Recent Study Shows How Little We Care About Certain In-Vehicle Technologies

According to the JD Power 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report, at least 20% of new car owners have never used 16 of the 33 on-board gadgets measured.

Apparently, the five features that owners most commonly report as being “never used” are in-vehicle concierge (43%), mobile routers (38%), automatic parking systems (35%), head-up display (33%) and build-in apps (32%).

First of all, we shouldn’t be at all surprised by these findings…mostly. The only thing that I find baffling is the fact that people don’t use their HUDs. Why the heck not?

Anyway, the part about in-vehicle connectivity not being so popular with new owners isn’t surprising at all. I’ve reviewed many cars with built-in apps, connectivity and of course automatic parking systems and they simply get lost in the background of day to day use.

Also, if you’re always in a hurry (as most of us are), there’s no way you’re going to gently creep by a parking spot so that the car’s sensors can read it and proceed to slowly park itself. I’ve probably used that type of system 10 times over the past 7 years.

As for connectivity, Kristin Kolodge, J.D. Power executive director of driver interaction said that “In many cases, owners simply prefer to use their smartphone or tablet because it meets their needs; they’re familiar with the device and it’s accurate. In-vehicle connectivity technology that’s not used results in millions of dollars of lost value for both consumers and the manufacturers.”

On top of that, lots of owners say that the dealer never explained all the tech to them in the first place so they simply didn’t know that the car had certain features.

Naturally, the features that drivers do want are those that improve driving experience and safety, such as health diagnostics, blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control.

“The first 30 days are critical. That first-time experience with the technology is the make-it-or-break-it stage. Automakers need to get it right the first time, or owners will simply use their own mobile device instead of the in-vehicle technology,” explained Kolodge.

But here’s a little nugget that may not be on everyone’s mind. We often fail to consider repair costs when purchasing a new car fitted with all sorts of gadgets.

Chip Lackey, senior director of insurance practice at J.D. Power says that “a slight bumper scrape that would normally cost a few hundred dollars to repair can catapult a claim into thousands of dollars when a park assist camera or other sensors are damaged.”

Of course, this shouldn’t stop you from selecting all those nice safety options from the list while configuring your new vehicle.

The 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report was fielded in April through June and was based on responses from more than 4,200 vehicle owners, after 90 days of ownerships.