Car Features You’ll Be Glad You Paid Extra For (and Ones You Won’t)

Specifying a new car is exciting, but it’s easy to get carried away. Ticking too many boxes on the online configurator can quickly become an expensive business, and one that won’t necessarily pay for itself when it’s time to trade the car for a fresh one. Particularly with some of the more obscure and outlandish extras available.

To help you decide which options are worth specifying, we’ve come up with five we’d recommend adding to almost any car on the road today. And, to help keep you from wasting any of your hard-earned euros, we’ve also listed three options we wouldn’t bother choosing.

But first…

THE GOOD

Heated steering wheel

We’ve heard mixed views on heated seats – they seem to be a divisive choice – but a heated steering wheel is much more popular. A dream in winter, a good, heated steering wheel takes the chill from your fingers on a frosty morning and make driving in cold weather many times more comfortable. It isn’t usually too expensive an option, and it’s one that most prospective buyers will find highly desirable when it’s time to sell the car on.

Heated windscreen

Capable of clearing an icy screen in a minute or less without using any sprays, scrapers or anything else, it’s one of the best features a car can have when the weather turns cold. It’s even better than a heated rear window because the heat is more evenly distributed across the glass. Admittedly, you still have to scrape the side windows, but a heated windscreen will have finished clearing the front by the time you’ve done the other four.

Panoramic sunroof

The name is a bit ostentatious, and panoramic sunroofs don’t always come cheap, but they can be well worth having – particularly in a car with dark roof lining. Where some car interiors can feel a little claustrophobic, a big expanse of glass can make all the difference. Even on a grey, miserable day. Admittedly, it doesn’t make sense in every car, but sometimes a panoramic roof can turn a dingy and oppressive interior into one that feels roomy and comfortable.

Ventilated seats

Ventilated seats aren’t always perfect, but they’re brilliant in the height – and heat – of summer, when the sun beats down on the cabin and turns it into an oven. Of course, air conditioning is crucial at those times, too, but ventilated seats can take some of the bite out of upholstery that threatens to sear its way through the seat of your trousers. It takes a little while to get going, but the cool, air-conditioned air that it blows through the seat is quite the relief on a sunny afternoon. And it isn’t usually a particularly expensive option.

Reversing camera

These days, plenty of cars come with reversing cameras, but not all. However, lots of used car buyers will be on the lookout for those features when the time comes to put the car up for sale, and they will make yours a more desirable choice in the market. And that’s after you’ve had use of a helpful piece of equipment. And it’s particularly useful in coupes, saloons and other cars that make it difficult to see exactly where the rear bumper is.

THE BAD

Leather upholstery

Leather trim is often a feature of high-specification vehicles, and one that’s often seen as something of a status symbol. But the truth is it can be a double-edged sword. While it looks premium and has the advantage of being easy to wipe clean, it is susceptible to getting hot in the sun and cold in freezing conditions.

Virtual door mirrors

With the move to electric vehicles, the search for aerodynamic efficiency has become ever more important, and the car manufacturers have become ever more inventive. Which has led to some car makers producing so-called ‘virtual’ door mirrors, which use streamlined cameras to see the area behind. They then show the cameras’ view on screens in the doors or the dashboard, giving the driver something approaching a conventional view out.

But you can’t adjust the view by moving your head, as you would with a mirror, and you often can’t adjust the cameras all that easily. And then there’s the question of clarity. The cameras are nowhere near as clear as a conventional mirror, and just as susceptible to water and grime, no matter what the manufacturers may tell you.

Bright paintwork

Some carmakers have come out with spectacular colours over the years, including the likes of Firesand (a burnt orange) that Jaguar used to launch the F-Type or the Thundernight (a deep purple) with which BMW offers the M240i Coupe. And while a brightly coloured car can be more visually intriguing, it doesn’t always pay for itself in the long run. And the more outlandish the colour, the more difficult it can be to sell when the time comes to move the car on.

That isn’t to say interesting colours can’t be worth it. Mazda’s Soul Red is hugely popular, and there’s generally no problem with reds, blues and dark greens, but some of the more exciting options – pinks, yellows and oranges – can be a bit more difficult to shift.