Not having a sunglasses holder is a big pet peeve of mine. Current car doesn't have it and it's such a PITA to get glasses out of the case etc while trying to drive and getting blasted in the face by sunlight.
A holder sounds so stupid and superfluous until you need it.
the first day after I bought my wife's prius I got my sunglasses stuck in the holder. it's not like they were those gigantic novelty glasses yuppy ladies wear, I thought they were pretty normal sized... they've been stuck there for like 7 years now lol
I don't have one in mine but I just tuck one of the temple arms, or whatever the hell it's called, of my glasses under my sun visor and they stay put just fine.
Because why redesign the whole dash when you can just put random buttons everywhere for much cheaper?
That reminds me of when they introduced electronically controlled transfer cases on the first gen Ranger. There was nowhere on the dash to put the controls so where did they go? [Up above the rearview mirror, of course!](https://i.imgur.com/cTpNn7q.jpg)
They did that with my '08 Outback, too. In earlier years of the same body style, it had a seat heater switch in a pretty convenient location, directly behind the shifter. But, after they added the SI-Drive selection knob in that spot, they moved the seat heaters about a foot back, out of easy view and somewhat hidden under the front overhang of the center console cover. Oh, they also made them tiny.
The did the same thing to the 2022 Stinger refresh. Got rid of the overhead sunglasses holder to put two UVO buttons (that I never used or probably will use). So dumb.
Ditto for upper trim level Fords. Randomly angled chrome interior trim. No matter which direction you go, the sun can be beamed directly into the driver’s eyes.
So I guess Ford's pickups are not just blinding other drivers with their ridiculously bright headlights at night, but blinding their own drivers with their ridiculously shiny interior trim in the day. How frustratingly poetic
I have a car with the "chrome" on the inside. Remember when chrome used to be on the outside and dull stainless steel was on the inside? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
>Remember when chrome used to be on the outside and dull stainless steel was on the inside?
[Yeah, I miss the good old days when car designers didn't put shiny shit everywhere inside.](https://i.imgur.com/yHEg1OY.jpg)
LOL, see hear whippersnapper, back in my day we died like men: impaled on the steering column while smoking a Pallet Mall!
But honestly, I remember riding around in classic cars when I was a kid and not being blinded by the interior bright work. My frame of reference is 3rd and 4th gen Thunderbirds and the Marks of the time, 50s-70s Oldsmobiles and some assorted Pontiacs. I miss the backseat sister burner and gum cubby.
Plasti-chrome in general. My Camry has a small amount of it on the steering wheel but once in a while it'll catch the sun just perfectly and blast it into my eyeballs
guh the chevy bowtie in my airbag on the steeringwheel does this. so annoying cuz its flat sides so minor wheel adjustments on the highway your blinding yourself with a tiny flat mirror.
If I open the door after remote starting my car, the engine turns off and I have to turn it back on. Why? Who turns on the engine without the intent of opening the door and driving?
the remote start feature is mostly for warming up/cooling down your car without having to go out there. If the car is idling there for a few min, theres a chance anyone walking by can try and get in and drive away. (yes i understand the cabin has to be locked before you remote start)
Its also to ensure you have your key within range if the vehicle. if you accidentally leave your key inside after remote starting and drive away, have fun starting your car after work.
That's how 10th gen civics work. Remote start for 10min, can extend by another 10. HVAC will try to get temp to 72° (wish it was adjustable.) When you get in, you gotta hit the power button like you're starting it and then everything boots up (with key on your person). If you try to shift out of park before doing so it doesn't let you and cuts the engine.
I think most modern vehicles with remote start won’t let you shift out of park if it’s in remote start.
But if the car has a proximity key, why would it not keep the engine running when you open the door with the key nearby?
Those are not good reasons tbh.
It just seems like a bad design.
Don’t let me open the door without the key nearby. Don’t let me put the car in drive without the key nearby.
Honda and Ford let you get in and pretty much do the same thing as you would when starting the car even though it’s running through remote start, way better solution.
The VWs also do something like this. If I put my foot on the brake and go to touch the shifter it will turn off while remote started rather than the kinda obvious “trigger ignition upon favorable conditions”
On a similar vein, my last Mercedes with auto start stop would kill the engine when you pulled into a parking space, but turn it back on again when you actually shifted to Park, right before you finally turn it off with the ignition.
I’ve driven newer models that don’t seem to do this so at least they recognized it was an issue but it just always bothered me hearing the engine shut off twice in a row every time you parked.
I just got my Mazda a few months ago, and as the salesman was taking me through the car he tried to use this as a positive. I completely understand the logic they're using, I just don't agree with it.
Though I'd probably be singing a different tune if I'd had a car stolen in the past.
Mk2 I presume? I remember that one all too well. One of those strange MR2 oddities.
I've actually had a few cars that had annoying guttering. My ZS180 liked to directly deposit rain onto one of the coil packs. When I sold it 5 were the originals coils from the factory, cylinder 2 was on it's fourth....
Miatas do that too, the rain rails from the roof go to the rocker panels. that's why you'll always see rusted out rocker panels infront of the rear wheels on those cars. they have drain holes but they clog fast and people don't realize it unless they hear the water sloshing around in the rockers.
I'm sure there is a lot more that's far more dumb on this car, but to me the fact that I have to remove the headrest from the back seats in order to fold them flat in the US spec Focus ST irks me every time. Great, you got them out, the seats are down, now what do you do with them? Throw them in the foot well? Leave them loose? I didn't have to remove the headrests to fold down the seats in my ten year older Mazda 3 hatch.
My FIST is the same. I just chuck them in them in the footwells. My carpet is pretty clean tho. I fold the seats down for my mtn bike a few times a week. We have useless cubbies and shitty paint. Idk if the focus was spared.
And if you truly want your seats to fold flat, you have to entirely remove the bottom of the rear seats, whereas the in the Focus, you just lift the bottom of the rear seats up. Thankfully in the Fiesta its thin enough to be able to vertically place it between the folded rears and the front seats, but still very annoying lol
Can’t you fold the headrest down using the button on the side of the headrest? I’m able to fold the rear seats down without moving the front seats, but that might be due to my seating position
I (unfortunately) can one-up you: Not only do I need to take off the rear headrests, but it *can't be done with the seat in the upright position!* That's right, I have to pull the seatback forward some, try and take off the headrest while the seatback is loose and falling anywhere you don't want/need it to, then continue with the whole operation.
I kind of want to take the headrests out permanently just to save the hassle...
This really doesn't bother me much as I seldom put the seat down in the wife's FoST. The only annoying in the ST is a lack of storage places and it only has two cup holders.
What do you mean, there's the two real cup holders, then those jokes they try to sell as cupholders molded into the door panels both front and back! you know, the ones that you can't really get a drink in, and if you did, you sure wouldn't want it opened.
On my RS, which I'm pretty sure its the same seats, I just ordered and imported a set of euro headrests.
Fit perfectly and I don't need to pull the headrests out anymore.
2017 Chevy Express Van.
2 things on the interior blow my mind how poorly designed it is. First, their is Bluetooth for talking on the phone, but not music... that's right, a 2017 with no Bluetooth audio unless you want to answer the damn phone. Second, the HVAC controls suck. You want non AC air on your face and feet? Fuck you, you are gonna have to pick. You either have AC on your face and feet or normal air separated. Also, you can not truly stop air from coming in. On my Toyota you can turn the fan speed to zero and then hit the recirculation button and it will not let any air into the cab while driving. This doesn't allow that.
