Heh, my Saturn (that I used to own, an SL) had a huge black dashboard which I could feel the heat just roll off of. So I liked to put a/c to the defrost position in summer.
Boy, I'm so glad that the engineers blocked the recirculate feature in that setting, who knows how bad that would have ended up! Massive moisture build up, blocking the windshield in... summer? Oh wait...

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I've never tried automatic climate control, someday I will. I do find myself idly tweaking temp up/down on long trips, not sure if out of boredom or if I just can't find the right temp, or if because as outdoor temps vary then the temp inside the vehicle varies. Certainly not ready yet to pay for it though.
I'm not a fan of automatic headlights, stupid restrictions on recirculate, and other "automatic" things which seem to automatically infuriate me. So I have low expectations for automatic HVAC.