[ram.iyer95]

I wish "proper" adjustable headrests were included as an option in the poll. This is one trend that I absolutely hate in many modern cars. In the last decade, humble cars like the Wagon-R, Santro, Chevy Spark, etc offered chunky adjustable headrests for all occupants. And now we have fancy-looking cars that cost twice and have integrated headrests for the front seats and two bumps as a sad excuse for rear seat headrests! If I remember correctly, the first car that I saw which had front seat integrated headrests was the old Hyundai i10.

I really wish there was some Government mandate for passenger cars to have as many proper head restraints as per the claimed passenger capacity.

[mr_freakky]

So here are a few which I miss in the latest gen cars,

Not a fan of the current all digital instrument clusters, and I prefer physical analog dials. I agree that they throw out a plethora of info, but somehow missing out the feel of the pointers climbing the dials on revving hard. The whole cockpit now looks like a techfest with huge screens and touch controls, which misses out the human-machine interaction.

I'm a bit old-school type and I prefer locking cars with the traditional keys, rather than a remote.

Also, I'm puzzled on why most manufacturers are very keen on offering sunroofs these days and I find them useless, given the Tropical climate of ours. Instead, a full sized spare wheel will be a great deal.

[Sri Vathsa]

I will miss the Good build quality and Sofa like seats from some old cars, But MS for some reason, removed the variable-intermittent-wipers in their new cars and going by the thread below, many MS cars don't have this basic feature! My humble Tata Indica had this.

Thanks to below thread, i found an alternative

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...r-marutis.html (DIY: Adding "variable intermittent wipers" to the Celerio & other Marutis)

[landcruiser123]

Here's my 2 cents:

1. Heavy build quality: It is going extinct around the world with lighter cars for more fuel efficiency. I'll not miss this as long as the cars are structurally sound to meet crash safety norms.
2. Large fuel tanks: Not really going to complain as FE of most cars are good. Assuming 13 kmpl and 19 kmpl for city and highway respectively, the Baleno has a tank range of 481 km and 703 km on the highway, which is excellent.
3. Traditional keys: Nice to have the ability to insert, twist, and hear the engine crank
4. Physical dials in instrument clusters: I don't mind digital speedos. What gets my goat these days is anti clockwise dials. The human eye is trained to see dials/gauges in linear/clockwise direction.
5. Retractable antennas: Yuck. These got to die
6. Temperature gauge: Still very important. Can save you big $$$ if ther problem doesn't spread
7. Proper rear bumpers: Still a must have for pedestrian and passenger safety
8. Folding rear seats in sedans: When possible, why not have the flexibility?

[123.rishabh]

This is actually a very interesting thread, few things are really vital and helpful like

Temperature Gauge - One can understand if a car is about to overheat or having some issue with the engine incase the temperature needle is not on its regular position (Sometimes slight shift in the gauge is due to clogged or dirty coolant lines & can be fixed with a flush as a part of preventive maintenance). Without the gauge you can only come to know once the temp has reached really high and will have to stop the car.

Build Quality - One reason behind poor build quality is mostly due to cost cutting, secondly it is somewhat done in order to meet pedestrian crash norms i guess. But whatever it is, i think manufacturers are making cars which are only good enough to last 10-15 years (Initially RC fitness period), unlike old times when it could be passed from generation to generation

4 Cylinder NA engines replaced by 3 Cylinder Turbos- As they say there is no replacement for displacement. Companies are plonking in 3 Cyl turbo units which are decent but most feel strained and in city driving are not able to achieve a good fuel economy nor performance. I guess this is being done in order to reduce carbon emissions for the upcoming stringent norms in the future. Surprisingly they (a 1.0 Turbo Petrol) produce more power than a naturally aspirated engine (1.2 or 1.4) on paper but feel very strained in city traffic and have a similar fuel economy (Atleast in city driving), and the annoying 3 cylinder thrum is always there.

[rulerofsun]

Things that I miss the most

All the stuff in the drivers view. Temp Gauge, Oil Gauge Fuel Gauge in analogue
Folding rear seats ( They were a boon on my TATA Estate. I could fold it and go to sleep in the boot)
Full size spare Tyre. (Steel or alloy does not matter) Luckily the Ecosport has it)
Knobs for entertainment. (My Kwid has buttons)

I hate the new digital info systems . They are distractions when driving.

Regards
RoS

[Sahil]

None! There is nothing in this list I miss. I’m all for modernisation and minimalism.

Only the first one point heavy build quality had me thinking for a minute. While I miss the thud of an ambassador, I would much prefer a carbon fibre material which might not give me a thud but is much stronger yet lighter.
Overall build quality has only improved, exterior panel gaps and cheap materials in lower end cars are a thing of the past.

[SavoyWalrus]

Independent rear suspension is something that's missing in most modern cars (I can't think of any sub 20 lakh car that has it).

Also - this may seem like a trivial thing - but reading lamps, the flexible kind in the parcel tray, is also not present these days.

[anandhsub]

I have never been in a sedan which has them but rear folding seats is something I have missed a few times in the last 5 yrs of ownership. But I guess that's precisely why manufacturers have stopped them since the use case is so rare. I am mostly happy with the fuel tank on the Verna but about 5L extra would have been good to have. Would comfortably do a BLR-CHN-BLR trip on a single tank.

