The ghosts of Cal Worthington and his dog Spot have decided to visit you. Ghost-of-Cal is still fairly new to the afterlife, and he’s not yet mastered his powers. However, he’s learned enough to be able to change or add just one feature to your existing vehicle that you don’t have now. Sadly, he can’t do anything crazy like adding teleportation or flying capability; he’s limited to vehicle options that are commonly available now. Even if the feature wasn’t available commonly at the time you got the vehicle, it can be added as long as it’s available now.
So, you look over your car/boat/bike/motorcycle/motorhome/skateboard and you think to yourself, “What’s the one thing I’d really love to have that I don’t have now on this thing?” What do you come up with?
My choice, by the way, would be dual climate control. My wife and I are basically at the opposite ends of the temperature spectrum, and it would be ideal for both of us to be able to blast ourselves with the air temp of our choice rather than compromising. I think she’d probably choose the same.
At the time we bought our car, we didn’t think it was worth the extra money we’d have to spend (it would have required buying the top trim of our car’s model, which would have been an extra couple grand). But there are days when we are sorry nonetheless.
I would love to have a “smart car” in the sense of voice-controlled, touch-screen interface that works with phones and GPS and whatever else. You know, like the commercial where the family turns on their car’s heat from the airplane using an app on their phone.
I’m the type to buy used vehicles with minimal frills, so this isn’t the kind of thing I’ll pay for, but I would sure enjoy having it.
Here’s a nice mundane one. On my old XM Skyfi 2 (an aftermarket XM unit), I could spin the jog wheel and, without changing the station, I could view what song was on all the other stations. It was equivalent of hitting the guide button on your TV to see what else was on. It’s a nice feature when you have 200 stations.
My last two cars have had XM build into the radio and neither have had anything like that. At best, you could scroll through and see the names of the stations, but you still have to click through each one to see what was on.
I’d like that back. Also, that unit could pause up to a half hour (And then skip around within that half hour) of radio. That was pretty nice if I was listening to something and had to talk to someone and/or get out of my car.
As much as I like having XM integrated into my car and as much as I hated bumping my knee or hand on the unit, it was pretty nice and I’d like some of those features back.
My last car had that (my current car might, I’m not sure). It was awful, it could never tell what I said.
“Set temp to 65”
-Turning radio to FM 96.5
“Turn radio to 94.5”
-Turning air conditioner off
“oh c’mon that wasn’t even close.”
I gave up on it after awhile. Besides, all the controls are within an arms reach.
When I first got the car, my sister was driving it and I was showing her the voice commands, I ran through a few (that actually worked) then I said “Put car in park” as we were going about 35 and I watched as she braced herself and freaked out like she was about to go through the windshield.
Hmm. I’d like to extend the range for putting the top down (or up) by remote. For “safety” reasons, BMW will only allow the remote to operate the top if I’m standing right by the car, and the doors are all closed. I’d love to be able to put the top down while walking out to my car…let the heat escape before I get there, and not have to stand around waiting. (I’d be able to see the car, to make sure it’s still safe…)
There is apparently a very popular aftermarket fix for this, and my car comes out of manufacturer’s warranty in a few months. So I might get it done thanks to the magic of money.
Heated steering wheel. For some reason, the winter package on the 2010 Outback did not include this, and I frequently wish for it during the long 6 months of winter. I have a very slight case of Reynaud’s (fingers turn white and don’t warm up) which is aggravated by my icy steering wheel. I have solved it so far by adding a fuzzy cover and holding the wheel very lightly on those -10F days.
Can’t think of anything else, my car does everything I ask it to (like turn on the seat heaters when I click the rocker switch and turn on the radio when I push the big round button).
Real: a diesel engine. At current gas prices, it’s almost worth getting rid of the car and using a taxi. I read somewhere that hybrid and electric cars cost the same in electricity prices to run as gas engines. Also, since the future is ethanol, mileage will only go down.
Hmm. About the only thing I can think of is if I could get my stereo raised higher on the dashboard so I don’t have to look down to adjust the volume or see the time on the clock. Cars used to have the radio right near the top of the dash so you could still look at the road while you were adjusting it. Now, mine’s down below the air conditioner controls.
