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The dash holders in the combo are ace.
but they’re the ones we all share aren’t they? Even a standard 500ml will launch itself out of them if you’re not careful. They are very nearly on my bad list, only saved as they are quite good with the travel mugs I have
Hmm nothing i have put in them have fallen out they are pretty deep. The latest version one actually in the dash rather than on the little lippy shelf bit?
2CV
My nephew just bought a pickup version for doing local deliveries,it's frikking awesome.
Honda Stepwagons:
- 3rd row of seats fold into the boot floor for a completely flat load deck
- The rear seats can also be flipped over and used as a bench when the boot is open which
- One of the generations had a split boot door so a 3rd could be opened barn door style where you have limited space behind the car, or all of it lifted like a tailgate
Mercedes glb and eqb have a little hook on the back door. Good for hanging a towel or wetsuit to dry, whilst changing underneath the door.
I can vouch for the thoughtful design touches on many a Volvo, too. One that I appreciated is the large screenwash reservoirs that they have.
And, unlike so many VAG cars they do not hide the bottle in the cold front wing of the car, the bottle and pipes are in the warm engine bay. Coupled with heated nozzles they work even in very sub-zero conditions....
Had a second (third or fourth more likely) hand Renault Espace
I remember seeing an original Espace in Chamonix donkeys years ago when they were brand new on the scene. I thought the aliens had landed. Brilliant concept.
Foot operated main beam switch on early Austin / Morris Mini. No need to ready your hand to cancel main beam with the stalk, just lightly rest your left foot on the floor button and tap it as the oncoming headlights are about to appear. Way better than modern auto dip systems that wait until they have burned the oncoming driver's retinas before dipping
Unless of course you were changing gear at the time the other car appeared. But even on full beam the headlights on my Morris traveller were never going to be a bother to anyone's retinas.
The other funky thing about that car was that the indicator stalk had a repeater light on the end (green iirc).
I'd put good money on it being a Focus
🤣 Is it even a real focus if it doesn't have door trim hanging out?
See also, the older variant of Mondeo and gaffa taped rear bumpers.
Qashqai's and missing boot handles.
Or my old Civic, immaculate bodywork, no sign of rust, the underside however was like it had termites!
How many posts without a Skoda Octavia mention - what has happened to STW!?!
Good;
- Ice scraper under the fuel flap
- Parking ticket clip on widescreen
- Second set of rear seat fold-down release catches in the boot
- Curry hooks (but I feel pretty much all cars have these now?)
- On current model, USB-C port on the rear view mirror for powering a dash cam
- (In the Superb - umbrella integrated into door as per Rolls Royce)
Bad;
On right hand drive cars, getting to the fuse box involves disassembling the glove box.
Great car - shite seat design.
1st gen Cayenne - seats bases pull up and out on a funky mechanism, seat backs then fold down into the base for a completely flat floor.
3rd gen Cayenne - seat backs only flop forward and won't go lower than 30ish degrees. It was that crap that I unbolted the entire seat and made a 'seat delete' wood false floor to get a usable flat load area again.
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VW Toureg - you have to remove the front passenger seat to change the battery. This involves disconnecting the seat airbags and the warning lights can only be reset witht he correct VAG tool which means off to the Main Stealer where they probably want to do a full 2 hour inspection to make sure you tightened the bolts to the correct torque and will charge you accordingly - amazingly enough it costs about the same as asking them to change the battery.
I always liked the flip forward front bench seat on the T5 I had. Made a great table when I was out in it and something I miss with the current Citroen Dispatch.
This is a great feature in my VW T5 factory Kombi, but then VW ****ed it up by fitting the rear seats the opposite way round with the rear single seat behind the front passengers flip forward double seat, and the rear passenger flip forward double seat behind the driver's seat
If they had fitted the rear flip forward double seat behind the front passenger flip forward double seat then I could of laid both double seat's backrests flat and had a full length loading area without having to remove any seats when collecting long items
The seating system in my Vivaro Life ! Five rear seats, two reversable mid row seats (so can face backwards) and a double/single rear. All seats can be positioned at any part of the rail system, but will only let you lock them in place when they are near the seat belts. The two singles have their own belts fitted as the seats can face backwards in a 'lounge layout'. They all come out and converts to a van. Pull the middle seats out, slide the back row to the front and you have a huge boot and five seats.
Tailgate - because it's so big, the glass screen also opens so you can put items in when there isn't the huge amount of space you need to open the full tailgate.
Down side, the front seats can't be folded or swivelled on this model due to the extra electrics in them, and you can't get a 'kit' for the posh seats. You can for the lower level model though.
When he lived in Canada my mates Dad had some godawful American car which had double filament bulbs. The idea being that if the first filament blew, then the second one kicked in so you didn't go around with failed lights.
Sounds great, right?
Except as soon as the first filament blew, the dashboard lit up with flashing orange lights and there was a constant "bing", "bing" to tell you to replace the bulb, but it didn't tell you which bulb had blown. And when you walked around the car you couldn't see which bulb had blown because all the lights were on.
So you'd spend a week removing and checking every bulb to see if a filament had blown to eventually find that it was the internal boot light or something.
Absolute insanity.
Eventually he drove it to a scrap yard and watched as they loaded it into the crusher...
