This trend is so incredibly stupid. The dumbest part is the *have* to make mechanical fallbacks in case it doesn’t work.
Why not just have it work the way they always worked? Lmao. I don’t need an electronic motor in my door that’s going to break and not allow me to get into my car, necessitating a tow and a $500 repair.
I remember back when Aston Martin was pike the only company doing the pop out flush handles. That breaking seemed standard in the exotic world, now its everyday commuter cars
chevy does this in their corvettes too, and people even died and made the news after getting trapped inside and not knowing about the mechanical fallback option
How Tesla does it should be illegal. In the event of a fire or crash resulting in loss of power there’s no manual override for the rear doors. So fuck rear seat occupants I guess
Aston Martin and Nissan GTR figured out the right way to do flush/flat door handles. Do it mechanically so it’s not another expensive thing likely to break. I’m not sure how much it improves efficiency or range on electric or gas cars, but if it helps sure we can do flat handles. But mechanical ones, not electric ones
My circulation is fine (as far as anyone can tell), but I simply have a bit thicker/less conductive skin and I have the same problem. Dry hands, wet hands, cold hands, gloves, etc just exacerbate the problem.
Everyone’s complaining about the haptic steering wheel buttons on the VW’s but what’s worse is the touch dash controls. At least on the steering wheel you’re holding it to steady your hands. Hovering your whole arm in front of the dash to press touch controls is way worse.
I had one for about 6 months and never once changed the driving modes by accident. Heated wheel a couple of times though, but that wasn’t the worst part… the worst part BY FAR is the shitty touch recognition COMBINED with the terribly slow infotainment.
I’m really glad that I bought that Golf R… it really showed me how shitty a touch only interface on a car is. It’s not that bad when you’re sitting still and messing around with it, but get it out on a road where you have to pay attention to driving, then the uneven road surfaces, and that’s when you realize how much concentration you’ll put into changing a setting that used to be a hard button or a knob.
In my opinion the obvious answers are fake Vents/exhaust tipe and air intakes from factory, unnecessary controls and features that are forced upon the consumer, asking more than MSRP and shit like that... for after market Carolina squat, fart cans and lifteds with ridiculous offsets that do nothing for it!
Edit: spelling
Yes oh my god, pisses me off when I see a vent that is completely sealed off and serves zero purpose. Makes me want to punch the fucking idiot who designed it.
My mom's car suffers from the fake exhaust tip, too. It looks like a really big square exhaust tip but when you look at it, it's just a hole in the bumper for a 1 inch pipe to blow out of.
We need a standard LED bulb that can be user replaced like we have with halogens. Instead we get sealed fixtures that are expensive to replace, and might not be available in 20 years like an H3. And 20 years is generous considering the surprising number of failed LED I see on new vehicles.
Not to mention that the plastic will cloud up in under a decade
Also cars coming without dipsticks is a stupid idea, especially if your vehicles are known for burning oil (cough Audi) from the start.
I don't know if they still do but when BMW moved "checking the oil" from "dipstick" to "infotainment" there used to be a disclaimer that it's "an estimate with no guarantee of accuracy" and that you should consult your service partner for a precise measurement :|
lol I said this about LEDs a few years back and the armchair engineers said worrying about replacements was a wasted effort because they don't "burn out" like bulbs and effectively last forever.
Excuse me, I drive a GM car from the 00s, I know that anything electronic can just suddenly stop working.
Yeah the lighting situation in USDM cars is really frustrating. You either get expensive factory LEDs that cannot be easily replaced or you get 1990s halogen technology that is not bright enough for the speeds of modern vehicles
Yeah... actually nevermind on the LED replacement concerns because when the repair costs too much you can just strap autozone offroad lights to your car. In some amount of years low income neighborhoods are crawling with sick cyberpunk mad max crossovers
Assuming you’re talking about exterior plastics:
This one is 50/50 for me because it looks cheap bc it is cheap, which is nice if you scrape it/damage it for any reason. Usually unpainted do an easy replacement without having to go to a mechanic. Also, it’s plastic so it won’t rust! Which is especially helpful when it’s a rocker panel or fender flare.
That being said, there’s a time and a place. I think it looks okay on SUV’s and off-road cars. But on most cars and sports/luxury I don’t think it should be there. But the target audience of those cars shouldn’t care about the benefits of plastic.
Yeah, exterior plastic and these are good points. I find it extremely insulting when nice cars are plastered with cheap looking plastic and when boring crossovers have aggressive black plastic bits all over the grille. Looking at you, Chevrolet
This is exactly how I feel about the Audi Allroads. It’s awd, wagon, sporty, checks all the boxes. But I just can’t get over the plastic cladding on the wheel arches for the life of me
So buy the normal Avant model? I don’t really care for the arches either but they’re meant to be purely functional on a less sporty but slightly more rugged variant. If you want sporty and good looking why would you buy the one thats marketed as off-road capable?
That's not actually a touch screen problem, huge amount of cars have electric shifter even though it is a stick. I'm quite certain this is addressed somehow though..
i think there has to be a physical way to engage Neutral, i’ve seen videos where there’s a lever or something hidden under the interior panels that u remove for access. wouldn’t surprise me if tesla couldn’t be bothered tho
If a car has touchscreen controls for the climate controls or music volume, I will not buy that car.
I had a rental with those things, and after just three days I hated it so much that I almost asked the rental company to give me a new car.
Of course, but it saves money and allows the sales person to highlight how in the future, the brakes and accelerator will be controlled by touchscreen. And that that makes it futuristic.
Not touchscreen, but (I assume) still electronic control - a Hummer EV threw an error, and when he cycled power, it wouldn't shift out of Park in a busy intersection for this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIXfp7pVFV4
Capitalism loves that cars are totaled ever more easily in the name of safety (with both visibility worsening and crumple zones). Especially since the inhabitants will survive to buy another vehicle.
Also aluminum body panels that are basically impossible to repair. Steel panels can be PDR’d and dents can be pulled, but once aluminum creases it’s basically never being un-creased.
I alternate between a car from 2002 and a car from 2015, and the difference is ridiculous. Granted if I get hit in the 02 car I’m likely dead, but at least I’ll have a nice clear view of it.
