Who knows what car features today’s teenagers will find nostalgic when they reminisce about their very first cars? Perhaps they’ll miss when vehicles weren’t so “smart” and didn’t drive themselves. Or maybe they’ll miss when driving actually meant wheels on the road.
Nobody knows how drastically automobiles will change in the future. But we do know how much they’ve changed since their invention and even in the past 30 years. Here are 10 car features that no longer exist in new vehicles.
Buying a New Car
Tips and tricks to get you through every step of buying a new car, whatever “new” means to you.
Download Now!Audible turn signals
Does it seem like more and more people are driving for miles with their turn signals on, apparently planning on making a left turn that never materializes? There’s a reason for that. Many modern cars are phasing out audible turn signals. While those noisy little clicks might seem annoying after a while, that’s exactly what made them useful – they reminded you to switch off your turn signals.
Keys
On most higher-end cars, stamped metal keys are becoming a thing of the past. Instead, start/stop ignitions and electronic key fobs have become the new norm. Vehicle doors automatically unlock when the registered key fob is nearby, and once inside, you simply push the button to start. That’s a big change from the turn-key ignitions most of us are used to. Car manufacturers like Mazda and Ford have even created apps to remotely start and unlock your car using a smartphone app!
Simple controls
Texting and driving is extremely dangerous, and a complicated control system could be just as distracting. In a 2015 AAA study, results showed that mental distractions could last up to 27 seconds after using voice commands on select in-car systems. With many new cars using touch-screen controls, things could get even trickier. AAA suggests putting climate controls, radio stations, GPS and other settings in place prior to driving.
Spacious trunks
We’ve come a long way from massive hulks of solid Detroit steel we used to call cars. Now models are sleeker and more aerodynamic than ever. But that also means less room. Many of today’s car owners don’t know the meaning of a spacious trunk. And unless you’re buying a minivan, you can expect to pack some of those weekly groceries in your back seat.
Spare tires
Here’s a car feature that many of us miss. Some cars don’t come with full-size spare tires anymore because trunks are getting smaller. Other car manufacturers are trying to reduce vehicle weight. No matter what the cause, buying a new car with a full-size spare is a rare occurrence these days. In fact, spare tires have been replaced by tire inflator kits on 29 million vehicles in the last 10 model years. But if you’re lucky enough to get one, today’s tiny doughnut tires are only designed to be used for short distances and under 50 mph. Even with run flat tires, buying a new tire or getting a patch becomes pretty urgent.
Ashtrays
Equipped with electric lighters and ashtrays inside the dashboard, old cars were a smoker’s heaven. Those in-car ashtrays were even great for non-smokers as the ultimate coin compartment. However, most car manufacturers have shied away from ashtrays and opted to install more tech-focused car features, like phone charger ports.
Radio antennas
If you remember when cars had ashtrays, then you probably remember when cars used to sport whip antennas. Were they unsightly? Kind of. But most people used those long radio antennas as a chance to give their cars a little spunk. Back in the day, you could spot countless raccoon tails, smiley face balls and other neat trinkets on top of those wiry menaces. Now most cars have much shorter fixed antennas.
Vent windows
Vent or “wing” windows are another one of those car features staple to older cars. The small triangular windows were found on both the driver and passenger sides and could be rotated inward to get some fresh air. On days that weren’t too hot, you could skip opening the main window and still get some ventilation going without messing up your hair. So, what happened to all the vent windows? Two words: air conditioning.
Hand-cranked windows
Today’s teenagers probably don’t know what a hand-cranked window is. But yes, at one point in time, people had to manually roll their windows up and down. This car feature is almost impossible to find nowadays and that’s probably because most people don’t miss them. In fact, new car owners can rejoice in the power of the window lock. No children will play with the back windows on our watch!
Bench seats
Before seat belts were included in cars, bench seats allowed three people to fit comfortably in the front of most vehicles. You could even fit a fourth passenger if they were small enough. Today’s kids will never know the feeling of squeezing up front with mom, dad and their siblings, but modern cars are definitely much safer!
Can you think of some other car features that no longer exist in new vehicles? Tell us in the comments!
