I love that shit. Any backlighting beyond what's necessary to see knobs and buttons in otherwise total darkness? Fuck you! Any backlighting that's any color other than red? EXTRA fuck you! Backup cam? Yeah those are good. Backup cam screen that becomes some obnoxiously bright LCD display for the radio? No, fuck that.
Random side thought: a strict Eco mode only-when-pushed button would be pretty amazing. Eco mode kinda already forces your to drive like a grandma, but at the cost of responsiveness. Responsiveness is important if something catches you off guard, so if I slam on the gas suddenly, I want my car to fucking book it, cuz that probably means I'm trying to dodge something. That said, more often than not, when I'm accelerating from a stop or getting up to speed on the freeway, there's not really any urgency... but I tend to accelerate faster than necessary (waste gas) because my monkey brain likes the zoom-zoom. I want like... idk, the equivalent of a push-to-talk button on the steering wheel for embracing my inner grandma. I push it when I'm actively assessing that there's no urgency; my speed of acceleration will make only seconds of difference in my overall trip; and no matter how hard I pump that gas peddle, the uses only the most optimal amount of gas to get me up to and maintain speed. Then I take an exit into some busy downtown bullshit where there's shit coming at me from every direction, and I need to be able to jolt to dodge the giant metal projectile piloted by the monkey brain a few car lengths away from mine.
Basically keep the "Oh shit!" actions free of as many inputs as possible; demand a bit more from the thinky chunk of meat in my head shell only when everything else is relatively chill.
I'm ok with a decent amount of tech in a car. Like I'm fine being able to connect my phone to the car and have android auto take over the infotainment system.
But the HVAC stuff needs to be buttons I can access/control without looking or very minimal looking.
I don't want/need my car to have a SIM card, or connect to wifi, and report what I'm doing. If they want to do that, then they can give me the car for free and I'll drive it around letting them collect my driving habits.
Edit: Oh, and I'm sure as hell not paying some subscription fee on top of the price of the car.
When i got my last one i specifically asked for, and got, no electric or electronic "conveniences". Even the doubledin stereo got removed and a singledin unit put in its place for fewer distractions or trackers. Oldschool rules.
A backup camera and an Android Auto/Apple CarPlay head unit radio that sounds decent. That's all I want in a car for "tech" that isn't a safety feature. Everything else can go.
My parents just got a new car with one of those tablets built into the console. They were showing it off to me and turned it on, only for the radio to be blaring and my dad had to go through like 5 menus to get to stop it from playing.
Power windows, Bluetooth audio systems, seat warmers.
These are all really positive tech advancements in my lifetime.
Touch screen interfaces, power door handles (without a manual override), firmware disables features or limitations that are determined by the DLC you purchase from your dealership...
These are fucking bullshit and almost no one I know likes them.
Some is great and much appreciated. For instance I love the things that takes the camera feeds and creates a simulated top down view. But some things are just useless and needless.
Bluetooth/am/fm/aux sound system with good high and low ranges, but honestly as long as I have a diagram of what wires go where I can install my own like I did on my last two.
A backup camera for those times when I need to line up my trailer hitch but don't have a partner to guide me.
I love my car for the fact it doesn’t do anything crazy. Buttons and switches for everything, bluetooth for music, and a minimalist infotainment system that may as well only be there for the phone pairing process.
I might be in the minority, but I hate Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. I don’t want anything fancy, just music. I don’t want all the bells and whistles of my phone, just music.
I recently had to drive my parents' new Volva XC40 and that thing is one of the most overengineered vehicles I've ever ridden in.
The lane assist is kinda great while driving because if you drift a little it helps keep you in your lane. But I found myself literal fighting against the wheel whenever I was genuinely changing lanes, on a lane-ending merge, but more importantly trying to not get sideswiped when a semi drifts into my lane.
Instead of traditional shifter, or even shift buttons like my '14 MKZ, this thing has a 3-position shifter knob to go between R-N-D, a separate long-press button to simply put it into park (and by long press, I genuinely have to verify on the dash it's is park because I almost jump a parking block more than once since I didn't press long/hard enough) and a separate little knob in the center console whose sole purpose is to turn the car on and off.
The electric child-lock is a nice little button mixed in with the window controls on the driver door arm rest...which both myself and my parents have accidentally engaged on a number of occasions by resting our arms on the arm rest.
Aside from that, even in my car I outright HATE the auto environmental controls where you have to set an internal temperature and when the temp reaches that it changes the air to maintain. So if it's a blazing GA summer, and i set the thermo at 69 (nice) once the internal temp reaches 69 it starts blasting not-cold air.
While the lane assist and adaptive cruise control can help a little on those long trips, I genuinely dislike them because I believe it actively encourages the driver to not pay attention to driving.
I like having Siri in my car when she works. Like when my phone properly wirelessly connects. But when it doesn’t, I hate it, and would be better without it.
Also why the hell can’t CarPlay use the radio, when the car has a radio. Why can’t those two things talk to each other. Fucking dumb.
well obviously
My aunt has a modern car that reads the signs for you. Where I live there is a highway in the middle and normal road on the outer side. That piece of crap slows down to 70 km/h from 130 when it sees the sign that belongs to the other road…
However, not all tech is terrible. For example, parking cameras, gps, cruise control are useful
Edit: I think the current toyota land cruiser 70 series sold in australia is at the sweet spor of technology
I daily a 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Manual transmission, manual windows, manual door locks. The basic radio was broken before I got it. It does have computer engine control with OBD2, but even that is simple in comparison.
When something breaks or maintenance is needed, it's a straightforward fix with typical tools. I've come to appreciate the simplicity.
What bothers me the most (aside from getting rid of all knobs and physical buttons...) is that I bought a car the better part of a decade ago with Android Auto. And it is awesome. It is everything I want in a car "entertainment" system and it makes it trivial to navigate and listen to music.
So... of course car companies are going out of their way to block that and apple auto. Because they want subscription fees.
I actually like big screens on infotainment systems, especially the ones that integrate into the dash and not the ones where it looks like they just stuck a tablet on top of the dash. I have a Subaru and it has a nice vertical 11in screen. I also like the design of the new Hyundai and Kia screens that run across the dash.
Having said that, those screens should strictly be for that purpose, infotainment. Anything that controls essential functions should still be physical buttons, levers, and dials.
I was excited when Volvo announced they were going to release an affordable subcompact SUV EV, then saw they put almost everything on the infotainment screen in the middle of the dash, even the speedometer!
I appreciate some of the tech. GPS, connecting phones to the infotainment, backup cameras. You know, the things that actually improve the car. Heck I'll even take push to start. But for the love of God don't put essential controls and climate control on a touchscreen. If I get hit with a pile of slush from a driver on the other side of the road and need to engage my windshield wipers immediately, a touch screen is a recipe for disaster. Also, bring back the PRNDL stick. I don't care if it's an automatic I need to know what gear I'm in immediately without needing to look away from the truck in front of me that's backing up at a stop light because he thought he could make it.
I got a new car recently. The best feature it has is the adaptive cruise control. You can set cruise control and if the car in front of you is going just a bit slower than the cruise control, you will not creep up on it.
Most of the other shit is useless. It has that magic rearview mirror that is really a camera, but I dont like using it because it is easier to focus on a real mirror than a display. it also has the cameras that read the road signs, but they often pick up the wrong info anyway, especially in a construction zone.
At least it has real buttons for the HVAC. I sat in three other cars, and two of them didn't have HVAC buttons. I got right out. Car makers like the screens because they think they can eliminate buttons, but buttons are more effective.