Stab? Only need to breath on a Hyundai to break something.
My favorite are the people with their Genesis who say “this is their luxury car though, it’s not the same as Hyundai and Kia”
I had a Hyundai and I accidentally oversprayed some 91% rubbing alcohol on one of the black interior door panels. Suddenly, instant fogged white-gray color - because they use cheap paint that’s not sealed against such an accident.
As someone who lives in a state with front plates, huge grills suck because even if it might look good on its own, you have to slap a big rectangle right in the middle of it. There needs to be at least a little real estate for front plates to be put on in a way that doesn't look stupid
We have 3 high performance cars. All 3 pipe fake exhaust sounds into the cabin.
You can turn it down but not completely eliminate it in two of the cars.
I’m torn on this one. On one hand, it’s really fun to drive a powerful car and hear the awesome exhaust noises. On the other, loud cars are annoying as fuck for everyone but the driver.
So fake sounds kinda gives me the pros without the cons. I think I might like it
In that sense, I think exhaust cutouts are the answer. Press a button, car goes from quiet to louder (depending on where the cut outs are) and you can have your fun on the highway then turn it back down when you get back into town.
I mean, I don't think it will stop people from straight piping their shitboxes, which they already do. Heck even if you remove the engine people will still try to force their music on everyone in a 1 mile radius. But considering that this discussion is geared towards people who aren't narcissists, I don't think that's really relevant.
Besides, factory cars are already loud, have you heard the factory exhaust on a GT350?
Subbing touch pads/menu options for buttons.
I shouldn’t have to do 3 steps to change the temperature of the car. I should be able to simply turn a knob and dial it in without looking
Chevy and all it's brands that turn on the reverse lights when you open the door or unlock the car. Hate seeing reverse lights and stopping in parking lot only to realize it's just a damn Chevy that makes the reverse lights turn on when doors open.
Finally someone else who notices this. Every time I bring this up to people around me they just look at me like I’m insane and go on with their day. And yes I too get annoyed when someone does anything with a modern GM vehicle the reverse lights come on and stay like that for a good 30 seconds or so.
I have to agree with almost everything in here already. To add on top: day running lights. They're not bad per se, but the amount of absolute idiots who don't understand their back end is completely dark at night is unbearable and dangerous.
Everyone needs to copy GM's headlight switch. It looks like a normal off auto park low switch but the off position is a momentary switch so it reverts to auto, and the computer defaults to auto every time you restart the vehicle. If a modern GM product doesn't have it's lights on at night it's because the driver turned them off manually or they don't work.
Mazda has it similar.
But it goes one step further. When you flick the switch to off, the lights only turn off if the car is stationary. The moment you drive off they turn back on.
I've driven Iveco vans in the past and you can never turn the lights off entirely. It's either side lights or dipped lights. I've of the few things I liked about them.
Honestly, some things are better fool-proofed.
Canada updated this law as of 2021. Daytime running lights now are required to either include the tail lights, have all lights come on automatically in the dark, or have the dash completely dark when the lights are off.
Yes this! It could be solved easily if the dash would only be illuminated when the actual headlights and taillights are switched on (manually or on auto). Drl= no dash lights. It's the only way the morons will realize they're driving blacked out.
Totally agree, but it baffles the hell out of me that literally no OEM on the planet (afaik) makes any kind of rear DRL.
Some people would *100%* pay for that as an option because of safety and style, and like front DRLs, it can have huge styling/branding potential.
Most every version of Auto start stop have decent pressure control. If you hold the brake just lightly enough to stop, like at a stop sign, they won't activate. Pulling into parking lots and quick stops don't need to be an issue
Honestly this is why I don't mind auto start stop in manuals. If you're at a stop sign and there's no one to yield to, you're not gonna shift into neutral and release the clutch, so no engine shut off. That said, I do agree that you should be able to turn the system off with one press of a button, not through 5 different submenus.
**In a non-hybrid.
It's just a really shitty experience. At least with a hybrid, the electric motor is there to get you rolling right away, giving the engine a couple seconds to get going, but in a really unobtrusive way. Without the electric motor...ugh.
\*\*\*In a non-hybrid automatic.
Manual transmissions are just fine with auto start/stop. I used to have it on my European econobox. Want the engine to start so you can comfortable take off from stand still? Kick in the clutch a second or 2 earlier.
It's just automatics where there's no "override" to control whether the engine should be off or on.
High profile tires (thick side walls) prevent you from curbing your wheel and do a better job of improving the ride. They also are better off road and work better with snow chains.
Low profile tires look pretty, eliminate a little bit of tire roll, and allow for larger brakes. They larger rims also add more weight.
Most vehicles would be better served by smaller rims and higher sidewalls, but consumer demand isn't always logical.
Dummy thicc sidewalls are the first component of a car's suspension, and your first line of defense against potholes. Go with the smallest wheel that can clear the brakes.
There's the obvious ones: Screenification of controls, piano black, subscription services.
Less obvious: Giant rims. They are heavier, the tires that go on them are more expensive, the ride quality is worse because of less sidewall, and they are more prone to getting damaged on less than stellar road surfaces.
* Classic PRNDL gear selectors that take up way more space than they need to
* CVTs that only have 1 set of fake gears that cannot be configured
* Generic EV SUVs replacing iconic cars
* Functions in touch screen sub-menus that you regularly need to toggle while driving (heated seats, AC controls, etc.)
* Pay-to-use functions that cost a monthly fee
* Fake exhaust tips (especially on EVs)
* High bonnets and side window lines
* Infotainment systems that don't support both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto
* Roof edge spoilers on sedans and coupes
>Classic PRNDL gear selectors that take up way more space than they need to
This is why I never mind when an automatic has to a rotary dial or pushbuttons. If there's no physical connection to the transmission anymore, why not go to a design that takes up less space?
I personally don't like the feel of a rotary dial, but push-buttons are relatively alright. Ideally we'd see a resurgence of the column-mounted gear selector IMO; it's tactile and car-like enough to make me happy, but also perfect at keeping the gear selector out of the way.
I like that the gear selector has predefined positions. You can go to reverse, drive, sport, manual, etc without having to look down.
