What's your car's most annoying niggle?

[strangeangel]

I sat here for a whole five minutes trying to think of something about the BX that irritates me, and I failed. So, nothing. Nothing at all.

 

The broken-ness of my 205 is currently fairly irritating, however.

[twosmoke300]

You mean the bx seat back isn't broken and twisted to one side ?

[SierraMikeHotel]

 

 

CX: the independent starter. It's independent 'cos it starts when it feels like it.

My last BX had this, fixed by shorting the battery to an earth point with a jump lead.

 

I got so used to it that I couldn't understand why passengers were giving me odd looks.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

 

My last BX had this, fixed by shorting the battery to an earth point with a jump lead.

 

I got so used to it that I couldn't understand why passengers were giving me odd looks.

The previous owner of the CX did exactly the same as you, and I've been using this "emergency start" dodge since I bought the car.

 

Wonder if a parallel circuit can be run to an "Engine Start" button on the dashboard?

[eifion]

That both of my 205s need the petrol pump putting in at exactly the right angle when I'm filling up to stop them spewing petrol out and on to my shoes. That aside they're ace.

[Mrs6C]

Citroen ZX Battery going flat overnight when everything is switched off. Red Battery light on when all locked up & peering through side window. F. C.E.

Six-cylinder recollects that the red battery light staying on is caused often by a duff diode in the alternator...

 

Niggle for me - in the last couple of weeks, my ZX has taken to displaying similar traits without the aid of the little red light...

 

To be investigated when the weather warms!

[bramz7]

Boot on the Rover rattles, probably from when it had a bump. And it hates hot starting if you leave it for 10 mins or so, I know it's a fault with the engines by design but my god it annoys me.

 

Tipo heater matrix sounds like a waterfall. And it takes ages to idle normally when driving, as the engine runs cool for most of the time.

[Split_Pin]

Not a fault as such but a design niggle on the Duster which annoys the crap out of me. On the Megane, when you go above 5mph, the doors lock automatically. They automatically unlock as soon as you pull the interior door handle to get out, which I think is a great design. However on the Duster, although the doors lock the same way, you have to press the button on the dash before it'll let you out. Ive had it a year but still EVERY time I try and get out I am momentarily trapped!

[Wack]

My Range Rover has an annoying wind noise vibration at anything over 60 after a trip to the garage in Blackburn

 

It was fine going up , jobs carried out were wheel bearing , gaiters replaced , the brake disc mud shield was loose so Steve bolted it back on but he had to modify it as the bolt holes were rotted out and the wheels were changed for 19" with better tyres

 

Driving it back it's like a load of wasps are trapped under the bonnet

 

The pollen filter housing has a rubber seal missing that goes the width of the car so I got a new one thinking that's it cured but no

 

The problem is my usual cure for unwanted noises is turn the radio up but this noise is louder than the radio

 

The merc has stop start , default is on , press a button for off but I really wish it was the other way round

[sutty2006]

23mpg..........

[FakeConcern]

The only design niggle on my C4 VTS is that it needs the key to open the petrol filler cap. Pretty much all my other cars since an XR3i have had a central locking controlled flap.

 

However that is nothing compared to the ongoing problem of going into limp mode as the red line is approached!

[mat_the_cat]

On the merc ( which is the only one of the fleet with issues) it’s that the rear heated screen has given up the will to live. It’s corroded connections in the glass ( you can see it) but I’ve no intention of spending £1000+replacing it.

 

Do you mean corrosion between the tabs and the glass?

https://www.frostfighter.com/defroster-repair-tab-bonding-kit-2000.htm

[HMC]

Every so often all the dash clocks die and I have to wallop the dash to wake them up. The speedo on its own also plays up so I've got to remember at short notice for instance 4000rpm in fifth is about 75, 2000rpm 4th is 30 etc etc. Keeps the journey interesting, but I hate dash clocks playing up! Will have a look this week sometime.

[DeeJay]

Not the cars fault but a family of spiders living behind passenger door mirror.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

23mpg..........

 

That just means you're doing it right!

 

Remembered another one.  The rear windscreen wiper is apparently some specific Bosch blade as an OEM part for my car but generics say they are compatible.  Well, they are except that they don't clear the top of the rear arc properly and leave it a smudged mess for the most part.  Of course, I'm also a tightwad - which exacerbates the problem.

 

This is particularly annoying because I drive on the motorway a lot and the design of the car is such that it throws mucky spray on to the back rear window by design.  Need to get some mudflaps to prevent.

 

Oh!  Another basic design fault, which only affects us genetically gifted* people over 6'1".  To put the back seats down, you have to move the drive and passenger seat forward about 4 or 5 inches.  Otherwise, the seats won't fold flat and latch in properly.  This would be fine for most people but it means I can't have the seat right back.  Those 4 inches make a huge difference to my driving comfort.  Really pisses me off.

[Supernaut]

My Mondeo's central locking.

 

It locks all the doors fine, but it doesn't unlock the driver's door. So when I unlock it I need to use the fob to deactivate the alarm and open most of the doors, then put the key in the driver's door to open it.

[strangeangel]

You mean the bx seat back isn't broken and twisted to one side ?

 

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

[Jerzy Woking]

Bulb out on the speedo on the AX-so dim that I installed a Heads Up Disply app so I know how fast (slow?) I'm going.

 

Probably a nightmare of a job to change (being French)

[Jazoli]

Door lock module has failed on the Boring, which means I end up leaving the lights on as the car doesn't tell me as the warning buzzer is linked to the module.

[vulgalour]

every now and then, especially if wet, i'll get the battery warning light flickeing on the rover 75, and if i'm really lucky i'll get the big red "charging fault" thing come up on the dash of the Rover 75, i don't actually think there is much wrong with the car other than either a bad earth or a loose wire.

