The extras that are worth getting with a new car

robnet77

I am just wondering which are the most useful accessories that are available nowadays with new cars...

For example, obstacle sensors which warn you with a beep.

I am not talking about gimmicks, such as electronically adjustable seats with memory of each user's settings, just to clarify...

Just throw in your favourites please!

MuppetCheck

Everyone is different i suppose. I usually disregard a car without xenon (or LED) headlights.

Nice to haves are heated seats and some form of upgraded headunit. Heated windscreens are handy and now that Ford's patent is up becoming more commonplace on other makes so I opted for one lately - handy if you're in early/late to work.

Caliden

Leather or some sort of upgraded seat upholstery. I never understand why people spend north of 30k on a car and get the standard cloth seats. Cheapens the car in my opinion.

BMJD

Electrically adjustable seats are great, only peasants do it the old fashioned way.

kirving

A/C is now basically standard. I absolutely hate getting in the lowest spec car, when a 2nd hand with extras generally costs very little more. ie: you wont see the cost of extras reflected in resale value, but will be nice to have while you do own the car.

Xenons are a must, as are front fogs(I don't drive with them on)

Auto-wipers are also great.

Rear parking sensors are an absolute must, since they could very easily save you thousands over the lifetime of a car. Depending on price, a 360° camera system would be great.

Auto-dimming mirror is fantastic, will never buy a car without one. If I shared my car, electric memory seat/mirrors would be a must too. Heated seats are great, would love a heated windscreen, but they're annoying with reflections at night)

Leather, again a must have. So much cleaner.

thebiglad

Simple but useful - cruise control/speed limit and even Bluetooth - doesn't go across all ranges, climate control, I have a Ford the fast clear windscreen is excellent.

cruizer101

A/C, becoming more and more standard but really should be standard not so much for cooling but more for demisting.

Cruise control is a nice addition also.

Leather I don't think its as good as people say, too cold when it cold, stick when its warm, I know can be remedied with heated seats and somewhat with a/c but tbh next car don't think I'd be too pushed on it unless I could get ventilated seats, very much like sound of them.

Bluetooth should be standard enough now too.

Skylinehead

Simple, alloy wheels. Anyone who buys a new car in this day and age with steelies should be thrown into the sea. And I see plenty of them too.

*Kol*

Auto wipers, auto lights, parking sensors, keyless entry, leather heated seats, climate control, auto dimming mirrors, guide me home lights, electrically adjustable seats especially if you share with someone who adjusts the height.

drunkmonkey

Automatic gear box is a must in certain types of car especially in the premium market. A 5series or Audi A6 it should be standard, ruins the car with a stick. Think Audi drivers are more guilty of going for the stick.

Brian Scan

Skylinehead wrote: »

Simple, alloy wheels. Anyone who buys a new car in this day and age with steelies should be thrown into the sea. And I see plenty of them too.

Yeah, the only way to deal with someone whose taste differs from yours.

helimachoptor

after my last car 318D with M sport badging

- Leather seats are a must, have paid for themselves with the less effort needed to clean them
- Climate control (currently air con only) i prefer a set temp rather than switching it on full blast to cool down
- bluetooth is a must, had to get a parrot installed in the current car
-Keyless operation

BMJD

Brian Scan wrote: »

Yeah, the only way to deal with someone whose taste differs from yours.

I'd prefer a big fire myself, in case they are good swimmers.

Skylinehead

Brian Scan wrote: »

Yeah, the only way to deal with someone whose taste differs from yours.

Llighten up son.

And their taste doesn't "differ", it doesn't exist :cool:

Atlantic Dawn

These would be in my mind on any new car I would buy, the more the better...

• Auto dimming rear view mirror
• Auto folding door mirrors
• Auto lights
• Auto wipers
• Cruise control
• Dual climate
• Heated leather seats
• Remote boot release
• Steering wheel audio controls
• Xenon headlights

Henry Ford III

I've had more than my fair share of new cars and Id say minimise any extras as they don't add any value when it comes to moving it on.

Look instead at a better model that'll have the extras included as standard spec.

A/c, abs, alloys, t/c, bluetooth, alarm, mp3/usb etc. are all things that can be reasonably expected to be included in any decent car these days.

Last 4 or 5 new cars I've had didn't have metallic paint - made no difference whatsoever come resale.