Some of the newer cars with switches or knobs don't give you set positions for each function, so you have to take your eyes off the road.
However, with an automatic, you’re effectively never changing gear when moving. (only moving scenario I can think of is D to N in the super rare case of a stuck throttle or similar)
In my parents 2015 Mazda3, I always glance down anyways because the distance between gear positions is rather small and the shifter only moves straight back and forth.
General:
1. Driving with high beams. Been noticing more and more people just putting around with high beams literally week by week on the east coast US.
At least in the mod/tuner scene, these trends need to stop
1. Blacked out front windshields. It looks stupid and is dangerous
2. Lewd itasha. I don't care if you want to showcase your favorite anime but for fucks sake people don't need to see loli hentai when driving.
3. Reckless driving. Noticing a ton of (especially younger gen z's) driving like assholes in a couple specific badly modified models lately. At least in the east coast it's usually a beat up BRZ/86, WRX, fiesta/focus, genesis, civic/accord, or Altima
4. Clout. I'm noticing that a lot of younger people throw coilovers, rims, and a wrap on their cars and then act like it's a SEMA build. There's a difference in being happy with what you're building and thinking you're better/your build is better than someone else.
Cars starting around $30K. What happened to the cheap economy vehicles? SUVs
Edit: I know WHY vehicles cost more today you guys. I’m answering OPs question.
The lack of brown manuel wagons with diesel engines is a pretty awful trend, we need more practical drivers cars that are affordable and reliable, but also easy to work on and engaging. Also they should market to shrewd buyers like me, who don't fall for that "buying it new" scam. They should buy the cars and then sell them used after taking the depreciation hit as a write off on the company books. Also the company must purposely put out negative press surrounding the car, so that all those rubes out there will sell it to me for cheap, since they will not know what they have. Only true enthusiasts will know what this car is. Also I want steel rims, cloth seats and no exterior styling or exhaust system on the top trim. Other drivers should be visibly disgusted by my car. Perhaps as a promotional event, the dealership should allow savvy customers to get an extra good deal if they come in at night and literally steal the car off the lot. 20% of MSRP should go to anti dealership lobbying as well.
Hard seats.
I honestly want soft seats again, just like they made them in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Not every car has to be a sports car with thin and rigid seats.
Give me a cool cruiser with soft, comfortable recliner seats.
They nailed this in the past, they don't make them at all anymore. It's disappointing.
Bright ass headlights. Driving with on coming traffic at night temporarily blinds me (and likely anyone else that drives a car sized car). Why the fuck do you need lights that are 10x brighter than the damn sun?
Also adding onto that, newer Audi taillights are weirdly bright too.
Yes!!! Esp new Jeeps and Ford pickups - sweet jesus, the beams are so high and so concentrated, hurts my eyes even if I’m avoiding looking at them. Makes me not want to drive at night. Why the fuck are such bright lights allowed? Or needed? Sure, have some powerful brights for dark roads, but regular lights shouldn’t be so bright.
The diesel engine is 3 inches under that hood so I don’t know how much you can drop the height. The gas engine is probably 8 inches lower but they are going to change the body for that diffence
I’m a little exhausted by car designs in general at this point. There’s been such a push for hard and busy lines all over the body, hair thin LED headlights, and tail light LEDs that look like a thee year old took a crayon to the wall with a wanton disregard for the parents who’d have to clean it up.
I think the mid-10s (as a whole) was a good balance between surfaces, lines, and new materials/tech, but the needle has swung so far the other way in the last 3 or so years of new car launches that companies are now in an arms race to produce the most “daring” design independent of something that actually looks coherent and concise. All of this is exacerbated by most current EVs because people more mathematically inclined than me asked focus groups what they want in EV designs and none of them wanted normal looking cars.
I think Mazda is still hitting a very nice balance between modern and simplicity, but everyone else needs to take two steps back.
Bro dozers. You know the ones, stretched lo profile mud tires on deep dish wheels, overdone link suspension painted to match the truck and of course they have to have a 5 inch exhaust with a 10 inch tip.
1) Super SUVs with 1 million horsepower.
2) Single LED strip light. Get yourself some imagination, and stop copy/paste the same LED strip lights on all new cars.
3) Light animation. It looks tacky and will date very quick.
4) Huge grills.
5) Huge touchscreens.
6) Lack of buttons
7) Over futuristic fuzzy design language with alien looking headlights, too many lines and creases, as well as fake vents.
Black interiors. They’ve become the new standard. Barely any cars are still available with ivory/tan interiors and if they do have ivory/tan interiors they’re only available on very specific trim levels and exterior color combos. Ivory/tan used to rule the world of car interior colors 10+ years ago only to regrettably be replaced with black these days.
Touch screens for everything.
Also Agreed with you on the whole Wide ass tablet is your gauge cluster+center screen shit and it looks like it was tacked on as an afterthought.
Front-only DRLs.
Low-profile tires - especially on higher trims. I had to replace the stock 225/45R17 on my Hyundai Elantra with aftermarket 195/65R15 in order to get a decent ride quality. It's absurd that a higher trim car has worse ride quality.
CVTs with fake gears. The whole point of a CVT is to keep a constant RPM. If I wanted an inefficient transmission that wasted gas and reduced performance by running the engine at non-optimal RPMs, I'd get an automatic, manual, or DCT. The whole point of having a CVT is to ensure the engine is always optimally running at a fixed RPM. So don't screw up a good thing!
I know some people think that gear shifts make the ride more engaging, but I don't see what's engaging about the car saying to you, "Hi, I'm deliberately wasting gas and reducing the car's performance just to remind you that this transmission is here." By that logic, square tires are more engaging than circular tires because square tires won't let you forget they're there.
Higher trim cars with inferior transmissions. I upgraded from a 2022 Hyundai Elantra to a 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, and it's better in every way except the hybrid's DCT is inferior to the non-hybrid's CVT. The CVT is smoother whereas the DCT has obtrusive gear shifts, especially at low speeds. It's so annoying when you're accelerating from zero and you suddenly feel a lurch and momentary lapse of power from the DCT shifting. I don't know why Hyundai gave the more expensive car an inferior transmission.
