To the engineers who enjoy cars, what are things being offered in vehicles nowadays that are simply not worth it to you and going to cause more hassle than benefit in the lifecycle of the vehicle?
For me it’s the vehicles with the huge screens stretching the length of the dashboard. This will age like milk and is sure to be prone to some electrical issue.

So- there are some great automotive innovations that are great:
-lane assist: beeps at you when you are veering out of lane
-radar cruise control. Absolutely love it.
-thermostat temp control. Set it at 70. Never touch it again!
-heated steering wheel. Awesome
-hybrid (we have Toyota). It works very well and out gas mileage is off the charts- and Toyota offers a 10 year battery warranty.
-seat heaters and coolers. Meow!

I’d say over-reliance on massive screens and complex tech features like gesture controls or overly sensitive driver aids often adds more potential for costly headaches than actual value over a vehicle’s lifespan.

Touchscreens and absolutely anything “connected” with over the air updates.

I view a car as a transactional deal - I give them money, they give me the title with the car, and there is no future interaction unless initiated by me (service) or justifiably by the manufacturer (warranty repairs, recalls, etc). The manufacturer has no right to track me, my driving habits, my climate control preferences, or anything of the sort.

Any "live services" or OTA updatable VWag recently exposed the location of 800k cars via the GPS system, Mazda had a long conversation load of problems with a malformed image delivered by a local radio station corrupting the in car control system a couple of years back. As these systems become more integral to safe oporation of the vehicle we will be in an increasing risk window for faults and hackers, imagine if rather than locking out the screen and air con the poorly formatted image overrode the maximum permitted speed on an intelligent speed limiter. Then there is the pointless but expensive tech like TPMS, the local dealer wants £140 per corner for new sensors (plus removing and refitting the tyre), the sensors are sealed so you can't just replace the battery every 5-7 years, cheaper sensors are available but you still need to code them to the car and again they are charging an hour for that.

I disagree with the lane assist, at least in my GF’s Mazda. If tries to keep you in the lane and you have fight it to go around debris in the road. If it only beeped that would be better.

I agree with you on the screens. Even brand new, they run like crap.

The internet of things, there are a lot of little things I’ve loved, but it does feel now it is causing more of a hassle. The sensors are a huge one, and the fact that you need to go to a dealership and pay them to reset everything is crazy. I think after power windows, we just went too far.

My car is online. I can use it as a hot spot if I choose to pay(I don’t). My car will text me if I park it and leave it unlocked. I can then lock it from my phone. If I park somewhere new, it will text me the location. I can see where it is at anytime. If I lend it to my kid I can see where it is, how fast he is going, etc. If I leave a window open, it will let me know and I can close it from my phone. If it is cold out, I can start it from my phone (I never do this but I could). And, if anyone stole it, I could find it.

All of it. 90-00 GM was no great time either, but they are cheap, easy, and plentiful, so that’s where I tend to gravitate.

For me, it’s left and right indicator buttons in the place of indicator stalks … why? who thought this was a good idea? If I’m turning the steering wheel (which I may need to do while I’m driving) then the indicators are on the opposite side every half-turn of the wheel. What if I have to make a quick left turn followed immediately by a quick right? Now I have to re-train my brain to think about where the buttons are and which one is the correct one to press, all while accelerating/decelerating, navigating, watching for cyclists, pedestrians, wildlife, etc. Indicator stalks and shift paddles are where they are (tucked right behind the wheel) for good reason.

This was one of the main reasons I went with a good European 6-cylinder with AWD for my most recent car purchase rather than a Tesla model 3 … I think EV’s are the future (or a big part of it) but they’re still working on the recipe.

How about electric/hybrid systems, all-wheel drive, l CVTs, climate control, or even a sunroof?

My VW Golf Sportwagon has none of these things yet returns 42+ mpg on the road at 80 mph all day long. I enjoy rowing the 5 speed gearbox and use snow tires in winter (upper midwest). I intentionally bought a 2wd stripper car and figure I am good for 250k+ miles with basic maintenance.

Simple, "unconnected" cars a mortal can maintain are getting harder and harder to find.

The "misuse" of plastic and rubber materials. Mainly speaking to BMWs. Plastic valve covers that warp, crack, and cause check engine lights. Using materials in a guaranteed oil contact environment that are specifically not rated for oil contact environments. PP + NBR resins that become brittle and crack to pieces around the 20 year mark being used for bumper covers. Huge screens everywhere. Non-serviceable safety devices like headlights and taillights. The LED ones have great light output, but what happens when they inevitably start to partially or completely fail? Vehicles will either be junked or the owners will be at the mercy of stealerships' prices for mandatory safety equipment. Also, cable operated window regulators come to mind (again, personal experience with failures in BMWs).

All that said, I do really appreciate the 360* cameras on the family Suburban. And I have to admit that the all digital dash displays more info and displays it better than could be done with an analog dashboard.

Too many screens and other digital nonsense. I want mechanical knobs and such in my vehicle. Better tactile control, and I dont want to distract myself fiddling with a screen while driving. Rear backup cameras/GPS screen is convenient but other than that I wouldn't want any new car.

Although I think that automatic running boards are cool, I also think they are a complete waste of money. I live in Michigan so between snow, road salt and tar from terrible pothole patch repairs they seem like more trouble in the long run for maintenance. If you’re a fancy pants like me, having to keep up a ceramic coating treatment for them sounds like a nightmare.

Just buy a good aftermarket set and spray them with bedliner if you drive a pick up.

Not an engineer by trade, but I've worked on cars my whole life in my spare time including re-engineering (read:fixing) many a broken thing in my vehicles. Big ones for me are the screens on everything, blind spot monitoring/radar cruise control/self-drivjng features being pushed into just about every car, and finally pay-to-play schemes with regards to things like heated seats, go-fast mode for evs, etc. As someone else already mentioned, as the consumer we paid for the car so I whole-heartedly disagree with this notion that OEMs can slowly reclaim ownership of their vehicles one system at a time and prevent people from using systems and hardware for which they've already paid. It's the main reason every single one of my vehicles is at least 10 years old now and I have no plans to replace any of them with a new car. I'll continue swapping out motors and transmissions rather than pay for all this new crap and encourage OEMs to continue these practices.

Touch screens in cars aren’t going anywhere! If you think about it, they are cheaper to mfr than manual buttons/wires, etc. probably the same with push button starts. That button is way cheaper to make than a mechanical lock and key.

Regarding radar cruise control? LOVE IT! I once drove from Milwaukee around the 294 Chicago beltway and into Indiana without ever touching a pedal!