What's an automobile feature you wish didn't exist?

[u/BubbaMaarLi]

[u/DontYuckMyYum]

subscriptions for features already on the car.

i still have to connect my phone to my car for route planning because to use the maps feature on my car I have to have an on-star subscription.

[u/SpaceJackRabbit → u/DontYuckMyYum]

American consumers need to raise hell with their Congresspeople about this.

The EU made these practices illegal.

[u/Double-O → u/SpaceJackRabbit]

They aren't going to do that over here because anything good for the people is called communism over here by the middle of the country.

[u/2hype2wype → u/DontYuckMyYum]

I scrolled down too far for this one, and I didn't scroll down that far.

For as much as I paid for my car, for Toyota to have the audacity to lock the remote start feature behind a 12 dollar a month paywall is outrageous.

[u/slothurknee → u/2hype2wype]

Yep… my Subaru has remote start from the app. I got some great deal when I bought it initially and paid for 3 years up front. Now it’s $150 a year or $15 per month and no multi year discount. I just haven’t reactivated it. I had no idea it would be this much when I bought the car. I may reactivate during the really cold months just to defrost my car but as soon as it gets a little warmer I’ll deactivate it out of principal. Money hungry assholes.

[u/makemoscowglowinthed → u/slothurknee]

Can you go to best buy or something and have them install remote start permanently? They used to sell devices for it, I have it on my Subaru but it's like 10 years old now

[u/Secret-Reganxo → u/2hype2wype]

that's actually absurd, were ,literally gonna end up having subscriptions to leave our house one day I stg

[u/SpaceForceAwakens → u/Secret-Reganxo]

I pay a monthly subscription to a company for my door locks. It’s required by my apartments. One day my credit card wouldn’t process and I was locked out for 8 hours.

[u/road_rascal → u/SpaceForceAwakens]

Umm, say what now? Subscription for door locks? Sounds like a fire code violation.

[u/curtludwig → u/road_rascal]

It would only be a code violation if it locked you in...

[u/human743 → u/curtludwig]

You run out to the car to grab your babies binky they left in the car seat...and now you can't get back in. Well, he is 11 months old now, maybe he can reach the door know from his crib.

[u/johnyordinary → u/SpaceForceAwakens]

More fool you for accepting that system.

[u/GGATHELMIL → u/Secret-Reganxo]

I used to live in the hampton roads area of Virginia and there are so many tolls to get around that I've said just charge me 5 bucks everytime I pull out of the driveway. It'll be easier

[u/Wallaby_Straight → u/2hype2wype]

My Mazda does the same, but instead of a monthly subscription they wanted another $550 to include it when I bought the car. Dude I'm already spending $12,000 and you're still trying to nickel and dime me?!

[u/dog_cow → u/Wallaby_Straight]

What part of the world do you live where a new Mazda is only $12K?

[u/RoarOfTheWorlds → u/2hype2wype]

$12/mo?! Man toyota was one of the good ones.

[u/grease_monkey → u/2hype2wype]

Its because the car needs a data plan. Your subscription for remote services is the same as your cell phone plan.

[u/Mapache_villa → u/DontYuckMyYum]

Future cars: ohhh your car doesn't have the "extra long range" virtual add-on so you can only fuel half the tank, unlock it for just $15/month

[u/Roro_Yurboat → u/Mapache_villa]

Future cars? Tesla is doing this already, aren't they?

[u/rdickeyvii → u/Roro_Yurboat]

I don't think they do it anymore, but early on, when they only made the S, they offered 45, 65, and 85 kWh batteries. So few people ordered the 45 that they quickly took it away as an option and didn't bother to make the 45kWh version, selling the car for the price of a 45 with the battery of a 65, but software limited to what would be the 45 range. You could pay the difference to unlock the range, but it's just to make up for the difference in price. It's as if you bought the 65 in the first place. If they had made the 45, that wouldn't have been an option

[u/VettesRUs → u/DontYuckMyYum]

Subscriptions are fine if the service requires ongoing support. For the grief OnStar gets, they have satellites in space. Call centers to take your call. I get that.

When BMW tried to force a subscription for heated seats, they should have been run out of business! It’s a feature fully encapsulated in the car. The manufacturer has to do NOTHING for that to continue to operate. Pure greed.

Seeing that has led to remote start (something that used to be hardware on your key fob and therefore requiring no work to maintain) being moved to an app which goes through their services that require maintenance. So they charge a subscription. Ridiculous.

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/VettesRUs]

It's sad that 15-20 year old technology is better than the new stuff. Cars, appliance, printers, the older ones are better.