Leather or alcantara seats are nice, but not worth spending thousands more on. Same goes for climate control - manual a/c is fine.

For Forks Sake

Brian Scan wrote: »

Yeah, the only way to deal with someone whose taste differs from yours.

I prefer my punishments medieval style, they should be fired from a catapult.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

kooga

rear privacy glass
sunroof
leather or alcantara seating
radio upgrade

wandatowell

I love my armrest and cruise control.

Truckermal

My must needed items are Xenons and all around LED lights, full leather which is heated too plus a good bluetooth handsfree and preferably a sunroof.

Things i don't need are Auto lights and wipers or A/C..

Toyotafanboi

Once there is electric windows and central locking i'm pretty happy.

I think the best advice was to buy a non entry level car, but a higher trim level. It works out much better value for money than adding single items.

Auto lights and wipers are nice imo. They are in the Astra and they are really nice. That said, I never exactly strain in the Celica to move my arm 50mm and flip the switch.

Alloys make the car look a lot more presentable, as do front fogs, but in terms of usefullness, they don't really do anything.

Sean Quagmire

Caliden wrote: »

Leather or some sort of upgraded seat upholstery. I never understand why people spend north of 30k on a car and get the standard cloth seats. Cheapens the car in my opinion.

my biggest pet peeve of them all. I said this exact thing to a Skoda sales rep - why spend so much on a car and this bench cloth seats. trying to find a used A4 or Passat with leather seats is like hens teeth wtf were people thinking.

dar83

New cars without alloys are like new girlfriends without dress sense. Sure they operate the same way and offer the same functionality, but there is always something a bit 'off' looking about them that niggles away at you and eventually leads you to look for a new one.

Brian?

Can someone explain the grá for xenon headlights? The bulbs I buy for as little as possible are grand and blind no one.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

MuppetCheck

Brian? wrote: »

Can someone explain the grá for xenon headlights? The bulbs I buy for as little as possible are grand and blind no one.

Xenons don't blind either unless they're bad aftermarket jobs or have a faulty levelling sensor.

The spread of light is better, the quality of the light is better and although the bulbs are expensive they last a lot longer. On some cars ive spent more frequently replacing nightbreakers than xenons. It might not matter much if you're around town but back roads and main road driving are made a lot more pleasant .

Plus most these days most have adaptive xenons meaning they adjust their beam and direction based on speed and steering inputs.

Try them for a while and its noticeable going back to halogens.

CUP HOLDERS

:mad:

punisher5112

Brian? wrote: »

Can someone explain the grá for xenon headlights? The bulbs I buy for as little as possible are grand and blind no one.

Had car with xenon and done 100,000 miles over 4 1/2 years and they only failed few weeks ago.

spurious

Deleted User wrote:

CUP HOLDERS

Oh yes - not little holes down near the gear stick - proper window level ones. If there's one thing I miss from my old Micra it's the proper cup/bottle holder.

yop

For me now it has to be:
Leather seats (heated if I can for my back!)
Parking front and rear
Zenon and I have the intelligent lights now so thats even tastier!
Auto lights
DLRs
Bluetooth audio
Steering wheel controls
And a hitch!!! (For my bike holder!)

spurious

spurious wrote: »

Oh yes - not little holes down near the gear stick - proper window level ones. If there's one thing I miss from my old Micra it's the proper cup/bottle holder.

They would suffice for now in my MR2 :P

I saw a fix that I'm going to try out - any day now!

All of my other cars have or had funky cup holders, S60, 9-3, current E60 (except the button has fallen off and you need an engineering degree to open it).


Other than than, if I was buying a brand new car would have to have

Leather interior
Heated seats
Bluetooth
Steering wheel controls
Alloys
Probably Auto too

The Volvo had lumbar support, never realised how much I like that til it was gone! (wouldn't be a must have though, just be nice!)

dutopia

Brian Scan wrote: »

Yeah, the only way to deal with someone whose taste differs from yours.

You bought steel wheels, didn't you?

Marty McFly

Skylinehead wrote: »

Simple, alloy wheels. Anyone who buys a new car in this day and age with steelies should be thrown into the sea. And I see plenty of them too.

I like to try think all of these cars are fleet cars.

