We ask the Drive team: What car feature can’t you live without?

I must admit, I've never thought much about the features of my car that make life more convenient. Well, not since I was a proper adult and could afford a car with air conditioning, power windows and a roof that doesn't leak (I once owned a 1985 Ford Laser – enough said).

But the other day I happened to drive my friend's car. It's only a little older than mine, perhaps five years or so, but I was struck by all the things I take for granted in my 2021 SUV.

I thought I'd ask the team to tell me some of the underrated and perhaps even unappreciated car features and accessories they just can't live without. Here's what they said.

This might be a little bit esoteric, but I really hate cars that beep and chime at you all the time. Even worse is the driver assist system grabbing at the wheel for no good reason.

So the one feature that I couldn't live without is a button that sets all of the driver assists to my personalised setup. Of all the versions I've tried so far, Renault gets this right in the smartest way. Get in, press the button twice and bingo. 

It might sound boring, but for someone like me with an uncovered parking space at home, the retractable cargo cover is a lifesaver on hot summer days. It provides a bit of protection for anything in the boot from overheating or damage. 

I first realised how useful this is when I moved out of my previous house, which had a garage. That was probably the first time I ever used the cargo cover.

It might sound silly, but I can't thank the inventor of tinted windows enough for how many times it has helped cool the car, particularly during summer!

Nothing beats the good old A/C, but it's still good to have a small weather saviour after running around during the day. Additionally, I'm a car karaoke enthusiast, so any added privacy protection as I perform a banger set list at Rod Laver Arena (AKA my car) is extremely welcomed in my eyes.

Proper, old-school door handles. I know there is a wave (and now a backlash) to the electronically controlled and operated pop-up door handles now, but seriously, it should have come sooner.

Not only have electronically opening doors been proven to be dangerous, but the justification for using them – that they make vehicles more aerodynamically optimised, and therefore afford slightly more driving range for all-electric models – is flimsy at best.

This was definitely a case of form over function, so give me traditional grab-and-yank pullers any day.

Good interior storage; a big centre console, shelves built into the dash, underslung storage, more cupholders than you can shake a mochaccino at. Storage for all of your stuff is a real luxury, and something you really miss when you don't have it. 

I don't know if it's quite underrated, but I absolutely can't live without Apple CarPlay. I need a decent navigation system at all times, and I can't be without my podcasts for a long commute. Pretty much every car has it now (with a few exceptions), but I think I first discovered it in Audis about 10 years ago, while living in the UK.

In the same vein, a dark headliner is a must-have in any new car. I can't stand it when you jump into a hire car and it has a light-coloured roof that is easily marked. 

But on the truly underrated side, you can't go wrong with just a plain old gear shifter in the centre console.

I agree with Kat about Apple CarPlay. Irrespective of your generation, and whether you like it or not, the modern, digitally connected, always-on world in which we live does extend to our cars. Managing calls, navigation and messages is part of our lives, and with CarPlay, handling this transition between car and not-car is wildly simple and endlessly convenient.

BUT...

Decent cupholders. Not too big, not too small. Not too deep, not too shallow. Easy to reach while on the hop, so you don't have to dislocate your shoulder or take your eyes off the road.

They must also be easy to clean and hard to scuff. I don't need heated ones – although I'd never knock them back – but just two sensible cupholders can make all the difference to a life behind the wheel.

For me, a big sunroof really transforms a car. I'll try to ensure every future car of mine has one, so that I can retract the roof to fully appreciate the good weather. 

My immediate thought was Apple CarPlay, but I think I could live without it if a car's infotainment system is good enough, and allowed me to download certain apps such as Waze and stream my music (for example, cars with Google built-in). 

Instead, the feature I can't live without is adaptive cruise control, particularly with stop-and-go and lane-centring functions.

It is great for highway driving, or even during traffic jams, and since I already own a car with this feature, I would avoid buying another one without it. 

Extendable under-thigh seat support. So many new cars we drive each year only offer six-way adjustment in their front seats, which means you can tilt the backrest, move the seat backward and forward, and adjust the height... but not tilt the base up or down. For someone of my height, I find there's never enough support under my thighs. 

Even better are cars with pull-out seat cushions (such as most Volkswagen Group vehicles), which make for a far comfier and less fatiguing driving position.

For me, it's actually one my car doesn't have... but I wish it did!

It's automatic side mirrors. I park my car on our street, which is relatively narrow and many of my neighbours also usually park on both sides.

My poor driver's side mirror has copped more than one swipe from a passing car. I do usually remember to fold it in when I park, but on the off-chance I don't, it would be nice for my car to do it for me when I lock up.

What's your must-have underrated car feature? Tell us in the comments below...

Jemimah is Drive's Consumer Editor. She has more than a decade of editorial experience and has previously worked in property and lifestyle journalism for Domain, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and REA Group, among many other publications.

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