Been thinking of all the Gadgets/Extras we have on our Cars, now truthfully which are useful and you would miss and what would/could you do without.

I'll start on mine as per signature

Pentagon Supaglass Tinted Windows - Great because it cuts out the suns rays and glare plus stops people breaking in

Xenons - Excellent improved vision night driving

Audience & 12 Speaker Sound System - Nice but plenty of aftermarket units out there offering better value, only bought for MP3 Playback and because it integrates in to the rest of the Car

Multi-Function Wheel - Nice but I could do without my arms are long enough to reach the volume control

MaxiDot - Could do without but it fills the gap in the instrument display

Light Assist - Nice idea if it worked to good at coming on it bright sunshine and not when it's raining heavy,

Type Pressure Monitor was expecting the one like on the Renault when ordered showing actual PSI so waste of time IMHO

Rear Blind, Sill Trims & Twin Chromed Exhaust Trim not really gadgets just for styling really, Sill Trims should be standard on all Cars

Auto-Dipping Rear View Mirror - Very useful and again should be standard equipment

Auto Wipers - Again good idea if they worked properly, to often they come on for no reason, and not when it is raining seem very hit & miss

Dual Zone Air-Con - Now what's that all about? does it make any difference to normal Aircon, after all you only hava a small area so I have mine on Lo and the SO has her on Hi they'll cancel eaach other out in a short period of time.

Heated/Cooled Glove Box & Jumbo box, now the Centre Jumbo box is great for storing stuff, resting your arm on but as a heater or cooler, Chocolate Fire Guard spreings to mind.

Now the one big thing missing because I believe Ford own the patent on it, and it should be standard on all Cars not only Skoda's is a Heated Front Windscreen, superb in Winter for deicing the Car and excellent in summer during a shower when you run back to the car set off and you front window steams up badly instantly. Oh and heated washer jets as well.

Sorry went on a bit there

Total anti gadget/extras.

Just nice seats,gearstick,speedo and rev counter.

Simple is the way forward.

Xenons? Nope I prefer "normal" headlights.

Auto dipping rear view mirrors? My arms are long enough to reach and I find they dim when I don't really need them to

Auto lights? I know when to put them on

Autowipers - ditto

Leather? Why? Cold in winter sticky in summer

Xenons - Thumbs up from me.

Cruise - Most of my distance work I tend to do late at night when the roads are quiet so I find it useful

Extra ponies - would be nice.

Cruise control? I love it for the mileage I do (1500-2000 per week). Could I live without it? Yes. Would I order a car without it? No.

Interesting question! Most of the automated functions I'd prefer to be manual because they are rarely perfect. At the very least you should be able to easily turn them off. This applies to the famous wiper speed problem. IMHO, far better is the almost infinitely variable wipe speed control, but adjusted manually, that I found on US rental cars.

Agree about the dual aircon except that you do get different temperature airsteams from the vents, even if the ambient temp ends up much the same around the driver and passenger. So when SWMBO is having a hot flush she can have a cold direct airstream on her, when I don't want one except when I'm having a road rage.

A lot of the toys I don't mind for free but wouldn't pay for them. Agree that sill protectors ought to be standard AND so should really good mats, especially in the top spec car Elegance.

Puddle lights are neat - I like those.

I like cruise control and mine seems reliable, but can hardly ever use it safely down here.

When it comes to the electronic readouts and options, I think they've gone crazy - much have been designed by Microsoft.

Got a Eleagance combi, would not really add anything from standard, the only thing I would go for is bigger wheels but purely for looks as they look a little small on an estate. More toys=more weight & things to wrong i reckon.

Cruise control? I love it for the mileage I do (1500-2000 per week). Could I live without it? Yes. Would I order a car without it? No.

Yup, I agree, I did without it on the octy for the first 5k then got the dealer retrofit for

One thing I miss on mine is the rear wipere. I think it's stand ard fit in the UK, and possibly everywhere else now, but it was an option on mine and I regret not taking it. That big rear window takes a long time to clear at town driving speeds.

I also took to leather/cloth option, and am beginning to think it's the worst of both worlds. After living in the middle east for a bit, I was put off full leather, but the half-leather seats don't really do much.

Cruise and DSH -- now there's something I would definitely miss.

Auto lights and auto mirrors I decided against and don't miss them. I had them on a previous car and found they never worked when I wanted them to, and did work when I didn't want them to.

I like the variable speed wipers, but agree that a simple rheostat would be even better.

And I loved the heated front screen on the various Fords I've driven, and would definitely take it if it was offered.

I'm a gadget freak, but I could survive without almost all of them, although I'd tend to buy cars with as many toys as possible

Heated windscreen is something I'm going to miss on my next car but it has everything else I have now, plus a few more toys to make up for it

Chris

Only thing that I've got on the list for the new Skoda as a 'must have' is DSG...the other stuff I could take or leave, but my optionals are likely to be:

Sports suspension / 17" wheels

Leather steering wheel / Maxidot

and pearlescent.