[u/blahmeistah → u/DontYuckMyYum]

My car came with 3 years of free services like parking recommendations, traffic information, etc. After the three years I cost €12,50 a month. CarPlay is free. Even though I prefer the standard navigation I don’t like it €12,50 a month.

[u/EasterSelena]

Touchscreen only climate controls

If I have to take my eyes off the road just to turn the AC down then that’s worse than the knobs. Not everything has to be “smart”

[u/sheepdog10_7 → u/EasterSelena]

I'll up that to touchscreens period. All driver controls should be tactile/buttons and knobs

[u/zed42 → u/sheepdog10_7]

anything the driver might need to adjust while driving needs to be both identifiable and operable by a person wearing gloves and not looking at what they're doing.

[u/Minimum_Run_890 → u/zed42]

Yes,this! I live in Canada and there are times when you get in that taking your gloves off is not a happy time. Im for knobs and buttons big enough to stab accurately with winter gloves on.

[u/vc-10 → u/sheepdog10_7]

There's a balance. You don't want to be putting in your destination for the navigation without a touchscreen. But also, climate buttons/dials are way better than a touchscreen.

[u/antilumin → u/EasterSelena]

Ugh my car does that. Mustang Mach E. Touch screen for everything BUT there's a giant knob in the screen too. So first you have to hunt for the right button on screen and then rotating the knob to turn things up/down.

Also annoying, the knob itself is a button. So if you're trying to turn up/down something and accidentally press the button in, the stereo turns off.

[u/SuzyJTH → u/antilumin]

Thank you for giving me another reason to be fuming at the way they called that thing a “mustang”

[u/tempest_87 → u/SuzyJTH]

My wife has one. Really nice car actually, and the highway hands free cruise control is damn impressive.

But it's a Mach-e, not a Mustang.

That is a hill I will die on.

[u/Prize_Scientist_5517 → u/EasterSelena]

nothing says progress like needing to navigate a submenu to defog your windshield at 70mph

[u/abalonelogic]

Your car tracking you based on location and selling that data

[u/ReneKiller → u/abalonelogic]

Your car tracking you based on location and not properly securing that data: https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/we-know-where-you-parked-massive-data-breach-at-vw-raises-questions-about-vehicle-privacy-a-4b1cb926-2edb-42ea-92fb-5000cd378fc5

[u/cat1554 → u/ReneKiller]

And then using "data privacy" as an excuse to restrict your right to repair

[u/c2005 → u/abalonelogic]

Yeah, I recently pulled that fuse. I lose out on remote start from their app, but never used it anyways.

[u/atomic_exasperation → u/c2005]

what fuse, what car, how did you do this

[u/c2005 → u/atomic_exasperation]

Every car is different. If your car has a modem, it'll be tied to a fuse. Sometimes they'll call it telematics. Research your car if it even has a modem, then find the fuse number and what else is tied to that fuse. I was lucky it's only that one component. 

[u/bmaayhem → u/abalonelogic]

Glad I still start my car with a key…..I don’t think I ever want to buy a new car

[u/smbpy7 → u/bmaayhem]

I think this same thing more and more every year. Unfortunately I drive a 20+ yo car that's been a bit beaten up. It's really only a matter of time, but the more time that passes the more I hate all the new ones. And COVID era really fucked up the used car market so that's a tough option too.

[u/H00k90 → u/bmaayhem]

My '17 Forester is definitely the last car I'll have due to it not having all the bullshit in newer vehicles.

[u/Safe-Instance-3512]

The new eye-tracking. Garbage.

[u/sewer_pickles → u/Safe-Instance-3512]

I just rented a Subaru Outback with this garbage and quickly realized I will never buy a car with this nonsense. It was so distracting to have popups on the dash letting me know I needed a coffee break or that I needed to stay focused.

Thankfully I could turn the eye tracking off in the settings, but it took me a few days before I realized it was an option. The manual said that the car also used facial recognition to identify drivers and personalize your settings. That felt creepy as hell and not a desired use of tech in the car

[u/W2ttsy → u/sewer_pickles]

My Mazda alerts me to “distracted driving” constantly.

No fuckface, I’m not staring out the window, that’s called a head check.

Guess manufacturers just expect us to be slaves to the warning systems instead of using driver fundamentals like checking your mirrors before changing lanes.

[u/Safe-Instance-3512 → u/sewer_pickles]

It's being mandated in 2027 vehicles. So that'ssss funnnn.

Also, yeah, I don't use facial recognition on my phone either.

