15 People Share Their Car’s Most Useless Feature
Innovation is a prevalent thing in today’s world, with companies trying to beat each other to having the most sought-after product. This is true for cars as anything else, and we have this competitive nature to thank for many of the breakthroughs in safety and convenience modern cars have. Not everything, however, is all that useful.
Users of Reddit gathered together to discuss their car’s most useless feature, and it didn’t take long for people to share many examples. Here are some of the funniest, strangest, and most baffling examples people found hiding inside their vehicles.
Buttons for a HUD That Doesn’t Exist
One car apparently has steering-wheel buttons specifically designed to control a head-up display. There’s just one problem: the car doesn’t have a HUD. Pressing the buttons produces an error message explaining that there isn’t one.
A Warning That the Road Is Unpaved
One driver’s wife has a car that can apparently identify when the road is unpaved. The catch is that the notification arrives only after she has already started driving on the unpaved road. Some technological breakthroughs arrive slightly late.
CarPlay That Won’t Use the Convenient USB Port
One car has an integrated dashboard phone mount complete with its own USB socket, seemingly perfect for wired CarPlay. Unfortunately, CarPlay won’t work through that port, forcing the owner to run a cable across the cabin instead.
Fake V8 Noise for an Actual V8
Some cars pipe artificial engine sounds through their speakers, but one owner finds the feature especially pointless because the car already has a V8. If you bought the vehicle for its engine, why manufacture a soundtrack for it?
Remote Start Behind a Subscription
Remote start sounds like exactly the sort of convenience feature modern cars should provide. Unfortunately, one owner can only use theirs by paying a monthly subscription for the manufacturer’s app, turning a simple button into another recurring bill.
An Intercom for the Third Row
The Kia Telluride’s Driver Talk system can project the driver’s voice through the rear speakers so passengers can hear more easily. One owner, however, has discovered that simply yelling at the kids works perfectly well.
A Driver Fatigue Alert That Gets Tired of You
Driver-fatigue monitoring sounds useful until the system repeatedly insists you are tired when you aren’t. One driver reported getting the warning after only 20 minutes behind the wheel in the middle of the day, making the safety feature distinctly annoying.
Wireless Charging That Barely Charges
Wireless charging sounds wonderfully convenient until the phone gets hot while barely gaining any battery percentage. Heat during wireless charging is normal, and manufacturers acknowledge that temperature can reduce or interrupt charging, particularly when running demanding apps.
Lane Warnings That Hate Construction Zones
Lane-departure warnings can be useful on ordinary highways, but temporary construction lanes can confuse them. One driver complained that narrower lanes caused constant warnings, turning a potentially helpful safety system into an endless stream of distracting chimes.
Collision Avoidance That Wants to Stop Everything
Collision mitigation systems are designed to help prevent crashes, but false positives can make them frustrating. One driver says theirs repeatedly tries to stop the car while navigating narrow streets lined with parked vehicles.
A Drift Analyzer for the Daily Commute
BMW’s M Drift Analyzer can record and evaluate actual drifts, including factors such as drift angle and duration. For an owner whose driving consists mainly of commuting to and from work, however, there apparently isn’t much drifting to analyze.
Self-Parking That Takes Forever
The 2024 Prius can use Advanced Park to help handle steering, acceleration, braking, and shifting during certain parking maneuvers. It can even assist with parallel parking, but one owner says manually parking is dramatically faster.
Mysterious Orange BMW Lights
Sometimes the most useless feature is simply the one you cannot identify. One BMW owner noticed strange orange lights on the side of the vehicle but had apparently never seen them actually do anything, leaving their purpose mysterious.
A Window-Open Warning in Summer
Some cars apparently complain when the engine is switched off while a window remains open. That might be useful in certain circumstances, but during summer, one owner considers leaving the windows cracked entirely intentional.
Games in Android Auto
Android Auto includes a games section, which sounds considerably less useful once you remember the driver is operating a vehicle. Whatever entertainment value these games offer, they certainly aren’t the sort of feature that makes commuting easier.