[Haren]

Is anybody missing the CD drives? I do sometimes when the quality is not great on the ripped music.

[Raghuwire]

Nowadays most cars have a single Reverse light, I feel this is very dangerous, as many times we cant see the reverse light, when we approach from the other side especially in cities. How difficult is it to put a wire and a bulb in the other side of the car too, when the light housing is already there. so it is the second Rear Reversing light for me.

[a4anurag]

My votes are for the following options in the poll:
1. Heavy build quality,
2. Physical dials in instrument clusters,
3. Temperature gauge.

The most that I don't like (especially in my car) is the lack of physical dials in the instrument cluster.

2015-2018 Creta's cluster (hate the digital temp & fuel gauge)


Hyundai Verna's cluster that I love


The other thing related to clusters that Hyundai decided to omit from the first model version of the Creta (especially the SX(O) variants) is Range + Average FE data. Not sure what Hyundai gained by omitting them from the cluster?! In the 2018 facelift, this was added as an "upgrade to the feature list".

[Kishen.padiyar]

Very nice thread. I voted for build quality, physical gauges on the instrument cluster (including temperature) and last but not the least - hydraulic power steering.

My daily driver is a 09' Fiesta 1.4 TDCi and my passion driven profession gives me an opportunity to drive multiple cars regularly. After driving most of the recent models with lighter build, EPS and digital instrument clusters, when I switch back to my car, it does not fail to put a smile on my face despite having 1.53L on the odo. Not once have I regretted my decision of retaining my car against going for a new car / lateral upgrade.

[BLACNWYTE]

Things that I will miss;



Hydraulic Power steering and Reach adjustment. I'm short so it is difficult for me to find the correct driving positions on cars with only rake adjustment. Currently I manage because of height adjustable seats.


Proper sized spare wheel (Alloys on higher trims)- I have to purchase mine as an extra which will cost me around 9k if I want to do the 5 tyre rotation. Once saw a Merc with one of them spare wheels on the rear left, looked awful on the run, like the car was suffering from polio.


Heavy build. I know its not a parameter for safety per se but the psychological sense of security that a sturdy and heavy build provides you cannot be given by a Maruti. No offence.


Temperature gauge. Only because I had one that I found out my radiator fan was malfunctioning. Otherwise I would have driven in peak traffic with overheating engine and damaged it or worse.


Analog Speed and Rev counters. No digital HD rendering can give the satisfaction of the analog needle sweeping up and down, at least for me.


Large fuel tanks. Even though petrol prices are soaring, I would still like a large fuel tank just to avoid the hassle of visiting fuel pumps more often. Our Creta has a 55 ltr tank but I would have loved a 70 ltr one because the range now I'm getting is about 650-700 kms on a full tank. (avg). I am all for the 1000 km range tank.


4 pot engines (on small cars). I know 3 pots are more fuel efficient and cheaper but they are noisy and vibrate a lot. On new cars it will be less but as it get older it gets worse. I would any day like a proper 4 cyl engine even if its less fuel efficient and slightly costlier.


Proper rear bumper. Well its the disappearing bumper act sponsored by the tax department and cost conscious manufactures. These are the days of cars, esp. hatches with flush fitting bumpers in line with the hatch door and front grill. Not sure if we should use the term bumpers anymore. It definitely is not serving the purpose anymore.


Fold-able rear seats of sedan. I wont miss this much as I have never used one but it is the loss of some additional cargo space.

[Jeroen]

In terms of what I like in a car I am a bit of antiquated dinosaur, I'm afraid. So I ticked most boxes!

That is not to say I don't enjoy a brand new modern car. It just comes with a completely different look and feel. It's almost apples to pears. It is difficult to claim my 1982 Mercedes W123 is a better car than any modern Mercedes. Although there are plenty of people on the net, making and substantiating such claims.

If I had to pick one thing it would be the retractable antenna. For me, that is sort of the embodiment, the epitome of the 70s/80s car feature enhancements.

I am of the generation whose first car did not even come with a radio. Having a radio (in those days always aftermarket) in your car made you the coolest guy on the block. Having an automatic antenna would raise your status to stratospheric heights! You would outcool Paul Newman, car wise!

When I got my W123, it came without a radio. I installed a period Grundig radio I had gotten from my wife in 1986! It has been installed in various cars since.

As the W123 did not have an antenna either, I did some research. Mercedes did have a factory fitted automatic antenna as an option on the W123. Getting hold of one of those was difficult, so I opted for a very simple aftermarket automatic antenna. I chose to operate it via a separate button, rather than have the radio operate it. That means I could play a cassette or listen to my iPod on the radio, without having to extend the antenna. How cool can you get?

My 2002 Jaguar also has a factory fitted automatic antenna. Radio(head) operated. Unfortunately, I am already onto my third antenna on this one.

In the USA we had these drive through car washes and I repeatedly forgot to switch the radio off, before entering. Once, I did switch it off, only to switch it back on, whilst still in the carwash. On the upside, I can now replace antenna blindfolded, one arm tied behind my back! I still carry a spare antenna in the boot of the Jaguar, just in case!

My 1986 Alfa Spider was one of the first cars with a built in antenna in the front window. Nobody notices that, but it makes for a good anorak fact!

Jeroen