Connection Lost: Many Drivers Ignoring Technology Advancements In Today’s ‘Connected Cars’

If you've recently purchased a new vehicle, have you've actually taken advantage of all of its provided technology features? According to a survey conducted by J.D. Power, most don't. Most don't even take advantage of half of them.

It can't be assumed that consumers are going to take advantage of all the features a given product has available, but when it comes to vehicles, these extra features add real cost. It's estimated that because of these untouched features, consumers are wasting billions of dollars, and likewise, car vendors are wasting billions installing them in the first place.

BMW's latest 7 series is a great example of a feature-packed auto

Via J.D. Power's 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience report, aka: DrIVE, it was found that 20% of people used just 16 of the 33 technologies covered. It's important to note that this report relies on opinions from owners who've owner their vehicle for 90 days, so it stands to reason that at some point in the future, untouched features might get touched, but 16/33 is still a stark gap.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the situation is even worse with millennials. There, one-fifth of those surveyed say there are 23 features that simply don't want. This is especially true when it comes to entertainment and other fluff features.

For everyone, the problem boils down to the fact that most often, grabbing a smartphone to check something out is going to be easier than using the in-dash system. There are some exceptions, though, such as with GPS - it's simply better to have a big, static screen that tells you were to go. For music and non-car functions, it's often just easier to rely on a smartphone.

Another problem is that dealers might not be clear enough about what a car actually offers. If there are 33 or so features at-the-ready, it's unlikely that any dealer would take the time to go through them all, and if they do, who's going to remember all 33 features after being told about them?

The report also highlights the fact that features need to work the first time. If someone has to tweak and troubleshoot or simply repeat their actions, a feature is going to lose its appeal very quickly. In effect, there should be no beta testing when it comes to in-vehicle features.

What about you? Are there any features in your vehicle that you would have been happy to not pay for?