[Carpainter]

Hello Bhpians,

Today we have numerous different car makers in our market offering us hundreds of different models accross the different price segments. Newer cars joining them every month with some unique new features while the old ones get updated with additional accessories to woo more buyers. While some cars come with the right balance of gizmos and safety technologies, others have imbalance specially when it comes to safety equipments in India. Now while we all love those new gadgets in our new cars, they give us feel good factor as well as bragging rights, not all of them are useful on a day to day basis in the long run.

So here I'd like to discuss with you what are the features that you have or had in your cars that you feel like unused most of the time. Remember a feature rarely used doesn't necessarily mean it's useless or unnecessary. They just don't come in handy on a daily basis. Here goes my list

Air Purifier



This is the latest trend specially in Hyundai and Kia cars. While this has gained popularity during this pandemic and worsening polution level, how many of you who have it in your car actually use it on a daily basis like say your air conditioner.

Fog Lamps



Personally I don't use it too often unless the weather condition demand for it or on the highway. Although there are many drivers who use it regularly albeit unnecessarily, how many bhpians use it on a clear sunny day or night.

Sunroof



Now this is the most favourite feature for Indian car buyers at the moment. Even a couple of years ago this was available only in cars that used to cost upwards of 30 lakh but today even sub 10 lakh rupees cars have them. I don't have sunroof in any of my cars but do you really use it every now and then considering our hot and dusty weather most of the time. Also I believe keeping the sunroof open reduces the effectiveness of the AC.

Rear seat belts



Now this is going to be a controversial topic. How many of you actually use the rear seat belts every time you carry a rear passenger. Personally speaking I insist on putting rear seat belts on only during highway trips as I believe our bumper to bumper crawling in city don't require rear seat belts but of course there is no harm if one can keep the good habit in city drives as well.

Handsfree tailgate opening



Some cars usually expensive SUVs like the Ford Endeavour comes with this feature where a sweeping feet gesture opens the tailgate. I don't have it in my cars but I have never seen anyone using it. Owners with this feature please share your experience.

Auto Park Assist



Cars like Octavia, Endeavour use to come with this feature but do you really use it considering our congested and cramped parking spaces and questionable reliability of the system. Personally I feel it's better to keep the matter in my own hands specially considering a mistake can damage my own car as well as that of others. What do you say.

App based car ignition



Advertised as a cool feature to start ignition and AC to pre-cool your car using mobile app. This is available mainly in automatic petrol cars. Sounds really gimmicky and a nice show off for a new car owner but how much does one use it during the entire ownership period I wonder.

Cigarette lighter



This is mostly a defunct feature these days but my old Innova still has it. I've never put it to use till date.

These are some of the features that comes to my mind but I may have missed some. Some of these are nice to have features when the car is new but over time these become sparingly used. Please share your thoughts.

Pic courtesy:: Google

[sv97]

I would like to add a few which I think are not used

1. Voice Recognition
   
   
   
2. Auto mode of automatic climate control
   
   
   
3. Parking Lights
   
   
4. Connected Car Features
   
   

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by sv97

[*]Auto mode of automatic climate control

Attachment 2095032

I agree with you except for this one. I use the auto mode in my climate control most of the time. Also I feel the connected car feature is just a party trick that feels very interesting when new but the interest dies down with time.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Here are the features in my car, that I use rarely or don't use at all:

Rear fog lamp: almost never used.

Rear glass de-fogger: Rarely used. But this is a "must-have" feature.

Cigarette lighter: Never used, removed and replaced by DIY footwell lights.

CD player: Never used.

Keyslot in the door handle: Never used.

Rear seat belts: not used frequently, but I have started insisting their use.

Steering rake adjustment: Never used, as the highest position is the only position suitable.

Child lock: Never used. But this too is a "must-have" feature.

[RadixLecti]

Originally Posted by sv97

[*]Auto mode of automatic climate control

I actually use auto climate control all the time in my Duster. What I never use is the speed limit mode of the cruise control/speed limit switch. It's either in cruise control mode for the Expressway, or off for mountain roads and city driving (image taken from T-Bhp):

[YD14]

Here is my list:

1. Rear fog lamp- Used only on two occassions.

2. Reverse parking 'sensors'- It was a freebie given to us during purchase. They never helped in judging the position of the car and added four ugly black dots on the cars back. When the car is about to hit something I can see it in the IRVM. Once a little puppy was behind the car and it gave no signals but thankfully a bystander alerted me. Best practice is to go out of the car and check yourself for anything not visible being present there. Don't know why goverment made them mandatory.

3. Bumper edge protectors and side rubber protectors- Our car had a number light contacts with walls and other cars and none of these rubber strips ever helped in saving from scratches or damage because the area they cover was not the main impact point. When it did hit them, the bumper simply popped.

