Automakers are constantly innovating, changing, and improving the vehicles they create. So many features, considered popular and must-haves at the time, are fading into obscurity. Reader’s Digest writer Chris Tonn rounded up the following four features you won’t likely find in modern vehicles.
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Outdated audio
Most kids don’t recognize cassettes, and most drivers don’t covet cassette players in their new cars. More commonly found, although definitely on its way out, is the CD changer. Instead of loading a CD or pushing play on a cassette player, today’s drivers are streaming audio and taking advantage of satellite radio and smartphone integration to facilitate their driving soundtracks.
Manual windows
If you’ve never hand to use a crank to open and close the windows of your car, count yourself lucky. It’s not that manual windows are difficult to operate; it’s that they’re cumbersome and potentially dangerous.
“Never again will drivers know the struggle of reaching across the car to raise windows while driving in a sudden rainstorm,” writes Tonn.
Power windows allow you immediate control of all your car’s windows.
Flat tire fixer
For decades, you could find a spare tire in your car’s trunk. Many vehicles today don’t need a spare tire thanks to advancements in tires. According to Tonn, “run-flat tires can be driven without air for several miles.” Now, space traditionally dedicated to a spare tire may be filled with a small air compressor or can of tire sealant, he adds.
Stopping power
The parking brake handle, a cabin staple for years, is getting a high-tech, yet simple-to-use upgrade. Instead of grabbing a lever, drivers need only push a button to engage the emergency braking system.
According to Tonn, not only is pushing a button to activate the electronic parking brake easier for drivers; it offers more cabin space to charge and store a cellphone and spots for cupholders.
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DeAnn Owens is a Dayton transplant by way of the Windy City, yet considers herself to be a California girl at heart even though she’s only visited there once. To get through the dreaded allergy season unique to the Miami Valley, she reads, writes, complains about the weather, and enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and their newest addition, a Boston terrier puppy that is now in charge of all their lives. In the future, she hopes to write a novel and travel through time. See more articles by DeAnn.