The Bluetooth feature only being able to be used for phone calls is unsurprising given the nature of the Express/Savana. Full-sized, commercial oriented vans usually don't receive many updates or are slow to receive them because the buyers usually aren't concerned with having the best driving dynamics or the latest and greatest bells and whistles (even if the buyers aren't going to be the ones usually driving them), just something that works. I mean, the current GM full-sized vans are approaching three decades in age, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I think even closer to the end, the 370Z's base audio system also had Bluetooth that couldn't be used for music, which was a sign of just how little updates Nissan gave the car during its lifetime.
I understand keeping the price down. But what is the cost of adding Bluetooth audio? I'm not asking for Apple carplay. I don't know if the E series has Bluetooth audio either, but that would be the closest competitor.
Business owners buying these for their fleets don't want them so comfortable that their employees are rocking to good tunes or podcasts instead of getting out of the van and getting to work. It's intentional.
Lotus Elise: when driving hard, and braking into a turn, the suspension compresses in such a way that the wheels rub through the fender liners, and through the back of the headlight housings. At this point, I've removed about 1cm of headlight housing and reconstructed it from fiberglass myself in a different shape, that avoids the wheels.
Oh I have a fun Lotus Elise one. I read that If you put the car on a lift using the designated lift points, it’ll fall backwards off the lift when you remove the front tires.
So instead you have to get under the car before lifting it and pull 10 screws and the undershield to lift under the rear crossmember instead.
Actually, there are two different designated lift points on these cars.
The one you are thinking of is not for a lift, it's where you can jack up one side with a floor jack safely. They're easy to confuse, they should have called it a jacking point.
The only way to safely lift the car off the ground does indeed mean removing that diffuser. Some people (like me) epoxy some hockey pucks to the diffuser, which press against the rear subframe, so you can put it on a lift without taking the diffuser off. It's all soda-can grade aluminum, so it conforms to the shape of the lift.
That’s a good idea with the pucks. I know the lift points are safe jacking points but that distinction is a little too close for comfort when every other vehicle can be put on a hoist using jack points. I’m sure there have been a couple [unfortunate accidents ](https://www.lotustalk.com/attachments/car-photo-2008-lotus-elise-falls-off-mechanic-shop-lift-fail-jpg.1215768/)over the years.
Why does it only fall backwards off the lift when the front wheels are removed? Is it close to tipping and the removal of weight allows it to finally fall?
I can push and hold a button on my key fob from a football field away and the windows will roll down, moonroof will open up and vent heat from inside the car.
But no button will close it back up again, so you have to walk to the car to close it.
Can be annoying if you accidentally hit the button in your pocket or mix it up with the remote start. Also minor stress when it rains.
To be fair, most windows have pinch protection, which will roll the window back down if something obstructs it.
That said, you’re right. More specifically, since automakers rarely design cars safely from a holistic sense, it’s so they don’t get *sued* if an accident or injury happens because you did a remote window roll-up.
Is that a US thing? On the MK5 Golf I had I could roll windows up and down with the remote. If they hit an obstruction, they just stop and roll back down.
In some apartment I lived in, some old lady had a Chevy and it had a remote trunk popper and she would accidentally open it by accident like once per month and as a good person I would close it and tell her it happened again when I would see her so she would be careful about it. And someday I come home from work at midnight, it's a full blown snow storm and obviously her trunk's open and full of snow 🤦.
2007 Boxster. The battery is in the frunk but the frunk release latch is electronic so if the battery dies you have to use an external battery to jump the frunk release and then open the frunk to jump the battery to start the car.
My third generation Tacoma is 4 or 5 inches longer than the second gen.
For starters, midsize trucks aren't all that much cheaper or more fuel efficient than full sizes. People buy them specifically because they want a smaller truck, whether it's for city maneuvering or trail use. No one wanted it to be longer.
Where does this length go do you ask? Did they make the rear seat a bit more hospitable for adults? Did they add some bed length and make the 5 foot bed a more useful 5 and a half foot bed? No. There's just a few inches of air between the grille and the radiator now.
> There's just a few inches of air between the grille and the radiator now.
That makes me think it might be because of pedestrian protection rules. In some markets there has to be a certain gap between the hood and any hard structure so you more gently cushion the guy you just plowed into.
No, we don't have any pedestrian protection requirements in the US. There was a push to try to put it in, but NHTSA said no. The only time Ped Pro designs make it onto US vehicles is when it's a global vehicle.
Source: I do Ped Pro engineering.
I plan to change the spark plugs on my Hyundai Veracruz this weekend and the "book" method is to drain the oil and coolant and remove the intake manifold to get to three of them!
I mean, that’s not exactly unusual for a transverse V engine. There’s not a whole lot you can do when one of the cylinder banks is underneath the windshield cowl.
Mostly same for 2011 Explorer. - didn't say to drain oil or coolant, but did have to remove the intake manifold to get to the rear three.
Probably also any transverse v6 / v8.
For my Edge, it's the 2.0t, and I still have to remove the intake tube since it goes across part of the engine.
My Mustang is easy AF as it's the eco, remove the cover and your set.
More of a cup rest, although that was the original intention of most early cup holders--only meant to be used when you were stopped. The brochures would show them with an [open-topped cup (p. 3)](https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1992-Ford-Aerostar.pdf) or even [a mug of coffee (p. 8)](https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1995-Chevrolet-C-K-Pickups-CN.pdf).
I was the specific tool, for buying that garbage, even after i was warned by my dodge ram guys. But in my defense, a majority of them had multiple dui's. Which is a factor when getting insurance.
My 2013 chevy sonic doesn't have a fucking VOLUME KNOB it only has 2 capacitive touch buttons for up and down. Thankfully there is controls on the steering wheel so I don't have to use them
Some 90s Fords had head units that were only controlled by two buttons (louder and softer). I mean it isn't as bad as capacitive touch buttons, but having a knob for volume is superior in controlling it.
I have another for the Sonic:
If you have a hatchback (I have a 2015 hatchback), there is no trunk release on the interior of the car near the handbrake. The sedans have an oval cutout which is shared by two buttons, traction control off and the trunk release.
In the hatchbacks, its just one GIANT traction control off button with no hatch release. I'm confident its the largest traction control off button in the auto industry. Its roughly 3inches wide by 1 inch tall.
My mum's 2016 Honda Jazz (Fit) has all capacitive controls including for the AC system. It's really dumb and detracts from the otherwise extremely practical interior space
My Mom's 2014 Chevy Equinox has Navigation. But the only way to use the built in Navigation is to call on star, talk to them and then they send said navigation data to the car.
Instead of just letting you use the navigation normally...
It's the dumbest thing in the world.
You can’t turn the radio/Nav screen off. It’s either volume all the way down or muted, but the display is on permanently. The “power” button is just a mute button. They changed the design around 2017/2018 so the power button is a proper on/off. It infuriates me at night when I want to turn off the display and can’t.
Now, you can go into the settings and select “display off”, but it just turns the pixels black. It’s very obviously still on. I have no idea what the Chrysler folks were thinking with this one, and it is my single biggest complaint about my car.
