10 overhyped car features you can totally IGNORE

Features are one of the main aspect to determine how good a car is. Normally, Longer features and equipment list equals to better car. However, this is not necessary always. While most of the features enhance the ergonomics and comfort of a car, there are some which are just plain marketing gimmicks employed by manufacturers to lure customers in.

Today, in this post, we’ll discuss about 10 such features that are over hyped and can be ignored while taking decision to buy a new car. That said, if you have extra cash lying around to splurge, no feature is useless. However, if you’re on a budget, ignoring these can help you save some of your hard earned cash.

Keyless Push Button start

The Keyless push-button start feature has made an appearance in even most of the B-segment hatchbacks. Highlighted by car manufacturers as a must have feature, it is usually reserved to the top-end trims of a car. Well, actually this feature doesn’t add much value to a car. While the feature allows a user to unlock his car without taking out the keys and even start it simply with the push of a button, it’s not something which is essential for driving. Most cars today come with remote locking and pressing the unlock button doesn’t take a large effort. Also, it’s no Herculean task to switch on the car’s engine by using a key. Hence, not having this feature on your car won’t make much of a difference.

Automatic Headlamps

As evident from the name itself, automatic headlamps saves you the work of switching the headlight on. It employs a light sensor that switches on the headlamps in case it senses darkness. Like seriously, all it takes is a second to do that manually and one shouldn’t be driving a car in case he can’t sense the need to turn on the headlamps. Even the mainstream car manufacturers have started offering this feature in the top-end trims of B-segment hatchbacks and C-segment sedans. There’s no point in paying a lot of extra money for something that can be done so easily.

Sunroof

Again a feature that might seem to be very cool and useful but is not. In a hot and humid country like ours, climate conditions remain pretty harsh almost throughout the year in most parts of the country, rendering the point of having a sunroof to null.There’s hardly a good time to open the sunroof and enjoy the weather outside. Moreover, pollution levels in most Indian cities are so high that it’s best to have the windows and the sunroof closed and AC switched on.

Beige interiors

We seriously don’t know why this beige bug has bitten the whole automotive industry of India. Both the customers and makers are fond of it. In a country like ours with dust and other natural elements in abundance, dark colours should be preferred over lighter ones. Maybe for some, beige interior can make their car look more premium, but never forget that maintaining a beige interior requires too much of an effort. Beige interiors are a dirt-magnet and get soiled very easily and require regular cleaning and maintenance.

Touch sensitive AC controls

One of the primary part of driving a car is to maintain focus on the road. Features like touch-sensitive AC controls however distract a driver as one has to divert their attention to touch the right button. While car users can use physical buttons and knobs even without looking at them, using touch controls requires more attention. Hence, one is prone to lose focus on driving and end up having an accident. So this comes as an insignificant feature which can be overlooked.

Proximity sensors

Many manufacturers are now offering proximity sensors on their cars.  These sensors trigger a sound alarm in case any object or person comes too close to the car. Now in a country like ours, where there’s almost never-ending congestion and traffic, this feature turns out to be highly annoying. Imagine getting irritated by a warning sound every now and then whenever a  vehicle gets close. There is simply no space to maintain enough distance from other road users. Hence, this feature can be totally ignored.

Ambient light

Nowadays, many cars come with ambient lighting as an added feature these days. While we wouldn’t deny the fact that it makes the cabin look cool by beautifully lightening it up,  it’s a pretty useless feature actually. In fact, the driver can get distracted by the various lights inside the car. Having ambient lights in your car makes sense only if you want to use it as a mini discotheque or want to be a anytime party guy.

Faux Roof rails

Roof rails have become more of an aesthetic accessory rather than something practical. Most SUVs today come with a pair of faux roof rails.  While they can add a touch of style to an SUV, they have no other proper use. Also, they aren’t cheap either. So you can give this feature a miss and save some money while at it.

Voice commands

Voice commands is a very nifty feature indeed, apart from the fact that it doesn’t work the way it it is intended to in our country. That’s because most of these systems can’t understand the Indian accent properly. This results into confusion and the driver might even end up getting distracted in a bid to use this feature properly. Hence, this feature can be given a miss except if you can wriggle your tongue and copy that accent.

Automatic wipers

As the name suggests, automatic wipers or rain sensing wipers as they are many time called, use sensors to detect water on the windscreen and turn on the wipers automatically. While this may sound very good, it can set you back by a good amount of money which you could have saved if were not lazy to flick a finger and do it manually. Also, they can be triggered many times just by a splash and can be annoying sometimes. Hence, paying extra for automatic wipers can be totally avoided.