Used-Car Tech Features That Are Actually Worth Looking For

Shopping for a used car gets interesting once you start comparing equipment.

One car has a giant touchscreen. Another has 14 speakers. Something else has an app that lets you change the interior lighting to 37 different colors.

Cool. But which features are actually going to make your car nicer to live with every day?

A few stand out.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

This one is near the top of the list.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto let you use familiar apps for navigation, music, messages, and calls through the vehicle’s display. Once you’ve owned a car with either system, going back to an older factory infotainment system can feel like a pretty big step backward.

Wireless connectivity is nice, but wired CarPlay or Android Auto is hardly a dealbreaker. In some cars, the wired connection is actually more consistent anyway.

Blind-Spot Monitoring

It doesn’t replace checking your mirrors and looking over your shoulder. It does add another useful set of eyes.

Blind-spot monitoring is particularly handy in SUVs, vehicles with thick rear pillars, and busy highway traffic. Rear cross-traffic alert is another feature worth having, especially when you’re backing out between two larger vehicles in a crowded parking lot.

Adaptive Cruise Control

Regular cruise control holds a speed. Adaptive cruise control can adjust your speed to help maintain distance from traffic ahead.

That doesn’t sound terribly exciting until you take a long highway trip with it.

Instead of constantly tapping the brakes, canceling cruise, and resetting it as traffic speeds up and slows down, the vehicle can handle much of that adjustment for you. It can take some of the work out of a long drive.

Heated Seats and Remote Start

Not every worthwhile feature needs to be high-tech.

Heated seats are great on a cold morning. Remote start is even better when the temperature really drops. Heated steering wheels are another one of those features that sound unnecessary right up until you have one.

Then you wonder why every car doesn’t come with it.

A Good Backup Camera

Backup cameras have been required on new U.S. passenger vehicles for years, so they’re common on newer used cars. But camera quality varies quite a bit.

Some vehicles also have 360-degree or multi-view camera systems. Those can be surprisingly helpful if you park in tight garages, crowded city lots, or anywhere else where curbs seem determined to attack your wheels.

Buy the Features You’ll Actually Use

It’s easy to get distracted by the longest equipment list when shopping for a used vehicle. A better approach is to think about your normal day.

Do you commute on the highway? Adaptive cruise might matter. Parallel park every day? Look for parking sensors and a good camera. Have a long winter ahead? Heated seats and remote start climb the list pretty quickly.

At Jay Wolfe Auto Outlet, you can compare used cars, trucks, and SUVs with a wide range of equipment and figure out which features are actually worth having for the way you drive.