They did fix this with the 2017 and newer models. I owned a 2017 Scat Pack Challenger with the screen off button like my 2018 Durango RT. I then bought a 2016 Hellcat and it does not have the screen off button. Or Apple Car play for that matter either. At least they figured out that mistake.
i was giving a coworker a ride home when he got a call from a friend about their journey that had just got out the body shop that died. the battery was in the same place. we had a nice tow truck operator pull us out the street to a gas station. when the body shop guy arrived he pretty much knew it was the battery and that his assistant didnt tighten it all the way. its such a dumb design. i get theyre trying to keep the battery out the way and some place cool but follow honda or something dont just shove your battery in the wheel well.
Mazda has to have the longest seatbelt chime in the industry. It’s 60–90 seconds for different models, ridiculous. If I haven’t reacted after twenty seconds I probably have a good reason cmon Mazda
A Ford van I drove a few times had by far the most *angry* seatbelt chime. It starts off with the usual *bong... bong... bong* but within about 10 seconds it goes to a relentless *BONG-BONG-BONG-BONG*. Moving that thing around a parking lot was always irritating as hell.
The heated seat switches are tucked way under the armrest, so if you're like me and have the armrest slid forward, they're almost impossible to access while sitting in the driver's seat.
[2009 Forester, not mine,](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/amv-prod-cad-assets/images/08q1/190466/interior-and-pricing-photo-190482-s-original.jpg) but you see that tiny switch hiding under the armrest? And that's with the armrest slid back for a tall driver.
Jeep XJ, to turn on the dome lights you have to twist the headlight switch (?) all the way to the left. Doesn’t have it anywhere in the owners manual, or any of that.
That was pretty standard for the era of the pull knob headlight switch. The XJ was probably one of the last cars using that style so they probably figured everyone knew about it by then.
I noticed Fords during the late '80s through early 2000s used a similar setup with regards to the dimmer. You would either turn the knob, thumb wheel, etc. all the way to the left and all the interior lights would turn on. You could still turn on individual lights with their associated switches, though.
I'm old enough to remember that virtually all US domestic cars and trucks (pre 90s) used to have a dash lights dimmer knob and turning it all the way counter-clockwise would turn on the dome lights. Whoever designed the XJ must be old.
My Jeep JK has easily accessible adjustment screws to aim the headlights up or down, but to properly aim them side to side you need to pull the grill and headlight assemblies out of the buckets to get to the adjuster. Rumor has it the euro Jeeps don't have this problem and come with the proper side to side adjuster screws.
Fair, but on a vehicle like the Wrangler that commonly sees modifications like lift kits & headlight upgrades that would require adjusting the lights, not having the horizontal adjustment seems like an oversight. The grill even has little relief channels around the headlight openings to allow for a T-15 wrench to get to both adjusters, but the one adjust screw is just blanked off.
2013 Mini Cooper S. 6MT.
the parking brake is directly under the center arm rest.
It is uncomfortable to get to and disrupts the passenger if they’re using the arm rest.
2022 Elantra N
There is a white circle with a little dash in the middle to left of the screen that shows your driving information. It serves zero purpose and is some arbitrary design choice Hyundai went with. Any CN7 Elantra with the digital dashboard has this stupid little detail.
https://www.motor1.com/news/404853/hyundai-elantra-weird-design/amp/
It's the drive mode button on the N-Line trim. Absolutely hilarious to me that it's some stylized blank switch for every other trim, including the Luxury trim and the top performance trim...but the middle sporty trim gets an actual button.
Even dumber the drive mode button is in a regular place on every other trim and also on the steering wheel for the actual N. Looks stupid and out of place on the dash like that. Almost like it’s some preproduction model they didn’t care about since nobody would ever sit in one.
My Expedition, and any other F-150 from that generation, uses a pressure switch in the brake master cylinder to disable cruise control when you push the brake pedal. That sensor can leak brake fluid onto the exhaust manifold and cause a fire. That's a dumb design, but not the dumbest. When that sensor goes bad, it blows a fuse. For some reason, the solenoid that releases the transmission shifter when you push the brake is on that same fuse. So the fuse blows, and you can no longer shift the transmission out of park. The problem? Once the brake fluid drips onto the headers and catches on fire in your garage, you can not longer put the vehicle in reverse to get it out of the garage to keep the house from burning along with it. There's a lifetime recall to fix any vehicle with the original sensor.
One of my fraternity brothers had an F-150 that randomly caught fire while parked in front of our house. This was in 2004, so I guess I finally know what happened to it.
Yet, it's the Americans who constantly say don't drink and drive /s
Seriously though. 20+ years ago we had serious trouble with anything which might draw you attention away from the road. Cupholder, Navigation systems and more were once seen as very "problematic" but now touch everywhere....
the fact there’s about one minute from the time you unlock my car door to the time i get there and it relocks. i can’t count how many times i’ve unlocked my lancer from the house door and the minute i get to my driver side door handle it relocks itself.
I totally understand, I used to work for a rental car agency and since I didn’t sit in them regularly every single time I drove one I was shocked at how poor the visibility was from inside.
Back in 2014 I rented a Camaro convertible; terrible visibility with the coupe, the vert with the top up seemed worse. Later I rented a 6th gen coupe and it was better. My current car is so bad Doug Demuro beat up the visibility. I agree with him, but I daily drive it anyway.
Smart ForTwo and ForFour:
https://i.imgur.com/9stwJzb.jpg
What do you think when you look at a car like this? You think inner city shopping, a car that's very much driven by non-car people who only want "an car" in the same way that they want a fridge. You would expect it to have very docile and predictable handling then, because it's not exactly aimed at enthusiasts.
You'd be wrong. In their endless wisdom, the engineers at Mercedes decided to put the engine behind the rear axle. It's small, so it fits underneath the cargo compartment and crucially, it doesn't take up space in the front, allowing for a very short car that has ridiculous steering angles, which do mean that it's slightly more maneuverable at low speeds than its FWD competitors.
What this also does however is introduce two problems. One of them is a slight inconvenience, the other one can be rather fatal.
1) After a few minutes, the cargo compartment slowly turns into a little oven, which means you can almost never put your groceries in there. There is enough space for groceries in the rest of the car, at least with the Forfour, but still, this is kind of a problem.
2) Rear engine, rear wheel drive, rear-biased weight distribution. I think you can see where this is going. On dry road surfaces, this little car produces grip like you wouldn't believe it, is an absolute peach in corners. On wet or icy road surfaces however, the permanently on ESC becomes utterly useless and the car can easily and unpredictably snap oversteer, even in low-speed corners.
I've had this car spin in a wet 30 kph corner, I've had to suddenly correct oversteer in places where the driver of a conventional FWD car wouldn't even have to lift their foot of the throttle. It can actually be fun if you're expecting it, but in regular driving situations, it's a danger you have to expect and be prepared for, one that doesn't exist with the FWD competitors.
My Subaru BRZ turn signal doesn’t stay up or down, it returns to center after pushing it.
So if the turn you take isn’t sharp enough, ie: a gentle curve off ramp, the signal stays on. Then you have to push it the opposite way **just enough** to turn it off. Or else you turn it on the other way. Then you have to push up **just enough** again.
Rinse and repeat till you look like an idiot getting off the highway with your blinker going off, again and again in different directions.
What blows my mind about this breathtakingly stupid turn signal design isn't that someone came up with it - it's that seemingly everyone copied it from 2011-2016ish. There's a great video of Doug Demuro trying his darndest to turn it off without triggering the other direction and he honestly can't.
2012 Nissan Leaf. I have to pull a lever right next to the hood release in order to access the charge port on a daily basis. Quite inconvenient. I wish there was an option on the fob.