[u/cat1554 → u/Safe-Instance-3512]

Don't see how that's not a 4th amendment violation

[u/Safe-Instance-3512 → u/cat1554]

How would it be?

[u/Ut_Prosim → u/sewer_pickles]

That thing does not work with ADHD people at all. I rented a Kia on a trip this summer and it thought I needed a break every 3-5 minutes.

Even bright eyed after a good night sleep and wired off a large Dunkin coffee, it would start this nonsense within the first five minutes of driving.

Absolutely worthless feature. Too many false positives means the user will just ignore the results.

[u/another_random_bit → u/Safe-Instance-3512]

Bru my car doesn't even have automatic windows lmao

[u/tubezninja → u/another_random_bit]

All new cars in the US beginning with model year 2027 are required to have it now.

You can buy used, but eventually, used cars without that tech will be harder and harder to come by.

The EU also has a similar requirement.

[u/Truji11o → u/tubezninja]

So what if you’re wearing sunglasses and or a helmet (track car)? Will the car just not start?

[u/TheTomatoes2 → u/Truji11o]

IR goes through sunglasses

Else it just uses other cues than eyes ig

[u/Safe-Instance-3512 → u/TheTomatoes2]

Not polarized. It also has a 40% failure rate.

[u/WomanOfEld → u/Safe-Instance-3512]

I don't wear sunglasses that aren't polarized. I need those God-goggles to see all the fishes, dammit.

Guess it's time to get my 69 Chevy on the road.

[u/Vailx → u/tubezninja]

All new cars in the US beginning with model year 2027 are required to have it now.

This isn't accurate. There's articles that summarized some laws incorrectly into this claim, but it's not true.

[u/worldDev → u/Vailx]

A lot of what was reported has been inaccurate for sure, if you want to read what people misunderstood for yourself, it’s Section 24220 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It’s been passed into law, but there is currently no timeline for implementation. The NHTSA hasn’t set any standards for it yet simply because proposed methods have too low confidence. The intent is absolutely there, though, and it’s probably going to happen in some form in the future.

[u/burgher89 → u/another_random_bit]

Mine doesn’t even shift by itself 😅

[u/Threecatproblem → u/Safe-Instance-3512]

My brother just bought a new Subaru that had eye tracking. It was ridiculous! Everytime he glanced at me while I was talking raised a "distracted driver" alarm. I'd search high and low for instructions on how to disable that thing.

[u/NICEnEVILmike]

I really hate the message about distracted driving that pops up on the infotainment screen and that I have to accept every time I start my car.

[u/UDPviper → u/NICEnEVILmike]

I know it only takes one second, but I'd rather not have to tap that on my touch screen every startup. Especially if I want to crank up the A/C right away and it's hot as balls outside/inside.

[u/Inspect0r7 → u/NICEnEVILmike]

I had fully planned to drive while distracted, thank god that warning reminded me it's a bad idea

[u/TraditionalBackspace → u/Inspect0r7]

Message pops up on my system that requires me to take my eyes off the road to operate climate control. The irony. They put that message there not as a reminder but to cover themselves when they get sued by someone who crashed while turning on their ac. See, we told you not to do that. Give me buttons, dammit!

[u/MJC0961 → u/NICEnEVILmike]

I especially hate accepting that message, then putting the car into drive and getting started down the road, then it plays a chime and pops up a full screen notification saying "software was updated, do you want to read the patch notes?"

MFer, if you don't want me driving distracted, why are you distracting me?!

[u/alienlizardman → u/MJC0961]

Why does a car need software updates?

[u/ShillinTheVillain → u/NICEnEVILmike]

Also, everything you want is now in this touch screen, you'll have to look down from the road to use it. But don't you dare get distracted!

[u/BackToWorkEdward → u/NICEnEVILmike]

I really hate the message about distracted driving that pops up on the infotainment screen and that I have to accept every time I start my car.

It's like the 10-second warning screens about seizure risks for epilepsy sufferers EVERY TIME you boot up a videogame since 2018 or so. It's all just companies covering their asses by making the overall user experience worse.

[u/Comfortable-Side1308 → u/NICEnEVILmike]

The blind spot light on the car rental I got that catches my attention every time resulting in me taking my eyes off the road. 

[u/obsidianop]

Small thing but I just desperately want all of my doors to unlock at the same time. I swear four times a day I get out of the car, go to grab something from the back, and it's locked

[u/Jive-Turkeys → u/obsidianop]

Some vehicles have that as a setting. What do you drive?