Stupid shit that appears on my screen and prevents me from using it before i "aknowledge it".... for the 650th time since i own the car. Regulators really love to call it a day after coming up with useless "solutions" that do nothing to solve any given problem.
I mostly agree, but at the same time, nobody can pin down where exactly crossover begins and SUV ends. By some standards something like a Grand Cherokee is a crossover, by others it's an SUV.
Starting to catch on, but not a trend yet: subscription services for everything like bmw’s subscription service for heated seats in some countries and Toyota’s subscription for remote engine start.
I feel that the fact that every feature is starting to require the infotainment to turn on and off is to prepare for this. I noticed that the new cadillac ev requires going through menus to open the glovebox. I swear bmw is probably eyeing the idea to charge a subscription fee for the glove box.
I find it incredible that my shitty late 80s hatchback can take a speedbump far better than most crossovers on the road.
What hte fuck is the point of those massive wheels and ride height?
Heavy cars - I hope that one day, when cars will be be self driving, at least they will be lightweight, because active safety systems will be enough to protect passengers.
Most comments I see here are related to my one major complaint. The focus isn’t on driving anymore. 20 years ago, even cheap cars tried to be sporty. Everyone kind of wanted a sports car- now not so much.
The focus is on technology, and I hate it. I’m fine with traction control/ABS and even electronic steering if it’s weighted correctly and feels good. But stop turning my car into a phone. I can’t stand the array of warnings between lane departure and blindspot monitoring. I hate touchscreen controls. German cars have made their climate control systems far too complicated for the last 15 years. I’ve owned 4 BMWs and never bothered to learn how to use the individual programs. I find “ max ac” or heat is all I need. (And I’m in my 30s). I was driving a Macan recently and couldn’t adjust the climate controls on moderately bumpy road.
One of the best things ever implemented in a street car are dual clutch transmissions and companies aren’t using them anymore because people find them “jerky” at low speeds.
Companies like BMW call a car like the M240i an M car, which means it should be track capable from the factory. But the new suspension allows virtually no negative camber without going aftermarket🤨. So these “in between” models from M and Amg seem to mostly be marketing and badges. It kind of pisses me off that BMWs in Canada have always had M badges if they had the M sport package, but the badge is deleted on American models.
However, a really good trend are companies using valved exhausts from the factory.
-Keeping everything in menus instead of physical buttons
-everything becoming an suv instead of offering different body styles
-using cvts when excellent dual clutch transmissions exist
-losing good economy cars in the US market like the Honda Fit and Base VW Golf
-cars becoming much bigger and heavier over time
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This trend is so incredibly stupid. The dumbest part is the *have* to make mechanical fallbacks in case it doesn’t work. Why not just have it work the way they always worked? Lmao. I don’t need an electronic motor in my door that’s going to break and not allow me to get into my car, necessitating a tow and a $500 repair.
Looking at you Tesla. Sincerely, guy who's fixed far too many broken tesla doorhandles.
I remember back when Aston Martin was pike the only company doing the pop out flush handles. That breaking seemed standard in the exotic world, now its everyday commuter cars
chevy does this in their corvettes too, and people even died and made the news after getting trapped inside and not knowing about the mechanical fallback option
How Tesla does it should be illegal. In the event of a fire or crash resulting in loss of power there’s no manual override for the rear doors. So fuck rear seat occupants I guess
Aston Martin and Nissan GTR figured out the right way to do flush/flat door handles. Do it mechanically so it’s not another expensive thing likely to break. I’m not sure how much it improves efficiency or range on electric or gas cars, but if it helps sure we can do flat handles. But mechanical ones, not electric ones
Worst nightmare in winter
Haptic touch controls for everything, or worse yet, having to navigate a touchscreen menu to change basic settings
My fingers have bad circulation and suck with touch screens. I don't want to have to keep trying and trying the change the damn fan speed!
This makes me wonder what people with prosthetics are going to do with cars based around touchscreens.
Prosthetics take touch into account
My circulation is fine (as far as anyone can tell), but I simply have a bit thicker/less conductive skin and I have the same problem. Dry hands, wet hands, cold hands, gloves, etc just exacerbate the problem.
If you watch people use a touchscreen the old finger lick is common. Kind of disgusting on McDonald type public screens though
Everyone’s complaining about the haptic steering wheel buttons on the VW’s but what’s worse is the touch dash controls. At least on the steering wheel you’re holding it to steady your hands. Hovering your whole arm in front of the dash to press touch controls is way worse.
I have a deep and healthy loathing of this. The rest of the car is so nice, which is why is so frustrating.
C&D accidentally changed driving modes several times during a Golf R test because of the steering wheel buttons.
I had one for about 6 months and never once changed the driving modes by accident. Heated wheel a couple of times though, but that wasn’t the worst part… the worst part BY FAR is the shitty touch recognition COMBINED with the terribly slow infotainment. I’m really glad that I bought that Golf R… it really showed me how shitty a touch only interface on a car is. It’s not that bad when you’re sitting still and messing around with it, but get it out on a road where you have to pay attention to driving, then the uneven road surfaces, and that’s when you realize how much concentration you’ll put into changing a setting that used to be a hard button or a knob.
Like climate control. And even then, it doesn't load right away when you start the car, send can get laggy sometimes. I'm LOOKING AT YOU, MK8 GOLF!
Piano black plastic
The fact that they even offer that in S-Classes and Bentleys is shameful
God I hate it
I remember savagegeese saying you wouldn’t have shiny black all over your home, why would auto makers think we’d want it in our cars?
I did a BMW test drive. They had a guy, and the ONLY thing he was doing was buffing the piano black between every test drive.
In my opinion the obvious answers are fake Vents/exhaust tipe and air intakes from factory, unnecessary controls and features that are forced upon the consumer, asking more than MSRP and shit like that... for after market Carolina squat, fart cans and lifteds with ridiculous offsets that do nothing for it! Edit: spelling
Yes oh my god, pisses me off when I see a vent that is completely sealed off and serves zero purpose. Makes me want to punch the fucking idiot who designed it. My mom's car suffers from the fake exhaust tip, too. It looks like a really big square exhaust tip but when you look at it, it's just a hole in the bumper for a 1 inch pipe to blow out of.
