Mingebag cost cutting, cheeseparing ,not Project Drive.( oh OK then)

[Matt]

Volkswagens MK2 Polo and MK2 Passat (so presumably MK2 Golf too) is one that stands out in my mind as daft LHD to RHD conversions.

 

Jürgen, there ist nicht space on the bulkhead to fit a master cylinder on ze Britisch cars.

So?

Should we re-engineer things so one can fit?

Nein, don't be so silly, they can live with totally manual brakes.

 

Brilliant.

[bub2006]

Regards the cost cutting on vectra pre an post facelift models,I've found it goes further. Our 03 plate Ls had a cubby hole flap like a desk thing when you dropped the rear armrest,rear cupholders,rear courtesy light and map reading lights in the front,the 53 plate special edition has non of them bits in it. They are both based on the basic trim levels so it shows things getting deleted in such a shot time. A chap I know has a base spec facelift vectra c on a 06 plate and hasn't

Got cruise control,rain sensing wipers or auto dip rear view mirror where They were all standard equipment on base model pre facelift cars

[Asimo]

BMW 4 series coupes with LHD wipers on RHD cars.

Morris Minors that flashed the brake light bulb for the rear indicator.

 

Just remembered, no clock in this Honda Insight.  Not had a car without a clock for more than 30 years.

[steve_earwig]

I didn't think early Moggies even had indicators and when they did they got trafficators. Still, I suspect there were a few strange ideas floating about before that. Hey, didn't Yank gas-guzzlers indicate with their brakes?

 

I had a Mk two Scirocco with a servo, it was on a bar with linkages over to the left-hand side. it was still crap though, and if it wasn't well greased it was even worse. The rhd 406s have a similar arrangement but that actually works.

[JohnK]

2008 BMW 525d (E60) without the smokers pack, doesn't have a 12V aux port in the front. Because mine doesn't have sat nav and I like my sat nav to be sat to the right of me as I drive, it means the charging cable has to go across the top of the steering column, along he centre console and over into the back, where there are TWO 12V Aux sockets, for each passenger in the back.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I'm lucky mine is a very late(Jan 2010) run out model, a bit like a Sierra Laser, laughingly called Business Edition so has an ashtray and fag lighter.

What it doesn't have is a passenger door mirror that tilts down when engaging reverse. Sounds petty but is something that annoys me every day. It's ironic that the first time I encountered this useful feature was about 25 years ago in a BMW. It could be that I've not found how to enable it in the settings menu in i-crash of course.

[oldcars]

My Reliant has one wheel missing, some cost cutting there.

[martc]

My Reliant has one wheel missing, some cost cutting there.

 

But, apparently, the spare wheel was a no-cost option. Three wheelers could only be driven on a motorbike licence if they weighed less than 8cwt. Therefore the car was weighed without a spare wheel just scraping under the weight limit. The spare wheel was then added as an optional extra.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Mk2 fiestas have two dash boards. I've never seen this in any other car.

 

Really low spec ones come same as some other fords mentioned with only one wing mirror, one sun visor, no heated back window but they also blanked out the clock, power socket, intermittent wiper and stupidly a two speed heater switch, it's just a small bit of metal inside that make its a three speed

 

Edit: now with pictures! I forgot there's two different door cards and about 4 centre consoles

 

 

[Pillock]

This is proper stupid crap, actually going out of your way to make it less desirable than other models.

 

I bet it was cheaper to use one dashboard on the Fez, but then how would you convince someone to go from a Popular to an L? By tooling up for another dashboard. Same with the fan switch, same with VX remodelling bits of interior to disappear power sockets - often, if you poke behind carpet or trim the live feed is still there, taped up.

[Noel Tidybeard]

ford did about eleventy different dashboards for the sierror- early povo spec have big glovebox and single mono speaker attop dash and the centre of dash doesnt reach tunnel so there is a gap below radio!!1!

[Noel Tidybeard]

mk3 escrote ghia without rear wiper???

y-reg sierror 1.6l tungsten headlight bulbs and fixed rear interior mirror

[fordperv]

I'm sure it must've cost ford money instead of saving it to produce separate plastics for base models to make them more miserable, sierra dangle mirrors for example whilst being utterly lovely we get them on the base only this couldn't of been cost effective.

[bub2006]

My c plate fiesta I had about 10 years ago had the base spec dash with the heater control knobs sat to the side,had a centre console though with radio facing upwards behind gearstick. It had headrests,door pockets,heated screen but no wash wipe on the rear. Either it had options ticked or a higher spec model had been raped for parts over some course of its life.

[dave21478]

 

I had a Mk two Scirocco with a servo, it was on a bar with linkages over to the left-hand side. it was still crap though, and if it wasn't well greased it was even worse. The rhd 406s have a similar arrangement but that actually works.

 

 

A lot of Peugeot / Citroen stuff does this with linkages over to the left for the brakes. Makes my job easier when converting to LHD.

[jonny69]

A small selection from the Peugeot 207.

 

-The usual LHD to RHD stuff like the bonnet latch, the heater controls are all round the wrong way, as is the radio and the buttons for the autobox setting are obscured by the shifter and you can't see them from the right hand side.

