Car design quirks that do/did your head in

9,114 · January 1

11 hours ago, grogee said:

More annoying to me is the idrive/stereo which cannot be improved/updated/appended without using one of the BMW diagnostic programs, of which there are about four and none of them fucking work anyway.

It's very easy to bring it right up to date by fitting one of these

https://bavarian-automotive.co.uk/products/bmw-ccc-wireless-apple-carplay-android-auto-retrofit-interface

16,654 · January 1

3 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

It's very easy to bring it right up to date by fitting one of these

https://bavarian-automotive.co.uk/products/bmw-ccc-wireless-apple-carplay-android-auto-retrofit-interface

I know, but too expensive!

January 1

22 hours ago, Alusilber said:

Peugeot 2008 (first-gen): Strange aircraft-throttle-like handbrake lever, just pointless. Also, little oddment tray directly under handbrake lever - don't put anything bigger than a coin there, or you'll mash your knuckles into it when you release the handbrake. Plus a solid metal gearknob (gets cold in winter and hot in summer), a couple of cup holders buried underneath the dashboard, and a row of buttons down on the right-hand side of the steering column that are masked perfectly by the steering wheel.

I agree, that handbrake always forced my wife to over apply the handbrake and it’s a trait she’s bought into MY cars. 🤬 At least the gear knob meant you got the six speed ‘box (at least on out spec) but for me the worst flaw is the wiring harness that goes in front of the interior fuse box in the glove compartment.

I love my Forester but its major flaw is the climate control (again). Want it on auto, as I do? Fine as long as you don’t wish it to be coller than 20 degrees. Which I do. For me 18-19 is the sweet spot.

Placing it on the dot beneath (forgive the terrible photo) just goes super high fans on cold. Minor flaw TBF.

The good news is it actually has more cup holders than actual seats, so suck it Beemer owners

7,515 · January 1

On 30/12/2023 at 20:07, Noel Tidybeard said:

talking of screenwash- pugrot 208 won't let YOU decide how much of a skoosh you want, i goes through the whole sqirrrrrrrrrrrrrrt wipe routine

what i wanted was in fact squit & a flick of wipe

Does it also do the whole wipe routine. Then wait. Then wait. Then do a single wipe?
Pug Boxer does that and I always, always think I've left the wipers on intermittent so switch them off.
Which turns them on.

9,114 · January 1

1 minute ago, grogee said:

I know, but too expensive!

They aren't really though, a double din AA/Carplay from Pioneer or Sony will cost the thick end of 500 quid.

They are £230 on eBay, which is really cheap if you look at what they do.

51,861 · January 1

Would it be terrible to admit I have no idea what AUTO does on my climate control, having owned the car for 10 years? I just set the temp, where it's aimed and AC or not

6,960 · January 1

22 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Would it be terrible to admit I have no idea what AUTO does on my climate control, having owned the car for 10 years? I just set the temp, where it's aimed and AC or not

It's just like using the thermostat on a central heating system. You set the temperature you want in the car and it aims to bring it to that temperature and maintain it

36,615 · January 1

15 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Mr Citroen decided on the C3 Picasso that the bits of metal below the rear lights would be best as part of the boot lid, giving it little wings:

these mean that there are four sharp corners at exactly 5’11” from the floor. They have caused bleeding more than once. Why they couldn’t have just kept these as part of the rear hatch, or made the boot open a little further I will never know. At least when suffering from the mild concussion they give me from time to time I can forget I drive it.

Looks the designers would have wanted it part of the body but decided against as it's cheaper to have it as one part of the bootlid metal pressing? If part of the body then it'd needed extra tooling to do that. Then also alignment in production of that piece too.

I bet someone was quite proud of the money saved by doing that. I'd imagine the German brands would have put a piece there and taken the hit (or charge more).

22,307 · January 1

3 hours ago, Dabooka said:

I love my Forester but its major flaw is the climate control (again). Want it on auto, as I do? Fine as long as you don’t wish it to be coller than 20 degrees. Which I do. For me 18-19 is the sweet spot.

Placing it on the dot beneath (forgive the terrible photo) just goes super high fans on cold. Minor flaw TBF.

That's weird. Looking at the US spec equivalent, it's marked 65-75-85 fahrenheit (18-24-30 Celsius).

Strange, because all the cars I've had with "exact numbers" marked on the dial (not just low, warm, high or blue to red) over here have been calibrated 60-90f (15-32c).