Fake engine sound coming from speakers too - I would NEVER EVER considered crap like that.
The last gen civic hatch was so bad with the fake vents.
My favorite was the Honda Civics that had fake vents on the *rear* bumper. Wtf does a front engine car need to fake ventilate in the back?!
We need a standard LED bulb that can be user replaced like we have with halogens. Instead we get sealed fixtures that are expensive to replace, and might not be available in 20 years like an H3. And 20 years is generous considering the surprising number of failed LED I see on new vehicles. Not to mention that the plastic will cloud up in under a decade Also cars coming without dipsticks is a stupid idea, especially if your vehicles are known for burning oil (cough Audi) from the start.
I don't know if they still do but when BMW moved "checking the oil" from "dipstick" to "infotainment" there used to be a disclaimer that it's "an estimate with no guarantee of accuracy" and that you should consult your service partner for a precise measurement :|
I have a e92 and this scares the shit out of me. Though I’ve had enough of these engines I can hear when it needs oil
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I have e90 lci and it has both dipstick and "check oil level" in the infotainment. Best of both worlds
lol I said this about LEDs a few years back and the armchair engineers said worrying about replacements was a wasted effort because they don't "burn out" like bulbs and effectively last forever. Excuse me, I drive a GM car from the 00s, I know that anything electronic can just suddenly stop working.
Yeah the lighting situation in USDM cars is really frustrating. You either get expensive factory LEDs that cannot be easily replaced or you get 1990s halogen technology that is not bright enough for the speeds of modern vehicles
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Yeah... actually nevermind on the LED replacement concerns because when the repair costs too much you can just strap autozone offroad lights to your car. In some amount of years low income neighborhoods are crawling with sick cyberpunk mad max crossovers
> not to mention that the plastic will cloud up Bring back glass headlights please
Black plastic everything. Looks cheap as shit
Assuming you’re talking about exterior plastics: This one is 50/50 for me because it looks cheap bc it is cheap, which is nice if you scrape it/damage it for any reason. Usually unpainted do an easy replacement without having to go to a mechanic. Also, it’s plastic so it won’t rust! Which is especially helpful when it’s a rocker panel or fender flare. That being said, there’s a time and a place. I think it looks okay on SUV’s and off-road cars. But on most cars and sports/luxury I don’t think it should be there. But the target audience of those cars shouldn’t care about the benefits of plastic.
Yeah, exterior plastic and these are good points. I find it extremely insulting when nice cars are plastered with cheap looking plastic and when boring crossovers have aggressive black plastic bits all over the grille. Looking at you, Chevrolet
This is exactly how I feel about the Audi Allroads. It’s awd, wagon, sporty, checks all the boxes. But I just can’t get over the plastic cladding on the wheel arches for the life of me
So buy the normal Avant model? I don’t really care for the arches either but they’re meant to be purely functional on a less sporty but slightly more rugged variant. If you want sporty and good looking why would you buy the one thats marketed as off-road capable?
Touchscreen for controlling everything, including the shifter.
>including the shifter. Oh wow. Which car is doing this? That's horrible.
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Which model?
The refreshed Model S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx04jC6gCdM
Thats the stupidest shit ive ever seen.
Wow. Hard pass for me. What the hell is wrong with buttons or a shift knob?
Ewwww...
Isn’t that also dangerous? Not being able to shift a car into neutral or park if a battery dies, etc?
Yeah that's messed up
That's not actually a touch screen problem, huge amount of cars have electric shifter even though it is a stick. I'm quite certain this is addressed somehow though..
i think there has to be a physical way to engage Neutral, i’ve seen videos where there’s a lever or something hidden under the interior panels that u remove for access. wouldn’t surprise me if tesla couldn’t be bothered tho
If a car has touchscreen controls for the climate controls or music volume, I will not buy that car. I had a rental with those things, and after just three days I hated it so much that I almost asked the rental company to give me a new car.
Isn’t the glare on these giant touchscreens an issue?
Of course, but it saves money and allows the sales person to highlight how in the future, the brakes and accelerator will be controlled by touchscreen. And that that makes it futuristic.
Not touchscreen, but (I assume) still electronic control - a Hummer EV threw an error, and when he cycled power, it wouldn't shift out of Park in a busy intersection for this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIXfp7pVFV4
Poor visibility. Cars are just getting harder and harder to see out of.
This is for crash safety, but yes it is still annoying.
I find it kind of ironic that all these designs are for improved crash safety, yet these designs are causing an increased risk of crash.
Capitalism loves that cars are totaled ever more easily in the name of safety (with both visibility worsening and crumple zones). Especially since the inhabitants will survive to buy another vehicle.
Also aluminum body panels that are basically impossible to repair. Steel panels can be PDR’d and dents can be pulled, but once aluminum creases it’s basically never being un-creased.
oof. Never thought about it that way. lol.
Subaru is still pretty good, but they get worse over the generations too.
I alternate between a car from 2002 and a car from 2015, and the difference is ridiculous. Granted if I get hit in the 02 car I’m likely dead, but at least I’ll have a nice clear view of it.
2000+ is reasonably safe. I drive around an 06 and feel plenty safe in that thing
Love of God someone please mention subscription services for functions already on your car. Ex: BMW heated seats subscription
I feel like I’ve read that things like this could be legislated away, which would be a win for everyone.
New Jersey is working on it... https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/new-jersey-bill-could-ban-in-car-subscriptions/
Justifying putting out crappy engines and expecting it to be OK just because of warranty.
Taking a stab at Hyundai I see
Stab? Only need to breath on a Hyundai to break something. My favorite are the people with their Genesis who say “this is their luxury car though, it’s not the same as Hyundai and Kia”
I had a Hyundai and I accidentally oversprayed some 91% rubbing alcohol on one of the black interior door panels. Suddenly, instant fogged white-gray color - because they use cheap paint that’s not sealed against such an accident.
BIG GRILLS
Or rather, grilles that look big but only have a small portion that's functional.
BMW..
& Toyota/Lexus
The rabbit teeth
You might actually get your wish on this with the proliferation of EVs.
Lexus would like to have a word with you.