Related Articles
Trending Articles
NEWEST ARTICLES
145 Thoughts on “10 Car Features That No Longer Exist in New Vehicles”
Leave A Comment
Comments are subject to moderation and may or may not be published at the editor’s discretion. Only comments that are relevant to the article and add value to the Your AAA community will be considered. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Not all cars had them, but I remember a cable of some kind that ran across the back of the front bench seat. We’d use it to pull ourselves forward from sitting in the back seat.
Lap coolers for front passengers in GM products with factory A/C. These were little chrome vents an inch high by a few inches wide that were aimed directly at front passenger’s “laps”. It was probably adored by those wearing summer skirts. Wonder why they went away?
Sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing, Scott.
Flat dash or a dash that tilted towards the windshield. I used to keep a change bowl and occasionally throw paperwork (mail, business documents, etc.) on the dash. In my last few cars, the dash has curved towards the driver and passenger, so everything slides off.
Being over 55,The one true thing I absolutely miss is the old style am/fm radios, The ones from GM’s Delco and Fords Philco, And just having a seperate underdash cassette , And for some of us the 8-track player, I now have one of those horrid aftermarket pioneer multi function car stereos,Without starting to swear profanity here, I still can’t figure how to set the time and date, To be all honest this so called simple technology intimadates me, I guess I’m just screwed , Cause I’m still one of those who can live very happily without a cellphone,
When you used 2 be able to put gas in the car in the back under the license plate. I guess they think if you get rear ended your car will blow up!
Back in the late 70s, I had a 1964 Plymouth Valiant with the most AWESOME PUSHBUTTON transmission!!!… bench seats, too.
What about all the cool design elements?? the fins on the sides of the rear of the vehicle….the two-tone colors….the bands of silver alongside the body….the supercool dashboards with lots of “controls”, the ashtrays and lots of graphic design elements that make cars from the 70’s and earlier true works of art and iconic classics…..=).
I loved My 1968 Plymouth RoadRunner. It came stock with a 383 street hemi engine with headers 3 2barrel carburetors with chrome covers on each one. It had manual steering with 4 speed stick on the floor and bench seats. Hoods scoops and chrome mag wheels chrome dual exhaust with raked up rear leaf spring suspension and positraction rear end and burn rubber in 1st and 2nd gear n sometimes if timed perfect I could get a chirp out of 3 gear. Oh and it sounded naturally great no thrush mufflers needed. Also had push open rear windows n roll down front windows and the outside chrome door handles I use to slide my car towel down in it and twist it to wring out the water to dry the car off. Oh man I wish Ai still had that Car. I got hit and run totaled outside my house where I parked on the street. I cried like I lost My best friend.
I was born in 1964, and I am just old enough to remember all the old stuff that was still around in the 1970’s from back in the 1960’s and late 1950’s.
I leased a car for three years without a CD player. It was horrible and lonely! I complained bitterly. Just leased another car from the same manufacturer. They must have heard me. It has a CD player. Wonderful
Curb feelers. Boinggggggg
My mother used to forget to turn off the turn signals in our ’57 plymouth. My father was very handy and installed an old fashioned telephone type bell that would ring loud and incessantly until the signal was turned off.
I MISS THE HIGH-BEAM SWITCH “ON THE FLOOR”, BUT IT WAS DIFFICULT WHEN USING MY CLUTCH AT THE SAME TIME
Hi Michael! Totally agree but with all the differences in vehicle designs you may be popping your hood as well! I am also glad the car makers are aligning for that reason. Thank you for your comment! -MM
Driving with two hands or actually signaling at all.
Sorry, style, not stile
How about the gas fill locations? Some behind the license plate, some behind the hinged tail light, some behind the continental stile spare tire.
I owned 7 VW’s over the years and most had the butter fly widow, even in the summer time you could get a breeze. I miss them even today.
High beam foot switch, left of either a clutch or brake pedal. Also, most transmissions are sealed nowadays. Say goodbye to that Transmission Fluid top-off and its associated dip stick. I miss my 1968 Kharman Ghia. 3 speed, H pattern Manual transmission. :0)
I miss being able to crack open the triangular-shaped “fly” windows, and also being able to pull the “slide” to open the floor vents to let air in, but I suppose a person could say that reaching down to pull them open, or to close them, while driving, might be considered a distraction, or safety hazard, but nowadays the vents are forced-air vents, so the air won’t come through naturally, and will be forced in by a fan, and I’ve noticed that there aren’t ash trays, and nowadays no cigarette lighter, but 12 volt/13.8-volt accessory jacks, but my 1974 Chrysler Newport Custom had a sliding door or drawer, with coin slots, which actually came in handy back then, when I’d need 3 coins, quarters, at the toll booths, but I haven’t needed to go through toll booths for a long long time, but I think that they have a different system now for toll booths, like some sort of pass or something. My first car only had an AM radio, the 1964 Ford Station Wagon, so in order to listen to FM Radio, I had a FM converter mounted in the car, and it didn’t have a cassette tape player, or CD player, etc, so later on I bought an AM/FM Radio Cassette Deck, by Audiovox, which was very nice back in the day, but which later on was stolen out of my car and never recovered.