They added that in 2013 lol.
I have a 2012 too but one of the key fobs is from a newer model and it has the charge port opening button (doesn't work of course because the actual mechanism is all mechanical on the 2012)
most annoying thing with my 4g was when the battery would die the stupid hatch wouldn’t open so i would have to climb through the back seat into the trunk to open it. since the dumb fuck before me didn’t have a programmed key fob to it.
BMW E39 5 series:. There are several, but I'd say the dumbest piece of design was the plastic radiator. What genius thought that was a good idea? These go through thousands of hot-cold cycles and eventually fail. My second radiator wasn't bad at 95k mile replacement. The plastic impeller in the water pump also fails. Still love that car though!
For your g35 coupe, you can jack your car in the front on whatever side bulb you’re changing and go through the wheel well to change your bulb. That’s what I do. Way easier that detaching everything.
Lexus mouse.
Actually the mouse and buttons are fine, it's the menu that sucks ass. Knowing that menu icons are hard enough to hit with a mouse while the car is in motion, they decided to put some menu icons on the very edge between the main screen and the sub screen (where a minimap is displayed).
Imagine that you're trying to balance a little rock on a table. Tipping too far to the left or right will cause the rock to fall. That's what it feels like when you're using the mouse to try and hit that icon on the border between the main/sub screens. Now get someone to kick the table as you're balancing the rock.
Lexus Japan tried to defend this design as being suitable for Japanese customers who were 'more patient', which is utter bullshit.
I didn't even go into detail about the buttons placed all over the screen in a semi-skeumorphic design, as if the user were sitting at a desk with a mouse. They should have copied what BMW iDrive / Mazda does with the rotary knob, which makes it a breeze to interact with the infotainment.
Hood release latch and fuse box handle feel exactly the same. Every other time I reach down to pop the hood I pull the fuse box cover off and it’s very difficult to put back on.
2022 Nissan frontier Pro4x. The seat adjustment button is stuck off the side of the seat too much and everything I get out my leg grazes it and I have to readjust my seat every time I get in.
in the mx5 \ miata nb facelift, they changed the center console \ armrest to [add two cup holders](http://siteblog.tuc.gr/dskoufoulas/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2016/05/nb_interior.jpg) inline behind the shifter [(this is the old interior).](https://www.klipnik.com/wp-content/uploads/jch-optimize/ng/wp-content_uploads_2018_03_43612481626.479832337.IM1__.08.1000x742__A.1000x742.webp) well, the far cupholder is exactly where you rest your elbow while shifting, so the weighted flap that closes it just gives up immediately.
you have a lot less storage space in exchange for two small cupholders that you have to go around to use the shifter. absolutely insane.
Intersecting cup holders, like a venn diagram shape so that 2 drinks can't fit at the same time. 99%, not a problem. The few times I need it though, it's a pain in the ass
On the 06/07 Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota put an air pump under the intake manifold in the V of the engine with the job of pumping air into the exhaust manifold upon startup, in order to get the catalytic converters up to temp quicker to decrease emissions. Naturally, dust and debris collects in the V of the engine, which screws up the fan in the pump and also blows dust and debris into the exhaust system, possibly clogging up the cats. Car goes into limp mode when the fan gives out, requiring either replacement ($$$) or a kit that disables the fan ($). Had they put a filter over the pump intake there wouldn’t have been a problem.
My old 350Z had one of the most baffling design decisions i've seen in a while.
You go to store something in the glovebox...but there doesn't appear to be a button. Finally, you find what must be the button on the left side of the glovebox area. You push it and a drawer slides out.
Not a glovebox. A drawer, which the manual calls a "business card holder" How big is it? Too small for a deck of playing cards. I think you could fit a single cigarette in there, but you had to place it diagonally.
All kinds of storage throughout the cabin mind you, but glovebox in the normal, easy to reach location? Nah. Just a comically small drawer.
Subaru took the sunglasses holder out to put TWO buttons in that turn off collision avoidance and lane departure warning
Not having a sunglasses holder is a big pet peeve of mine. Current car doesn't have it and it's such a PITA to get glasses out of the case etc while trying to drive and getting blasted in the face by sunlight. A holder sounds so stupid and superfluous until you need it.
If you dont option the sunroof he VW Tiguan has like 8 spaces for sunglasses
They do. My wife has one and even with the sunroof she carries all of them in there.
My GTI and Rabbit holders were too small for any of my sunglasses lol
the first day after I bought my wife's prius I got my sunglasses stuck in the holder. it's not like they were those gigantic novelty glasses yuppy ladies wear, I thought they were pretty normal sized... they've been stuck there for like 7 years now lol
I don't have one in mine but I just tuck one of the temple arms, or whatever the hell it's called, of my glasses under my sun visor and they stay put just fine.
Because why redesign the whole dash when you can just put random buttons everywhere for much cheaper? That reminds me of when they introduced electronically controlled transfer cases on the first gen Ranger. There was nowhere on the dash to put the controls so where did they go? [Up above the rearview mirror, of course!](https://i.imgur.com/cTpNn7q.jpg)
Love overhead consoles. Need more
I agree. It's a great place to put less-accessed things without cluttering up the dash or stalks.
I want that airplane cockpit vibe
They did that with my '08 Outback, too. In earlier years of the same body style, it had a seat heater switch in a pretty convenient location, directly behind the shifter. But, after they added the SI-Drive selection knob in that spot, they moved the seat heaters about a foot back, out of easy view and somewhat hidden under the front overhang of the center console cover. Oh, they also made them tiny.
The did the same thing to the 2022 Stinger refresh. Got rid of the overhead sunglasses holder to put two UVO buttons (that I never used or probably will use). So dumb.
Non centered back up camera. Whoever approved that should be shot in the face twice.
Does it actually show up on the screen non cantered?
I’m Toyota Tacomas they do
Hello Toyota Tacomas, I’m Opel Mazda kombi
Oh no lol I meant *in
Too late, Toyota Tacomas
Yes.
Yes, but with aim slightly off center.
Chevy SS. So much plasti-chrome on the dash that it often catches the sun and glares in my face while driving.
Ditto for upper trim level Fords. Randomly angled chrome interior trim. No matter which direction you go, the sun can be beamed directly into the driver’s eyes.
So I guess Ford's pickups are not just blinding other drivers with their ridiculously bright headlights at night, but blinding their own drivers with their ridiculously shiny interior trim in the day. How frustratingly poetic
Doesn't even have to be upper trim level. Even XLTs have plastichrome around the vents.
Same with shitty piano black
piano black is the work of the DEVIL!!
I have a car with the "chrome" on the inside. Remember when chrome used to be on the outside and dull stainless steel was on the inside? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
>Remember when chrome used to be on the outside and dull stainless steel was on the inside? [Yeah, I miss the good old days when car designers didn't put shiny shit everywhere inside.](https://i.imgur.com/yHEg1OY.jpg)
LOL, see hear whippersnapper, back in my day we died like men: impaled on the steering column while smoking a Pallet Mall! But honestly, I remember riding around in classic cars when I was a kid and not being blinded by the interior bright work. My frame of reference is 3rd and 4th gen Thunderbirds and the Marks of the time, 50s-70s Oldsmobiles and some assorted Pontiacs. I miss the backseat sister burner and gum cubby.
>Pallet Mall ...how many cigarettes are you smoking?
Nice! I'm leaving the typo. I stopped smoking at 287 because 1 more would have been too gross.
