For the last couple of years, there has been a technological revolution in the automotive industry. From touchscreens to driver assists, there has never been more tech in the average car than there is today. However, not all of this technology is useful.
While there are certainly pieces of technology that are useful, and that we wouldn’t buy a new car without, there are also bits that need to go. From intrusive systems trying to stop you from driving to controls being hidden in menus within menus, certain bits of technology simply aren’t user-friendly.
Exploring some of the latest tech trends in the automotive world, we’ve identified ten bits of tech that we could all do without. We explore what the intended use of this technology is, how it hinders user-experience, who the biggest offenders are, and how the tech could be better integrated.
In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including source 1, source 2, and source 3. ***Make sure to define any specific ordering of the information included in this article if necessary
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10
Touchscreen-Only Controls
Interior shot of the dashboard in a 2025 Mercedes-Benz EQS
The invention of the touchscreen in a car was revolutionary. It changed the way we view our cars in a big way. As they developed and grew, more and more information was available at our fingertips. However, automakers are quickly going to far, replacing practically every flat surface in their cars with touchscreens.
Bring Back Buttons and Dials
Touchscreens are irritating because they are replacing physical controls. Instead of having the option of pushing buttons for core vehicle functions, you instead have to navigate a plethora of menus. Not only does this make accessing fairly simple thing a much more complicated task, but it simply reduces functionality. If there are any electrical issues in your car or the infotainment system is particularly slow, you can be blocked from accessing core functions.
9
Overly Sensitive Lane-Keep Assist
Close up of the buttongs on the steering wheel of the 2025 Hyundai Palisade
Where certain driver assists were reserved for premium vehicles, the technology is quickly trickling down to most vehicles on the market. One such piece of technology is lane-keep assist. The idea is to reduce driver fatigue by keeping you centered in your own lane, but it can easily become intrusive.
Definitely Needs Fine-Tuning
Lane-Keep assist uses sensors and cameras to detect the lines in the road and keep you centered in your own lane. It aims to make driving easier by doing some of the steering for you. However, a lot of these systems are severely over-tuned and can sometimes be dangerous. Most of them don’t account for a number of different factors, such as obstructions and potholes, meaning that the car can end up fighting you when you’re trying to perform emergency maneuvers.
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8
Intrusive Automatic Engine Start-Stop
Shot of the engine bay of a 2025 Lexus 500h
This is perhaps one of the most widely hated pieces of modern technology, with most drivers immediately turning it off the first time they get in a car. This tech simply turns the engine off when you come to a full stop and then turns it back on again when you want to pull off, but there are a ton of adverse effects.
Not Just Irritating, But Detrimental
Most people turn off the stop-start function on their car because it is annoying. When you want to pull off, you obviously have to wait for the engine to re-engage. This means that there is some lag on start up as well as some vibrations in some case. On top of these more common complaints, the stop-start feature can also drain your car’s battery quite quickly. It also causes additional wear and tear on a number of components.
7
Silly Gear Selectors
Gear selector in the 2025 BMW 4-Series
Innovation in the automotive industry is great. There have been tons of advances that have changed cars for the better. However, certain things just don’t need re-inventing. One such feature that was good as it was is the gear selector. As automatics have become more common, we’ve seen the rise of some really silly shifters.
Don’t Re-Invent The Wheel
There are a ton of different weird gear selectors out there right now. We’ve seen rotary dials that rise up from the center console, weird flip switches on the dashboard, and even gear selectors built in to the touchscreen. People were quite happy with lever shifters, and some automakers even found ways to make them look quite classy. Column shifters are also particularly popular in North America. Volkwasgen decided to use a column shifter in the I.D. Buzz, but for some reason the manual shifts involve you twisting the lever.
6
Aggressive Adaptive Cruise Control
Interior shot of the digital gauge display in a 2025 Toyota Camry
Adaptive cruise control is one of the bits of tech that actually sounds pretty useful on paper. It keeps your speed steady and automatically applies the brakes if it detects a vehicle in front of you, allowing you to keep with the flow of traffic. However, there are plenty of iterations of this tech out there that are too aggressive.
