Annoying flaws / design features.

[Pete-M]

Just thinking about it, I've never owned a car that doesn't have something irritating about it.

 

In the Jag, it's the single wiper that winds me up. It works well, but leaves both upper corners of the screen unswept. Doesn't cope that well in heavy rain either. Why not just fit two of the bloody things, Jaguar?

 

The 604 - the curry hook on the wrong side of the centre console for RHD. Laziness, French people, that's Laziness. Sort it.

 

The Jeep - the electric mirrors that always set themselves to random unrequested positions whenever the car is unlocked. Yeah, class idea that. Link 'em in to the seat memory and then give the bloody things alzheimers. I've tried everything, even setting the mirrors to exaggerated versions of where I want them and they always get it wrong. Have to use the remote fob or the immobiliser stops play. Using the fob moves the bloody mirrors.

 

The Rangie - the initial brake travel. It's something to do with ABS that works down to 2.5 mph and using a powered brake system, but every now and then the brake pedal travels 1/2" more than expected before it does anything. I've never driven an ABS equipped one that doesn't do this.

 

Alfa 164 aircon stepper motors. Pinched from SAAB and the most unreliable bit of a 164.

 

I will think of more, but these annoy me.

[M'coli]

Cavalier fuel gauge: any less fuel in there than a quarter of a tank and it fails to get above the red, unless you're going around a left-hander when it creeps up to show you have some fuel, and vice-versa on right-handers. Fine if your roundabouts are anticlockwise, but pants in the UK.

[ashmicro]

Mighty Metro 2 had a titchy fuel tank, which was less than ideal when running a 1400 K 16v on 40s.

[Father Ted]

Citroen C8 that manages to deposit half a gallon of stagnent rain water up your right arm when opening the enormous tailgate even when it has not rained for several weeks. There are no drain holes in the bottom of the tailgate, at best I can see this is water collecting and pooling on the door rubber and being allowed freedom when the tailgate is opened.

 

Nissan Micra K11 that deposits rainwater into the passenger footwell, I have owned 2 and both ahve done this without fail.

[myglaren]

What the hell is a curry hook and why haven't I got one?

[M'coli]

Cup holders next to the handbrake. You buy your hot drink, put a lid on it, get back to the car, pop the cup into the cup holder, drive off to find somewhere to drink your beverage, pull the handbrake up and spill hot liquid all over the car as the lid flies off.

[cort16]

The electronic handbrake on my A6 must die. It never engages/disengages when it should.

 

Key fobs on lots of new cars have to be pressed 14 times before all the doors unlock.

 

Indicators on Vectras that you can't cancel.

[theorganist]

Renault fuel gauges. The five Renaults I have driven, Renault 5 mark 1, Renault Trafic Camper, Renault Megane Hatch, Renault Megane Scenic and Renault 14, whenever you get to quarter of a tank the needle then wildly fluctuates between quarter and empty, especially on hills and on bends!

 

Central Locking on the mark 1 Meganes where you have to stand right next to the drivers door wildly stabbing at the unlock button whilst trying to aim the remote at the right angle to the sensor!! Also the fact that if you have not started the car within thirty seconds of unlocking the door, you have to lock and unlock the doors again!!

[myglaren]

Key fobs on lots of new cars have to be pressed 14 times before all the doors unlock.

 

This baffled me when I first used my daughter's Rover 75.

 

Fitting a new headlight bulb had me in a similar state this afternoon, was about to remove the bumper when I spotted the access panel in the wheel arch

[Lord Sterling]

The electronic handbrake on my A6 must die. It never engages/disengages when it should

 

+ 1

 

I drove an S6, a beast of a car, sadly it had a 'button' for a handbrake. Whats all that about?

 

Nissan Micra K11 that deposits rainwater into the passenger footwell, I have owned 2 and both ahve done this without fail.

 

Strange that, never done it in my Micra. It does in my Rovers though

[Albert Ross]

You CAN cancel Vectra indicators. You give them a single nudge in the same direction they are flashing, just before the pring hits, like the lane-change setting if you like.

 

Vauxhalls.... You turn the radio off whilst driving. It stays off. You finish your journey, turn the car off, and lock it. You come back, and start the engine. Guess what? The fucking radio comes on again. So you have to turn it off again. It is programmable, but most owners CBA to do this.

Also on Vauxhalls. The seat reach adjuster handle is on the edge of the seat nearest the centre of the car. SO if you are a tall person, getting in after a short person, you have to reach across the seat when it's at it's closest to the steering wheel, and fuck your shoulder up. Why did they not put it to the outside of the car?

Also on Vauxhall... the New Astra, if specified in Auto, the selector surround on the centre console has the gear position embossed into it..... on the left hand side, so when you select a gear, the lever is in the way and you therefore can't see it! Yeah, It's also on the instrument cluster, but it's not good for a £20k car.

