I'm glad this game stole the GPS, taxis, and mobile phone from Saint's Row (although to be fair the phone wasn't a major thing in SR), but I really wish they stole the garage system from it as well, because I really miss having a set of pimped out rides I knew would always be available to me, even at a cost, so much better than the disposable vehicles of the GTA series.
I understand that Rockstar are going for a more immersive experience this time around, rather than SR which quite happily embraces its over the top nature, and the garage is pretty gamey and doesn't fit with the realism they are going for. I do like that the extra stuff like vigilante/delivery/cab missions are now more connected to the story rather than being completely separated from it like before.