10 Car Gadgets You Want But Don’t Need

Instrument Panel - Car Gadgets - AAMCO Colorado

With science and technology advancing rapidly, many of these shiny gadgets that come out are wonderfully designed and intended to be useful. Though there are certainly a lot of products that make our lives easier and safer but do we really need them? In this blog, we take a closer look at these 10 car gadgets that we think we need but don’t actually need.

Keyless Entry & Start

Keyless entry allows you to enter your car without pulling out the key or pushing a button. This is ideal for when you’re carrying too many bags of groceries or a bulky item and can’t fumble into your pocket for your key. However, it only cuts out one small step in using your car unless you also count those vehicles with a start button. Another bonus though is that the car automatically locks when you’re a certain distance away. Either way, you still have to carry around a key fob to open your car by being close to it. Sometimes you might panic about whether or not you locked your door before leaving.

JUMPR – A Mini Battery Charger

JUMPR is a small, hand-held battery charger that replaces the need to lug around the large battery charger in your trunk. It claims to be able to jump start almost all 4-Cylinder and 6-Cylinder engines. Another bonus to this tiny charger is the ability to charge any other gadgets such as your smartphone. While we are able to charge our phones through our cars anyway, it is definitely handy for when our car is dead and our phones are dead. We highly recommend keeping jumper cables and portable charges handy during your travels. At the same time, we do not encourage you to venture out and spend large amounts for a specific battery charger. 

Adding On Bluetooth Messaging

Installing Message Access Profile in your car allows you to send text messages on your phone using canned responses or through composing it through voice using the audio controls on the dashboard or on the steering wheel. Many new cars come with MAP equipped and although it is very useful for those who must send a text right away, it is conflicting with all of those safe driving campaigns stating, “It can wait.”

App Integration Entertainment

Much like your smartphone, the capabilities to add apps to your center console is quickly expanding. Many new vehicles have Pandora Radio but more apps you may not be aware of are OpenTable, Movietickets.com, Glympse, The Weather Channel, and Bing Search. At most, you can feel like Batman, booking reservations for dates and making sure the weather is suitable while you’re cruising through Gotham. In theory, it is fantastic to see how technologically advanced cars have become. However, having these apps fully integrated in your car can be a potential distraction to your driving despite being built into the dashboard.

Adaptive Cruise Control

This little number improves the convenience of cruise control by taking it two steps further. First, it follows the speed of the car in front of you, allowing you to go with the flow of traffic. Second, if the car ahead of you steps on their brakes, your car will respond and slow down as well, preventing any potential car crashes. This is definitely a plus for those who take long drives on the open highway, but not necessary. 

Auto-Mixing Travel Mug with Tornado Action

Put those Starbucks Vias and packets of Kool-Aid to use in your car with the Auto-Mixing Travel Mug with Tornado Action! This travel mug mixes up any beverages using two AAA batteries. However, keep a cooler on hand for your ice and liquids that you’ll need to mix this with. It is most useful on long road trips where there isn’t a coffee shop around, but can be a potential hazard to use while driving. 

CarMD

If you’re the type of person who ignores the check engine light each time it pops up on the dash, hoping it will go way, then, CarMD is the right tool for you. CarMD is a diagnostic tool that identifies the issue and let’s you know what’s going on with your engine. While this tool is useful in detecting potential mishaps before they occur, CarMD is not a cure for them. Please note that even with CarMD, users must understand that the data provided is to be used for initial purchases, research, and to plan for a future maintenance. Prices for repairs and labor tend to vary by car, year, state, and insurance plans. Though the vast majority of the population is becoming more reliant on technology simplifying our lives, it is not always accurate. As a result, we recommend that you trust a local professional to assist you in times of need.  

Automatic Link Driving Assistant

The Automatic Link device is plugged in to diagnose your car’s engine. This helpful little gadget helps you track gas usage, driving habits, and engine health. Connected to your smartphone, it focuses mostly on when you’re wasting gas through hard braking and excessive acceleration. Though this nifty tool is user-friendly and impressive, it does have its drawbacks. Along with a hefty price tag, the Automatic Link Driving Assistant has been known to miss trip recordings, will only work with certain phone models, and miscalculate the cost of gas per trip. The miscalculations on the Driving Assistant is very detrimental to reporting because the app has several shortcomings:

  1. You only use regular unleaded gasoline
  2. You paid an average market price for your gas
  3. You cannot manually enter or correct prices that you paid. 

Even though this useful addition to may help you in your daily commutes, the Automatic Link Driving Assistant may not necessarily be the right gadget for you and your vehicle. 

Blind Spots & Lane Assist

As extra safety measures, rear-view cameras, blind spot indicators, and lane assist sensors are helping people who aren’t aware of their surroundings be more aware and avoid accidents. While parents are breathing a sigh of relief when their teenagers drive their cars for the first time alone, the dependency on technology to make sure you are driving safely is a little concerning. What else should you really be  focusing on while you’re driving beside the road that would make you unaware that you are about to cut someone off? In reality, this happens often and many people are accidentally backed over in parking lots. It’s certainly a great way to ensure that you will be sure of how you are driving.

Advanced Parking Guidance System

The Lexus LS comes with the Advanced Parking Guidance system to help the drivers with parallel parking in narrow spots. While it’s a great way to teach someone new how to parallel park, it’s not necessary unless you continually struggle with parallel parking. If this is the case, it is better to save yourself the embarrassment of parking downtown and enlist the help of a friend to drive instead.

Have the check engine light on but no CarMD? Schedule an Appointment with a location nearest you and check out the AAMCO Colorado Coupons we have available.

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