How car technology is affecting drivers, repair costs, and auto insurance.
We live in an increasingly digital world, and technology is there at every turn. That doesn’t mean, however, that people are actually using it. In fact J.D. Power’s 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) report showed that in the first three months of owning a new car, one in five owners didn’t use almost half the technologies their vehicles offered.
A lot of the time, drivers are already happy with the features that their smartphone or tablet offers and aren’t necessarily looking to their vehicle to provide navigation or voice texting.
In other cases, they actually don’t know that the technologies exist at all. Some technology features come as part of a package, and if the dealer doesn’t activate them and show the driver how to use them, their odds of being utilized drops significantly.
This is especially problematic when drivers don’t want these features, but still find their repair costs skyrocketing because of them. Say, for example, that you purchase a vehicle with sensors to help you back up, then scrape your bumper. What should have been an easy, affordable fix can quickly escalate to a pricey repair if you have to replace those expensive sensors.
There are some car technology features, like adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warnings, and vehicle health diagnostics, that users say they do want included in their next vehicle. It falls to manufacturers to listen to the DrIVE report, and build future models accordingly.
Are you interested in buying your next vehicle with technologies you actually do want that can help you stay safe out on the road? To learn about how that will impact your auto insurance, contact Mike Leonard Insurance Agency. We will leverage our carriers Kemper, MetLife, Travelers, The Hartford, Safeco Insurance, Progressive, and American Strategic Insurance to help protect you, your vehicle, and your car technology.