How about great big sidewall tires instead of your tire looking like someone put a rubber band around the rim? I absolutely adore my 1970 Chevelle.
My 4 gripes with the new cars: (1) with bucket seats, when one has a passenger, there is no convenient place for a woman to put her purse; (2) trunks are big, but you could double lock and the valet key could not open it. Today, it is no longer safe to put articles in the trunk for safety (golf clubs); (3) if one’s car is parked in the driveway (because one does not have a garage, and the fob is in the house – but not the required distance to disable the fob, a thief could steal the car by just unlocking the door – there is no way to safeguard the car; (4) and I miss being able to switch the rear view mirror to dim the headlights on the car behind – the automatic dimmer is slow and does not dim enough.
Actual gauges as opposed to idiot lights
Bud vases
I yearn for the days of easy replacement light bulbs. These day you need to replace the entire assembly for mega bucks.
Actually with my last few vehicles, you don’t replace the whole light bulb assembly, and you just replace the bulb itself, but then there’s the possibility of dirt getting into the light bulb assembly, unless you make sure that the seal around the bulb is good.
I dislike that mostly every car looks alike. I don’t know how many times I almost got into the wrong car. It seems that car designs are made from the same aerodynamic mold. I realize it’s for gas milage purposes but I still prefer the beauty of the old styling of cars. Years ago, in the Fall, I would look forward to the new car designs. The exterior design of today cars are a little boring.
I miss the floor dimmer switch for sure and I also miss the gauges on the dash. It is so helpful to know if you battery is charging correctly or if your oil pressure is getting low BEFORE you are stranded somewhere.
Purchased a new 2019 KIA Sportage for the spouse. A couple days later she noticed no CD player and she like to listen to audio books. I miss the Hi/Low beam switch on the left corner of the floor.
I loved our ’66 Dodge Polara station wagon. I wish i had a car again which had bench seats. I also liked the butterfly or elephant ear windows and the floor vents. My parents paid extra, so the car had a/c, but we only had to use it when it was very very hot, because the aforementioned windows and vents worked wonderfully. There was a full-size spare tire, and though I guess it wasn’t ideal for fuel economy, and therefore not the best for the environment, i loved that the car was so big and heavy – it felt safe! To this day, when I close car doors, I push or pull very hard, as was necessary to close the heavy doors of that station wagon – it’s just automatic to me, having grown up with that car from the age of 4 to the age of 26! (Much to the dismay of my friends who own more delicate automobiles.) I will admit that I liked later cars having cassette or CD players. My current car (21 years old) has a cassette player but it’s broken, and i do miss being able to play my own specific music choices. I am on the fence about the manual windows; I prefer them, especially if underwater and needing to escape, as someone else mentioned. But in this day and age, when gas station attendants don’t come around to the driver’s side to communicate or take payment, it is then nice to have power windows and avoid leaning over to crank the opposite window down. Finally, I so love the look of older cars, anything pre-1980s, with the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s being my favorites.
I have a 2018 Toyota Camry and the turn signal makes a noise that is loud enough that you can’t ignore it.
I like driving stick shift. Every car I owned since 1973 was bought new with 4 or 5 or 6 speeds and a clutch pedal. The paddle shifters foisted on me with my 2018 are a joke as they don’t offer the same crisp control of speed and don’t hold my speed in check as well on a long downhill run. Wheel covers and hub caps are largely replaced now with alloy wheels. You hit a pothole or curb with them and it’s an expensive fix. Interior controls and glaring, distracting central screens are too complicated now and hard or impossible to find by touch anymore. Clicking turn signals are practical – why remove them?
I remember the floor switch for high beams.