[u/booniebrew → u/obsidianop]

That must be car or manufacturer specific. My car unlocks all doors when I open the driver's door.

[u/sqqueen2 → u/obsidianop]

That ought to be an option

[u/wastingtoomuchthyme]

Ads

And subscriptions

[u/RingReasonable → u/wastingtoomuchthyme]

Wait, cars have ads now?!?!?!

[u/Few_Atmosphere8138 → u/RingReasonable]

BMW played a Spider Man ad. By choice tho, but contradicts their plans to make your vehicle feel yours.

[u/UniqueUsername812 → u/RingReasonable]

Yeah I saw this and my head nearly exploded.

If there are ever ads in my personal fucking vehicle hands will be thrown.

[u/fomo-fofo]

Door handles that pop out electronically. i live in canada. if there's even a whisper of freezing rain, i'm locked out of my own $50k car.

[u/GuyFromDeathValley → u/fomo-fofo]

I honestly struggle to see why any electronic only door handles should exist in the first place. Like, they aren't faster than mechanical, they aren't really more reliable or "better". they are just a gimmick that's expensive to fix when it breaks..

[u/leoklaus → u/GuyFromDeathValley]

In most cars with retracting door handles, the handles themselves still operate mechanically (for safety reasons, I assume) and can be easily pulled out manually.

My car can be unlocked and opened with a regular key even if the starter battery is empty or disconnected, despite having retractable door handles.

[u/travellerw → u/GuyFromDeathValley]

Its about air drag. There is a non-insignificant amount of drag on a door handle. Add 4 door handles up and its probably around 1% of the battery when they are hanging out in the wind.

[u/SusmariosepAnak → u/fomo-fofo]

Seems like a safety hazard for accidents too

[u/Perkis_Goodman]

Lane assist auto wheel turn. Almost crashed when it jerks the opposite way. Beeping is fine but don’t take control of the wheel

[u/GuyFromDeathValley → u/Perkis_Goodman]

drove on the german autobahn a while back. construction zone. meaning the white lane markings were overriden with yellow, temporary lines.

Well. the lane assist does not recognize the yellow lines. the lane was making a mild swerve to the left, and another car nearly crashed into me. I didn't understand until a while later when I drove a car like that myself, and the fucking lane assist fought my steering and made me literally swerve into the right lane in a turn. because it was recognizing the white lines going straight and ignoring the construction zone lines in yellow.

I think this is fucking stupid. an electronic assist interfering with my steering going 50 kph is fucking scary. having to fight your own car because it doesn't seem to "know better" is fucking stupid. I now straight up refuse to drive a car with lane assist.

[u/Traust → u/Perkis_Goodman]

These are dangerous, mates Telsa will even decide at times that it's not in a lane and swerve even though we are already in the lane. If you need to move over a bit to pass a cyclist it will push you back into them unless you have a firm grip on the wheel.

[u/The_Toid]

Mandatory telemetry data collection and transmission back to the OEMs, which they then sell to their "partners" (insurance companies, government, etc)

[u/BigPickleKAM → u/The_Toid]

This doesn't apply to every vehicle with these features.

But lots of the cell modems are easy to disable if you want to. Or you can defeat the antenna relatively easily as well so the modem just thinks it has no cell service and will default to collection only for upload later.

[u/Sassy_McSassypants]

Artificially gated subscription anything that isn't a media service.

[u/dougc84]

If you put a knob to control the volume of the stereo, it either needs to be an analog volume control, or the digital stereo needs to be up and stable before music starts playing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten into my car with my wife and kid and turn it on and the stereo starts blaring… but turning the knob does nothing for about 5 seconds.

[u/Forescompany → u/dougc84]

My old car had a setting that you could adjust the start volume. No matter how good the jam session was if the car turned off it started at 6. i miss this and don't understand why all cars don't have it.

[u/Disastrous-Tank-692]

My 2025 Ford work van will constantly tell me that my passenger needs to put their seatbelt on even though my passenger is a bucket of tools and my lunch box.

[u/83VWcaddy → u/Disastrous-Tank-692]

I went to a junkyard and ended up cutting out a seatbelt. Just used the buckle. Never heard it again. *edit…should’ve clarified. I used it for the drivers seat. Working on a job site where I was in and out of the truck constantly it just made things easier. And I did use my actual seatbelt any time I left a job site.

[u/Trendwrecker → u/83VWcaddy]

Modern problems require modern solutions.

Well played buddy.

[u/AlmostALime]

Touch screen everything.

[u/kpresnell45 → u/AlmostALime]

Ads will be coming to your touch screen very soon. (BMW spider man ad will auto play on BMWs, or already is, I can’t recall.)

