Air and cruise for me, though the keyless ignition and one touch up and down power windows in my Mirage rock.
I add a compass mirror, fitted rubber floor mats, and a pro-clip mount for my satellite radio to every car I get, so I guess they could come standard and make me happy too.
Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: I just don't get the love for heated seats. I despise them. I also like auto dimming mirrors and lights that turn themselves on in the dark. None of them are necessary. The only thing that I would consider necessary is AC.
If you live in the north and it's 25 below like last winter and your commute to work is 3 miles so the car never warms up, unless you let it sit for ten minutes before you leave which seems like a huge waist of time and fuel................heated seats are wonderful. You can feel them warm up immediately. Pure heaven. I think I would give up the radio before heated seats.
"A luxury once sampled becomes a necessity."
In reply to Feedyurhed:
All I need is the windows clear. I was born and raised in the north. I can't even stand the heat to blow on me, as long as the windows are clear I'm fine.
Cruise, AC and heated seats. As I'm getting older, and having more days with sore knees, I'm finding power seats are going to be nessesity one of these days too.
Just 2. Manual transmission and rear wheel drive. If the base FR-S came with crank windows and rubber flooring, I'd be perfectly OK with that.
Stick shift, radio CD player, power door mirrors, ac for me. Cruise control isn't essential but it does come in handy.
The only option my truck came with is AC. I had to put in the stereo. Dealer installed the rear bumper.
I rarely use the cruise on the vehicles that have it.
A/C, and a height adjustable driver's seat. Everything else I can do aftermarket.
At my age, back up camera is useful. I don't depend on it entirely but considering the rear visability of many cars, it's nice to have
For me the must haves are a manual transmission, tach, and the ability to manually control the lights. No Auto DRL for me.
I actually prefer manually adjusted seats for fore/aft position, since I have such short legs I can't easily get in and out of vehicles with the seat in the driving position so I have to move it every time I get in or out. Power seats take forever.
Would love to try heated seats sometime. I hate auto dimming mirrors with their inability to dim during daylight.
So glad I got the grad touring Miata: heated seats, proximity key, manual transmission. Much prefer the manual top to a powered top, though.
What would have been nice to have are interior compartments that would lock along with te doors with the key fob, so when I park with the top down, I wouldn't have to dig the proximity key out of my pocket (ugh, the inconvenience!).
functional heat. otherwise i prefer manual everything and factory non AC cars.
oldtin wrote: ... Silly options - power tilt wheel, power headrests, (sorta silly) motorized hatch/trunk lids, rain sensing wipers, memory seats. A silly option I love - convenience door locks - with the key in you pocket, grab a door handle and it unlocks. Touch the handle in the right spot, it locks - it's magic.
I REALLY miss memory seats. I drive my GF's car every time we go somewhere together. I'm a foot taller than here, so there's a lot of seat adjustment required. Her Avalon used to have memory buttons on the side of the seat. I could just click it when I opened the door, and by the time I sat down, the seat was in the perfect spot. Her RX8 doesn't have memory and it takes like 2 minutes to get the seat adjusted the way I want - thing is slow...
+++ On the keyless entry though. RX8 does have that and it's pretty nice.
EastCoastMojo wrote: I hate auto dimming mirrors with their inability to dim during daylight.
Or respond quickly enough/effectively enough to bright headlights. Auto-dimming... Bah! 
I love Bluetooth, heated seats and a rear window defroster. Cruise is nice for a freeway car. I find I get much better fuel economy and far fewer speeding tickets with it.
The one option that fills me with rage is the button on an SUV tailgate to close it. FFS your hand is already up there. Just pull it down you lazy twat.
The only car I've ever owned with heated seats only has on or off, and nothing in between, which quickly makes me feel like I'm soiling myself. Personally I don't care too much for that sensation, but my wife seems to love it. Even having gone through the coldest of colds, I'd much rather have cooled seats for the summer than heated seats for the winter. Heated side mirrors, on the other hand, deserve to be nearly as common as heated rear windows.
The heated tailgate on the silverado pickup is a pretty popular option up here.
Driven5 wrote: The only car I've ever owned with heated seats only has on or off, and nothing in between, which quickly makes me feel like I'm soiling myself. Personally I don't care too much for that sensation
Vw's have a brilliant little knob with five settings from "is it actually on?" To "I think I might be on fire"
My commute is too short for the cabin to heat up. The seats are instant awesome on a 30 degree morning.
Also heated seats in a convertible on a cool evening are bliss.
bearmtnmartin wrote: The heated tailgate on the silverado pickup is a pretty popular option up here.
Seriously, why is that a thing? Tailgating at late season football games? That's about the only logical reason I can come up with.
Furious_E wrote:bearmtnmartin wrote: The heated tailgate on the silverado pickup is a pretty popular option up here.Seriously, why is that a thing? Tailgating at late season football games? That's about the only logical reason I can come up with.
Keeps your hands warm while pushing...I heard it's standard equipment on Fords.
When I bought my Buick it had radio controls on the steering wheel and I made fun of that because the radio was already within arms reach. Within a couple weeks I loved them. I hate auto climate control because of how hard they are to troubleshoot. Being a professional tech for a while changes the way you look at cars.
I've become a fan of the automatic climate control systems but only if they have a manual override and A/C is required. Cruise control is necessary and needs to work right. The ability to control the vehicle lighting is a requirement -- if I want daytime running lights on, I will turn them on myself thankyouverymuch. Bluetooth for both phone and media is pretty much necessary as well. It amazes me that in this day and age there are still cars out there that have Bluetooth for phone calls but not for media. The ability to completely turn off any and all traction and stability control is important. The various trip computer functions that are available are pretty convenient, but not a deal-breaker. In the case that I was looking at a tow vehicle, the built-in brake controller seems like a really good idea as does the backup camera.
I'd trade all that in, though, to have a third pedal if that's the only way I can get it.
I don't know about "requirements" but some really neat features I've enjoyed over the years are:
Heated steering wheel. Unless you drive with gloves on when it's 0 degrees out and the car is the same, a toasty wheel is really nice.
Back up sensors. I've had a few cars with sensors and driven a few with cameras. Honestly I prefer the sensor. It enables some really amazing parallel parking displays.
Satellite radio. On road trips this is such a neat feature to never leave a song halfway through and be forced to search for a new local station. I'm too much a tightwad to spring for another subscription service though so I don't use it.
Memory seats cued to key fob. The ex was short and getting into a car that automatically adjusted itself to fit me was pretty cool.
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