Car features you don't like

[AnnoyingPentium]

9 hours ago, DavieW said:

My Insignia has no spare wheel but a compressor and a can of gunk the compressor is supposed to inject into the tyre. Fine, except the compressor (genuine Vauxhall and never been out of the box before) has a 12v accessory plug on the end but the car doesn't have the necessary 12v socket. F*cking brilliant idea Vauxhall. 2 hour wait for Mr AA to recover me home.

My Grampa bought a spare for his Insignia since his only came with the gunk and he'd need the spare if he takes a puncture whilst towing.

[maxxo]

Auto wipers on the C5

When they rarely work correctly they're fantastic

It doesn't have an intermittent wipe, just auto where intermittent would be

I suspect however it may not be helped by an air bubble on the sensor

They're overly sensitive, full pelt during drizzle etc

Going to try adjusting them

[JimH]

On 2/12/2022 at 7:28 PM, Missy Charm said:

Flat bottomed steering wheels.  Utterly inexplicably, they seem to be getting more popular.  

Ha ha ha ha The Allegro! Do you see? It had a square steering wheel! HA HAH HA HA! How hilarious! British Leyland! Unions! Square steering wheel! DO YOU SEE?

At least the Allegro's wheel rotated about its centre unlike these wonky, fat-rimmed monstrosities the Germans have taken a shine to. 

[JimH]

12 hours ago, GeorgeB said:

Whut?

It's not as daft as it sounds. There have been at least three occasions when it would have been useful to me. 

[Asimo]

On 12/02/2022 at 18:01, captain_70s said:

On a similar note, anything that automatically activates the wipers with the screen wash. 

When this irritating gimmick was introduced it soon became widely known that cutting off a certain pin from a relay could delete this feature.

[myglaren]

13 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

My Mum's Dacia Duster doesn't even have a well for a spare wheel. Just a hidden compartment on the side of the boot carpet.

Same here, bloody annoying.  There is a cubby with a Honda tyre pump and a can of goo.  Except there wasn't, previous owner kept it no doubt.

Fortunately I already had a pump, bought six of them, one each for me and the kids.

I will buy another wheel but the sizes baffle me.  The 17" bit is OK but the rest?

 

I can't remember what colour my dash lighting is.

This suggests that it might be blue.  Will have to have a look next time I get to use it.

 

 

[Crackers]

4 hours ago, Liggle said:

On the motorway its a right pain, as it leaves a gap big enough for at least one car to jump in and then the car slows down to make the gap bigger again, and you can't turn the radar bit off

I do love playing this game with Teslas as they really do seem to slam on the anchors when you pull out in front of them. 

[lesapandre]

45 minutes ago, Crackers said:

I do love playing this game with Teslas as they really do seem to slam on the anchors when you pull out in front of them. 

And there you illustrate one of the pitfalls of self-drive cars.

If all the robot- cars were talking to each other in the same language ok..but - mix them with humans and you can start to 'game' the robots.

All driving actions  are sophisticated calculated series of risks by a human mind. Get to that level of sophistication with a robot. Impossible presently.

So when you see a Tesla you know you can pull in front of it with impunity...*

*probably - but then you can calculate the risk. The Tesla will always brake if the software says so.

And if you have not watched the movie 'Don't Look Up' it pretty effectively skewers Elon and all the other messiahs.

It's just a fucking* car...its just a fucking rocket.

*apologies for the bad language.

Last time the motor industry went all futuristic was the 1950's - it feels like that again now...really anything to flog a mota...

Last time it was in response to too much money washing about and the threat of nuclear annihilation - looking to a brighter future where we control events.

This  time it is in response to too much money washing about and the threat of climate annihilation - looking to a brighter future where we control events.

We don't. 

But cars make us feel better.

[Sham]

Knowing how awesomely reliable* Tesla's software can be, the last thing I would be doing would be pulling out in front of the overweight monstrosity.

[Crackers]

37 minutes ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Front only DRL's.

 

We have a winner. End of thread. 

[Scruffy Bodger]

11 hours ago, maxxo said:

Auto wipers on the C5

When they rarely work correctly they're fantastic

It doesn't have an intermittent wipe, just auto where intermittent would be

I suspect however it may not be helped by an air bubble on the sensor

They're overly sensitive, full pelt during drizzle etc

Going to try adjusting them

I can't understand why auto wipers are still rubbish. My V50 has the function but it's far from perfect.

