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Tight-ass manufacturer short cuts and cost saves


grogee

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My Skoda Shitigo doesn't have heated wing mirrors despite having sat nav, bluetooth, electric windows, air con, alloys, trip computer and remote central locking as standard. Always struck me as an odd omission and a bit annoying when they're misted up. Even my mate's shit old Iveco Daily has them and bugger all else! 

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MG Midget - MGB type reclining seats were fitted as standard on the later models.  Great selling point, but unless you have very short legs and have the seats in their foremost position, you can't actually recline them because the back of the seat hits the rear bulkhead. 

2CV - not such a penny pinching car as you might think, but the base model has no warning lights on the dash - or only one- but the wiring loom contains all the connections for a full set, so can be easily upgraded.  On the RHD models the umbrella handbrake stays in the LHD position, so in front of the passenger,  despite quite a few bodyshell changes, while at the same time the RHD has a different gear lever which seems quite unnecessary as it is central.

 

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1 hour ago, Sheefag said:

My '87 BX GTI was the same.

Likewise with my '93 TD estate. But the connector was there in the driver's door to plug in a mirror. Or so I thought...

Turns out the loom split into two, so operating the switch moved both mirrors identically! I can only think they did this so they could use the same loom for both LHD and RHD (with an extension section) versions, but still have a differently sided electric mirror on each. I think it was only the 16v (and mine after much wiring) which had twin electric mirrors. 

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8 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Pug 107 and its variants was a fantastic example of penny pinching...though I don't really feel it's fair to call it that as it wasn't a car that was made cheaply, rather it was a car that was designed to be cheap to make.

[] Instrument pod attached to the steering column rather than dash, minimising the amount of mouldings differing for LHD/RHD cars.

[] Identical ns/os seats.

[] Power window switch on the respective doors only.

[] Interior light switch on the driver's door only (that DID feel like penny pinching).

[] "Frameless" bootlid ala Citroen AX.  Albeit less prone to spontaneously shattering I believe.

Sure there were a dozen other things they'd done to simplify construction too but I can't remember them all now.  Despite that though it never felt cheap or flimsy, and when you realise when it was launched it still was a clever bit of packaging.  Only really started to show its age when VW came out with the Up and started to shove big-car luxury toys into shopping trolleys.

You missed the best example of penny pinching on the 107 , ( and possibly of all time), there was only one piece of “string” to raise the parcel shelf , instead of one on both sides. Did it actually save a whole penny?

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7 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Ford 100E retained the 3 speed gearbox from the previous model dating back to the 1930s, plus a long tailshaft to mate it to the mountings on the new floorpan which were clearly intended for a 4 speed box.  Which would have made it a much nicer car.

That would explain why it kept jamming on my Dads car. 

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Left hand drive wiper mechanisms..
Renault & Peugeot being the prime culprits (MK2 Clio, MK2 Grand Scenic, 206 etc) 
Instead of engineering a RHD mechanism like most other manufacturers, they just add in another linkage to the offside arm to increase the sweep
Despite how irrational it is, it irritates me every time I see one - it's like they thought "oh shit, we forgot to make a RHD model, quickly think of as many things we can leave as they are" 
See also - bonnet releases on our passenger side...
Add BMW 5 series E39 to that list , cheapskate Germans

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

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8 hours ago, Erebus said:

My Skoda Shitigo doesn't have heated wing mirrors despite having sat nav, bluetooth, electric windows, air con, alloys, trip computer and remote central locking as standard. Always struck me as an odd omission and a bit annoying when they're misted up. Even my mate's shit old Iveco Daily has them and bugger all else! 

Don't some of the citigo cars also only have one window switch on each door?

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2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

You missed the best example of penny pinching on the 107 , ( and possibly of all time), there was only one piece of “string” to raise the parcel shelf , instead of one on both sides. Did it actually save a whole penny?