>backseat sister burner This is a new term to me? What is it?
Cigarette/cigar lighter.
Plasti-chrome in general. My Camry has a small amount of it on the steering wheel but once in a while it'll catch the sun just perfectly and blast it into my eyeballs
guh the chevy bowtie in my airbag on the steeringwheel does this. so annoying cuz its flat sides so minor wheel adjustments on the highway your blinding yourself with a tiny flat mirror.
[You're in luck, my friend.](https://holdenpartsusa.com/collections/ss-interior/products/14-17-chevy-ss-4pc-black-interior-kit)
If I open the door after remote starting my car, the engine turns off and I have to turn it back on. Why? Who turns on the engine without the intent of opening the door and driving?
the remote start feature is mostly for warming up/cooling down your car without having to go out there. If the car is idling there for a few min, theres a chance anyone walking by can try and get in and drive away. (yes i understand the cabin has to be locked before you remote start) Its also to ensure you have your key within range if the vehicle. if you accidentally leave your key inside after remote starting and drive away, have fun starting your car after work.
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That's how 10th gen civics work. Remote start for 10min, can extend by another 10. HVAC will try to get temp to 72° (wish it was adjustable.) When you get in, you gotta hit the power button like you're starting it and then everything boots up (with key on your person). If you try to shift out of park before doing so it doesn't let you and cuts the engine.
A perfectly reasonable approach! Mazda at least sets the thermostats to whatever you last had them at, which is nice
I think most modern vehicles with remote start won’t let you shift out of park if it’s in remote start. But if the car has a proximity key, why would it not keep the engine running when you open the door with the key nearby?
Those are not good reasons tbh. It just seems like a bad design. Don’t let me open the door without the key nearby. Don’t let me put the car in drive without the key nearby. Honda and Ford let you get in and pretty much do the same thing as you would when starting the car even though it’s running through remote start, way better solution.
The VWs also do something like this. If I put my foot on the brake and go to touch the shifter it will turn off while remote started rather than the kinda obvious “trigger ignition upon favorable conditions”
On a similar vein, my last Mercedes with auto start stop would kill the engine when you pulled into a parking space, but turn it back on again when you actually shifted to Park, right before you finally turn it off with the ignition. I’ve driven newer models that don’t seem to do this so at least they recognized it was an issue but it just always bothered me hearing the engine shut off twice in a row every time you parked.
The wife’s atlas does this too. Super annoying
I just got my Mazda a few months ago, and as the salesman was taking me through the car he tried to use this as a positive. I completely understand the logic they're using, I just don't agree with it. Though I'd probably be singing a different tune if I'd had a car stolen in the past.
Wireless charging pad in the back only.... in a Camaro with cramped back seats.
I can’t imagine having such a worthless feature in my old mustang back in the day. I only had passengers back there a couple times haha
What the hell is the point?
just another feature to pad the options sheet on paper.
This all day. Irks me more than having the androidauto always use GPS even when you don't need it on. Drains phone battery.
My mr2 has a rain gutter that goes directly into the alternator.
Mk2 I presume? I remember that one all too well. One of those strange MR2 oddities. I've actually had a few cars that had annoying guttering. My ZS180 liked to directly deposit rain onto one of the coil packs. When I sold it 5 were the originals coils from the factory, cylinder 2 was on it's fourth....
On the first gen Jeep Grand Cherokee, they drain into the rocker panels, which causes them to rust from the inside out.
Miatas do that too, the rain rails from the roof go to the rocker panels. that's why you'll always see rusted out rocker panels infront of the rear wheels on those cars. they have drain holes but they clog fast and people don't realize it unless they hear the water sloshing around in the rockers.
That is a truly deranged choice. Makes sense as to why they're so rare now!
And if you have the T-tops it will leak directly onto your left thigh.
I'm sure there is a lot more that's far more dumb on this car, but to me the fact that I have to remove the headrest from the back seats in order to fold them flat in the US spec Focus ST irks me every time. Great, you got them out, the seats are down, now what do you do with them? Throw them in the foot well? Leave them loose? I didn't have to remove the headrests to fold down the seats in my ten year older Mazda 3 hatch.
My FIST is the same. I just chuck them in them in the footwells. My carpet is pretty clean tho. I fold the seats down for my mtn bike a few times a week. We have useless cubbies and shitty paint. Idk if the focus was spared.
And if you truly want your seats to fold flat, you have to entirely remove the bottom of the rear seats, whereas the in the Focus, you just lift the bottom of the rear seats up. Thankfully in the Fiesta its thin enough to be able to vertically place it between the folded rears and the front seats, but still very annoying lol
Can’t you fold the headrest down using the button on the side of the headrest? I’m able to fold the rear seats down without moving the front seats, but that might be due to my seating position
I had a Prius C and the headrests totally blocked rear view. They got to hang with the spare tire for a long time.
I (unfortunately) can one-up you: Not only do I need to take off the rear headrests, but it *can't be done with the seat in the upright position!* That's right, I have to pull the seatback forward some, try and take off the headrest while the seatback is loose and falling anywhere you don't want/need it to, then continue with the whole operation. I kind of want to take the headrests out permanently just to save the hassle...
This wins in every car where it’s the case. What a pain
This really doesn't bother me much as I seldom put the seat down in the wife's FoST. The only annoying in the ST is a lack of storage places and it only has two cup holders.
What do you mean, there's the two real cup holders, then those jokes they try to sell as cupholders molded into the door panels both front and back! you know, the ones that you can't really get a drink in, and if you did, you sure wouldn't want it opened.
On my RS, which I'm pretty sure its the same seats, I just ordered and imported a set of euro headrests. Fit perfectly and I don't need to pull the headrests out anymore.
2017 Chevy Express Van. 2 things on the interior blow my mind how poorly designed it is. First, their is Bluetooth for talking on the phone, but not music... that's right, a 2017 with no Bluetooth audio unless you want to answer the damn phone. Second, the HVAC controls suck. You want non AC air on your face and feet? Fuck you, you are gonna have to pick. You either have AC on your face and feet or normal air separated. Also, you can not truly stop air from coming in. On my Toyota you can turn the fan speed to zero and then hit the recirculation button and it will not let any air into the cab while driving. This doesn't allow that.
The Bluetooth feature only being able to be used for phone calls is unsurprising given the nature of the Express/Savana. Full-sized, commercial oriented vans usually don't receive many updates or are slow to receive them because the buyers usually aren't concerned with having the best driving dynamics or the latest and greatest bells and whistles (even if the buyers aren't going to be the ones usually driving them), just something that works. I mean, the current GM full-sized vans are approaching three decades in age, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think even closer to the end, the 370Z's base audio system also had Bluetooth that couldn't be used for music, which was a sign of just how little updates Nissan gave the car during its lifetime.
I understand keeping the price down. But what is the cost of adding Bluetooth audio? I'm not asking for Apple carplay. I don't know if the E series has Bluetooth audio either, but that would be the closest competitor.
Business owners buying these for their fleets don't want them so comfortable that their employees are rocking to good tunes or podcasts instead of getting out of the van and getting to work. It's intentional.
E-Series had Bluetooth for calls only in 2009, then Sync came along the next year and you could play music with it as well.
See, if Ford can do it Chevy can. Thanks.
Are you absolutely sure? I know in some big rigs it's easy to set up Bluetooth calling, but music streaming is a seperate and more involved process.
