For example, BMW's M5 is considered the ultimate sports sedan. And yet the uber-5er faces a bewildering range of operational decisions: three suspension, shifting and e-traction levels; two horsepower options and eleven gearbox modes. While a hard-core cadre of enthusiasts embrace the Bimmer-s programmability, most newbies sit in the M5's driver-s seat and freeze. After overcoming their initial shock, they rely on one or two factory settings-- or walk away thanking Gott in Himmel they own something a lot less complicated.
The M5-s complexity reflects automakers- overly literal interpretation of America-s favorite shibboleth: freedom of choice. Carmakers clearly believe that the more their products cater to each owner-s personal preferences, the better. You only have to count the number of motors underneath a S-Class- seat-- or tally-up the number of ways it can massage, heat or cool its occupant-s hindquarters-- to see the philosophy in action. And it-s not just the luxury playas kissing ass. Even a humble Hyundai Elantra offers eight-way adjustable seats. This sort of multi-variable "feature creep" is spreading through the automotive landscape like electronic kudzu.
Car Reviewer Robert Farago, The Truth About Cars
I think there is a fair amout of feature creep in cars -- particularly the high-end luxury ones, but adjustability is a good thing, it's there for the ones who need it and ignored by the ones who don't. If I'm going to spend the kind of dough one drops on a luxury sedan, you can bet that I will spend the time to read the manual and learn all the functions, while most other people will not.
It's when options are locked in strange combinations that are frustrating -- for instance, why does having side-airbags on the Toyota Corolla remove the option to have an auto-dimming mirror? Why should the customer have to make a decision between the two different unrelated options? Why can they have both? They end up deliberating the choices: do they choose side airbags or auto-dimming mirrors? Do they choose safety or convenience? Or does Toyota just lose the sale because they don't offer both and they'll look for one that does?
I've noticed that people tend to choose both rather than go without something.
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