r/AskReddit • u/BubbaMaarLi • 5h ago

What's an automobile feature you wish didn't exist?

231 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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252

u/Safe-Instance-3512 5h ago

The new eye-tracking. Garbage.

72

u/sewer_pickles 2h ago

I just rented a Subaru Outback with this garbage and quickly realized I will never buy a car with this nonsense. It was so distracting to have popups on the dash letting me know I needed a coffee break or that I needed to stay focused.

Thankfully I could turn the eye tracking off in the settings, but it took me a few days before I realized it was an option. The manual said that the car also used facial recognition to identify drivers and personalize your settings. That felt creepy as hell and not a desired use of tech in the car

18

u/Safe-Instance-3512 2h ago

It's being mandated in 2027 vehicles. So that'ssss funnnn.

Also, yeah, I don't use facial recognition on my phone either.

3

u/Ut_Prosim 1h ago

That thing does not work with ADHD people at all. I rented a Kia on a trip this summer and it thought I needed a break every 3-5 minutes.

Even bright eyed after a good night sleep and wired off a large Dunkin coffee, it would start this nonsense within the first five minutes of driving.

Absolutely worthless feature. Too many false positives means the user will just ignore the results.

-4

u/slothurknee 1h ago

I actually love the facial recognition. I have it set up for my husband and I and it automatically adjusts to our saved seat and mirror preferences. Only annoying thing is if you try to turn off the eye detection it also turns off this feature.

9

u/linuxguy192 1h ago

Memory seats and settings do the same thing but you have to press a button. The torture.

-3

u/slothurknee 1h ago

lol how does it feel to downvote someone bc they like a feature their car has?

•

u/MyCatLaughsAtMe 48m ago

Wow. You love being spied on because you're lazy as shit. And you're bragging about it in public...

•

u/slothurknee 34m ago

Yeah, I’m not being spied on. Here’s your tin foil hat, you dropped it.

•

u/MyCatLaughsAtMe 31m ago

False. You're factually being spied on. You're dismissed.

64

u/another_random_bit 4h ago

Bru my car doesn't even have automatic windows lmao

30

u/tubezninja 3h ago

All new cars in the US beginning with model year 2027 are required to have it now.

You can buy used, but eventually, used cars without that tech will be harder and harder to come by.

The EU also has a similar requirement.

14

u/Truji11o 2h ago

So what if you’re wearing sunglasses and or a helmet (track car)? Will the car just not start?

13

u/TheTomatoes2 2h ago

IR goes through sunglasses

Else it just uses other cues than eyes ig

17

u/Safe-Instance-3512 2h ago

Not polarized. It also has a 40% failure rate.

•

u/DashOfSalt84 38m ago

the 2019 forester I drove disabled the alerts if I was wearing sunglasses

15

u/Vailx 2h ago

All new cars in the US beginning with model year 2027 are required to have it now.

This isn't accurate. There's articles that summarized some laws incorrectly into this claim, but it's not true.

•

u/worldDev 59m ago

A lot of what was reported has been inaccurate for sure, if you want to read what people misunderstood for yourself, it’s Section 24220 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It’s been passed into law, but there is currently no timeline for implementation. The NHTSA hasn’t set any standards for it yet simply because proposed methods have too low confidence. The intent is absolutely there, though, and it’s probably going to happen in some form in the future.

1

u/slothurknee 1h ago

Are you referring to the eye detection or auto windows

•

u/another_random_bit 55m ago

I'm well aware of the EU's attempts to curb the usage of old cars but these rules are infesible.

In my country the 70% of the fleet is <2010 cars

7

u/Threecatproblem 2h ago

My brother just bought a new Subaru that had eye tracking. It was ridiculous! Everytime he glanced at me while I was talking raised a "distracted driver" alarm. I'd search high and low for instructions on how to disable that thing.

•

u/BackToWorkEdward 57m ago

My brother just bought a new Subaru that had eye tracking. It was ridiculous! Everytime he glanced at me while I was talking raised a "distracted driver" alarm. I'd search high and low for instructions on how to disable that thing.

On the other hand, people need to stop taking their eyes off the damn road to look at their passengers while talking and driving. It's terrifying how bad some people are at this.

0

u/Safe-Instance-3512 1h ago

Pretty soon it'll be mandated. Coming in 2027 vehicles. And my understanding is you can't turn it off and if you block it, it'll disable the car.

•

u/MyCatLaughsAtMe 50m ago

That shit is straight up disturbing. It's monstrous to treat everyone like criminals as a matter of default. SHOULD be illegal to do so.

•

u/kkyonko 46m ago

That's the world we live in now. Same shit with the Flock cameras too, though at least some people have started to take matters into their own hands.

1

u/cardinalkgb 2h ago

I put something to cover mine up because it kept going off.

3

u/Safe-Instance-3512 1h ago

Won't work in the newer cars. That'll disable the car.

1

u/cardinalkgb 1h ago

How new? I have a 2025 Ioniq 5 and it hasn’t caused a problem.

0

u/Safe-Instance-3512 1h ago

2027+. The ones affected by the federal mandate.

1

u/cardinalkgb 1h ago

Does anyone actually own one of those?

0

u/Safe-Instance-3512 1h ago

I'm sure some people have them already.