It's probably not though

Comhrá

A must:

Cruise control
alloys
Good hi-fi
bluetooth
aircon
rear sensors

desirable:

Metallic
trip computer
hill-hold
satnav
steering wheel radio controls
auto transmission

not fussy:

leather/alcantara
xenons/leds
centre armrest
sunroof
autowipers/lights
rear camera
drl

bazz26

Keyless start with comfort access,
Dynamic xenon or led headlights,
Infotainment wide touchscreen,
Auto dipping and dimming rear view exterior mirrors,
Electrically adjustable and heated seats with memory function,
Adaptive Cruise Control,
Rear privacy glass.

Brian Scan

dutopia wrote: »

You bought steel wheels, didn't you?

No, I don't like them.

Skylinehead

Marty McFly wrote: »

I like to try think all of these cars are fleet cars.

It's probably not though

Definitely not. Some people around here would buy a BMW 520d with steelies if it was an option.

Sure what does it matter how good it is, or how good it looks, it's a new beemer!

BohsCeltic

I have half of the stuff mentioned on here and my car is 15 years old.

I would like rear parking sensors and Xenons and maybe Satnav if i was updgrading

AMGer

........

AMGer

Caliden wrote: »

Leather or some sort of upgraded seat upholstery. I never understand why people spend north of 30k on a car and get the standard cloth seats. Cheapens the car in my opinion.

easy to say that but when Mercedes charge 4.5k (yes, that's 4500 euro) for Recaros it's a difficult box to tick!!

personally I'm a big fan of - privacy glass, Xenons, parking sensors

Eric Cartman

Xenons
Climate Control
Navigation / iPhone interface capable of displaying maps.
MFSW
Reversing camera or parking sensors.

Any new car no matter what size should come with these now.


Things I look for in a car that I can sort of understand not being stock :

Heated leather seats
Power seats
auto dimming mirror

barney 20v

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

These would be in my mind on any new car I would buy, the more the better...

• Auto dimming rear view mirror
• Auto folding door mirrors
• Auto lights
• Auto wipers
• Cruise control
• Dual climate
• Heated leather seats
• Remote boot release
• Steering wheel audio controls
• Xenon headlights

My 2005 Mondeo ST has all of those bar xenon headlights. heated recaros are the most comfy seats ever imho

Nichard Dixon

BMJD wrote: »

Electrically adjustable seats are great, only peasants do it the old fashioned way.

Only peasants share their car with someone else, so once the seat is set once there is no need to adjust it.

Cruise control and bluetooth are fairly common now.

If you've had a reversing camera once, it will seem good to have after that.

aaabbbb

Caliden wrote: »

Leather or some sort of upgraded seat upholstery. I never understand why people spend north of 30k on a car and get the standard cloth seats. Cheapens the car in my opinion.

Some people prefer not to have their arse stuck to the seat on a long drive

Eric Cartman

aaabbbb wrote: »

Some people prefer not to have their arse stuck to the seat on a long drive

the only downside of leather.

heated and vented seats solve that problem.

then theres the pro's - easy to clean, looks way better, far more luxurious, harder wearing.

MuppetCheck

aaabbbb wrote: »

Some people prefer not to have their arse stuck to the seat on a long drive

Main problem is very few cars have actual leather as an option. Personally I'm not the biggest fan but a lot of mainstream cars only offer artificial leather that leaves a lot to be desired.

kirving

Reversing Camera are being phased in in the US for all new cars, staring at 10% next year, up to 100% by 2018. EU won't be far behind.

Hopefully that means good ICE on all cars very shortly.

micks_address

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

These would be in my mind on any new car I would buy, the more the better...

• Auto dimming rear view mirror
• Auto folding door mirrors
• Auto lights
• Auto wipers
• Cruise control
• Dual climate
• Heated leather seats
• Remote boot release
• Steering wheel audio controls
• Xenon headlights

That pretty close to my list.. Apart from xenon lights i only have lowly halogens on my car.. My only upgrade left to do is replacing standard radio with android double din unit...

Henry Ford III

Decent projector lights are plenty good enough. There's some wicked car snobbery going on here.

micks_address

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Decent projector lights are plenty good enough. There's some wicked car snobbery going on here.

I upgraded my halogens to Philips night vision 130s... They are a lot better than a lot of cars I meet with only one Light... Not such a huge issue if you driving in heavy traffic most of time anyway