Features you've discovered about your car after a year or more

[yagciogullari]

This may sound weird but, I noticed how much of the car and its features that I DID NOT use, need, want nor care about.

it ain't weird. i also don't much care about features and widgets that manufacturers use to lure people. that's why i have a base model car (also the lack of money ). the only fancy thing it has is cruise control which i rarely use. the only feature i find useful is the auto-headlights. but the sensor is so ****ty that i cuss at opel every time it comes on in a fully bright day!

 

[antonmnster]

My car came with folding mirrors and there's a button I never noticed.

 

[hytibilly]

Auto high beam, and pen holder in the center console.

 

[Kira]

1) I "discovered" a flap running across the top edge of the rear seat back in my station wagon. You open the flap and you'll find a telescoping rod with a full-width net scrunched up along it's length. You open the telescope -the net follows along automatically- and you fit it into sockets to create a barrier for flying groceries.

2) I bought a 'cheap, interim car' and owned it for years before noticing it had cruise control. Mentioning that to a coworker garnered me a long, dirty look. I have rarely used cruise throughout my life.

3) My left wiper blade crumbled away and I replaced in a friend's driveway. He asked why I wasn't replacing both. I told him that Volvos have a switch so you can leave the right wiper idle. "It's only natural the left one sees the wear". He fell for it.

 

[Pew]

For a years I didn't realize that windshield wipers have settings in between the settings. To me it was always low-med-high.

 

[PeterGreen]

My 2002 Saab 9-5 had easter eggs galore in the radio/climate control interface, including switching entirely to metric system, heating and cooling diagnostics, automatic switching to air recirculation when driving below 7 MPH. I was still finding new functions when I sold the car after owning it for twelve years.

 

[circuitsmith]

How does that work? My 05 Silverado rolls like crazy? Feels like a high stall converter compared to my old 80s GM cars.

My Tucson applies the brakes to stop it from rolling, but only for a few seconds.

 

[HangFire]

After ~10 years my wife noticed a small storage tray under the steering wheel of her old RAV4 and found a place to store her sunglasses.

Ha! It only took me a year to find that drawer in my Corolla!

 

[LawrenceGazebo]

Many miles on my 2013 Ram, and just the other day I bumped something (not sure what and haven't cared to investigate) and the gauge cluster screen said "Auto High Beams Disabled" -- I have never had them come on before, so no idea what the deal was there, or how long they were "enabled."

 

[Tomioka]

The hill hold assist feature on my 2005 Chevy Avalanche 5.3L 4L60e. When stopped on an incline with transmission in drive with my foot off the brake, it doesn’t roll backward. Same if facing down hill with the transmission in reverse. I owned it for 5 years before reading about it in my owners manual.

Maybe in later models they implemented it in all gears. Only thing I found out on my 02 is that if you shift it to "2" it engages a hill hold feature and 1st gear lockout by starting off in 2nd gear.

 

[UncleDave]

Took a year before I realized my Ridgeline had auto dimming / bright head lights. It didnt come with a paper manual so I never had the thumb through session as I only looked up online what I needed to know.

On the dashboard there is a green light with an A on it but no amount of fiddling around activated anything so I figured it was a generic dash and the feature wasn't implemented.

Turns out to activate the system you have to hold the lever back for 30 full seconds - not really something I'd do without knowing it prior and voila - It works pretty well on the flat.

My 93 Supercharged cougar has the same feature but it had a tuning knob in the mirror that made it easy to adjust.

 

[4WD]

That it had:
electric power steering
grill shutters
variable displacement oil pump
oil cooler
piston oil jets

 

[alcyon]

My 89 Toyota Soarer has 3 buttons for the heater/AC fan speed. Low, Medium and High. There were 2 lights above each button, which perplexed me.
So about 2 years in, one day I accidently pressed 2 buttons at once, the low and medium. Then what happened was the lights adjoining each other, one from low and one from medium lighted up, and the fan speed was in between low and medium. I then realized that the ac fan speed has 5 speeds out of 3 buttons.

 

[Wolf359]

Took a year before I realized my Ridgeline had auto dimming / bright head lights. It didnt come with a paper manual so I never had the thumb through session as I only looked up online what I needed to know.

On the dashboard there is a green light with an A on it but no amount of fiddling around activated anything so I figured it was a generic dash and the feature wasn't implemented.

Turns out to activate the system you have to hold the lever back for 30 full seconds - not really something I'd do without knowing it prior and voila - It works pretty well on the flat.

My 93 Supercharged cougar has the same feature but it had a tuning knob in the mirror that made it easy to adjust.

That's an awful way to activate it. Mine is pretty straightforward, you enable it in the dash settings, then you just flip out the high beam switch and it automatically goes to high beams if it doesn't detect any headlights/taillights. It has the high beam symbol with a little A in the middle of it to show you that it's enabled. They're bixenons so it's somewhat subtle when it switches on and off, have to pay attention otherwise you don't notice when it kicks on or off.

On another note, never knew the car had a variable displacement a/c compressor, guess that's why I never heard the compressor kick in.

 

[OVERKILL]

It didn't take a year but I noticed a decent while after getting my 2020 SRT that it had speakers in the rear pillars that weren't present on my 2016, despite both vehicles having the upgraded HK sound system:

 

[Danno]

Synch for driver/passenger AC/Heat is found in the U Connect screen, not a hard button.
Using the passenger heat controls unsynchs.
Found that this week while at a stop light.

 

[doublebase]

After a couple years I started using the brake “hold” feature on my Lexus LS 460. Wish I had used it from day one, that thing was awesome!

I miss that car.

 

[Pew]

I just found something new today on my 2015 focus. The passenger seat left leg bolster has some sort of pocket that looks like some sort of card or paper holder.

 

[OIL_UDDER]

There are rubber jack pads under the frame on the back of my Chrysler 300 ...which are very convenient. Lost 3 years there...

 

[Tornado Red]

After ~10 years my wife noticed a small storage tray under the steering wheel of her old RAV4 and found a place to store her sunglasses.

My sister is using a 2003 Jetta TDI wagon that I bought for future use but had no place to park. She asked me about that little tray under the steering wheel. I showed her that it was a latch to secure the steering wheel after adjusting the tilt and telescope.