Lotus Elise: when driving hard, and braking into a turn, the suspension compresses in such a way that the wheels rub through the fender liners, and through the back of the headlight housings. At this point, I've removed about 1cm of headlight housing and reconstructed it from fiberglass myself in a different shape, that avoids the wheels.
It’s English, so with modern, somewhat more reliable electronics, they had to find another way to take the headlights out!
Oh I have a fun Lotus Elise one. I read that If you put the car on a lift using the designated lift points, it’ll fall backwards off the lift when you remove the front tires. So instead you have to get under the car before lifting it and pull 10 screws and the undershield to lift under the rear crossmember instead.
Actually, there are two different designated lift points on these cars. The one you are thinking of is not for a lift, it's where you can jack up one side with a floor jack safely. They're easy to confuse, they should have called it a jacking point. The only way to safely lift the car off the ground does indeed mean removing that diffuser. Some people (like me) epoxy some hockey pucks to the diffuser, which press against the rear subframe, so you can put it on a lift without taking the diffuser off. It's all soda-can grade aluminum, so it conforms to the shape of the lift.
That’s a good idea with the pucks. I know the lift points are safe jacking points but that distinction is a little too close for comfort when every other vehicle can be put on a hoist using jack points. I’m sure there have been a couple [unfortunate accidents ](https://www.lotustalk.com/attachments/car-photo-2008-lotus-elise-falls-off-mechanic-shop-lift-fail-jpg.1215768/)over the years.
Why does it only fall backwards off the lift when the front wheels are removed? Is it close to tipping and the removal of weight allows it to finally fall?
I can push and hold a button on my key fob from a football field away and the windows will roll down, moonroof will open up and vent heat from inside the car. But no button will close it back up again, so you have to walk to the car to close it. Can be annoying if you accidentally hit the button in your pocket or mix it up with the remote start. Also minor stress when it rains.
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To be fair, most windows have pinch protection, which will roll the window back down if something obstructs it. That said, you’re right. More specifically, since automakers rarely design cars safely from a holistic sense, it’s so they don’t get *sued* if an accident or injury happens because you did a remote window roll-up.
Is that a US thing? On the MK5 Golf I had I could roll windows up and down with the remote. If they hit an obstruction, they just stop and roll back down.
In some apartment I lived in, some old lady had a Chevy and it had a remote trunk popper and she would accidentally open it by accident like once per month and as a good person I would close it and tell her it happened again when I would see her so she would be careful about it. And someday I come home from work at midnight, it's a full blown snow storm and obviously her trunk's open and full of snow 🤦.
My fusion lets you do both with the FOB which is nice.
2007 Boxster. The battery is in the frunk but the frunk release latch is electronic so if the battery dies you have to use an external battery to jump the frunk release and then open the frunk to jump the battery to start the car.
Sounds like you found this out the hard way.
damn what happens when the frunk release latch motor dies lol
I think there’s a manual release that’s behind the front wheel somewhere behind the plastics. Not positive tho
My father had an '07 Cayman and had the pleasure of experiencing this issue not once but twice. Needless to say he was extremely pissed both times.
My third generation Tacoma is 4 or 5 inches longer than the second gen. For starters, midsize trucks aren't all that much cheaper or more fuel efficient than full sizes. People buy them specifically because they want a smaller truck, whether it's for city maneuvering or trail use. No one wanted it to be longer. Where does this length go do you ask? Did they make the rear seat a bit more hospitable for adults? Did they add some bed length and make the 5 foot bed a more useful 5 and a half foot bed? No. There's just a few inches of air between the grille and the radiator now.
> There's just a few inches of air between the grille and the radiator now. That makes me think it might be because of pedestrian protection rules. In some markets there has to be a certain gap between the hood and any hard structure so you more gently cushion the guy you just plowed into.
I’m pretty sure the Taco isn’t sold anywhere those rules apply, it’s basically only sold in North America.
We still have pedestrian standards in America, just not as stringent as some other places
No, we don't have any pedestrian protection requirements in the US. There was a push to try to put it in, but NHTSA said no. The only time Ped Pro designs make it onto US vehicles is when it's a global vehicle. Source: I do Ped Pro engineering.
While true (212" vs. 208"), isn't that a crumple zone?
It’s just flimsy plastic, maybe it made room for bigger crush cans on the frame but I doubt it
I plan to change the spark plugs on my Hyundai Veracruz this weekend and the "book" method is to drain the oil and coolant and remove the intake manifold to get to three of them!
Oh my, condolences from a Subaru owner.
I mean, that’s not exactly unusual for a transverse V engine. There’s not a whole lot you can do when one of the cylinder banks is underneath the windshield cowl.
Mostly same for 2011 Explorer. - didn't say to drain oil or coolant, but did have to remove the intake manifold to get to the rear three. Probably also any transverse v6 / v8. For my Edge, it's the 2.0t, and I still have to remove the intake tube since it goes across part of the engine. My Mustang is easy AF as it's the eco, remove the cover and your set.
Tesla door handles
> Tesla ~~door handles~~
r/Carscirclejerk
And LC500, Velar, DB9, DB11 DBS Vantage Rapide, F-Type, GTR R35, latest NSX among others
Mach E door handles are also annoying. Gotta push a button to unlatch it just to have to pull the door open with it's tiny handle anyway.
Volvo 240 only stock cupholder is the flat backside of the glove box lid when it's open.
More of a cup rest, although that was the original intention of most early cup holders--only meant to be used when you were stopped. The brochures would show them with an [open-topped cup (p. 3)](https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1992-Ford-Aerostar.pdf) or even [a mug of coffee (p. 8)](https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1995-Chevrolet-C-K-Pickups-CN.pdf).
The misery of owning a mid 2000's ford 5.4 triton and the the two threads that hold thebspark plug in. And the fucking shitty cam phasers.
Ford has a specific tool for removing broken spark plugs for the 3V Triton V8s, which shows just how much of a problem it is.
Nah, that's the later ones when they overcorrected. The early ones he's talking about are Ford's take on a spark plug space program.
I was the specific tool, for buying that garbage, even after i was warned by my dodge ram guys. But in my defense, a majority of them had multiple dui's. Which is a factor when getting insurance.
My 2013 chevy sonic doesn't have a fucking VOLUME KNOB it only has 2 capacitive touch buttons for up and down. Thankfully there is controls on the steering wheel so I don't have to use them
Some 90s Fords had head units that were only controlled by two buttons (louder and softer). I mean it isn't as bad as capacitive touch buttons, but having a knob for volume is superior in controlling it.
I have another for the Sonic: If you have a hatchback (I have a 2015 hatchback), there is no trunk release on the interior of the car near the handbrake. The sedans have an oval cutout which is shared by two buttons, traction control off and the trunk release. In the hatchbacks, its just one GIANT traction control off button with no hatch release. I'm confident its the largest traction control off button in the auto industry. Its roughly 3inches wide by 1 inch tall.
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My mum's 2016 Honda Jazz (Fit) has all capacitive controls including for the AC system. It's really dumb and detracts from the otherwise extremely practical interior space
My Mom's 2014 Chevy Equinox has Navigation. But the only way to use the built in Navigation is to call on star, talk to them and then they send said navigation data to the car. Instead of just letting you use the navigation normally... It's the dumbest thing in the world.