CD players: Now gone from RAV4 & CRVs. Portable players? Any suggestions?
Does anyone remember the push button transmissions. My Mom’s 1964 Chrysler/Plymouth station wagon had push button transmission with a rear facing third row seat! When I learned to drive in the early 70s the rear window was stuck down, and the heater no longer worked. It was strange to finally drive with a transmission shift lever on the driving column.
Clutches! The standard transmission is no longer the standard! I learned to drive on a standard, most kids have never driven anything but an automatic and wouldn’t even know how ????!
I miss a front bench seat. I still would like my wife/girlfriend sitting next to me instead of on the other side of the car. I’m 73 and still like the next-to-me feeling.
Forgot… Radios were not standard (If I remember correctly)… an AM radio was the cheapest option. I always added an aftermarket cassette player & speakers.
I remember pickup mirrors that looked like they were on a tripod, with three bolts on the door. Turn the mirror around and rotate the mirror arm outward so it became a wide towing mirror. Another type I remember was bolted to the top of the door and a second bolt to the door under the window. Let’s not forget SUV used to just be a 4×4. Vinyl seats were always sticky but easy to clean (could readily find seat covers that were cloth, though). Air conditioning was an expensive option. New cars used to have options selected individually, not as option packages. To turn on 4WD, you had to stop to lock the hubs on the front tires first (and gas mileage tanked if you drove with them engaged). There was never a question if a ’73 pickup would last 15 years or longer. New cars had to be ordered rather than picking from a in stock lot. That’s most of what I remember (driving at 16 in ’82)
As a 75 yr old person, I miss all the things that have been mentioned as well. However what I really appreciate in newer vehicles are the safety items in newer cars such as: anti-lock brakes, air bags, full safety belts, rear tail lights incorporating faster working LED bulbs (rear center mounted LED brake light notwithstanding), side marker lights, impact absorbing steering columns as well as better engineered car bodies to meet certain crash criteria, high intensity headlights to light up the road more at night, and finally engines that run much cleaner and don’t need high octane gasoline for the most part, just to name a few.
I’m 66 years old and now drive an automatic, but I still watch my tach to see how the engine is performing. Maybe that’s a result of driving a stick shift for so many years.
WHY DON’T THE WARNING LIGHTS THAT COME ON LIKE— CHANGE OIL SOON — GO OFF AFTER YOU CHANGE IT, WITHOUT HAVING TO GO THREW A WHOLE ROUTINE TO GET IT TURNED OFF ?????
It’s really not hard to do if you know what you are doing. Plus if you have your oil changed at a good mechanic, they will reset it for you.
I’m as nostalgic as the next person; owned 65 documented vehicles. And I miss a lot of the old features. However, disc brakes, fuel injection, air bags, radial tires, and intermittent wipers are great improvements. And since I just sold my ‘64 Impala SS, I no longer have my much appreciated floor dimmer button.
Thank you for the very interesting Article. I am writing my Bachelor Thesis on the Analysis od Condensators inside A/C in Autos 🙂
I wanted to kindly ask for your permition in using one of the pictures of the article in my presantation, with credit of course!
Thank you and have a nice day!
Sincerely yours,
Jessie
In 1953 my parents had a Mercury Monteray with push button start, My uncle had a Desoto with push button transmission. Today my new Lincoln has these new features, big deal.
Remember when the high beam switch was on the left side floor board and activated by pressing your left foot on the switch button?
I have a 1977 Mercedes with the following: real steel bumpers with shock absorbers front and rear that wrap around the body; push button AM/FM radio; external whip radio antenna; cigarette lighter; spacious trunk; full-size spare tire; pained hubcaps to match the body color; slim whitewall tires; no tachometer; large steering wheel diameter; round headlights; distinctive hood ornament; lots of airspace under the hood; all heavy steel body; manually operated crank windows; manual sliding sunroof; top speed of 86 mph; 0 to 60 in 25 seconds; lots of legroom front and rear; external chrome trim accents; a non-computerized distinctive classic body shape; external air vent manual control; built in first-aid kit; vacuum-operated door locks; no computer chips; low frequency of repair and easy to do same; replacement parts still available; dependability; over 250,00 kilometers and more to come.
Don’t know if anyone said this but how about hubcaps. Most cars today have the fancy rims.