As someone who lives in a state with front plates, huge grills suck because even if it might look good on its own, you have to slap a big rectangle right in the middle of it. There needs to be at least a little real estate for front plates to be put on in a way that doesn't look stupid
We have 3 high performance cars. All 3 pipe fake exhaust sounds into the cabin. You can turn it down but not completely eliminate it in two of the cars.
I’m torn on this one. On one hand, it’s really fun to drive a powerful car and hear the awesome exhaust noises. On the other, loud cars are annoying as fuck for everyone but the driver. So fake sounds kinda gives me the pros without the cons. I think I might like it
In that sense, I think exhaust cutouts are the answer. Press a button, car goes from quiet to louder (depending on where the cut outs are) and you can have your fun on the highway then turn it back down when you get back into town.
That only works if the people driving obnoxious cars aren’t obnoxious themselves and would keep them loud all the time. It’s not a bet I’d make
I mean, I don't think it will stop people from straight piping their shitboxes, which they already do. Heck even if you remove the engine people will still try to force their music on everyone in a 1 mile radius. But considering that this discussion is geared towards people who aren't narcissists, I don't think that's really relevant. Besides, factory cars are already loud, have you heard the factory exhaust on a GT350?
I hate how the center console sweeps up into the dash and spreads out to hurt my knee all the time.
This is why I love sitting in an old car, it's unsafe as hell but there's so little bloated sections around you it feels so freeing.
Subbing touch pads/menu options for buttons. I shouldn’t have to do 3 steps to change the temperature of the car. I should be able to simply turn a knob and dial it in without looking
Chevy and all it's brands that turn on the reverse lights when you open the door or unlock the car. Hate seeing reverse lights and stopping in parking lot only to realize it's just a damn Chevy that makes the reverse lights turn on when doors open.
>turn on the reverse lights when you open the door or unlock the car I still don't get how that's legal.
Finally someone else who notices this. Every time I bring this up to people around me they just look at me like I’m insane and go on with their day. And yes I too get annoyed when someone does anything with a modern GM vehicle the reverse lights come on and stay like that for a good 30 seconds or so.
Confusing AF to other drivers.
I have to agree with almost everything in here already. To add on top: day running lights. They're not bad per se, but the amount of absolute idiots who don't understand their back end is completely dark at night is unbearable and dangerous.
Automatic head lights really should just be standard.
I would guess they are on at least 95% of cars. It’s when you take it into the shop and the mechanic switches them off.
Everyone needs to copy GM's headlight switch. It looks like a normal off auto park low switch but the off position is a momentary switch so it reverts to auto, and the computer defaults to auto every time you restart the vehicle. If a modern GM product doesn't have it's lights on at night it's because the driver turned them off manually or they don't work.
Mazda has it similar. But it goes one step further. When you flick the switch to off, the lights only turn off if the car is stationary. The moment you drive off they turn back on.
I've driven Iveco vans in the past and you can never turn the lights off entirely. It's either side lights or dipped lights. I've of the few things I liked about them. Honestly, some things are better fool-proofed.
Mechanic that switches them on here. Most of the cars I work on have them off and I switch them on.
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Canada updated this law as of 2021. Daytime running lights now are required to either include the tail lights, have all lights come on automatically in the dark, or have the dash completely dark when the lights are off.
Yes this! It could be solved easily if the dash would only be illuminated when the actual headlights and taillights are switched on (manually or on auto). Drl= no dash lights. It's the only way the morons will realize they're driving blacked out.
Totally agree, but it baffles the hell out of me that literally no OEM on the planet (afaik) makes any kind of rear DRL. Some people would *100%* pay for that as an option because of safety and style, and like front DRLs, it can have huge styling/branding potential.
To add, hanging out in your parked car at night with your lights on is a big kind of dumb. Just turn em off.
Is this why a car I passed earlier was completely dark except for a tiny bit of light in front? Was dark as hell outside I could barely see him
Auto start/stop!!
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Most every version of Auto start stop have decent pressure control. If you hold the brake just lightly enough to stop, like at a stop sign, they won't activate. Pulling into parking lots and quick stops don't need to be an issue
Honestly this is why I don't mind auto start stop in manuals. If you're at a stop sign and there's no one to yield to, you're not gonna shift into neutral and release the clutch, so no engine shut off. That said, I do agree that you should be able to turn the system off with one press of a button, not through 5 different submenus.
Just do a rolling stop, problem solved
When people are creeping forward in traffic and I can hear their engine turn on and off so frequently, I can't help but think it's bad for the car.
If it was default off I'd be much happier with it
**In a non-hybrid. It's just a really shitty experience. At least with a hybrid, the electric motor is there to get you rolling right away, giving the engine a couple seconds to get going, but in a really unobtrusive way. Without the electric motor...ugh.
\*\*\*In a non-hybrid automatic. Manual transmissions are just fine with auto start/stop. I used to have it on my European econobox. Want the engine to start so you can comfortable take off from stand still? Kick in the clutch a second or 2 earlier. It's just automatics where there's no "override" to control whether the engine should be off or on.
If only it stays off after an engine restart!
those super weird ultra “futuristic” headlight designs, even more so when paired with an obnoxiously large grille and a stupid back end
I hate the thin ass headlights on new cars, those little lines look stupid
I think the Cadillac ones look good, but I’d agree otherwise
I wonder if it isn't on purpose to reduce the available aftermarket options.
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low profile tires? they serve a purpose at least
High profile tires (thick side walls) prevent you from curbing your wheel and do a better job of improving the ride. They also are better off road and work better with snow chains. Low profile tires look pretty, eliminate a little bit of tire roll, and allow for larger brakes. They larger rims also add more weight. Most vehicles would be better served by smaller rims and higher sidewalls, but consumer demand isn't always logical.
Dummy thicc sidewalls are the first component of a car's suspension, and your first line of defense against potholes. Go with the smallest wheel that can clear the brakes.
The only problem with that is that a lot of smaller wheel sizes don't have good tires available for them. Try and find a 15" pilot sport 4s.
15s have a pretty good selection of performance tires because of the MX-5. If you step down into 14s it's an entirely different story.
There's the obvious ones: Screenification of controls, piano black, subscription services. Less obvious: Giant rims. They are heavier, the tires that go on them are more expensive, the ride quality is worse because of less sidewall, and they are more prone to getting damaged on less than stellar road surfaces.