I guess they thought the numbers had some sort of Zen.

26,101 · January 1

Only a couple in the Partner to be honest, which I think for a relatively modern vehicle isn't bad going.

[] The gigantic gap between the sun visors which becomes really bloody annoying in spring/autumn when the sun is low.

[] Who on earth thought that painting the dial faces satin silver was anything like a smart idea? It's absolutely fine 90% of the time, but if you've got the headlights on so the backlight is on and you pass through an area of shadow (such as driving under trees) it renders the instruments pretty much entirely unreadable due to the lack of contrast. The kph markings are in a very pale yellow and as such are basically invisible under normal lighting conditions.

It just really feels like one of those things that they didn't think through!

The current phase VW are going through where they're replacing anything and everything that would once have been a button/slider/dial with a touch sensitive panel. Chris had an Arteon as a company car recently, and it basically meant that I was completely unable to use about 2/3rds of the dash controls as they simply refused to acknowledge the existence of my finger (I have this issue with these types of control everywhere, including on our hob). Aside from that though, it means they are basically impossible to use without looking at the controls just like a touch screen.

A few I can remember from other cars I've driven.

[] 2005(?) Ford Explorer. Did the same thing as VW in that all of the centre console controls were touch sensitive "buttons" rather than anything which actually moved. The design was horribly cluttered even before they deleted the ability to operate anything by touch. Especially bearing in mind it did not differentiate between you actually pressing a "button" or accidentally brushing against it while you were aiming for something else.

[] BMW 1 Series (2010ish). Indicators where the tick/dash tell tale wasn't in any way timed with the actual indicators outside the car. Not that you'll ever see them used anyway (was a hire car in my case).

[] Audi A3 (2011). Gigantic infotainment/satnav screen which couldn't be turned off. Even with everything "off" it just reverted to showing a huge (and while driving at night, incredibly bright) Audi logo rather than turning the screen off. It also kept insisting on sending me the wrong way up a one way street in Glasgow and utterly refused to reroute around it.

[] Vauxhall Astra (2015). Stop-start system which determined anything less than about 2mph to be stopped. Fine unless you happen to be crawling downhill in traffic under the power of gravity. At which point you suddenly discover that you have absolutely zero brakes available and the steering is heavier than that in a 1920s bus. Thankfully my instinctive grab for the handbrake was quick enough to stop me before I ploughed into the back of the Range Rover in front of me. Said stop-start system was also too slow, so I'd regularly find that it wasn't ready before I was ready to pull out of junctions/roundabouts. It also reset itself to on every time you started the car.

[] Lada Riva estate. Razor sharp bootlid corners that sit exactly 6' above ground level. Drew blood from me on probably half a dozen occasions.

[] Jag XJ-S. Front hinged bonnet which only opened about 2/3 as far as it looked like it should, and as such was absolutely and completely in the way if you wanted to do anything more involved than check the oil.

[] Citroen Xantia. Dash lighting rheostat positioned such that I manage to turn the lighting off with my knee at least once a week.

[] Rover P4. Horn ring on the steering wheel being positioned such and with such a hair trigger that it's waaaaay too easy to catch it when reaching in to the ignition when you're working on the car. Nearly caused myself a heart attack with that at least half a dozen times.

[] Skoda Estelle. Fuel gauge lens which acts as a mirror of whatever is somewhere over your right shoulder and is otherwise near impossible to actually read.

Sure there are others, but these are the only ones I can immediately think of.

51,861 · January 1

I noticed an annoying design flaw on my boss's Transporter, think it's probably 3 years old or so.

Lighting options are off (i.e. DRLs at the front only), auto, sidelights, headlights

DRLs do not light the instrument cluster (yay!) but neither do sidelights - so going into a tunnel during the day I think it sensible to put sidelights on so I have rear lighting - but I can't see the instruments to check my speed. I don't need headlights on as it's daytime and there is some lighting in the tunnel.

4,889 · January 1

13 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I noticed an annoying design flaw on my boss's Transporter, think it's probably 3 years old or so.

Lighting options are off (i.e. DRLs at the front only), auto, sidelights, headlights

DRLs do not light the instrument cluster (yay!) but neither do sidelights - so going into a tunnel during the day I think it sensible to put sidelights on so I have rear lighting - but I can't see the instruments to check my speed. I don't need headlights on as it's daytime and there is some lighting in the tunnel.

Which is why they put up notices advising you to use dip beam in tunnels.