[Cavcraft]

Audi: how about not putting any form of guttering/chanelling on the 80 estate so when you open the window in the rain you get drenched?

 

VAG/Toyota: how f*ck*ng irritating is it when you take the keys out of the ignition and the car makes that stupid bonging noise?

 

Ford: wank idea of putting the key into the bonnet lock to open it. Key always seems to break eventually.

 

(From memory, so might not be correct) I'm pretty sure you have to remove the front bumper on a BX to access the towing eye.

[dieselnutjob]

my 607 diesel automatic has a tiptronic gearbox selector thing. if you push the gearlever over to the left it goes into "manual" mode and you can change gears up and down yourself by pushing the lever backwards or forwards.

 

so if I am doing say 50mph and have it in manual mode in fourth gear, why does it drop to 2nd if I floor the accelerator? why can't I waft about in a high gear using the torque of the turbo diesel?

[Cavcraft]

Oh God, aye rain water intrusion:

 

VAG: Did you not consider making a Passat B5/B5.5 that didn't flood the rear footwells full of water thus knackering some of the electrics, have a pollen filter and the seal for the same not made out of bog roll and have a heater that didn't wear the brushes out every ten lamp posts? Build quality my arse.

[tooSavvy]

Hmmm... My Savvy, when you tip the rear seat backs forward - the lower hinge isn't 'captive' and so the seat back can come out completely.

 

.... and, sadly, in four years I haven't any other gripe.

 

Is it I'm not trying

 

tooSavvy

[Shep Shepherd]

The self-destructing headlinings fitted to Volvo 700s and Saab 99s and 900s

[155V6]

MG ZR,the electric window switches are between the seats,which is fine,but it's the only car I've had where they're not illuminated.

[Pete-M]

The self-destructing headlinings fitted to Volvo 700s and Saab 99s and 900s

 

and SD1s, XJs and Range Rovers....

[Quintus]

Nissan Micra K11 that deposits rainwater into the passenger footwell, I have owned 2 and both ahve done this without fail.

 

So did mine.

 

I never did get to the bottom of it and replaced it a few months later, but I suspect it was due to a seriously frayed weld/seam behind the wing on the passenger side. Pop the side indicators off each wing and see if you can shine a torch back towards the passenger compartment. When I did this on mine the driver's side was OK, but the passenger side was a mess.

[RedSparrow]

The self-destructing headlinings fitted to Volvo 700s and Saab 99s and 900s

 

and SD1s, XJs and Range Rovers....

 

...Maestros, Montegos...

[kinkersaab]

Electric window switches on a Discovery or range rover , no matter how often i drive one, i never manage to open or close the window i want first time. Also, Volvo 940 door cards. With the exception of my L plate saloon, they always wrinkle up due to sun heat I think. Every time you open the tailgate on a 9000 saab, it deposits all the rain water into the rear speakers. and my last one, although annoying, has now become something i look for and expect, all of the volvo 440 / 460/ and 480s have a sudden shudder and shake of the dashbord when the engine first fires.

[scooters]

Subaru boxer engines - having the rocker gaskets (quite important in a boxer) made of beer mats meaning they will, within 5 minutes of ownership, leak oil on the exhaust manifolds.

 

Pug door locking mechanisms - made on the design principle of making mechanical components that see probably the most wear and tear with the excpetion of engine/brakes etc out of grissini.

 

Volvo 240 series wiper linkages - made out of stern stuff BUT when the eventually fail (to be fair, usually after 30 years when most other cars have dissolved) you have to essentially dismantle the entire dashboard back to the bulkhead to get access which even then you have to be treble jointed to reach. Also, being a 1970s Volvo the dash you have to dismantle his held together with about 50 million screws and the edges of all the thick metal plaes which make up the structure are edged by Wilkinson Sword.

 

Citroen CX Saloons - the concave rear window is a superb scoop for channeling water into traps allowing the tailgate to rust before you have collected the car from the dealer.

 

Any Renner made after 1997 is essentially a disposable car

 

BMW 6 pot alloy engines as found in the E36 523i...the shitest chapest water pump which will lose its impellars after 60k and those plastic blades WILL block the coolant system but because of the temp sensor position the head will nicly cook while you think everything is dandy cos the temp gauge registers slightly warm whilst the cabin fills with chocking smoke effectively killing the car

 

Mid 1990s Jap EFI systems

 

Metric Wheels on XJ40s

 

Jag single wipers - with you on that one, Pete-M

 

Late 90's ford eggshell bumpers.....why???