That can not be said about a Peugeot 306 however, the auto wipers were bloody brilliant! So how can much newer cars be worse? I did many thousands of miles in the 306 without having to touch the stalk including some truly horrendous weather conditions.

[maxxo]

14 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

I can't understand why auto wipers are still rubbish. My V50 has the function but it's far from perfect.

That can not be said about a Peugeot 306 however, the auto wipers were bloody brilliant! So how can much newer cars be worse? I did many thousands of miles in the 306 without having to touch the stalk including some truly horrendous weather conditions.

i refuse to believe they actually came out of the factory that bad

i'm going to do some experiments with cleaning, spraying rainX and lexia sessions to see if i can improve them

i want nothing more than for them to work somewhat properly, it would really make my day

[grogee]

Citroen auto wipe will be streets ahead of Alfa auto wipe. 

I often drive with a completely wet windscreen just to see how long it will take to work out it's raining. 

Once it does finally acknowledge precipitation has occurred, it's then totally schizophrenic in its choice of wiper speed. 

It's so bad it's actually quite funny 

[Waderider]

There are definitely some features on my Volvo V90 that I don't like.

The touch screen is difficult to use on the move. Modern cars need to go back to buttons. The speed limiter decelerates you to thirty at the first countdown warning sign that there is a thirty ahead. The lane keeping assist is obtrusive if you drive normally on a country b or a road. The adaptive cruise control is amazing. Auto wipers good, auto high beam dips more often than it needs do.

Personally I preferred my V70 even though there are lots of things the V90 does better, like pace,  fuel efficiency, and handling. But the dash interface (and stereo) was better, as were the seats, and boot space.

Least irksome car I have is the oldest, a 2003 V40.

[bloobloo]

My #1 annoying thing  is the parking brake on some mercedes vehicles. On my old ML and my Vito it's a stupid PEDAL to the left of the clutch.

Waiting in heavy traffic on a steep hill in the Vito yesterday, gonna be a while I thought so.... keep right foot on footbrake whilst left foot presses the clutch pedal. Select neutral. Remove left foot from clutch pedal and now use left foot to press the parking brake pedal.  Ahh for fex sake, traffic is now starting to move again,  right foot on brake pedal oh wait no, on accelerator, left foot on clutch bring clutch up and fuck all happens, rear end just sits down like an old dog. BING BING BING noise, PARKING BRAKE WARNING text on dash, faff faff faff, finally realise that there's no lever, and you finally remember to pull the release handle under the light switch before rolling backwards and slamming the footbrake back on an inch before you reverse up the old dears bonnet who's innocently wondering what the fuck you're doing whilst putting the last request via prayer into st Christopher.  Right, try again, fuck the parking brake off, right foot on brake pedal, bring clutch up to just about biting point without stalling, quickly move foot from brakes to accelerator move forward 6 feet and yep, fuckin lights now on red.  Twat. Just stick to a HAND BRAKE

[bunglebus]

Worked OK on auto Mercs but I did always wonder how to do a decent hill start in a manual without using my middle leg on one of the pedals.

Luckily I didn't do much other than move them around a flat car park when I worked for them

[GeordieInExile]

12 hours ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

I can't understand why auto wipers are still rubbish. My V50 has the function but it's far from perfect.

That can not be said about a Peugeot 306 however, the auto wipers were bloody brilliant! So how can much newer cars be worse? I did many thousands of miles in the 306 without having to touch the stalk including some truly horrendous weather conditions.

+1 on the 306, the auto wiper on mine was perfect. As were most other things.

[goosey]

My Seat Leon has only 2 litre washer fluid tank which means I have to carry the rest of the 5 litre screen wash in the boot so it slides round falls on its side then just drips, no light either to tell you it’s low so you can’t be prepared or that

[bloobloo]

13 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Worked OK on auto Mercs but I did always wonder how to do a decent hill start in a manual without using my middle leg on one of the pedals.

Luckily I didn't do much other than move them around a flat car park when I worked for them

On my ML it was fine.  Fine as in surplus to requirements as it was auto.  Left it in Park when parked up and as for hill starts, even with the caravan on the back, just used the footbrake on a hill and the gearbox just did it's thing marvelously.. the manual version is a whole different kettle of fish though.