51,861 · January 1

Not at Dartford as far as I know

7,067 · January 1

10 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Does it also do the whole wipe routine. Then wait. Then wait. Then do a single wipe?
Pug Boxer does that and I always, always think I've left the wipers on intermittent so switch them off.
Which turns them on.

yes

18,633 · January 1

On 30/12/2023 at 20:07, Noel Tidybeard said:

talking of screenwash- pugrot 208 won't let YOU decide how much of a skoosh you want, i goes through the whole sqirrrrrrrrrrrrrrt wipe routine

what i wanted was in fact squit & a flick of wipe

PSA have done this since they became BSI'd as far as I remember. Or since the Comm2000. One or the other, I cant remember exactly!

I did once look at a C4 Grand Picasso for a customer who helpfully* reported the front washers aren't working. I tried the stalk to determine whether the pump was working or not, but instead I discovered the true fault was that they were slightly misaligned and spraying OVER the car instead of on the screen.

What I didn't realize was that another customer was stood BEHIND the car, what you'd like to do in that situation is press for a quick spritz and then stop immediately, but no, because Citroen it kept spraying for a solid 2-3 seconds after I released the stalk

Luckily he saw the funny side of it despite receiving a facial with stagnant screenwash... 😅

12,559 · January 2

10 hours ago, PhilA said:

That's weird. Looking at the US spec equivalent, it's marked 65-75-85 fahrenheit (18-24-30 Celsius).

Strange, because all the cars I've had with "exact numbers" marked on the dial (not just low, warm, high or blue to red) over here have been calibrated 60-90f (15-32c).

I guess they thought the numbers had some sort of Zen.

My Subaru has similar a/c controls, marked 20-30. Full to the left is freeze, really cold. One click is warm ( enough for most winter needs . Next click hot , only used if outside is -5C or less. Next click , sauna setting. That’s not even half way to the 30 setting. I can honestly say I’ve never used it any higher.

3,676 · January 2

On 31/12/2023 at 21:34, ETCHY said:

Stuff like headlight bulbs being awkward to change.
We have regulations for sodding everything, but this is basic safety shit, so lets legislate for that. The bulbs should be easy to change & with no tools.
On ours you have to take half the bloody front off to get at them, it's no wonder there are so many cars running on one headlight.

Totally agree - never understood why the EU didn’t mandate this, it would have been a good regulation.

22,307 · January 2

4 hours ago, Urko said:

Totally agree - never understood why the EU didn’t mandate this, it would have been a good regulation.

The US did, for decades... It was the car designers that wanted it to change.

14,031 · January 6

On 01/01/2024 at 17:13, Zelandeth said:

The gigantic gap between the sun visors which becomes really bloody annoying in spring/autumn when the sun is low.

There seem to be a lot of sloppy sun visor and sunblind designs in vehicles.

Not having them meet is common, most could easily be shaped to surround the rear view mirror.

The Mercs at work have a full* width sunblind.

All they had to do is put the guide rails on a different face of the trim and voilà, full width.

Guess where the blinding low sun always shines through…..

The Econic has so many cab interior design flaws, I’m suprised things didn’t get flagged up at the design stage.

26,101 · January 6

12 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

There seem to be a lot of sloppy sun visor and sunblind designs in vehicles.

Not having them meet is common, most could easily be shaped to surround the rear view mirror.

The Mercs at work have a full* width sunblind.

All they had to do is put the guide rails on a different face of the trim and voilà, full width.

Guess where the blinding low sun always shines through…..

The Econic has so many cab interior design flaws, I’m suprised things didn’t get flagged up at the design stage.

I quite liked Renault's solution to the sun visors not meeting in the middle.

I mean they could have just moulded the visors to fill that gap...but let's not bring logic into this.

21,996 · January 6

4 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

I quite liked Renault's solution to the sun visors not meeting in the middle.

I mean they could have just moulded the visors to fill that gap...but let's not bring logic into this.

Wouldn't they end up too lengthy to turn through 90s degrees to cover the driver/passenger windows?

Audi adopted a similar solution in the 08 A3 Mrs L owned a few years ago.

19,181 · January 6

On 31/12/2023 at 21:13, rusty_vw_man said:

Mr Citroen decided on the C3 Picasso that the bits of metal below the rear lights would be best as part of the boot lid, giving it little wings:

these mean that there are four sharp corners at exactly 5’11” from the floor. They have caused bleeding more than once. Why they couldn’t have just kept these as part of the rear hatch, or made the boot open a little further I will never know. At least when suffering from the mild concussion they give me from time to time I can forget I drive it.