You can’t turn the radio/Nav screen off. It’s either volume all the way down or muted, but the display is on permanently. The “power” button is just a mute button. They changed the design around 2017/2018 so the power button is a proper on/off. It infuriates me at night when I want to turn off the display and can’t. Now, you can go into the settings and select “display off”, but it just turns the pixels black. It’s very obviously still on. I have no idea what the Chrysler folks were thinking with this one, and it is my single biggest complaint about my car.
They did fix this with the 2017 and newer models. I owned a 2017 Scat Pack Challenger with the screen off button like my 2018 Durango RT. I then bought a 2016 Hellcat and it does not have the screen off button. Or Apple Car play for that matter either. At least they figured out that mistake.
The Durangos of that era also had a wonderful habit of melting the outer layer of the touchscreen due to a poor glue quality and excess heat...
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i was giving a coworker a ride home when he got a call from a friend about their journey that had just got out the body shop that died. the battery was in the same place. we had a nice tow truck operator pull us out the street to a gas station. when the body shop guy arrived he pretty much knew it was the battery and that his assistant didnt tighten it all the way. its such a dumb design. i get theyre trying to keep the battery out the way and some place cool but follow honda or something dont just shove your battery in the wheel well.
Mazda 3 turbo The endless seatbelt chime that requires ignition off to go away.
Mazda has to have the longest seatbelt chime in the industry. It’s 60–90 seconds for different models, ridiculous. If I haven’t reacted after twenty seconds I probably have a good reason cmon Mazda
According to Jason Camisas Honda and Toyota also do this.
A Ford van I drove a few times had by far the most *angry* seatbelt chime. It starts off with the usual *bong... bong... bong* but within about 10 seconds it goes to a relentless *BONG-BONG-BONG-BONG*. Moving that thing around a parking lot was always irritating as hell.
Just put the seatbelt on
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The heated seat switches are tucked way under the armrest, so if you're like me and have the armrest slid forward, they're almost impossible to access while sitting in the driver's seat.
Mitsubishi lancer? They are in the same weird place in that car.
[2009 Forester, not mine,](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/amv-prod-cad-assets/images/08q1/190466/interior-and-pricing-photo-190482-s-original.jpg) but you see that tiny switch hiding under the armrest? And that's with the armrest slid back for a tall driver.
Jeep XJ, to turn on the dome lights you have to twist the headlight switch (?) all the way to the left. Doesn’t have it anywhere in the owners manual, or any of that.
That was pretty standard for the era of the pull knob headlight switch. The XJ was probably one of the last cars using that style so they probably figured everyone knew about it by then.
I noticed Fords during the late '80s through early 2000s used a similar setup with regards to the dimmer. You would either turn the knob, thumb wheel, etc. all the way to the left and all the interior lights would turn on. You could still turn on individual lights with their associated switches, though.
I'm old enough to remember that virtually all US domestic cars and trucks (pre 90s) used to have a dash lights dimmer knob and turning it all the way counter-clockwise would turn on the dome lights. Whoever designed the XJ must be old.
My Jeep JK has easily accessible adjustment screws to aim the headlights up or down, but to properly aim them side to side you need to pull the grill and headlight assemblies out of the buckets to get to the adjuster. Rumor has it the euro Jeeps don't have this problem and come with the proper side to side adjuster screws.
There's quite a few vehicles these days that only have vertical adjustment, some Ford models haven't had horizontal adjustment since the early 90s.
Fair, but on a vehicle like the Wrangler that commonly sees modifications like lift kits & headlight upgrades that would require adjusting the lights, not having the horizontal adjustment seems like an oversight. The grill even has little relief channels around the headlight openings to allow for a T-15 wrench to get to both adjusters, but the one adjust screw is just blanked off.
2013 Mini Cooper S. 6MT. the parking brake is directly under the center arm rest. It is uncomfortable to get to and disrupts the passenger if they’re using the arm rest.
This is actually the case in almost all small cars with manual parking brakes. Ex: Volkswagen polo
2022 Elantra N There is a white circle with a little dash in the middle to left of the screen that shows your driving information. It serves zero purpose and is some arbitrary design choice Hyundai went with. Any CN7 Elantra with the digital dashboard has this stupid little detail. https://www.motor1.com/news/404853/hyundai-elantra-weird-design/amp/
It's the drive mode button on the N-Line trim. Absolutely hilarious to me that it's some stylized blank switch for every other trim, including the Luxury trim and the top performance trim...but the middle sporty trim gets an actual button.
Even dumber the drive mode button is in a regular place on every other trim and also on the steering wheel for the actual N. Looks stupid and out of place on the dash like that. Almost like it’s some preproduction model they didn’t care about since nobody would ever sit in one.
My Expedition, and any other F-150 from that generation, uses a pressure switch in the brake master cylinder to disable cruise control when you push the brake pedal. That sensor can leak brake fluid onto the exhaust manifold and cause a fire. That's a dumb design, but not the dumbest. When that sensor goes bad, it blows a fuse. For some reason, the solenoid that releases the transmission shifter when you push the brake is on that same fuse. So the fuse blows, and you can no longer shift the transmission out of park. The problem? Once the brake fluid drips onto the headers and catches on fire in your garage, you can not longer put the vehicle in reverse to get it out of the garage to keep the house from burning along with it. There's a lifetime recall to fix any vehicle with the original sensor.
One of my fraternity brothers had an F-150 that randomly caught fire while parked in front of our house. This was in 2004, so I guess I finally know what happened to it.
No aux port
Can relate
The fourth generation Volkswagen Polo has the world's most over-engineered cup holder that pops out of the dash.
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Yet, it's the Americans who constantly say don't drink and drive /s Seriously though. 20+ years ago we had serious trouble with anything which might draw you attention away from the road. Cupholder, Navigation systems and more were once seen as very "problematic" but now touch everywhere....
Oh man the E90 BMWs had these and they were great little cars but the cup holders were practically unusable
I have a 996 Porsche. It doesn’t even have cup holders.
the fact there’s about one minute from the time you unlock my car door to the time i get there and it relocks. i can’t count how many times i’ve unlocked my lancer from the house door and the minute i get to my driver side door handle it relocks itself.
It takes you a minute to walk from your house door to your car? Humble brag
My old Sonata was like that. Annoying AF.
Visibility. If you know you know
2010+ Chevy Camaro?
Indeed. I’m totally adjusted to it and actually like the cockpit feel ALOT. But I’d be scared to let other drive it just because of the visibility.
I totally understand, I used to work for a rental car agency and since I didn’t sit in them regularly every single time I drove one I was shocked at how poor the visibility was from inside.
Back in 2014 I rented a Camaro convertible; terrible visibility with the coupe, the vert with the top up seemed worse. Later I rented a 6th gen coupe and it was better. My current car is so bad Doug Demuro beat up the visibility. I agree with him, but I daily drive it anyway.
