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What’s the one comfort feature in your car that you couldn’t live without? Or, perhaps, if you were currently shopping for a new car, which feature would be at the top of your must-have list? For 47% of people recently surveyed, that’d be heated seats.
Market research and consulting firm AutoPacific surveyed 19,000 licensed drivers who intend to acquire a new vehicle within the next three years, and ranked the top 15 features and technologies they claimed to value most in their future purchase. At the very top is the one comfort feature that, frankly, is also at the top of mine (right next to remote start, which, surprisingly, didn’t make the list).
Nearly half of buyers surveyed answered heated seats, which didn’t make the firm’s top 15 in 2025. Why the surge in desire for heated seats since then? Not sure, but I do find it interesting. In second place are front and rear parking sensors, with 45% of surveyed drivers saying that’s what they want most in their new car. In third, another feature that’s a bit surprising to me: “rearward automatic emergency braking.” While that’s a feature I definitely appreciate and think is crucial for reducing car-related injuries, I didn’t think it would rank higher than, say, all-wheel drive, adaptive cruise, or wireless charging. You can see the full list below.
Auto Pacific
Another few standouts that make me scratch my head a bit: all-wheel drive in last place? Last October, another survey found that buyers preferred AWD over any other semi-autonomous driving feature. Yet on this list, it’s at the bottom. I mean, I get that this is very geographically dependent, but I definitely thought buyers would want that more than, uh, auto park! What about night vision and large animal detection?
What would your list look like? Let us know in the comments.
As deputy editor, Jerry draws on a decade of industry experience and a lifelong passion for motorsports to guide The Drive’s short- and long-term coverage.