-Manual windows in the back.

-Seat controls are on a lever and a latch rather than a windy thing, which boils my piss because it's either too upright or too laid back, but nothing in between.

-They chose to use the centre console, heater knobs and fascia panel from a 1992 Fiat Uno.

-They STILL use those little black plastic clip-in blanking plates that became common common on base model cars in the 1980s, despite not offering any optional extras that might actually make use of the extra switch holes.

-Pressing the lock button on the keyfob one more time sounds the alarm from a distance, except ours doesn't have an alarm so it just turns on the hazard lights.

-Large part of the boot well makes space for a full size spare and jack, except there is no spare or jack and the hole is filled instead with a polystyrene block and a tyre pump.

-Dipstick is a weedy bit of wire with a plastic point on the end. It is so thin it's only just possible to push it down the dipstick hole without bending it irreversibly.

-The rubber in the key fob seems to be made of Blu Tac.

-The user manual is full of made-up facts like 56mpg etc.

[cros]

2011 Octavia all set up for remote central locking but keys are extra. I didn't know you could spend that much on a car and have to put the key in the door.

Might as well stick with my A35.

[cros]

BMW 4 series coupes with LHD wipers on RHD cars.

 

Morris Minors that flashed the brake light bulb for the rear indicator.

 

Just remembered, no clock in this Honda Insight.  Not had a car without a clock for more than 30 years.

The flashing brake lamp was particularly dumb and not limited to the Minor- several others including Landrover had it . The relay that makes it happen costs lots more than a pair of ambers lenses, but concours merchants still persist with them.

[Matt]

-They STILL use those little black plastic clip-in blanking plates that became common common on base model cars in the 1980s, despite not offering any optional extras that might actually make use of the extra switch holes.

 

I reckon this is down to what options are available in the UK versus what options are available in Europe. The user manual for both my VW's and the Swift talk about heated seats but I'm certain heated seats were never given to us as an option. I dislike them, they make me want to find out what should be there an install it, I'd like to do that with a K11 Micra for some reason. My mums 11 plate V50 has blanks in it too.

[Pillock]

My Mk2 Astra, and Mk3 Polo both had blanks for heated seats.

I think countries that have less mediocre, more decisive weather than us like them.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I took nearly every option for my ST when I got it (yeah I know...) there's still one blanking plate on the dash and one in the glove box. They were for a light and keyhole to turn off the passenger airbag. Cost a fortune and is useless

[Matt]

I took nearly every option for my ST when I got it (yeah I know...) there's still one blanking plate on the dash and one in the glove box. They were for a light and keyhole to turn off the passenger airbag. Cost a fortune and is useless

 

Could be worse, you could be buying a Ferrari. Seriously, check out how much some of the options are on those things, it's comical.

[xtriple]

Yeah, isn't a 'racing stripe' something like £5 grand!

[Matt]

Yeah, isn't a 'racing stripe' something like £5 grand!

 

Here's a link to a bunch of options on various luxury performance cars. You want your Ferrari 458's boot lined in alcantara? That's £1,550 please sir. FIFTEEN HUNDRED QUID FOR SOME FABRIC!

 

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/mark-hamilton/supercar-options-how-to-blow-70000-on-extras/

[twosmoke300]

Didn't BMW used to charge for " badge delete " ? So you could pretend your 318 was a 325 esp with m power stickers

[worldofceri]

In 1985 my dad bought a base model Renault 'super' 5 TC, only ticking the option box for front headrests, but it did have a clock! Fast forward to '94 when the 5 was a single-model run-out effort and hadn't had a clock available for two years. All the wiring and connectors were still there though, so I could upgrade my nineties Renner with decade old components.

 

The R5 had two different dashes in lhd too, but we only got the fancy version in correct-hand-drive.

[Matt]

This is proper stupid crap, actually going out of your way to make it less desirable than other models.

 

I think Daihatsu essentially did that with the Cuore when they brought it here. In Japan the Cuore and SIrion were in different classes but here they are both small cars. Electric folding and mirrors and remote locking were on some Japanese Cuore's but they didn't give them to us.

[cms206]

My 340 has the bonnet release in the passenger footwell which is a fucking annoyance 'cos the 740/940 have it in the right footwell. The 340 has LHD wiper sweep too, think it was swapped for the MY85.

[Hendry]

One thing that fucks me off, and I don't know if its cost cutting or if there's another reason for it is French motors with the spare wheel on a carrier underneath the boot floor on the outside rather than a spare wheel well, both my '02 plate 206 and '59 plate Clio have had it. Oddly my '04 plate Clio did have a spare wheel well though.

[MrDuke]

Here's a link to a bunch of options on various luxury performance cars. You want your Ferrari 458's boot lined in alcantara? That's £1,550 please sir. FIFTEEN HUNDRED QUID FOR SOME FABRIC!

 

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/mark-hamilton/supercar-options-how-to-blow-70000-on-extras/

 

I'm still giggling about the £170 first aid kit for the McLaren MP4

 

Oh no, wait, that includes a warning triangle. That's more reasonable then.