I’ve seen many hubcaps along roadways, that have come off of a vehicle, and where the driver had no idea that he or she has lost a hubcap, and actually have seen a few places where losing hubcaps, maybe due to a bump in the road, where maybe the land owner had hung the lost hubcaps on a nearby fence.
What’s wrong with fancy rims (besides replacement expense). Hub caps just fall off and can be a real hazard if in the middle of the road, espically on the highway at highway speeds.
Rear Windows that go down all the way
I want a return to manually set heating and cooling. The thermostat based systems never get it right. I want to manually set the temperature and speed of the air that comes out, not let a computer decide those parameters for me.
Yes, we all see old car features through a rosy lens. But how about new cars that can cruise at 80 mph without wandering all over the lane, fuel injection that starts instantly and stays in tune, disc brakes that don’t pull to one side, radial tires that last 60-80 thousand miles, alloy wheels that don’t rust, electric rack and pinion that has no slack in it so you hardly have to move the wheel to stay in your lane, etc. How about a turn signal that clicks softly at first but gets louder after a while?
You said a mouth full, David. Good for you … and all drivers.
I hate that I can’t find a vehicle without a console that blocks me into a little box. I have tried many models and SUVs, but the console feels like it is pushing in on my right leg. It is too confining. That is one reason I have held onto my 2003 Taurus. I dread having to buy a vehicle with such a constrictive console. It gets more annoying with every minute.
Also, they need to go back to dashboard controls (like radio, heater & a/c) that give you tactile feedback. That way you don’t have to take your eyes off the road. If I want the radio station that’s on the third button, I can feel it.
Last year I rented a subcompact and it had crank windows! Guess they took one look at my gray hair and figured I’d know how to open the window. I immediately upgraded!
Haha, Janis! That’s hilarious. I’m glad you upgraded!
-Dana 😉
Are we seniors the only ones commenting 😊
Cassette players. My car is a 2006. It has a cassette player, an AM/FM radio and a 6-CD changer. If I buy a newer model how will I hear my music??!
I have Lincoln Town Cars, love the spacious trunks, I keep a full spare, a dinging turn signal. The feature not mentioned, and I have it, is a clock with actual hands (not digital). I like it. I do not find any new cars that I have been in to be smooth – I feel every bump. I’ll take a smooth ride in an older, used car any day over new bouncy vehicles. My third Town Car will be next in a few years. When did we agree to sacrifice comfort for gadgetry?
I had a 1967 Mercury Cougar with a three-speed stick shift on the floor and one of the best features was a pedal on the floor for the windshield wipers and fluid. You didn’t have to take your hands of the wheel to go find a switch and turn it.
Now that is a cool feature! I’m forever trying to figure out my windshield wipers.
-Dana 😉
Anyone remember the “cat whiskers” curb feelers that would audibly scrape the curb so you would not hit it when parking. Side view mirrors that reflected the true distance of the car behind you in the next lane. Why not a backup camera that stays on when driving?
wide whitewall tires!!
I have a 2010 Camry that has a fully-automatic/manual transmission, so the tach is very useful in the manual mode.
How about being able to change a headlight bulb or front turn signal bulb without needing to remove a bunch of stuff like air cleaners,, etc. Also don’t like the change to a knob for selection of drive, reverse, etc. as you need to look to make sure you select the correct position.
The hand throttle was a good thing that most likely not many people remember
Many cars have eliminated the emergency mechanical parking brake. I find discomforting the fact that I don’t have one if the hydraulics fail. Also the stick shifter for automatic transmissions is gone in some cars and I don’t think you can standard transmissions anymore.
Thanks for the correction. It was an odd numbered year, so probably ’65. Before that we had a Plymouth car the size of a boat. It had push button gear selection built into the dash to the left of the steering wheel.
I’m old enough to remember horn rings which worked no matter where you pushed on them. I’ll be darned if I can ever find which part of my combo horn/airbag I’m supposed to hit. Bring back horn rings!
I don’t like to see cd players go.
I must have been dreaming, but I thought I just saw some car that actually has vent windows once more! Hahaha! I was happy to see someone with a brain had realized how great they are for saving fuel rather than using the AC! I want it all:
Vent windows
Roll down windows- if you happen to go into the drink, you can at least get them open to let water in so you can get the door open to get out and swim to the surface!
