# Car features I don't understand - educate me
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 7, 2025, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741 "2025-10-07T09:14:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/61 "2025-10-09T14:29:46Z")
I don’t think this is an automation issue. Towing is one thing that can stress the vehicle cooling system. Even if you have a tow package with an upgraded radiator and a transmission cooler, those are both usually behind the air conditioner condenser. So the vehicle cuts off the AC when the coolant temperature rises, in part to take the (relatively small) load of the compressor off of the engine, but also to allow cooler air to hit the radiator. Otherwise the air flowing through the condenser will be hotter than the ambient air temperature when it hits the radiator. I suppose having a tow vehicle that greatly exceeds your needs might never have an issue with this.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/62 "2025-10-09T16:19:50Z")
Quoting myself for context and paging @Eonwe.
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> > [@Eonwe](#):
> >
> > This screen serves no function nor does it drive any behavior. It just makes it harder to use the car. I spent 30 years being trusted to operate my radio or heating system, and now I have to click through a “danger” warning before the car allows me to access those features? Every time I start the car?
>
> Federal law requires the nag screen at every start up.
Something I forgot to mention.
Federal law for late model vehicles also requires that the screen shift to displaying the backup camera within some very short time after the transmission is selected to reverse. I think it’s 1/2 or 1/4 second. Functionally instant for a human.
And the backup camera has priority over the nag screen. So if you’ll be backing away from being parked, start the engine, engage Reverse and the nag screen is gone and does not return. If you were going to be able to drive forward from the parking spot, just select Reverse for a second, then Drive, then drive off. The nag screen is long gone.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
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### Author:  [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/63 "2025-10-10T06:37:18Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#):
>
> He likes to drive with his hand on the top of the wheel.
I understand that airbags make that not a good idea.
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/64 "2025-10-10T08:09:03Z")
We have two teens who need to be hauled around with their friends. My wife’s family often come up from Taiwan to join us on vacations.
Everyone hates minivans but the ability to stow away the third row makes it usable.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/65 "2025-10-10T11:30:02Z")
> [@Ancient\_Nerd](#):
>
> I understand that airbags make that not a good idea.
There are several of his driving practices that I think are not a good idea, but that’s the way it goes. I don’t get a vote.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/66 "2025-10-10T12:54:48Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> > [@FairyChatMom](#):
> >
> > What we both hate is the _ding-ding-ding_ reminder to take a break with the coffee cup visual
>
> That one fascinates me. Mine only goes off late a night when I’m really tired. How is it so accurate?
It watches the driver.
> [@Ellecram](#):
>
> his particular alarm feature kept bothering me and a cousin on a recent road trip. It was a rented car and neither one of us could understand why we were getting the _Consider taking a Coffee Break_ alert every 10 minutes!
> Nor did we have the time to figure out how to change the settings.
> It was extremely annoying and did not seem to be related to anything except the passing of time on the highway.
> Some days it was considerably worse than others. There were even days when it didn’t go off at all.
It’s not the passage of time, it’s tracking the driver. If it goes off a lot, the driver is probably not as attentive as the car thinks the driver ought to be.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/67 "2025-10-10T13:01:20Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> Why are we even talking about buttons and knobs with the voice recognition software we have today? “(Nickname of car), make it 5 degrees warmer.”
Because not everyone wants to talk to their car. It makes me very uncomfortable. I almost never talk to my phone, either.
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> 100% a less functional, less useful, less safe, and more expensive implementation of the legacy analog interface that only exists for marketing reasons
The screen is actually cheaper, that’s why all the manufacturers moved to it. Buttons have become a premium feature on household appliances like washing machines, too. They know that people like buttons, but don’t want to pay for all the extra wiring.
As for fiddling with climate control… Does no one else set it cooler when it’s heating, and warmer when it’s cooling? It seems extravagant to cool my car’s cabin to 65 degrees. And I’d probably find it slightly chilly in summer short sleeves. But wearing a winter coat, anything warmer is really uncomfortable. And we have a big chunk of the year with variable weather, where i don’t know whether I’ll be heating or cooling the car tomorrow. So i mess with my knobs and buttons (old car) all the time, and I’m happy to have knobs and buttons.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/68 "2025-10-10T17:27:39Z")
Maybe I _won’t_ replace my 13-year-old dumb car.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/69 "2025-10-10T17:38:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> The same applies to the car’s lane-keeping feature.
Mine is annoying because it fights you to keep you dead center, The only time I regret turning it off was coming back from a driving power trip to the west coast. Coming back I’m driving on a central Oregon county road with my family. Then I woke up on the other direction’s lane with a big fuckin’ rig barreling down on us.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/70 "2025-10-10T17:44:27Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Maybe I _won’t_ replace my 13-year-old dumb car.
I am currently driving a 2013 Impala. I really don’t want to have to adjust to all the bells and whistles that come with a new car so I am delaying a bit.
I have been in enough of these new cars to understand the changes but I still like my placid little old car.
Actually I am waiting for my town to finish digging up the streets before I spring for a new vehicle. Our roads are like a war zone for now.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/71 "2025-10-10T19:12:36Z")
I used to be bugged by that screen too, but now I ignore it and within 5 seconds it disappears automatically.