 

Vauxhall Insignia Remote multifunction knob being 3 inches away from the actual multifuncion knob

 

Multifunction knobs in general - what's wrong with single use buttons - MUCH safer

 

Electronic handbrakes....what is the fucking point????

 

Parking radars where the sensors are so ar apart they don't pick up the cast iron bollard that destroys the rear bumper of the Insignia you are driving - not that you have any choice but to use the parking radar as the rear window is about as enlightening as an evening at a multiplex in Reading.

 

Austin Maxi gearboxes which are GR8 4 smashing on kerbs when parking nose on and thus totalling the car

[scooters]

Sorry - Mk2 Vectra indicators - how are they an improvement on anything????

 

6 Speed gear boxs in new Hdi Renner Scenics - so that the sad 40 somthing Dad (ie me) thinks he can be like Clarkson having a car with a 6 speed box despite the fact that the whole fucking point of an Hdi is that it has torque in spades so you DON't have to change gear every 5 minutes - quite the nastiest set up I have EVA driven and flippin dangerous to boot

[Volksy]

Foot operated parking brake on a manual car, Manual mercedes and Citroën XM drivers need three feet apparently.

[The Moog]

Cup holders on saab 900. You flap down the glovebox and they have 2mm raised circular area that cant contain anything!

Early 900 seat adjustment with the hook at the back. I want it to be adjustable not 5 different positions of slight awkwardness.

Volvo 850 has the same on its seat. Not a handle to pump it up and down, no it tilt adjusts it which is proper annoying.

T25 putting the radio in front of the gear lever meaning changing stations when putting it in to 2nd or 4th.

 

To be fair the 900 headlings do tend to go after 1000000 billionity miles and 20 odd years, when most other cars are already toasters.

[Pete-M]

Foot operated parking brake on a manual car, Manual mercedes and Citroën XM drivers need three feet apparently.

 

Took me years to work out how to actually do a hill-start with one of these, for example when collecting a car that has been parked on a hill.. The only way I could decipher is to use my right foot to hold the car on the brake, left foot on the clutch and pull the 'handbrake' release lever. Then it's just a case of hopefully finding the bite point on the clutch and hoping the thing doesn't stall. Stupid idea.

 

Oh, Alfa 75 switchgear. All of it.

[Volksy]

I put my foot on the brake, release the parking brake THEN start the engine and set off as normal, still a ballache though.

[Tayne]

Range Rover Classic low-screenwash warning light, comes on three scooshes after you've filled the huge washer bottle.

You won't need to fill it for weeks though, even in winter.

 

RR p38 low-screenwash restrictor. Comes on after four scooshes and means you only get a dribble rather than a good scooch.

You won't need to fill the bottle for weeks though, even in winter.

[Volksy]

BMW idrive.

 

I think it was sniff petrol who said it should be idistract and icrash

[R9UKE]

Electronic handbrakes. Shite. BUT, not all of them.

 

The Renault Scénic/Espace/Vel Satis have a great system. Engages when you press the stop button, and auto-release once you get the biting point. Really clever, and I find them really natural to use. Not so great when you're back in the Mégane, get out and the car starts rolling backwards. Then... I get into a Volkswagen PISSat. This has the most frustrating one I have ever experienced. No auto-release or engage and that stupid button is just shit.

 

Right. The Mégane: "Intelligent" rear wiper which does one swipe when the front wipers are on and reverse is engaged. Good idea, but not when it goes off when the wipers are in AUTO and it's the sunniest day ever.

 

Vel Satis: Fog lights can't be switched on when the lights have automatically come on themselves. So you're driving along in the dark, gets foggy, you have to turn your dipped beam on (which is already on) to then turn on the fog lights.

 

Nearly all cars with "automatic" wipers: Auto mode must be activated each time the car is started.... so they're not really automatic!

 

Selective door unlocking is just shit.

 

Mercedes one stalk for wipers and indicators is shit.

 

Renault Avantime: Handbrake is under the armrest. Not so annoying for me as mine is an Auto, but manual owners are bound to get fecked off. ALSO - the sunblind for the front sunroof, which the driver can reach, is electrically operated. Whereas the one for the rear sunroof, which the driver CANNOT reach, is a normal pull-shut one. Why, Renault, why????

 

Chryslers seem to bong for absolutely no reason every time the car is started.

 

My Citroen C5 Exclusive SE had it's cup holders deleted by the sat nav controls.

 

Ohhh tyre pressure sensors! When I got a flat in the Laguna, the display showed the affected wheel as being flat. I then pull over, put the spare on and now it says Tyre Pressure Sensor Fault. Surely it should have the common sense to realise that a puncture, followed by the car turning off and this wheel mysteriously ending up in the boot means that the car is in fact wearing the spare!???

 

This thread is unearthing some great stuff, they just keep coming to me. I'm sure I'll be back with more.