Non auto-locking to avoid locking your keys inside! (When you have unlocked the hatch to let the dog out and have laid the keys down inside to put his working vest on and grab his BOS (Bag O’ Stuff) , close the hatch and it locks itself… with your keys inside! Grrr
Big trunks
Full size spare tires
Audible signals- which were useless with a car full of teen friends singing along with the radio!
Rain Gutters over the doors!
Antennas to mark your car in the lot!
Floor air vents – to blow up mom’s shirtdress while she slept in the front passenger seat when your sister was driving just for laughs
A “six-body” trunk (salesman’s description for a Chevy Belair in 1961… even though I was 7, I was thinking “Holy Smokes!”
I would retain from the present:
Back up cameras
Seatbelts
Sunroofs
Adjustable outside rearview mirrors (which by the way, I thought up when I was 7 when my dad roll down his window to adjust it and the rain/snow would fly in on me in the back seat..really annoying! I still “invent” things all the time!”
A definite Bring Back item at the top of my list:
A manual choke (had 2 Renault Le Cars with manual transmissions and fold back sunroofs!) the best, even in traffic!
Hi Mary!
Whoa! I’d love to see that. I haven’t seen a vent window since the ’70s. 😉
-Dana
LOL – I remember defining trunks by “numbers of bodies” – too funny!
How about opening windshields, running boards, fender skirts, 4ply tires, point ignitions, round headlights, drum brakes, enamel paint, amp meters, 6volt battery, tons of chrome and AM push button radios.
Hi Kenneth!
That’s quite a list! 😉 Thanks for reading.
-Dana
We called the little windows the elephant ear windows.
We had a early VW Beetle with no gas gauge. If you ran out of gas you would flip a switch on the floor for a little gas so you could get to a gas station.
If you think old cars were safer check out the 59 vs2009 Chevy crash test on YouTube.
66 was the last year for Starfire. They may have recycled the name on some later lesser car.
We had two 66’s. 425 375 HP. Amazing the
I loved the 4 barrel Holley carburetor on my 67 Olds Starfire. Depressing the gas pedal slightly to pass another vehicle would result in a low rumble and silky smooth acceleration.
my 2009 corolla has a key and roll down windows
I miss those drip rails over the doors. Nowadays you get a dusting of snow falling on to your seat when would open the door. Very annoying and inconvenient!
How about the rear window that rolled down a few inches and the side vents, combined you could get by with no AC.
Yes! I miss those side vents, too.
– Dana 😉
I miss the bench seats. If I have a passenger in the front seat I hate putting my purse on the back seat.
On a bench seat, parking at a curb on the passenger side, I could slide over and get out without worrying about opening the driver’s doo to traffic.
Hi there! That is a great call-out, I miss that as well! Thank you!-MM
Curb scrapers!!
No one has mentioned manual chokes. Am I showing my age?
Nobody can operate a choke accurately. Automatic chokes are gone too with the fuel injection takeover.
Tripower, nobody makes a car with three carburetors anymore. I miss my 64 GTO!
No more cars with a three on the tree either, as a matter of fact it is difficult to find a car with a manual transmission.
That was what the first new car I purchased had! It was a 78 Nova
Remember horn rings? You could blow your horn from any hand position on the wheel. It’s silly not to have real spare tires. None of the “innovations” to replace spares really work. I miss the really attractive dash boards of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. I agree about missing whitewalls. Not practical, but they gave cars, especially two-toned ones, a special spark. I miss fins a little bit. Now most cars are just bean shaped – didn’t that come in with the first Datsuns? – and SUVs have all the design flair of a cardboard box.
I fear CD players will become a thing of the past. The drive from RI to FL will be long indeed. I like to select my own music, and not to have ‘you’ll-also-likes’ foisted on me. Classical music on a southern radio station? Dream on.
There’s always Sirius XM for when you get a car that has that capability. No need to ever be limited to what local radio stations provide. You can also play whatever music you want on cars equipped with Apple CarPlay.
CD players are no longer available in many or all new cars. I found that out when I rented a car several months ago.
My wife has a 2019 Mercedes SUV and it came with a CD player. I also know someone with a 2019 Subaru and it also has one. Yet my 2015 Dodge doesn’t….think it depends on the manufacturer.
I miss my CD player!
Use “geek sticks” AKA “thumb drives”. I too like to select my own music – and I feel your pain regarding the dearth of classical music stations!
