Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, the editors over at Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) compiled a list of their ten favorite car features. 

Among their top picks: 

Power Liftgate
Park Assist
Around View Monitor
Cross Traffic Alert
Bluetooth Streaming Audio
Volvo’s City Safety System

At the risk of revealing my age, I remember when intermittent wipers were a big deal.  Thinking back, while the feature certainly wasn’t a  necessity,  having it really made things much more easier  than flipping the wiper switch on and off every three minutes during a light spring shower or a simple dusting of snow.

I also remember being jazzed when I bought my first car that came equipped with power windows and door locks.  It sure beat the heck out of cranking the windows up and down by hand (especially if you had a window that happened to somehow get misaligned), or having to do a back flip to just to make sure all the doors were locked in the rear seating area.    These days, we don’t even think about leaning over to lock the doors or having to roll up the windows by hand – we just push a button.

Over the years, my expectations for the cars that I buy, as well as the options they feature have changed considerably.   Long gone are the days when I wished I didn’t have to run outside in freezing weather to warm up my car – or become anxious when I realized that I accidentally left the road map at the last rest stop.   These days, we have remote start whenever we want it, remote locks and alarms 24/7, and GPS to get us where we need to go – even when we don’t have a map.

Today, there’s almost no limit to what features are available, from DVD players and televisions to heated seats and multi-zone climate control, satellite radio,  cruise control,  chill zones to keep beverages and snacks cold, voice turn navigation, and even automatic tire pressure sensors.   These are of course, merely a small sampling of the features that are available today in the vehicles we buy.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, what feature(s) are you most thankful for?

Tags: Car Shopping, Gadgets & Gizmos, General // 1 Comment »