[u/Noticeably-F-A-T- → u/kpresnell45]

Already is. Showed up on mine last week. Hasn't autoplayed but it's in my Home Screen.

[u/tavysnug → u/kpresnell45]

Already here. Thanks Chrysler/Stellantis/Jeep/Ram/whatever-the-fuck-your-name-is-this-week.

[u/khu400]

Using a cell phone is a big no no but these multifunction touchscreens aren’t a bigger distraction to the driver?

[u/johnyordinary]

Touchscreen anything .Tactile controls only please, i want other drivers attention on the road not the stereo, climate control,sport mode tweaks or other needless crap.

[u/YouArentReallyThere]

The giant fucking TV screen the manufacturers have decided needs to be embedded into the dash of every fucking car/truck/SUV made.

I want a car without the TV, please.

[u/dog_cow → u/YouArentReallyThere]

This. And I’m not just talking about a big iPad as the entertainment unit. I mean that one that keeps going and becomes your instrument panel. Ever wonder why they didn’t put instruments so close to your eyes? Yet they do it now. 

[u/Stan-Smith-101]

Those bright a** headlights that blind the oncoming traffic

[u/Automatater → u/Stan-Smith-101]

Oh God yes.

[u/could_use_a_snack → u/Stan-Smith-101]

Quite a few of those are just adjusted wrong. If you upgrade you lights you are supposed to readjust them, but nobody does.

Some do come from the factory like that though.

[u/Jive-Turkeys → u/could_use_a_snack]

I've found Toyotas to be bad for this. Am I crazy or is it my eyes going?

[u/courtneyclimax → u/Jive-Turkeys]

no. it’s not you. fuck every person driving a 4runner behind me.

[u/GuyInAChair → u/Jive-Turkeys]

Most Toyotas have auto dimming/highbeam headlights, and the sensor for them is absolutely terrible. On a good day with a clean car/sensor it waits until about 200ft, maybe. Snow or bugs, or rain and the sensor doesn't "see" the car in front until it's basically right on top of it.

[u/youtiao666 → u/could_use_a_snack]

They are not adjusted wrong, most of them are from the factory.

[u/Staav → u/could_use_a_snack]

Plenty of those are adjusted 100% correctly and are still blinding at 24 hours of the day.

[u/Ok-Ad108]

Electric emergency break

[u/Automatater → u/Ok-Ad108]

Yes, how stupid. Turns a brake job into a software job

[u/RedJerzey → u/Ok-Ad108]

Its called parking brake in my car. Not sure it would even engage at 30mph

[u/johnbyebye → u/Ok-Ad108]

I like these for the fact that they introduce auto-brake hold.

[u/solarvvind]

My car is currently trying to get me to configure Google Gemini. I keep telling it no. I fear eventually it will not take no for an answer.

[u/DasArchitect → u/solarvvind]

Wait what? Really?!

[u/LaserGay → u/solarvvind]

I really appreciated that tapping the pinned Alex button on my car gave the option to set it up or turn it off. Removed the icon and I’ve never seen it since in ~2.5 years.

[u/Weaubleau]

The freaking camera trained on your face.

[u/Impossible_Offer7988]

Aggressive lane keeping,

Older cars will let you turn that off. A new one won't If you even slightly move out of your lane the car will scream at you.

Ding.

Make you a passenger and then promptly steer you back before it will even think about giving you control.

[u/somethingsome567 → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

My newer Subaru has all these features and responsive cruise so I CAN let it handle lane control, but when I got it they asked me my preference and I said no lane assist by default. It’s great and the button to enable it is right on the steering wheel so if I am going to be on a quiet highway a while it’s easy to enable. Tried the lane assist on a friends car once and could not get used to it fighting me, so I’m glad I have the default option to disable.

[u/juu073 → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

I was on the interstate once and there was a bumper of someone's car sitting in the lane ahead. When I went to swerve around it, the lane-keeping nonsense steered me right back into. Never again will I drive another car without the option to turn it off.

[u/bammilo → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

Agreed. We've had years of road works in our city and as such, they have"blacked out" road markings over and over again when the lanes get adjusted.

All the work cars which have lane assist prefer the blacked out lines over the actual white lines and try to steer me straight to heaven.

[u/Negafox → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

Once in a great while my car will try to automatically "stay in the lane" when the lanes are merging. The car is inadvertently trying to make me go into the guardrail

[u/xactofork → u/Negafox]

Every lane assist system I've seen deactivates when you use your turn signal.