Is the sports bodykit an option anywhere? I know some people have had it added by the stealer, anyone have a ballpark figure how much it'd be to get it fitted / colour coded?

The Octavia tyre pressure monitoring is the better type IMO, the Renault system is renowned for poor reliability.

At the end of the day i'm not interested whether one tyre is 1 psi lower than the other, I just want that few extra seconds warning of a flat tyre in the outside lane.

Sunset glass: good for keeping prying eyes away from my tools.

MF steering wheel: wouldn't be without it.

Maxidot: wouldn't be without it.

Xenons: wouldn't be without them.

Dual zone climate: mostly a gimmick but brilliant when SWMBO is in the passenger seat as she likes it about 5 degrees warmer than me.

I agree about the Jumbo box cooling - total rubbish but the glovebox cooler works well.

Auto wipers: not a problem for me, they work fine.

PDC: had a car with a reversing camera so non plussed by the beeps.

You can get a heated screen as an option on the Passat so thats another example of the VW strategy of keeping Skoda lower on the VAG ladder.

I have noticed that many people really pile on the options which adds a lot to the price of the car.

How do you fare come trade in time? I can picture the dealer with his CAP guide giving values based on standard spec and the poor customer with a list of the 15 options they had added originally costing

Crusie Control now there's one I forgot about great invention and works well, but I find very little use for it other than if I am travelling up to Scotland and get North of the M55. As I find I am forever fiddling with it or turning it off and on because if i set it to say 70mph all the other cars vary their speed by the +/- 10mph ish which makes it a pain with either a big gap in front or you end up crawling passed the car next to you as he speeds up as you come passed in a Skoda.

It's intersting thinking what my first car had compared to my current, I remeber it only had a radio and that was the most advance thing in there. IIRC

Imo you buy options for your own comfort and conveniance, when it comes to sale time at least your motor will sell quiker than a bog standard one in the same price band. If you have gone to the expense of buying them then you must think they are worthwhile.

Mine is a company car so I loaded it up to the limit of my budget so it's a bit different for me.

But all the creature comforts make the miles easier to handle.

I agree with the cruise control though, it's not often you can use it for any period of time unless it's 3 in the morning.

Sunroof - On the octy2 it is so small as to be completely useless. And if you have it open on position2 the buffetting is awful.

Now the one big thing missing because I believe Ford own the patent on it, and it should be standard on all Cars not only Skoda's is a [b']Heated Front Windscreen[/b]

My 1998 Range Rover has a heated front screen, so no patent issues unless BMW were paying royalties to Ford at the time.

If the parking sensors packed up on mine and I didn't realise I would probably reverse into something! I rely on them a lot now and would miss a them if I had to drive a car without them.

Love the one touch indicators for three flashes too, I use this feature in cars that don't have it and wonder why the indicators don't flash three times!

My 1998 Range Rover has a heated front screen, so no patent issues unless BMW were paying royalties to Ford at the time.

The MINI also has a heated windscreen too.

Chris

IIRC patents last for 5 years, or did I dream that? In any event, not enough companies have taken it up.

I love the idea of the infinite variable wipe speed control, how big would that be?!

Dual climate zone is good. I read that it only works up to 6C difference, but that's good enough.

Cruise control is a must, and I do like the auto dimming rear view mirror. I was led to believe that the outer mirrors dimmed too, but apparently this is in the L&K model only.

I actually like the auto wipers with sensitivity settings.

Never tried a car with Xenons so I don't know how good they are.

Yes the heated 'jumbo' (now there's a contradiction) box is a joke, but if you've got a mars bar you'll be glad of it

I've once driven a Ford Mondeo with a heated screen and I found it really distracting. All those tiny little zig-zagging lines in the screen.. Wouldn't want that on my car.

Would agree with rear parking sensors they are excellent, especially if you have your rear window blacked out because without them in the dark you can see the square route of not a lot out the back.

Things I like,

Cruise Control

Parking sensors

Dual Zone Climate

Auto dipping interior rear view mirror.

Things I hate,

Auto wipers, as said have a mind of there own. Wipe when they dont need to, and when its raining, wipe when I can barely see anything. At least you can overide them.

Auto headlights, when following a car with these along a tree covered road they were going on/off all the time. From behind it was dangerous as you didnt know if they were braking or not.

I love the idea of the infinite variable wipe speed control, how big would that be?!

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Not big - on the end of the stalk was a control like a small dome. You had "off", then a range of maybe 10 or 12 clicks round the scale. So not infinite but as good as. You used position 4 or 5 mostly. Worked great, and you weren't forever changing it because for any given conditions there seemed to be one position that suited it for quite a while.

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