A survey of 100,000 UK drivers, conducted by Auto Express for its 2025 Driver Power study, reveals that overall car-ownership satisfaction has fallen to 84.2 percent, down from 89.6 percent in 2024. Every one of the survey's 10 categories declined, but in-car safety systems and infotainment screens suffered the steepest drops, with safety satisfaction falling 7.8 percent. Motorists told the study they are increasingly frustrated by complex touchscreens and intrusive safety warnings, according to the report.

Why 100,000 UK drivers are turning against their dashboard

The Driver Power survey, which Auto Express describes as the UK's biggest car satisfaction study, asked respondents to rate their vehicles across reliability, interior space, safety features, value for money, and driving experience. The results were statistically weighted to represent the national picture. The 84 .2 percent overall score marks the lowest satisfaction level recorded in the survey's history, according to the report.

This growing discontent is not just about minor annoyances—drivers explicitly linked their frustration to the increasing reliance on touchscreens for basic functions and safety alerts that they view as distracting rather than helpful. the report indicates that the push toward digital-only interfaces is backfiring with a large segment of car owners.

The 7.8 percent plunge in safety-system satisfaction

Safety systems—which include features such as lane-keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, and speed-limit warnings—saw the largest decline among all categories measured. The 7.8 percent drop from the previous year suggests that many drivers find these systems either overly sensitive or poorly integrated into the driving experience. According to the survey, respondents reported that repeated alerts for minor infractions, like slightly exceeding the speed limit, are causing more distraction than the risks they are meant to mitigate.

Automakers have steadily added more mandatory and optional safety technologies in recent years, often at the expense of physical controls.. The Driver Power data indicates that the trade-off is now negatively affecting owner satisfaction, a trend that could influence future vehicle design decisions.

Touchscreens vs. buttons: the survey's clear verdict

While the survey did not ask directly about preference for physical buttons, the comments from participants—as summarised by Auto Express—paint a clear picture: drivers want tactile controls for frequently used functions such as climate control,volume, and windshied defrosting.. The report states that motorists are "fed up with convoluted and distracting in-car touchscreens." This mirrors a broader industry debate, with some manufacturers like Hyundai and BMW recently reintroducing physical knobs and buttons in new models after customer feedback.

The Auto Express findings are particularly significant because they come from a large, statistically weighted sample—100,000 responses give the study high reliability. The survey's methodology, which weights data to reflect the UK car-owning population, adds credibility to the claim that the trend is widespread rather than limited to a vocal minority.

What the 84.2 percent score hides about modern car design

The overall satisfaction score of 84.2 percent, while still relatively high, represents a cumulative drop of more than 5 percentage points in a single year. the report does not break down scores by automaker or model, but the uniform decline across all categories suggests a systemic issue rather than problems limited to a few brands. one open question is whether this dissatisfaction will translate into actual purchasing behavior—do drivers who dislike touchscreens actually buy cars with more buttons, or are they locked into long leases?

Another unaddressed puzzle in the Auto Express survey is the absence of data on driver age or tech-savviness. It is possible that younger drivers, who grew up with smartphones, are more tolerant of touchscreens than older motorists. Without this demographic breakdown, it is difficult to know whether the frustration is concentrated in certain age groups or is truly universal. The report also does not specify which safety warnings annoyed drivers most, leaving automakers to guess which specific alerts to adjust.