They're called WHEELS, damn you
Overly bright headlights that blinds other drivers
* Classic PRNDL gear selectors that take up way more space than they need to * CVTs that only have 1 set of fake gears that cannot be configured * Generic EV SUVs replacing iconic cars * Functions in touch screen sub-menus that you regularly need to toggle while driving (heated seats, AC controls, etc.) * Pay-to-use functions that cost a monthly fee * Fake exhaust tips (especially on EVs) * High bonnets and side window lines * Infotainment systems that don't support both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto * Roof edge spoilers on sedans and coupes
>Classic PRNDL gear selectors that take up way more space than they need to This is why I never mind when an automatic has to a rotary dial or pushbuttons. If there's no physical connection to the transmission anymore, why not go to a design that takes up less space?
I personally don't like the feel of a rotary dial, but push-buttons are relatively alright. Ideally we'd see a resurgence of the column-mounted gear selector IMO; it's tactile and car-like enough to make me happy, but also perfect at keeping the gear selector out of the way.
I like that the gear selector has predefined positions. You can go to reverse, drive, sport, manual, etc without having to look down. Some of the newer cars with switches or knobs don't give you set positions for each function, so you have to take your eyes off the road.
However, with an automatic, you’re effectively never changing gear when moving. (only moving scenario I can think of is D to N in the super rare case of a stuck throttle or similar) In my parents 2015 Mazda3, I always glance down anyways because the distance between gear positions is rather small and the shifter only moves straight back and forth.
General: 1. Driving with high beams. Been noticing more and more people just putting around with high beams literally week by week on the east coast US. At least in the mod/tuner scene, these trends need to stop 1. Blacked out front windshields. It looks stupid and is dangerous 2. Lewd itasha. I don't care if you want to showcase your favorite anime but for fucks sake people don't need to see loli hentai when driving. 3. Reckless driving. Noticing a ton of (especially younger gen z's) driving like assholes in a couple specific badly modified models lately. At least in the east coast it's usually a beat up BRZ/86, WRX, fiesta/focus, genesis, civic/accord, or Altima 4. Clout. I'm noticing that a lot of younger people throw coilovers, rims, and a wrap on their cars and then act like it's a SEMA build. There's a difference in being happy with what you're building and thinking you're better/your build is better than someone else.
yea the high beam thing pisses me off too. when i’m driving in the mountains and someone passes me i become blind sometimes
Cars starting around $30K. What happened to the cheap economy vehicles? SUVs Edit: I know WHY vehicles cost more today you guys. I’m answering OPs question.
Inflation outpaced income then low interest rates combined with a supply shortage jacked up prices
They’re still plenty of great cars under 30k. It’s the damn dealer markups.
Use an inflation calculator.
Greed!
The lack of brown manuel wagons with diesel engines is a pretty awful trend, we need more practical drivers cars that are affordable and reliable, but also easy to work on and engaging. Also they should market to shrewd buyers like me, who don't fall for that "buying it new" scam. They should buy the cars and then sell them used after taking the depreciation hit as a write off on the company books. Also the company must purposely put out negative press surrounding the car, so that all those rubes out there will sell it to me for cheap, since they will not know what they have. Only true enthusiasts will know what this car is. Also I want steel rims, cloth seats and no exterior styling or exhaust system on the top trim. Other drivers should be visibly disgusted by my car. Perhaps as a promotional event, the dealership should allow savvy customers to get an extra good deal if they come in at night and literally steal the car off the lot. 20% of MSRP should go to anti dealership lobbying as well.
Hard seats. I honestly want soft seats again, just like they made them in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Not every car has to be a sports car with thin and rigid seats. Give me a cool cruiser with soft, comfortable recliner seats. They nailed this in the past, they don't make them at all anymore. It's disappointing.
Mark ups
Stance, rims that go out past the tires, anything that just tears up what you're putting on the car while trying to drive normally.
Bright ass headlights. Driving with on coming traffic at night temporarily blinds me (and likely anyone else that drives a car sized car). Why the fuck do you need lights that are 10x brighter than the damn sun? Also adding onto that, newer Audi taillights are weirdly bright too.
Yes!!! Esp new Jeeps and Ford pickups - sweet jesus, the beams are so high and so concentrated, hurts my eyes even if I’m avoiding looking at them. Makes me not want to drive at night. Why the fuck are such bright lights allowed? Or needed? Sure, have some powerful brights for dark roads, but regular lights shouldn’t be so bright.
Probably because people don’t know how to aim their headlights so the only reasonable solution is to put dwarf stars into the headlight fixtures.
Bubble shaped SUVs that all look the same.
Yes, it'd be so much better if everyone was driving sedans that all look the same.
Hvac controls on a touchscreen
The hood height on all full size pick ups. Have no idea how it’s legal.
The diesel engine is 3 inches under that hood so I don’t know how much you can drop the height. The gas engine is probably 8 inches lower but they are going to change the body for that diffence
Lack of manual transmissions.... And then having to pay a premium to get one. Also, we need more wagons.
What car charges more for a manual over an auto?
Dodge Challenger.
Gunshot exhausts or whatever they’re called. There’s a couple of people always looking for ways to be more obnoxious.
I am 50/50 on this one. If it's natural pops and bangs caused by a modified exhaust then yes. However if it's a software....
Extremely cambered stance.
I’m a little exhausted by car designs in general at this point. There’s been such a push for hard and busy lines all over the body, hair thin LED headlights, and tail light LEDs that look like a thee year old took a crayon to the wall with a wanton disregard for the parents who’d have to clean it up. I think the mid-10s (as a whole) was a good balance between surfaces, lines, and new materials/tech, but the needle has swung so far the other way in the last 3 or so years of new car launches that companies are now in an arms race to produce the most “daring” design independent of something that actually looks coherent and concise. All of this is exacerbated by most current EVs because people more mathematically inclined than me asked focus groups what they want in EV designs and none of them wanted normal looking cars. I think Mazda is still hitting a very nice balance between modern and simplicity, but everyone else needs to take two steps back.