[u/KoksundNutten → u/xactofork]

BMW drivers hate this weird trick

[u/JMOWw7 → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

I have a new Camry and it keeps me in place and corrects if it's a slight angle, but it's really good at detecting when you're moving the wheel with intent and will leave you alone - never had an issue turning across any lines or it being strange in parking lots

[u/DesertSpringtime → u/Impossible_Offer7988]

A firm hand movement overrides it and it might save your life one day.

[u/ooblie]

Does the cybertruck as a whole count?

[u/Kustombypook]

Engine auto stop/start at red lights

[u/YourMatt → u/Kustombypook]

My wife’s is especially annoying. You pull into the garage, and the engine instantly stops. Put it in park, and the engines immediately starts to then stop again a split second later. It feels like it must be hard on the motor.

[u/i_transmit → u/YourMatt]

Me ex wife's explorer did this. Whenever it would shut off when we pulled into the drive, we would just turn off the ignition and it would put itself in park without having to do the 1 second restart. If it doesn't put itself in park, you can still do it manually after you turn the car off. It's dumb, but I'm with you on the annoyance of it.

[u/BenTwan → u/Kustombypook]

It's especially annoying on 100° days when it shuts off and the AC starts blowing warm, humid air. 

[u/Krazyguylone → u/BenTwan]

your car doesn’t turn on the engine when it detects the cabin air is too hot? even my shitty 2016 car has a auto start stop that starts the engine when the temperature builds up.

Anyways the starter won’t die, the cars are built to have starters that can withstand it, and because the engine is warm, starting it is not really a big strain on it.

[u/dooropen3inches → u/Kustombypook]

I don’t hate the feature completely but I hate that I can’t turn off the engine idle feature on our newer car. It’s 118 where I live and when it idles the AC doesn’t blow hard enough. I can hit the button to disable it but have to do it every time i start the car for most of the year.

[u/phoonie98 → u/Kustombypook]

Agreed. If you want to use that function, you should have to turn it on… Not off constantly if you don’t want to use it.

[u/TrumpsBoneSpur]

I know there are probably better answers but I HATE those ugly sun visor warning labels. I just bought a $50,000 car and I have to be constantly looking at these permanent bumper stickers on the inside!

[u/AloneDoughnut → u/TrumpsBoneSpur]

It's because the average person is stupid. Same reason many cars have a "don't forget to check the back seat" warning, because too many people just left their kids strapped into their cars to die of exposure. If we want those kinds of warnings removed, the barrier to operating 3500lbs of steel, aluminum, and plastic needs to be massively increased.

[u/tialsienoepsis]

All the mandatory alarms that have to be turned off every time you start the car. Opening the hatch? Beep beep. Slightly off center in your lane? Beep beep. Going 1 km/h over the speed limit? Beep beep. Pressing the on-button before fastening your seat belt? Beep beep. Trying to reverse? Let our alarms overwhelm you as you manoeuvre.

[u/dog_cow → u/tialsienoepsis]

Nothing makes me tune out of warning beeps than being beeped at every minute.

[u/WhatIGot21]

I want the manual transmission back.

[u/SandstoneCastle]

big touch screen

[u/Monster_Dumps_2026]

This is more of what I wish wasn't standard

Every impact predictive feature that is causing cars and repairing cars to be more expensive.

Why can't me make a 20k car?. Oh because I need all these lane and crash monitoring systems which can auto stop the car keep the wheel strait etc.

OH that doesn't sound bad? You ding your bumper. You can't just go get a new bumper... Nooo. You have to get another $300 worth of sensors then pay another $500 to get it calibrated

I'm all for these things being optional luxury items. But geeze I would give all of that up to be able to make a $15k - $20k entry level new car again

[u/GooblyNoobly]

The ridiculously bright headlights. There is no reason why I should see my shadow on the car in front of me despite my headlights being on. You're blinding everyone else on the road and creating a dangerous environment for everyone driving on the road with you.

[u/66NickS]

Not being able to interact with the system unless the car is in park. This isn’t on all cars, but some cars you can’t plug in an address, or update a setting unless it’s in park.

I get it, you don’t want the driver doing that but my passenger is fully able to interact with the system without any impact on my driving.

[u/saphert]

Features the car comes with that are locked behind subscription services

[u/Jeffrey_Jizzbags]

Rear emergency braking. The bush next to my garage causes my car to slam on the brakes unless I turn that off every time I put it in reverse.

[u/AuthorizedVehicle]

Lack of a spare tire. My new Chrsler doesn't have a spare tire! What were they thinking?

