What clever cures have you found on the bad brands that the good ones still suffer?

[RustyNuts]

We all know them... every car has them... I'm talking about the dreaded weakpoints and stupid design flaws.

 

Everyone likes to slate french cars (fair enough lol) however I recently stumbled upon a fault with our 2004 astra which had been taken care of in every renault we've ever owned.

 

I'm talking about the wiring loom between the rear doors and the main chassis of the car. On the astra it's a stuypid design that causes the wires to flex and eventually snap - after wearing away the insulation leaving bare wires. On all of our renaults they have used a vertical wiring loom so that it simply twists a bit instead of flexing. This naturally means there is no weak point in the cars - from a bad brand.

 

So.. what really annoying / daft / stupid design glitches have you found on the better brands that the apparently bad brands have dodged?

 

This should be interesting!

 

Rusty

[Junkman]

Over the past few years I have become accustomed to Rover P6es and Peugeot 405s, neither of which display any dreaded weakpoints, let alone design flaws.

You must talk about that German rubbish, surely? First and foremost those Mercedesesses are thoroughbredly shit.

I found two cures for them. Either flog them to Ireland, or bridge them.

[dieselnutjob]

broken timing belt will normally just bust a rocker arm on 2.0 litre 8 valve HDI

[dieselnutjob]

rear seat much more comfortable in a 607 compared with my XJ.

You can't get your feat underneath the front seat on the XJ

[pshome]

sorry, can't comment because all my cars are good brands.

[AMC Rebel]

On my XJ X350 the wiring to the boot was such poor design and quality that several wires just fell to pieces before the car was six years old - never had that on any of my "lesser" brands.

 

Same thing for the same car's disintegrating earth points, which caused a huge variety of random electrical issues never experienced anything like as badly on any other chod I've owned.

 

My previous Mondeo was way way way more reliable and properly designed and made as well as delivering most of the performance and features of the Jaaaag.

[AMC Rebel]

My Auldi A3 had the worst suspension of any car I have ever driven or travelled in - all the Citroens, Fords etc I've had were streets ahead.

[rantingYoof]

Rover 825 Sterling with full-fat electrically operated/heated/memory seats. 5cm headroom above me (6ft 2), no issues.

 

Lexus LS400 with full-fat electrically operated/heated/memory seats. Top of head lightly touching the sun-roof cover, and side of head interfers with internal rim of sun-roof with the cover pulled back.

 

C'mon Lexus! Headroom cannot be that hard to achieve!

 

 

[/stupid first world problems]

[AMC Rebel]

The headroom thing is weird - I cannot fold myself into 405s Toyota Avensis or Lexus IS200/300 in any way that would be comfortable. Smaller cars from same manufacturers (where made) are generally no problem. Why does a KA or Puma or a Yaris or even a 205 have more headroom than a 405 or Avensis?