The most egregious thing Detroit has dropped is the dimmer switch on the floor. Now you have to take your left hand off the wheel and PULL the stalk toward you in many cars. Driver distraction, anyone? Who ever thought this was a good idea?
I wish more people would use the daytime running lamps!! just at dusk you still see cars with no lights on yet. aggravating!!! dont like keyless cars either
I agree with you I own mostly General Motors models which all have automatic headlights….nice that they come on automatically at dusk, when going through tunnels etc. just need to keep in mind to put them on when it’s raining during the day to keep safe!
I recently rented a 2019 (don’t remember make or model). The DRL’s came on when the engine started and the full lamps came on when the wipers were turned on. They designers are going in the right direction.
I have been driving with my FULL headlamps on for 50 years. Now that everyone is used to most cars having some lights on in the daytime, I miss the friendly calls from pedestrians, “HEY! YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON!”.
Nice big, beautiful WHITE WALL TIRES, especially “VOGUE TIRES” which had a narrow gold stripe around the white wall.
They should go back to turn signals that make noise, drivers forget them on and you don’t know what there intentions are. Or maybe after a one mile the turn signals go off.
Now that I am older I don’t hear the click or ding. I thought life was phasing me out. I like the idea of automatic turn off after a few minute.
I miss having a big Station Wagon with the bench seats plus. Having a good old heavy steel car I always felt safer with more steel between me & the next car if & when there should happen to be accident. Guess I’m just an old fashioned kind of girl. But then I feel somethings where better left alone thats just me.
I remember the beach wagons. I don’t know if they were called that because of the artificial beach wood side panels or because you could really load a lot of people and stuff for a trip to the beach.
Most were called “woodies” – Chrysler even offered the wood panels as a factory option on some of its convertable models.
I totally agree. I long for the good old days.
How about floor vents for fresh air, and bright light switche on the floor?!
Oh, that’s right!!! Good one!
And don’t forget all the kids sitting in the “way back”!
The thing I miss most about older cars is the high/low beam button on the floor. The column mounted combination switch is harder to operate while making a turn.
Your turn signal should be activated, at least 500 feet before you start to turn
We called the vent window ,a ‘butterfly’ window.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY CARMAKERS THINK A TACHOMETR IS A NECESSARY FEATURE ON ALL CARS. I WOULD GUESS THAT 90% OF DRIVERS DON’ T KNOW WHAT A TACHOMETER IS AND ONLY 1% ACTUALLY USE IT.
On my 1974 stickshift Opel Manta (in “Fireglow” red you could instantly spot anywhere in the mall parking lot—I always parked in the back, away from those clueless drivers who open their doors by Braille) I would have to pay $150 for a tachometer.
Today’s multispeed automatics hardly need tachs on most cars—for most drivers—except, perhaps for those who actually use the paddle shifters or stick shifts.
Which reminds me, how many brands actually still provide manual transmissions? Except for those times I would be stuck in traffic, particularly on a long upgrade, I loved the crisp control offered by a good stick transmission and the great driving experience. Paddle shifters shift for more “casually”. And who really wants to run through 8 or 9 speeds with paddles?
Getting back to that Opel. It was a smallish German-made sporty coupe by GM. But it had a decent-sized trunk. My wife and I would load it up for cross-country vacation trips and only had the cooler chest and a roll of paper towels on the back seat. I made money off the bets from those who insisted, “you’ll never get all that luggage into the trunk.”
And one more thing I miss. Bright paint colors. Looking out at a parking lot, it is typically a sea of whites, blacks, and grays. How many variations of “gray” have to be in the brand lineup?
Absolutely we need more colorful cars. I too dislike the many shades of gray plus white and black. The cars I’ve owned, since 1963, have been green, bronze, orange, red, red, and red. That’s because red is often the only colorful color there is nowadays, and my Prius is a brilliant one.
How many people today can drive a car they would have to manually shift? My grandson complains that his window, on the passenger side, isn’t automatic and he has to hold the button.
OMG… I am an Uber driver, and a few years ago I picked up some college students and the kid in the front seat was looking for the button to put the window down… I reached across him and turned of the window crank and he was saying “OMG what the hell is that? I’ve NEVER SEEN that before!” I replied (shaking my head) “it’s called a window crank handle…” 🤦♂️
lol 😂
My former 1956 TBird had air vents on each side of the car which helped keep the motor cool . This was an upgrade from the ’55 model which had no such vents and were known to run a little hot.
wheres all this free give aways for joining the new A A A
Hi Robert!
