25 Expensive Car Features That Aren’t Worth the Upgrade Cost
Many expensive car features, while flashy, are largely unnecessary for the average driver. Such features are purely for status and do little to enhance the car’s usability or performance. Save money and skip these novelties that offer little beyond their initial wow factor.
Gold-Plated Trim
While gold-plated trim adds a touch of luxury to a car’s appearance, it significantly inflates the cost without enhancing performance or comfort. This feature caters to aesthetic appeal rather than practicality, making it an extravagant choice.
Refrigerated Glove Box
A refrigerated glove box might sound convenient for keeping drinks cool on the road, but it’s an expensive feature that most drivers find unnecessary. Regular coolers or insulated travel mugs provide a similar benefit without the hefty price tag.
Massaging Seats
While massaging seats can provide comfort on long drives, they are often an expensive luxury in cars. This feature increases the vehicle’s cost and complexity, requiring additional maintenance. Standard ergonomic seats are typically sufficient.
Holographic Display
Holographic displays are a futuristic feature in some luxury cars, projecting information in 3D rather than on a traditional flat screen. Despite their innovative appeal, they are expensive and offer limited additional utility over high-quality conventional displays.
Heated Armrests
Heated armrests add warmth and comfort, particularly in colder climates, but they represent an unnecessary luxury for most people. The added cost of heating elements in such specific areas of the car is disproportionate to the benefit they provide. Standard heating solutions like heated seats and steering wheels are generally adequate.
Self-Closing Doors
Self-closing doors provide a touch of convenience by gently pulling the door into the lock without extra effort. However, the mechanism adds complexity and potential maintenance issues to the vehicle. The utility of this feature rarely matches the additional cost and potential hassle.
Hand-Stitched Dashboard
The option for a hand-stitched leather dashboard is an indulgence that dramatically increases a car’s interior cost. Although it adds a bespoke touch, the visual difference from machine stitching is minimal to untrained eyes.
High-End Sound Systems
While high-end sound systems like those from Bang & Olufsen offer exceptional audio quality, they can also add thousands to a vehicle’s price. For the average consumer, less expensive systems provide quality sound at a much more reasonable price point.
Carbon Fiber Accents
Carbon fiber is prized in the automotive industry for its strength and lightweight properties, which make it ideal for performance enhancements. However, when used purely for decorative interior accents, the material’s benefits are purely aesthetic and can be extraordinarily pricey. Cheaper alternatives can achieve a similar high-tech or sporty look without the steep cost.
Ambient Lighting Packages
Extensive ambient lighting packages, which allow drivers to customize interior colors and effects, often come with a high price tag. While they add a modern touch and personal flair to the interior, their practical contribution to driving is minimal.
Night Vision
Night vision systems in cars use infrared technology to display a clearer view of the road at night, highlighting potential hazards. While innovative, the system is expensive and often redundant in areas with good street lighting or for drivers who primarily drive during the day.
Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive cruise control is touted for its ability to adjust your driving speed to maintain a safe distance from the car ahead. While beneficial for long trips on busy highways, its high cost can be hard to justify for those who mostly drive in urban or less congested settings.
Electric Cup Holders
Electric cup holders that can heat or cool beverages sound convenient but are an unnecessary luxury for most drivers. The cost of this feature does not significantly enhance the driving experience compared to using a conventional insulated travel mug.
Convertible Hardtop
Convertible hardtops offer the versatility of an open or closed roof at the push of a button but come with a high price and increased mechanical complexity. These systems are prone to failures and can be expensive to repair.
Panoramic Sunroof
While panoramic sunroofs provide an expansive view and open-air feel, they can add considerable cost and weight to the vehicle. For many, the aesthetic and open-air benefits do not outweigh the high cost and potential issues.
Remote Start
Remote start allows drivers to start their cars from a distance, warming up the engine and cabin before entering. Although convenient in cold climates, the feature is often underutilized in milder conditions and adds unnecessary expense for some buyers.
Dynamic Steering
Dynamic steering adjusts the steering response based on speed and driving style. While it can enhance handling at high speeds, the system is complex and expensive, making it overkill for everyday driving. Traditional power steering systems are sufficient for the needs of most drivers.
Excessive Horsepower
High horsepower ratings are a major selling point for some sports cars, but they’re often impractical for everyday road use. The added cost of high-performance engines isn’t justifiable for drivers who primarily navigate city traffic or suburban commutes. More modestly powered vehicles can provide ample performance for typical driving conditions.
Automatic Parking Assist
Automatic parking assist systems can steer a car into a parking spot with minimal driver input. While impressive, this technology can be costly and often slower than an experienced driver manually parking.
Rear-seat Entertainment Systems
Rear-seat entertainment systems are a costly addition intended to keep passengers occupied during long trips. However, with the rise of tablets and smartphones, passengers can entertain themselves with their own devices, making built-in systems redundant.
Onboard Wi-Fi
Onboard Wi-Fi allows passengers to connect to the internet without using their mobile data. While convenient, especially for connected services and entertainment, it often comes with a high monthly subscription cost.
Built-in Perfume Dispensers
Some high-end vehicles offer built-in perfume dispensers to create a pleasant cabin aroma. However, this feature is a costly addition that can be easily replicated with a simple air freshener. The expense does not justify the convenience when affordable alternatives are readily available.
Silk Upholstery
Silk upholstery in cars, such as seen in some ultra-luxury models, is a pinnacle of vehicle opulence. Despite its impressive texture and appearance, silk is less durable and harder to maintain than leather or synthetic fabrics.
Silver Car Keys
Some luxury car brands offer sterling silver or even gold-plated keys as a symbol of exclusivity. These keys are often exorbitantly priced and provide no functional benefit over a standard car key.
Ceiling Starlight
A starlight headliner, often composed of fiber optic lights to mimic the night sky, is a visually stunning feature available in some high-end luxury cars. While beautiful, it is an expensive addition that serves no practical purpose other than aesthetics.
Josh Dudick
Josh is a financial expert with over 15 years of experience on Wall Street as a senior market strategist and trader. His career has spanned from working on the New York Stock Exchange floor to investment management and portfolio trading at Citibank, Chicago Trading Company, and Flow Traders.
Josh graduated from Cornell University with a degree from the Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management at the SC Johnson College of Business. He has held multiple professional licenses during his career, including FINRA Series 3, 7, 24, 55, Nasdaq OMX, Xetra & Eurex (German), and SIX (Swiss) trading licenses. Josh served as a senior trader and strategist, business partner, and head of futures in his former roles on Wall Street.
Josh's work and authoritative advice have appeared in major publications like Nasdaq, Forbes, The Sun, Yahoo! Finance, CBS News, Fortune, The Street, MSN Money, and Go Banking Rates. Josh currently holds areas of expertise in investing, wealth management, capital markets, taxes, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and personal finance.
Josh currently runs a wealth management business and investment firm. Additionally, he is the founder and CEO of Top Dollar, where he teaches others how to build 6-figure passive income with smart money strategies that he uses professionally.