 

it is however reallt disconcerting to see this big red warning come up on the motorway at 70-odd miles an hour.

 

but the car has another fault that is i think linked to this, and that is when idling with the headlamps on, the light do flicker in time with the engine speed.

 

now we have had this on the t4 compooter thing while running and it doesn't show any fault codes.

 

BUT the car has at sometine had auto wipers added, and the T4 cannot cope with these at all.

 

what we think is that there has been some sort of frig added to the body ECU to get the wipers working, and that has caused the flicker on the ligts, and i thing the battery thing too.

 

but the car is nearly 17 years old, and has covered 155k miles, so, as long as it keeps going i'm happy!

 

Isn't this a known 75 problem with a resistor?  The fan does something in tandem with it, either being on all the time or being unable to make up its mind what it's doing, something like that.  An easy thing to fix with a new resistor, but a difficult fault to find because the symptoms are so strange.

[drivewaymyway]

The previous owner !! Told me the van (2005 Berlingo 1.9D DW8B 60k on clock ) has full history and lots of work done over the last 18months such as 1#new exhaust ( BS, back box only, the rest is broken kack ), 2# new tyres all round, ditch finders of more than one make, load rating and one a different size and one wheel buckled ! 3# Spotless engine bay is a bit suspicious because after 50 miles there is oil all over the shop, cam box leaking, standard fault.. Whilst removing found the 4# cam belt looking very old and 5# water pump been leaking for a long time looking at the state of the rusted bolts, although this was one of the jobs that he claims was done recently.. 6# Heater matrix pishing coolant over the interior when I put the heater on... 7# Original CD radio fooked even though he said it was removed to fit a DAB radio, which is shit, I can't work out how to turn it on / off.. 7# Steering is all over the place.. 8# N/S headlamp bodged together with poorly applied Araldite, I only discovered this trying to change a bulb.. I've not looked at removing the gearbox to check the clutch has been replaced yet, God knows what I'll find.....

[catsinthewelder]

Disco,  Being broken is the main one and about 3 square feet of steel missing around the arse end won't help it get going again.

 

405,  Notchey gears, a random clonk from the front despite being solid as a rock on the MOT shaker plates,  intermittent starting fault that I have a bodgey work around for involving the cigarette lighter,  boot lock that sometimes doesn't catch so the boot can fly open under acceleration if you don't check it's shut every time you open it ( I lost a few things on the way to shitefest,  John K lost a trolley jack),  something misaligned on the aux belt so it is now running with half an aux belt (I'll fix it eventually).

 

Astra,  Really lumpy starting from cold, will stall and then idle at 4000rpm which might be due to HGF.  Boot lock not connected to rest of central locking,  radio doesn't work,  noisiest winter tyres in christendom

[Stanky]

My daily only turns left. Makes journey planning incredibly stressful

 

Is it called 'Marchant'?

[Roobarb]

The engine being in the wrong place - the garage floor rather than the back of the car!

[AlabamaShrimp]

They all use this really expensive stuff called petrol. They seem to get through a shit load yet never go anywhere??

 

Also for some reason, even though I already paid for them, each month I have to pay some wired stuff called tax just for the privilege of using them on the road and some other shit called insurance to pay for something I might never hit.

[0ldCh0d]

My S60's Turning Circle......Like the QE2 turning around in your local canal. 

[dollywobbler]

2CV - the ear-shattering noise, that I've been meaning to do something about since 2003.

S-MX - the door open light is on constantly, and the interior lights don't work. I've stuck a 5p over the door open light. FIXED.

Lexus - you can't open the boot with the internal release while the engine is running. ANNOYING.

Perodua - the warning light for the HRW is tiny and on the switch, which you can't really see.

Invacar - Nothing. It's perfect. Apart from the fact that neither door will open from the outside because BROKEN.

[mercrocker]

I think the overwhelming answer is rattles.   As soon as I fix one it only serves to point out that it was actually masking another, lower frequency, more irritating and even more elusive one.   

 

Currently its doors.  Both the Morrises are afflicted with internal door rattles, the sort that involves  window-winding gear and latches which can only be touched, not adjusted, just touched if I get my hand in through a razor-edged aperture after removing the door card AGAIN and promptly removing another veneer of my ageing skin.    

 

Also, irritations on one car can seemingly be blissfully tolerated with a benign smile in another.   The Minor has never cancelled its indicators, a feature I really like because you never have to do that troublesome re-set on a mini-roundabout or when showing the twat up your arse in Tesco that yes, I am bloody parking HERE.   I also use them as impromptu reversing illumination at night.    The Fiesta has similarly defective indicators but really pisses me off by it.   You're supposed to WORK you are MODERN I hear myself mutter. 

 

 Also, it and the Merc both have buzzers if you leave the lights on with the key out of the ignition.   Like you do when you are opening the garage at night.  With the key that is on the keyring in the car that you are using to illuminate the garage lock.

[Zelandeth]

Saab: The central locking gremlin. The procedure to make it unlock is to open the driver's door, turn the ignition on, then fiddle with the electric window. After a few up/down cycles it will decide to unlock everything.

 

I've been over every connection inside the door and centre console twice and haven't a clue why...but it's done it since I got the car in 2012!

 

Lada: Indicator flasher getting voltage fed back from the dash lighting circuit making it tick as though a bulb's blown whenever the headlights are on about 30% of the time. Haven't tracked down the cause of that yet.

 

Citroen: That fluffing creaking noise from the offside front suspension strut (apparently ancommon Activa issue).

 

Invacar: It's a dead heat between lack of brakes or lack of floor.

[purplebargeken]

The i10 generally 'cos i10 and Hyundai.