[Spiny Norman]

What always annoyed me about the pedal operated parking brake in Mercs was the highly un-prestigious clang it made if you released it without using your left foot to control the sudden release of the pedal's ratchet.

 

[808 Estate]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:54 PM, TataBobu said:

A big tablet instead of proper controls;

 

This.

Fucking useless when trying to adjust the air con without wibbling across 2 lanes or arse ending a Scania.

[myglaren]

On 14/02/2022 at 21:11, maxxo said:

i refuse to believe they actually came out of the factory that bad

i'm going to do some experiments with cleaning, spraying rainX and lexia sessions to see if i can improve them

i want nothing more than for them to work somewhat properly, it would really make my day

The autowipers/autolights on mine were fine, especially the second one.

First one I was stopped by police.  I was following him and he pulled in front with lights flashing, came and asked what I wanted.  Admitted nothing and was baffled.

Apparently the autolights were coming on and off and he thought that I was trying to get his attention.

Disabled them after that.  They had been fine up to that point though.

[iainrcz]

On 2/14/2022 at 8:55 AM, Liggle said:

My Yaris has some really annoying 'safety' and convenience features:

Lane assist - the car gently tugging at you or trying to correct when you are overtaking a bike for example is downright dangerous at times

Collision detection - one of the roads near my house has cars parked either side of the road and its overly-cautious when you slalom through them, it beeps and a big red warning comes up on the dash saying BRAKE!

Radar cruise - just give me on/off cruise control, I don't want an overly cautious gap between me and the car in front. On the motorway its a right pain, as it leaves a gap big enough for at least one car to jump in and then the car slows down to make the gap bigger again, and you can't turn the radar bit off

My Corolla has lane keep, it stays firmly off.

it likes a beep every now and again at random shit at the side of the road.

I also sussed if I press and hold the cruise button it deactivates the radar, which is annoying. Maybe on a motorway it has its uses, but I drive on cruise a lot and no I don't need you slamming the brakes on thank you. You can alter the follow distance, but even on the furthest away it can get nervous.

[Liggle]

18 minutes ago, iainrcz said:

My Corolla has lane keep, it stays firmly off.

it likes a beep every now and again at random shit at the side of the road.

I also sussed if I press and hold the cruise button it deactivates the radar, which is annoying. Maybe on a motorway it has its uses, but I drive on cruise a lot and no I don't need you slamming the brakes on thank you. You can alter the follow distance, but even on the furthest away it can get nervous.

Yeah my startup procedure is turning lane assist, stop/start off and iMT on

I'll try holding the cruise button, good shout. I'd only tried the radar button itself and looking through the settings to turn it off

[iainrcz]

4 minutes ago, Liggle said:

Yeah my startup procedure is turning lane assist, stop/start off and iMT on

I'll try holding the cruise button, good shout. I'd only tried the radar button itself and looking through the settings to turn it off

Mine initially tells you the radar cruise is active, keep pressing then that message disappears and it uses normal cruise control. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 14/02/2022 at 10:51, myglaren said:

I will buy another wheel but the sizes baffle me.  The 17" bit is OK but the rest?

 

I can't remember what colour my dash lighting is.

This suggests that it might be blue.  Will have to have a look next time I get to use it.

 

 

225/45 R17- common tyre size

although you could use a 205/55 R16

spacesaver would be a 16

dash buttons are actually very pale green whereas dials are white with blue highlights

[bloobloo]

13 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

What always annoyed me about the pedal operated parking brake in Mercs was the highly un-prestigious clang it made if you released it without using your left foot to control the sudden release of the pedal's ratchet.

 

^^^^ THIS!  It always sounds like you've just broken something very important and expensive.  In my case I probably have.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Only an unhinged engineer would design an un-hinged bonnet. Vorsprung durch Wahnsinn !

[Missy Charm]

4 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Only an unhinged engineer would design an un-hinged bonnet. Vorsprung durch Wahnsinn !

To be frank, only an unhinged engineer would design the Audi A2.  I've driven one and didn't like it.  

[Sigmund Fraud]

1 hour ago, Missy Charm said:

To be frank, only an unhinged engineer would design the Audi A2.  I've driven one and didn't like it.  

They're nothing special to drive, because they're basically a Polo 9N with a fancy aluminium body. The latter is actually pretty well engineered, though that stupid bonnet is a notable exception.