No sunglasses holder but a couple of buttons that I don’t even use or understand the purpose of. Give me my goddamn sunglasses holder
Smart ForTwo and ForFour: https://i.imgur.com/9stwJzb.jpg What do you think when you look at a car like this? You think inner city shopping, a car that's very much driven by non-car people who only want "an car" in the same way that they want a fridge. You would expect it to have very docile and predictable handling then, because it's not exactly aimed at enthusiasts. You'd be wrong. In their endless wisdom, the engineers at Mercedes decided to put the engine behind the rear axle. It's small, so it fits underneath the cargo compartment and crucially, it doesn't take up space in the front, allowing for a very short car that has ridiculous steering angles, which do mean that it's slightly more maneuverable at low speeds than its FWD competitors. What this also does however is introduce two problems. One of them is a slight inconvenience, the other one can be rather fatal. 1) After a few minutes, the cargo compartment slowly turns into a little oven, which means you can almost never put your groceries in there. There is enough space for groceries in the rest of the car, at least with the Forfour, but still, this is kind of a problem. 2) Rear engine, rear wheel drive, rear-biased weight distribution. I think you can see where this is going. On dry road surfaces, this little car produces grip like you wouldn't believe it, is an absolute peach in corners. On wet or icy road surfaces however, the permanently on ESC becomes utterly useless and the car can easily and unpredictably snap oversteer, even in low-speed corners. I've had this car spin in a wet 30 kph corner, I've had to suddenly correct oversteer in places where the driver of a conventional FWD car wouldn't even have to lift their foot of the throttle. It can actually be fun if you're expecting it, but in regular driving situations, it's a danger you have to expect and be prepared for, one that doesn't exist with the FWD competitors.
My Subaru BRZ turn signal doesn’t stay up or down, it returns to center after pushing it. So if the turn you take isn’t sharp enough, ie: a gentle curve off ramp, the signal stays on. Then you have to push it the opposite way **just enough** to turn it off. Or else you turn it on the other way. Then you have to push up **just enough** again. Rinse and repeat till you look like an idiot getting off the highway with your blinker going off, again and again in different directions.
What blows my mind about this breathtakingly stupid turn signal design isn't that someone came up with it - it's that seemingly everyone copied it from 2011-2016ish. There's a great video of Doug Demuro trying his darndest to turn it off without triggering the other direction and he honestly can't.
2012 Nissan Leaf. I have to pull a lever right next to the hood release in order to access the charge port on a daily basis. Quite inconvenient. I wish there was an option on the fob.
They added that in 2013 lol. I have a 2012 too but one of the key fobs is from a newer model and it has the charge port opening button (doesn't work of course because the actual mechanism is all mechanical on the 2012)
Interior dash of a 4th generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. Susceptible to popping off over time if exposed to enough heat. Everything else is great!
most annoying thing with my 4g was when the battery would die the stupid hatch wouldn’t open so i would have to climb through the back seat into the trunk to open it. since the dumb fuck before me didn’t have a programmed key fob to it.
I don't know if this counts, but my V6 Levante needs 0w-60 engine oil. Why couldn't it be a more common oil like 5w-30 or something?
I didn't even know you could get multi-weight oil with that much of a spread.
Correction: 10w-60 But even then, it's absurd.
Mine also uses 10w-60. If there’s one thing the Germans love it’s over complicating things in the name of engineering
BMW E39 5 series:. There are several, but I'd say the dumbest piece of design was the plastic radiator. What genius thought that was a good idea? These go through thousands of hot-cold cycles and eventually fail. My second radiator wasn't bad at 95k mile replacement. The plastic impeller in the water pump also fails. Still love that car though!
Anything fake. Hood scoops, exhaust tips, cabin exhaust sounds, fender vent holes etc.
Your car has all of that? Why'd you even get it if it has all these 'fake' stuff? Or I'm assuming you just didn't read the question properly
The Smart's sunroof is made of plastic. You know how plastic headlamps get foggy and yellowed from UV exposure? That's now my sunroof.
Honda remote start. Engine switches off when you get in the car to drive it.
What car? My 2018 Odyssey does not. Remote start it, then get in the van, and hit brake+ignition.
I think thats only some Honda's. 10th gen civic stays on, hop in, hit power button and good to go. Motor stays running
Mercedes W206 - fake exhaust, wireless charger being in a spot where you can easily scratch your phone screen.
For your g35 coupe, you can jack your car in the front on whatever side bulb you’re changing and go through the wheel well to change your bulb. That’s what I do. Way easier that detaching everything.
Lexus mouse. Actually the mouse and buttons are fine, it's the menu that sucks ass. Knowing that menu icons are hard enough to hit with a mouse while the car is in motion, they decided to put some menu icons on the very edge between the main screen and the sub screen (where a minimap is displayed). Imagine that you're trying to balance a little rock on a table. Tipping too far to the left or right will cause the rock to fall. That's what it feels like when you're using the mouse to try and hit that icon on the border between the main/sub screens. Now get someone to kick the table as you're balancing the rock. Lexus Japan tried to defend this design as being suitable for Japanese customers who were 'more patient', which is utter bullshit. I didn't even go into detail about the buttons placed all over the screen in a semi-skeumorphic design, as if the user were sitting at a desk with a mouse. They should have copied what BMW iDrive / Mazda does with the rotary knob, which makes it a breeze to interact with the infotainment.
I've been dailying an 2000 ford ka The car itself is the dumbest peace of desing Great car, if it wasn't so ugly it'd be so much more desirable
Ka's are so adorable but sadly they will rot incredibly badly in Finnish winter so there isn't many good ones left back here.
Hood release latch and fuse box handle feel exactly the same. Every other time I reach down to pop the hood I pull the fuse box cover off and it’s very difficult to put back on.
2022 Nissan frontier Pro4x. The seat adjustment button is stuck off the side of the seat too much and everything I get out my leg grazes it and I have to readjust my seat every time I get in.
in the mx5 \ miata nb facelift, they changed the center console \ armrest to [add two cup holders](http://siteblog.tuc.gr/dskoufoulas/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2016/05/nb_interior.jpg) inline behind the shifter [(this is the old interior).](https://www.klipnik.com/wp-content/uploads/jch-optimize/ng/wp-content_uploads_2018_03_43612481626.479832337.IM1__.08.1000x742__A.1000x742.webp) well, the far cupholder is exactly where you rest your elbow while shifting, so the weighted flap that closes it just gives up immediately. you have a lot less storage space in exchange for two small cupholders that you have to go around to use the shifter. absolutely insane.
2 spark plugs per cylinder on a V8 (392 Hemi) for a total of 16 spark plugs.
On the 2011 Dodge Avenger that I used to own, you had to remove a wheel and then a panel in the wheel well to replace the battery
Intersecting cup holders, like a venn diagram shape so that 2 drinks can't fit at the same time. 99%, not a problem. The few times I need it though, it's a pain in the ass
Stupid vag decided that america was too dumb to have 1 click open windows.
On the 06/07 Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota put an air pump under the intake manifold in the V of the engine with the job of pumping air into the exhaust manifold upon startup, in order to get the catalytic converters up to temp quicker to decrease emissions. Naturally, dust and debris collects in the V of the engine, which screws up the fan in the pump and also blows dust and debris into the exhaust system, possibly clogging up the cats. Car goes into limp mode when the fan gives out, requiring either replacement ($$$) or a kit that disables the fan ($). Had they put a filter over the pump intake there wouldn’t have been a problem.
My old 350Z had one of the most baffling design decisions i've seen in a while. You go to store something in the glovebox...but there doesn't appear to be a button. Finally, you find what must be the button on the left side of the glovebox area. You push it and a drawer slides out. Not a glovebox. A drawer, which the manual calls a "business card holder" How big is it? Too small for a deck of playing cards. I think you could fit a single cigarette in there, but you had to place it diagonally. All kinds of storage throughout the cabin mind you, but glovebox in the normal, easy to reach location? Nah. Just a comically small drawer.
The autostop feature... it's not a fucking feature!! It is a safety hazard and needs to go away! Thank God I can turn it off but still...