Also on the three door model, tip seat forward for passengers to get in the back. Seat moves forward. Put seat back up and it doesn’t return to the original position, just slides all the way back smashing into your passengers knees. 

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2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

You missed the best example of penny pinching on the 107 , ( and possibly of all time), there was only one piece of “string” to raise the parcel shelf , instead of one on both sides. Did it actually save a whole penny?

No string at all on the Shitigo!  It clips into the up position and I always forget to put the bloody thing back down! 

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4 hours ago, New POD said:

image.thumb.png.7f75e7d86a765e03e0887add7bb88d57.pngimage.thumb.png.26e1060c22fd0326aa767a9737bf54be.png

I'd swear someone borrowed the tool drawings for the SC100 and copied the dimensions directly into CAD of the  pseudo vents on the top of the rear quarter panel. 

That is a styling cue hinting at an earlier model, as many other manufacturers do. Not penny pinching. Of all the people to know what is penny pinching and what isn't...

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4 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

You missed the best example of penny pinching on the 107 , ( and possibly of all time), there was only one piece of “string” to raise the parcel shelf , instead of one on both sides. Did it actually save a whole penny?

See also later examples of Ford BE146 (Mk1 Ka).

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18 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

That is a styling cue hinting at an earlier model, as many other manufacturers do. Not penny pinching. Of all the people to know what is penny pinching and what isn't...

I was thinking they saved the designer a few hours at a contract rate? 

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I'm told that Dacia are quite good at this.  Looking at my Duster, no wheel arch liners is a good example - and it makes it easier to rinse the salty crap off.  Apparently they also miss out heat shields off the front brakes, so there's less to go rusty and fall off.  

 

Hopefully they have put enough rust proofing on and so on.  

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5 minutes ago, New POD said:

I was thinking they saved the designer a few hours at a contract rate? 

Oh aye. Because it's an exact copy that didn't need integrated into the design of the newer Ignis. It was just thrown on there.

Aye. Right.

 

Anyway, I'll contribute to the thread. Peugeot 306 arch liners. For some reason the mk 1 and 2 didn't have a left rear wheel arch liner, which resulted in catastrophic hidden rust on the left rear seat belt mount. Mk 3s got a full compliment of arch liners.

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12 hours ago, Muniphobia said:

Vauxhall/Opel using the same grille for the Vauxhall and Opel Insignia and just changing the badge.  I noticed it when I saw it on a Vauxhall Insignia that had it's badge stolen - it was a marked police car 😕

I doubt it was stolen. The badges were prone to falling off them, particularly if they were regularly jetwashed/sent through car washes

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14 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

Same as many old Mercedes!

My 190 has an electric heated passenger side mirror and a manual unheated drivers side. Cost cutting possibly but functionally makes sense. Have no idea if the heated passenger side mirror was an option back in 1991. 

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14 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

Cars with offset handbrakes: certain marques don't bother to reconfigure the handbrake and console when converting to RHD, resulting in the lever being closer to the passenger seat than the driver's.  Very irritating.  Below is a CX, illustrating the point:

Citroën CX 25 GTi Turbo interior | Spaceship like interior | Flickr

My 2020  Mégane is the exact same, but it means the cupholders is closer to me which is a bonus 

 

 

IMG_20220211_151138.jpg

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my grandmother has a VW polo on a 15 plate i think it is

no remote locking or heated mirrors are main things i noticed

i was shocked about the lack of remote locking

on a 2015 car!

got a 3 cylinder i think too

it's just not a very good car, an equivelent french car would be much better

 

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Just now, maxxo said:

my grandmother has a VW polo on a 15 plate i think it is

no remote locking or heated mirrors are main things i noticed

i was shocked about the lack of remote locking

on a 2015 car!

got a 3 cylinder i think too

it's just not a very good car, an equivelent french car would be much better

 

That's typical VW, Billy basic one's are really povvo spec. 

It felt like you're being punished for purchasing a cheap VW. Want the badge? Prepare for the misery. 

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