Did you get your three free guides after you signed up for the new Your AAA Network? If not, you can find them here.
And as a AAA member, you’re entitled to hundreds of discount every day. Just click on AAA.com/Discounts.
I hope this helps!
My work truck Ford Transit 2013 has crank Windows. I hate for the fact that people come to my passenger window and get mad when I don’t put the window down. I can’t reach it from the drivers seat.
I feel your pain, Patricia. My Mazda 3 doesn’t have automatic locks, so I always have to unlock the passenger side door from the outside if I have a passenger. 😉
under dash chrome tissue container 1957 chevy
Today’s plastic bumpers stink. Older cars with steel/chrome bumpers were the best.
What plastic bumpers? Cars don’t even have bumpers anymore. [well some p/u trucks do). The entire car now is covered in high gloss mirror like paint that is impossible to just touch up scratches. So every minor scratch and scrape requires a panel to be removed and repainted professionally. Much more expensive than a metal or rubber bumper that was supposed to have the accidental marks on them. Body work has become terribly expensive since even small dents need to have huge panels replaced or taken off and repainted.
Floor button on the left side to turn high beam off and on. So much quicker to use on two lane roads where it’s typically an on and off routine as one responds to on-coming traffic.
The floor button was down where, in order to see it, you needed to take your eyes off of the road, and so you needed to feel where it is, but what was the worst, was that, in the Wintertime, sometimes the button got frozen, and sometimes I needed to hit it, or kick it a few times, to allow me to switch the high beams to low beams, so I like the turn signals up on the column, where I can see them, and where they won’t freeze up, as when I’d sometimes need to kick it a few times, it was sort of a distraction, or a sort of safety hazard, as sometimes, since sometimes I couldn’t get the high beams dimmed right away, the driver coming the other way would get, or be, blinded, and/or sometimes that driver would flash their high beams at me, making it hard for me to see, so I didn’t like the floor button, except when it worked, liked Spring, Summer and Fall/Autumn for example, when the button couldn’t freeze up.
The floor button for hi/lo beams was great…never had it freeze, always knew where it was…..I miss that feature…..
Never had any problem with the high beam switch down there. Like any of the controls on the floor you know where it is. You are NOT supposed to take your eyes off the road. Way back then when learning to drive or when taking the road test, that could get you a failure. They never want to see you take your eyes of the road for any control. You should KNOW where it is.
Yes! I’m always saying how much I miss the high beam switch on the floor.
Own a 1966 Chevy Impala that I’ve had for years. It of course has the floor button for high beams and I love it. It’s right next to your left foot so it’s easy to find and use. I’ve never had any trouble with it freezing up or sticking, even in a 54 year old car!
no longer have CD players- what will I do with my CD”s that I used on trips so I wouldn’t need to find a good local radio station?
The whole world assumes that everyone has a cellphone that they can use to play their music through, however, cellphones do not work in many places or people have made the choice NOT to have them. This means that the car companies are saving money, but charging you more, by eliminating features that some of us count on.
It’s odd, I own a 2015 Dodge Charger and it doesn’t have a CD player and I hate it. I have a lot of CD’s and using your phone is not easy. But, my wife has a 2019 Mercedes SUV and it DOES have a CD player. I also know someone with a 2019 Subaru and it also has one.
Only thing I don’t like about my Charger is no CD player.
Do you have Bluetooth?
Is it possible to find a portable C D player that has Bluetooth? Can always connect the player wirelessly.
I have Bluetooth but that’s not the answer either. For some reason either my 2013 Subaru Impreza or phone (Android version of the Motorola one 5G ace) don’t remember the link. I’ll link my phone to my car’s Bluetooth, and it works for that trip. The next time I use my car, I must go through the entire linking process again if I want to use Bluetooth because either my car or my phone didn’t hold it. I finally stopped using Bluetooth.
You all really miss the high beam floor button????? Not me-at 5 feet tall I could NEVER reach it! I’m driving for 40 years + and that button is a feature I never think about as I dial to the high beam on the headlight stalk.
Power windows are the answer to a question nobody was asking as far as I’m concerned. I love hand crank windows myself.