Too Much Reliance On Technology
This feels like more of a refinement issue than something truly wrong with the technology. However, there are far too many examples out there of adaptive cruise control that functions below expectations. Often, systems are far too heavy-handed when it comes to reacting to traffic, braking excessively and creating a hazard for vehicles behind you. It also struggles with merging with traffic and in a lot of cases it disengages itself too soon.
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5
Subscription-Based Features
Subscription services are not just plaguing the automotive industry, but are infecting just about every area of our lives. Where in some cases they might feel like good value for money, a lot of times they just feel like further efforts to exploit people that have already bought a product.
It makes complete sense when an automaker charges you extra for additional features. If you want the most luxurious package on a car, then you get charged for the additional features that the automaker will install. However, locking features that are already installed in a car behind a monthly subscription is just silly. It has become far too common for things like remote start, navigation, and even heated seats to be packaged in a subscription model. Some drivers have begun fighting back against this model, though.
4
Fake Engine Sounds
Interior shot of the gauge display in the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
For petrolheads, the sound of an engine is one of the most intoxicating things in the world. It defines the identity of a vehicle and is part of what makes a car so special. Automakers clearly understand this, and their solution to this problem as we move towards an electric future is to pump sounds into the cabin.
Don’t Try To Be Something You Aren’t
Electric vehicle manufacturers have begun trying to emulate the fun of combustion cars by including fake gears and artificial engine sounds. One of the biggest offenders is Hyundai, with the Ioniq 5 N. Unfortunately, none of the sounds feel even remotely natural, and it comes across more like soy than beyond-beef. Even some combustion cars are guilty of this, pumping artificial sounds in to the cabin through the speakers.
3
Pop-Out Door Handles
Close up of the door handle on the 2024 Range Rover Velar
There are a few parts of a car that you shouldn’t really mess with too much, like the wheels, the windscreen, and the doors. Unfortunately, carmakers have decided that the last item on that list needed tweaking. Pop-out door handles solve a problem that doesn’t exist and make entering your vehicle more hassle than it needs to be.
A Normal Handle Will Do
Luckily, this isn’t a trend that has caught on across a large number of vehicles. There are a few automakers that have adopted this piece of tech, with Range Rover, Tesla, and Lexus being some of the biggest offenders. At best, they are unintuitive and get stuck when they get frozen over, but at worst they are dangerous. When they don’t operate as they should, you can be trapped outside or inside your vehicle.
2
Power-Operated Tailgates
Rear shot of the trunk space of a 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5
This is something that has become pretty standard on a lot of vehicles, with a vehicle being considered cheap if it is excluded. While it makes sense as an accessibility feature for those incapable of closing the trunk themselves, you should be able to turn it off, because it is just annoying for the regular person.
Slow and Often Confused
If you’ve ever driven a car with an electric tailgate, we’re sure that you’ve experienced a time when it refused to close because the sensors were being absurdly sensitive. You push the button and the trunk slowly begins to close, but millimeters before it latches, it decides that something is in the way. Try to force it to manually open or close, and you will be met with resistance and a plethora of bongs.
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1
Excessive Warning Chimes
Interior shot of the dashboard in a 2025 Lexus ES
Chimes in vehicles are innately useful. They can tell you when you’re too close to an obstruction, when you’re reversing or when your kids in the back seat are fibbing and haven’t put their seatbelts on. However, they have become excessive, to the point where you’re just constantly hearing alerts.
Safety Alerts That Go Too Far
Having chimes isn’t bad by nature, but there are just far too many. Sensors throughout the car seem to react to everything, meaning you hear chimes when nothing is even wrong. When you start up your car, it feels the need to tell you that you’ve started it. When you open the door to check that you’re in a parking spot, it needs to alert you of your actions. It is just excessive and more of a nuisance than it is useful.