I like the infotainment console, all it requires is a quick tap to turn on/ off features. 2020 Subaru OB guess I’m used to it.
Otoh the adaptive cruise control is abused by my SO. They drive exclusively using it. I’m certain it’s what caused the rear brakes to wear out prematurely.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/72 "2025-10-10T19:22:13Z")
> [@chela](#):
>
> Otoh the adaptive cruise control is abused by my SO. They drive exclusively using it. I’m certain it’s what caused the rear brakes to wear out prematurely.
Adaptive cruise works _really_ well with EV and PHEV vehicles though. The electric motors handle the speed changes very smoothly and fluidly, with little-to-no-wear on the brakes.
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/73 "2025-10-10T19:50:16Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Adaptive cruise works _really_ well with EV and PHEV vehicles though. The electric motors handle the speed changes very smoothly and fluidly, with little-to-no-wear on the brakes.
I’m glad to hear it, but the problem is the effect of adaptive cruise control on MY brakes while driving in the presence of morons.
Which is to say, I’m sick of running across clusters of cars that are all slowing down, very possibly because they’re all using ACC and nobody is making an attempt to drive their vehicle efficiently. Their ACC slows them down, the person behind them has their ACC slow them down and it causes a big knot of gnarled traffic. I see it all the time and occasionally get stuck behind them because of the separate problem of people having no idea what the left lane is for.
I’m hoping for automated cars ASAP because people are driving worse and worse. They aren’t paying attention, they’re allowing the newer fancy features to drive them rather than actively driving the car through the automation, and a lot of people are just plain unaware of what’s happening around them as they drive.
I’m sick of sharing space and oxygen with these people. I use the left lane to pass and then I move over. I’m happy to move for people who want to drive faster - I watch for them and plan my movements. If I use my cruise control, I’m still driving the car through that tool, not letting it take over and mentally checking out. I’m convinced many traffic problems are induced by poor driving skills, not just volume, and that some of the “gee whiz” features in modern cars often make it worse.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/74 "2025-10-10T20:20:24Z")
Ah, the classic complaint, summed up well by Carlin:
> Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
I often ascribe to it as well. Well, I _still_ mostly agree, but yes it’s subjective, and if I had a fix to stupid, inattentive people, I do have somewhat higher priority targets than driving. But I’d love to see efficient and safe self-driving vehicles where I could use that time to read, relax and get stuff to drive, especially with my annual+ 630 mile drives to my folks.
TBC, I’m not insulting or belittling your situation @Llama_Llogophile - just that I’m working in the spirit of the thread, of ways to educate and take advantage (if desired!) of car features, rather than a Pit thread, where I’d rant about them.
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### Author:  [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/75 "2025-10-10T23:25:46Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Ah, the classic complaint, summed up well by Carlin:
>
> > Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
I first heard that while creeping along in rush hour traffic. The traffic came to a full stop. Everyone was going the same speed, zero. It was nirvana.
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### Author:  [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2025, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/76 "2025-10-11T04:34:44Z")
Reminds me of another - You are not stuck in traffic, you _are_ traffic.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2025, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/77 "2025-10-11T05:00:21Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Adaptive cruise works _really_ well with EV and PHEV vehicles though. The electric motors handle the speed changes very smoothly and fluidly, with little-to-no-wear on the brakes.
And hybrids too as they use regenerative breaking.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2025, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/78 "2025-10-11T06:53:41Z")
I’d say it depends on the hybrid - _some_ of the mild-hybrids with minimal dedicated electrical motors do absolutely fine on the slowing down part, but struggle on the smooth return to speed. They are not Bad in any way, but somewhat different than the performance of full hybrids or BEV/PHEV where both directions have the EV motors smoothing the way. Again, _very_ much depends on the hybrid not to mention where you’re driving. The faster you go, the more oomph you normally need from the electrical system for best performance.
> **[Hybrid vs. Plug-in Hybrid vs. Mild Hybrid: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE & Which...](https://myevdiscussion.com/threads/hybrid-vs-plug-in-hybrid-vs-mild-hybrid-whats-the-difference-which-is-right-for-you.793/)**
>
> Hybrid vs. Plug-in Hybrid vs. Mild Hybrid: Key Differences and Choosing the Right One
> 1. Mild Hybrid (MHEV)
> A mild hybrid uses a small electric motor alongside a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE). It doesn't allow the car to run on...
[in case some people aren’t familiar with the distinctions in hybrid type - admittedly MOST hybrids commonly seen are the mid-point hybrids]
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### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2025, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/79 "2025-10-11T10:51:39Z")
A common feature on mid-range and above cars in the European market are automatic folding side-view mirrors. That is when your shut off the car the mirrors fold back out of the way which is handy when parking on narrow streets. Is this feature common at all in the North American market?
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-features-i-dont-understand-educate-me/1023741/80 "2025-10-11T11:29:32Z")
> [@kferr](#):
>
> Is this feature common at all in the North American market?
I don’t know how common, but not rare. I feel as though I first noticed it on pricier - likely European - brands/models. Over the past couple of years it seems to be becoming more common. Of some use as parking lot spaces keep getting narrower.
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