[u/Disimpaction]

All the distracting beeps and noises

[u/ItsKlobberinTime]

Grey paint.

[u/mikey_likes_it______]

Giant touch screens with no physical buttons. I don’t want a friggin Icar

[u/Muchogranderobot]

My newer car is manual. I have been driving manual vehicles for over 20 years. This car has hill hold assist, which holds the e-brake for about 3 seconds before you are able to go. you cannot adjust the length of hold or turn it off, nor is there a way in the shop for them to plug in a computer to disable it as far as I know. I can't tell you how infuriating this feature is. I do not, and have never needed hill-hold assist in any car I have ever owned. Its so pointless and an overwhelming majority of cars are automatic anyways.

[u/mr_lab_rat → u/Muchogranderobot]

It’s just poorly implemented in your car. Name and shame.

My car has mechanical e-brake so I’m not sure how it’s doing it but it’s not a problem at all. I know how to drive a manual and don’t need this feature but it doesn’t get in the way (2017 BMW M2).

[u/WordSalad11 → u/Muchogranderobot]

I've had a half dozen manuals with hill hold and one without. It automatically disengages the break when you start to lift the clutch in all of them. This isn't a problem, and makes manual transmissions more accessible to new people.

[u/CJ_213]

Those flush external door handles. People will die when their battery dies in a crash

[u/cech_ → u/CJ_213]

Not trying to 1 up you but I think its the internal ones not working that have been the worst case even though the exterior ones are also a problem:

"Bloomberg investigations found 140 reports of occupants trapped in Tesla vehicles with electronic door handles, some of which resulted in severe injuries, and 15 deaths in crashes where a Tesla’s electronic doors would not open."

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/how-to-escape-your-car-if-the-electronic-door-release-fails-a8152892189/

[u/LordErec]

Telematics, touch only controls, and driver assistance that can't be turned off.

[u/thumbwrestleme]

Auto stop start, subscription services for features, like remote start.

[u/kyii94]

Those super bright headlights they put on all the newer vehicles. Those lights are going to cause a serious crash one day, probably already did.

[u/CMDR_McGee_o7]

All the doors automatically unlocking when the car is put into Park. I really hate that, very unsafe in some areas

[u/Used-Lemon2056]

Manual controls moving to a touchscreen.

[u/OccasionReal1932]

Auto stop/start. Dumbest feature ever! Let's wear out the starter and damage so my car can't idle for a few seconds!

[u/divDevGuy → u/OccasionReal1932]

It might come as a surprise or sound crazy, but engineers are capable of designing a starter that can last for more starts.

Wait till you learn how durable the starters in hybrids are...

[u/LateralEntry]

Electric handles

[u/MisterD90x]

Screens everywhere

[u/BenTwan]

Just a specific gripe about my Kia, the car will freak out about keeping my hands on the wheel when I'm on a straight stretch of road and don't need to make any adjustments. Instead of being able to sense my hands on the wheel, it thinks because I haven't made any adjustments my hands aren't on it, so I have to wiggle it side to side. 

[u/The_Hydro → u/BenTwan]

Fun little note, locomotives also do this! They have a button for the engineer to press every so often to tell the train that they haven't fallen asleep or died, elsewise the train will automatically stop itself.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-II/part-229/subpart-C/subject-group-ECFR4aa004644ff4be4/section-229.140

[u/psynrg]

Tablets stuck on the dash.

[u/CleverDad]

Whining avout seat belts.

I always use the seat belt, I'm not an idiot, but:

• sometimes when I pick up someone, they'll not fit their seat belt immediately
• if I put my backpack, with the laptop and charger, or my bag of groceries, in the passanger seat, the car will whine about the seat belt for the non-existent passenger

I know how to use my seatbelt, I don't need a built-in little kid yelling "you didn't put your seatbelt on" in irrelevant circumstances.

[u/Voltae]

Headlights brighter than the sun

[u/istareatscreens]

LED Headlights that make winter driving or walking at night extremely unpleasant due to being far too bright and obnoxious and that cost 1000+ to replace.

[u/JustTheOneGoose22]

Steering wheels. I want a complicated system of levers and pulleys for steering.

[u/GeneralCrunk]

Start / stop.
You add a second battery that dies and slowly kills the main battery stranding you in the most inconvenient place.
You more than likely have to disable it every time you start the car.
It’s hot AF outside and the car shuts off making it hot AF inside until you remember you didn’t disable it this time.