I ended up at the minor injuries unit in Haverford West, after standing up into the corner of the rear hatch of my astra whilst attempting to pack up the tent and other camping stuff. There was alot of blood, but they glued my skin back together. Its been suggested that I should wear a bump hat.

I've also created a lot of blood by bashing my head on the corner of an omega boot lit whilst leaning in to get something out, by bashing my head whilst getting stuff out of the loft, welding, just walking into the shed, cutting trees down and getting stuff out of the understairs cupboard.

7,067 · January 6

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

I quite liked Renault's solution to the sun visors not meeting in the middle.

I mean they could have just moulded the visors to fill that gap...but let's not bring logic into this.

ford did a similar thing on the mk3 granada that was easy to get off in a scrappy and, using sticky pads, could be applied to your montego😁

15,769 · January 6

30 minutes ago, New POD said:

I ended up at the minor injuries unit in Haverford West, after standing up into the corner of the rear hatch of my astra whilst attempting to pack up the tent and other camping stuff. There was alot of blood, but they glued my skin back together. Its been suggested that I should wear a bump hat.

I've also created a lot of blood by bashing my head on the corner of an omega boot lit whilst leaning in to get something out, by bashing my head whilst getting stuff out of the loft, welding, just walking into the shed, cutting trees down and getting stuff out of the understairs cupboard.

I'm 6ft4 and fit towbars for a living, so head/tailgate interference is a daily occurrence, but the manufacturers have added extra peril to this process. Many cars have the wavy foot boot opening thing, which can't differentiate between a wavy foot and a grumpy scotsman lying on the ground. When I stand up the daft car thinks I've got my shopping out and decides to close the lid which usually meets me half down when I'm half up. This usually includes a barrage of swear words which customers shouldn't really hear.

Because of this I usually have to time my haircuts to coincide with a run of older car fitments.

51,861 · January 6

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

I quite liked Renault's solution to the sun visors not meeting in the middle.

I mean they could have just moulded the visors to fill that gap...but let's not bring logic into this.

Our Lupo and Passat have that too - I also found a very rare Sierra one years ago, dealer fit I think

15,769 · January 6

11 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Our Lupo and Passat have that too - I also found a very rare Sierra one years ago, dealer fit I think

I vaguely remember the Fiat 132 had dark perspex sunvisors, with a separate one for over the mirror. ? Anyone confirm?

40,297 · January 6

The boxster i had at least - an early one- had a partly cable but also electrical boot (front end) release. So If the battery went flat, the release wouldnt allow you to access the battery.

Ultimately you can do some dismantling to get the latch to release , but still. Whats wrong with it being purely mechanical, given that a dead battery becomes inaccessible?

23,439 · January 6

On 01/01/2024 at 11:38, horriblemercedes said:

It's just like using the thermostat on a central heating system. You set the temperature you want in the car and it aims to bring it to that temperature and maintain it

Bit more in depth than that . It uses a sunlight sensor and outside temp sensors to divert cool air to your face when it’s sunny bit still warm to your feet etc . And a few other functions
At least the Honda climate control does when on full auto .

6,960 · January 6

1 hour ago, twosmoke300 said:

Bit more in depth than that . It uses a sunlight sensor and outside temp sensors to divert cool air to your face when it’s sunny bit still warm to your feet etc . And a few other functions
At least the Honda climate control does when on full auto .

Yes, true, some do that. I know that older Mercedes systems do that but I think in cost cutting that was dropped.

In my experience, most climate control systems don't incorporate that. I don't know about Honda. I've only had one and it didn't have air conditioning. Just had a crunchy gearbox and rusty floor pan and a great JVC head unit

51,861 · January 6

3 hours ago, HMC said:

What's wrong with it being purely mechanical, given that a dead battery becomes inaccessible?

I had a similar problem when the battery went flat on my Passat - doors are deadlocked and cannot be opened with the key or even by pulling the interior handles. Only way in is via the boot, then you have to try and use a bent rod pushed up between the seat back and the (metal) parcel shelf to try and release the latch (ideally with someone looking from outside to guide you) then a crawl through the car to pull the bonnet release - then out the way you came as the doors still don't open until you've put jump leads on.

There are locks on the seat back releases to prevent access this way but thankfully I've never used them!

Only other way that's just occured to me would be to trickle charge it via the accessory socket in the boot that's always live.

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