4. Auto window down- Just never figured out why I would need to roll the window all the way down or even up when I can't keep my finger on the button for 3 seconds.

5. Rear armrest- While I feel the need for a front armrest every once in a while, the rear armrest just never gets used.

6. CD player or Aux input.

7. Driver adjustable headrest- Don't get me wrong, this is one of the important safety features but, I am the only tall person in my family and once I adjusted it to my height other drivers in family never bothered to lower it.

Just to mention:
8. The parking lights for their intended use- Never used them while parking, but I do use them while driving in the narrow, but well lit, streets of my town during night and also during late evening but before dark. Basically, when low beam can be irritating but I need to convey my presence to other road users.

[Cessna182]

Air purifier is useful for city travel. The ones with an ionizer mode are good. HEPA based ones are not useful in a car because the volume of air they take in is very small and the fan motors are puny and can be only locally effective. The ionizer mode works well.

Fog lamps are great for seeing the corners and edges of the roads and this is very important if you drive in crowded Indian villages with narrow roads and open drains that your wheels can fall into.

Connected car features- not sure about the utility. But then I am old school and don't even like a touch screen. Maybe younger buyers find more use of this. To me it is just another failure mode over a 10 year period.

[Vijin]

Rear Defogger: Never got the chance to use.
Rear fog lamp: Never drove in a situation demanding this. I found it is actually a disturbance for vehicle following otherwise.
Dual zone climate control: Just checked once or twice to see if it works!
Equalizer settings of car audio: Not an audiophile, never bothered to change default settings


Things from the author's list I do use regularly:
A/C in auto mode: Always
Air Purifier (Hepa based): 75% of the time. I like to keep my car odour-neutral.
Rear seat belts: I keep one buckled over baby car seat by default.

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by YD14

Here is my list:

2. Reverse parking 'sensors'- It was a freebie given to us during purchase. They never helped in judging the position of the car and added four ugly black dots on the cars back. When the car is about to hit something I can see it in the IRVM. Once a little puppy was behind the car and it gave no signals but thankfully a bystander alerted me. Best practice is to go out of the car and check yourself for anything not visible being present there. Don't know why goverment made them mandatory.

On the other hand I believe rear parking sensors are really useful specially if you're driving a car for the first time or parking in a tight spot. I think this is a must have feature for longer sedan/SUV specially with poor rearward visibility.

[aravind.anand]

Believe it or not, in my car, its the cup holder Maybe the Americans and the Europeans prefer to have a nice travel mug and sip hot coffee from it while cruising down the highway, or even during their morning drive to the office.

But if I ever tried that here, I would definitely have third degree burns on my legs, thanks to the moon craters, which are euphemistically called pot-holes on our roads.

I use the cup holders to keep keys and loose coins though

[narayans80]

Rarely used:

Rear defogger
Middle lap belt
Intermediate wiper speed adjustment - For this, I miss the auto-wiper feature that Alpha variant offered.
Seatbelt height adjustment

Never used:
Inbuilt navigation - Ejected as soon as I got home from showroom
Mirrorlink
Aux cable - Tried once on the Corolla, never on the S-Cross.

[Nav-i-gator]

There is a difference between rarely used and not useful.
Rarely used:
1. Steering rake adjustment- I use it only once to get to my favorite position. Only used when someone changes it, which is not often.
2. Rear defogger- used in chilly winters or when driving in high humidity during rainy season. Very useful.
3. High beam (obviously, intended to use only when absolutely necessary)

Not useful (can give it a pass)
1. All connected car tech
2. Sunroof
3. Other gimmicks/party tricks like boot auto open, remote engine start etc

[a4anurag]

Here's my list corresponding to my Creta

1. Front fog lamp
   
2. Sunglasses holder
   
3. Rear seat belts and the rear seat too
   
4. Navigation using the OEM HU
   
5. AUX port

[TrackDay]

The only thing rarely used in my car is the tow hook !

Coming to the list slated above I think some are useful.

1. Air purifier . It is actually good for your health and lungs in the ling run.

2. Sun roof. Now this depends. If you drive in the evening this is really a boon. The cool air and open sky is something your passengers will love. But no sticking out the head please !

3. Rear seat belts. Although rarely used, folks need to know what these life savers are for. Just see accidents in which the rear passengers were not buckled while the front passengers were. End of story. I always use them while in the rear.

4. Connected car ignition. I would like to drive away the car a soon as I enter, so as to not waste time. With this I can start the engine while tying my shoe laces. By the time I am done, I enter the car and voila ! drive off.

[SoumenD]

While selecting the car i made sure it has all the features I would actually need like ACC, electric folding & adjustable mirrors, AA/AC, navigation system, cruise control etc. 1 feature that I didn’t bother much about but is available is Voice command & coincidentally it doesn’t even work properly in my Jazz VX CVT. So that’s the feature neither I bothered about nor it works as expected.