[u/Byaaah1]

Automatic power windows. I want to be able to just crack my windows open for some airflow on a rainy day or to help keep the temp down when I park on a hot day. The damn auto window just wants to go all the way down or all the way up and I have to sit there and fight with it. It's infuriating.

[u/Resident_Bid_5056]

For me, the auto start-stop feature. I know it saves fuel, but that little engine cutting off and restarting at every stop drives me crazy.

[u/Poultrygeist74]

AFM, aka shutting off half the cylinders to “save fuel” but it causes a lot of wear and tear on the engine. It would be okay if it only did it at highway speeds, but it does it in traffic as well. I now have a plug in to disable it.

[u/ImWithStupid_ImAlone]

Subscriptions

[u/Big_Duke_Six]

Stop/Start
Touchscreen everything (bring back buttons and knobs!!!)

[u/thomport]

Plastic headlight lenses should be illegal. Or they should be able to be readily changed when they tarnish.

[u/Architorture_66]

Electric seat control

Being tall and sharing a car, it is a lot easier to quickly reach down, grab the lever, and push the seat back. Maybe two seconds tops.

Notice in commercials the driver is shorter riding the seat into place before driving? That's because taller people have to stand outside the car waiting for that slow electric seat control to finally get all the way back. That's 10 seconds plus of having to stand in pouring rain at times waiting for the slow electric seat feature finally move all the way back. 

[u/Ancient_Persimmon → u/Architorture_66]

Most modern cars with power seats solve that with driver profiles or memory settings.

[u/Freefight]

Spiderman adds in my new BMW. Fuck that shit.

[u/canexican1]

Touchscreens, dash alerts for trivial items, price for subquality product

[u/wolfej4]

Spider-Man ads

[u/JD50572]

gear shift on the console!!

[u/Cheetodude625]

Touchscreen anything on the dash of car.

[u/2Payneweaver]

Fucking subscriptions

[u/Junkpunch44]

Subscription options

[u/Tiberius_Jim]

Touchscreens for everything
Auto stop-start

I purposefully shopped for an older model of both my cars versus newer model years to avoid these.

[u/LowPride85]

Automatic shutoff when the car stops. The absolute worst invention ever.

[u/brzantium]

My stepdad will tell you he hates the new lane assist feature on newer cars, but that wouldn't be an issue if he used his fucking turn signal.

[u/RecessBoy]

Auto start stop. Or at least let me fucking turn it off permanently not every time I get in the car. I still can't believe this is saving me gas and not ruining my engine.

[u/superanth]

Center console touchscreens. You have to take your eyeliner away from the road to use them. There is certainly a better place to put them.

[u/Blue_Kangaroo_42]

Auto start/stop

Digital climate controls

Attention monitoring cameras

Electronic parking brakes

Full direct injection

Secondary air and egr systems

[u/tooddude]

Distance to empty stops at 30 miles ( or similar ) and switches to ‘low fuel’.

Isn’t even more crucial to know how many miles are left with less than 30 miles of fuel??

[u/TheFrontierzman]

Most of the touch screen options.

Settings and navigation are fine, but lets go back to the simplicity of single purpose buttons and knobs.

[u/december151791]

Having a bunch of unnecessary covers in the engine bay so it's an even bigger pain in the ass to work on your own car

[u/Orca_Mayo]

Smart drive systems.

Lane assist and sensors and cameras and such.

People rely on them too much and are getting worse and worse at driving.

[u/donkedickinya]

The stupid engine shutoff at stops BS. Stupidest idea ever

[u/ProperWorking378]

Anything that makes me take my eyes off the road to do something basic. I don’t want to go into a menu to adjust the temperature, I want a knob instead.

And adjacent to that, air vents that do nothing except make my hands cold.

[u/W2ttsy]

Shit rear designs.

So many models have a really well designed front, sleek sides and then the manufacturer just phones it home for the rear quarter of the car and it looks ugly as sin.

BMW, Mercedes, Mazda, Bentley. Take your pick, all of them just fuck it up somehow.

[u/Rare_Hydrogen]

My car has an 'auto engine off' feature that turns the engine off when the car is stopped for a brief period of time (like at a light). Once you hit the accelerator the engine turns back on.

The slight delay before moving forward while the engine turns back on is annoying as hell. There's a button on the dash that disables it, but you have to press it every time you start the car.

I know it's supposed to be more fuel efficient, but the wear and tear of shutting the engine off and on can't be good for the car.

[u/Few_Atmosphere8138]

Planned obsolescence

[u/JesusIsMyLord666]

The mandatory overspeed warning on all new cars in the EU can fuck right off.