The car features many owners rarely use

A long equipment list does not guarantee that a car will be more useful every day. Two J.D. Power studies in the United States found that automated parking, head-up displays, built-in apps and gesture controls can remain unused by a significant share of owners.

What the 2015 study found

The J.D. Power Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) report measured owners’ experience with in-car technology during the first 90 days. It drew on responses from more than 4,200 U.S. owners and lessees.

At least 20% of respondents had never used 16 of the 33 technologies measured. Among owners whose vehicles had the feature, 35% said they had never used automated parking. The figures were 33% for head-up displays, 32% for built-in apps, 38% for mobile hotspots and 43% for in-vehicle concierge services.

J.D. Power identified two recurring reasons: owners did not find a technology useful, or it had arrived as part of a package they did not want. Some drivers also preferred their smartphones for connectivity because the devices were already familiar.

Gesture controls can be difficult to justify

The 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index studied 81,926 owners of 2024 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership. J.D. Power placed gesture controls among recognition technologies that can struggle when they do not solve a problem owners already recognize.

Gesture controls generated 43.4 problems per 100 vehicles, and 21% of users said the technology lacked functionality. In the same study, owners responded more positively to systems addressing a specific concern, including technology that helps with blind spots.

What the figures do—and do not—say

These studies do not represent the Romanian market, and they do not make any feature useless for every driver. They show the difference between a technology being included in a vehicle and becoming part of an owner’s routine.

For buyers, the practical question is whether a feature removes a real problem or merely adds another way to control something that is already easy to operate. That matters when a feature is bundled into a more expensive trim rather than offered separately.