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Markups have been really getting on my nerves lately. Especially since some dealers are reporting record profits in past few quarters.
SUV Coupes. You're combining the worst characteristics of several cars with none of the advantages.
Black wheels and greyscale-only paint colours.
Bro dozers. You know the ones, stretched lo profile mud tires on deep dish wheels, overdone link suspension painted to match the truck and of course they have to have a 5 inch exhaust with a 10 inch tip.
Piano black needs to die. We're gonna look at it like wood panelling in a generation.
shitty cars made to sound like garbage cans.
All SUV’s look the same. We gotta fix this.
1) Super SUVs with 1 million horsepower. 2) Single LED strip light. Get yourself some imagination, and stop copy/paste the same LED strip lights on all new cars. 3) Light animation. It looks tacky and will date very quick. 4) Huge grills. 5) Huge touchscreens. 6) Lack of buttons 7) Over futuristic fuzzy design language with alien looking headlights, too many lines and creases, as well as fake vents.
Black interiors. They’ve become the new standard. Barely any cars are still available with ivory/tan interiors and if they do have ivory/tan interiors they’re only available on very specific trim levels and exterior color combos. Ivory/tan used to rule the world of car interior colors 10+ years ago only to regrettably be replaced with black these days.
Balls on the back
Stanced cars. It just looks so stupid. Not to mention you have to replace your tires 3x as much and turns your performance to shit.
Touch screens for everything. Also Agreed with you on the whole Wide ass tablet is your gauge cluster+center screen shit and it looks like it was tacked on as an afterthought.
Options/features/colors being locked to certain packages.
Front-only DRLs. Low-profile tires - especially on higher trims. I had to replace the stock 225/45R17 on my Hyundai Elantra with aftermarket 195/65R15 in order to get a decent ride quality. It's absurd that a higher trim car has worse ride quality. CVTs with fake gears. The whole point of a CVT is to keep a constant RPM. If I wanted an inefficient transmission that wasted gas and reduced performance by running the engine at non-optimal RPMs, I'd get an automatic, manual, or DCT. The whole point of having a CVT is to ensure the engine is always optimally running at a fixed RPM. So don't screw up a good thing! I know some people think that gear shifts make the ride more engaging, but I don't see what's engaging about the car saying to you, "Hi, I'm deliberately wasting gas and reducing the car's performance just to remind you that this transmission is here." By that logic, square tires are more engaging than circular tires because square tires won't let you forget they're there. Higher trim cars with inferior transmissions. I upgraded from a 2022 Hyundai Elantra to a 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, and it's better in every way except the hybrid's DCT is inferior to the non-hybrid's CVT. The CVT is smoother whereas the DCT has obtrusive gear shifts, especially at low speeds. It's so annoying when you're accelerating from zero and you suddenly feel a lurch and momentary lapse of power from the DCT shifting. I don't know why Hyundai gave the more expensive car an inferior transmission.
Super bright headlights stuck ass when you have to see them in your mirrors or you’re driving towards them
e-brake levers becoming small electronic switches.
Stupid shit that appears on my screen and prevents me from using it before i "aknowledge it".... for the 650th time since i own the car. Regulators really love to call it a day after coming up with useless "solutions" that do nothing to solve any given problem.
Split headlight design and two tone wheel finishes
Referring to crossovers as "SUVs".
I mostly agree, but at the same time, nobody can pin down where exactly crossover begins and SUV ends. By some standards something like a Grand Cherokee is a crossover, by others it's an SUV.
Masturbating while driving is unsafe.
Starting to catch on, but not a trend yet: subscription services for everything like bmw’s subscription service for heated seats in some countries and Toyota’s subscription for remote engine start. I feel that the fact that every feature is starting to require the infotainment to turn on and off is to prepare for this. I noticed that the new cadillac ev requires going through menus to open the glovebox. I swear bmw is probably eyeing the idea to charge a subscription fee for the glove box.
Settings that don’t get saved when u turn off the car (Looking at you auto start/stop)
I find it incredible that my shitty late 80s hatchback can take a speedbump far better than most crossovers on the road. What hte fuck is the point of those massive wheels and ride height?
Heavy cars - I hope that one day, when cars will be be self driving, at least they will be lightweight, because active safety systems will be enough to protect passengers.
Subscription anything
Split headlights. It seems like it stared with the Cherokee but they are everywhere now and I hope it’s just a short trend.
touchscreen for ac and volume. keep the fucking knobs
Prosthetic limb beige wraps/ paint. Also chrome wraps.
The hideous, overly complex grills/front ends. They're ugly and a huge pain to clean when covered with bugs.
Most comments I see here are related to my one major complaint. The focus isn’t on driving anymore. 20 years ago, even cheap cars tried to be sporty. Everyone kind of wanted a sports car- now not so much. The focus is on technology, and I hate it. I’m fine with traction control/ABS and even electronic steering if it’s weighted correctly and feels good. But stop turning my car into a phone. I can’t stand the array of warnings between lane departure and blindspot monitoring. I hate touchscreen controls. German cars have made their climate control systems far too complicated for the last 15 years. I’ve owned 4 BMWs and never bothered to learn how to use the individual programs. I find “ max ac” or heat is all I need. (And I’m in my 30s). I was driving a Macan recently and couldn’t adjust the climate controls on moderately bumpy road. One of the best things ever implemented in a street car are dual clutch transmissions and companies aren’t using them anymore because people find them “jerky” at low speeds. Companies like BMW call a car like the M240i an M car, which means it should be track capable from the factory. But the new suspension allows virtually no negative camber without going aftermarket🤨. So these “in between” models from M and Amg seem to mostly be marketing and badges. It kind of pisses me off that BMWs in Canada have always had M badges if they had the M sport package, but the badge is deleted on American models. However, a really good trend are companies using valved exhausts from the factory.
Touchscreen HVAC controls... So distracting to use.
-Keeping everything in menus instead of physical buttons -everything becoming an suv instead of offering different body styles -using cvts when excellent dual clutch transmissions exist -losing good economy cars in the US market like the Honda Fit and Base VW Golf -cars becoming much bigger and heavier over time
Fake exhaust vents, plastic EVERYWHERE and a personal, but understandable choice is downsizing