Additional diesel heater in my Vivaro - means the van interior receives warm air by the time I've driven down our road - a boon given how long a diesel vehicle takes to warm up. Shame the UK models don't come with the remote to start it early or operate on it's own - colder climate versions do.
MrsF's Qashqai's spark plugs. You have to remove the air intake to the engine, and the throttle position sensor to get to them. On replacing the TPS needs properly resetting - garage job really. Way too many screws to unbolt.
Vivaro again, great dash top cup holders - fit a small flask in ! Door bins huge. Lower dash passenger cubby hole, tiny because of the extra electrics (fuse box) for the car version - doesn't have the van's big cubby !
Android Auto/Carplay - no place for you to put the phone when using a short usb cable - you need a long lead that dangles all over the shop to then put phone in passenger cubby, which is half a mile away from the driver (OK slight exaggeration) The central cubby is just big enough for a packet of soft mints. Solved by buying a phone holder. Does have dash top storage with a hidden lid though.
On right hand drive cars, getting to the fuse box involves disassembling the glove box.
That must be a newer model, my old Octavia had the fuses down below the dash, but there was one issue in that the diagram showing what the fuses were was a mirror image of the actual ’box… 🤔
Actual car design i am amazed doesn't exist... Rainwater fed screenwash reservoir. With screenwashdosing
Mouldy water ahoy.
Not just that, lots of road dirt, dust and general detritus, and any filters would get clogged and be an absolute nightmare to clean and/or remove.
Changing a headlight bulb on a Ford Focus
No idea how difficult it was on a Focus, my Puma Zetec headlight design meant it took 45 minutes at least to change even a sidelight bulb!
You needed a large Torx wrench just to take out the row of bolts holding the grill in place, before having to detach cables, drain tube, various screws, then wiggle the entire unit out of the car, before removing the back of the unit to access the bulbs…
😖😡🤬
My old Ford focus (02),the garage cut out the corner of the battery housing to get into the lights. Saved taking the battery out to change bulb.
14 plate focus then had the door seal hanging out on 3doors. When it was sold it was fixed with sticks like shit.
The rain ran off the windscreen then around the top of the wing mirror keeping the windows clear for a good view of the mirror.
Current Octavia happy all-round love all the features but I never use the Brolly. The lid of cubby hole between the front seats slide forwards to become an arm rest. The HUD just works. Adaptive cruise control is a dream. The only problem has been the sunglasses holder catch breaking and the garage trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
Our XC40 has a handy pull out bin in the centre console, still doesn't stop the wife stuffing crap every else though 😆 The Old C30 had headlights that you removed with a simple rod too, made changing bulbs a doddle!
But the owners manual... **** me it's long and contains every option and variation. Then you have to go to the back and work out what options come with your trim level.
Coincidentally, I've just found a photo of the manual that came with... I think my Civic?
VW Toureg - you have to remove the front passenger seat to change the battery. This involves disconnecting the seat airbags and the warning lights can only be reset witht he correct VAG tool which means off to the Main Stealer where they probably want to do a full 2 hour inspection to make sure you tightened the bolts to the correct torque and will charge you accordingly - amazingly enough it costs about the same as asking them to change the battery.
It's stablemate Cayenne has a small flap in front of the passenger seat, pop this open and you can unbolt the negative/earth connections for the battery before removing the seat without upsetting the airbag circuit.
Our twenty year old Honda CR-V.
Good. Lift the carpet in the ‘boot’, pull out the plastic floor, pull down the legs and lo and behold you’ve got a picnic table.
Not so good. They forgot the chairs! 😁
The SMax full stop.
It has the footprint of a Mondeo. It's usefully lower roofed than a Galaxy.
It handles better than any other MPV I've set foot in and has a superb ride especially on long motorway trips. It's still tolerable on A roads and around town too. It's quiet and well mannered when cruising (top priority for me).
You can easily get three people and bikes inside in comfort on a long trip with room for luggage and snacks.
It carries tow bar load (e.g. bike racks) and tows brilliantly.
The bulbs are all user changeable with less than half an hour of effort.
Hours was mechanically really very good apart from a damaged piece of loom (tail lights body to tailgate). It was easy on tyres and brakes (at least with how I drive). Yes the battery is an arse to change but maybe once every 5 years you spend £100 on labour to change it.
I've got an 8 year newer Superb now. The Skoda is really lovely in daily driving but when it comes to sailing and road trips the SMax really was the King.
Odd as I hated our S-Max for silly little reasons, it was the older version on a 14 plate.
The glovebox would empty it's contents everywhere if you were facing uphill at all.
Also the boot inner was higher than the outer. So again if you parked facing uphill things would roll or slide out the boot. Bloody stupid.
Sold it as soon as we could and got an Octavia instead. Still have that 7 years later
The split tailgate on BMW estates is a nice bit of engineering
We Used to have a Seat Altea XL. I wanted to hate it, but it was one of the most practical cheap cars I’ve ever owned. Good space, integrated window blinds and sturdy tables built in to the rear seats
On right hand drive cars, getting to the fuse box involves disassembling the glove box.
This is fairly normal for vag. Our golf Mk7 is the same though for most of the fuses you just need to release a catch so the glove box door drops forward. There are some less common bits in there that require more extensive dismantling and moving the fuse box far enough to allow fitting an extra fuse is virtually impossible.
theres nothing amazing about my Zafira b, its plasticy and not very engaging to drive, certainly changing a headlight bulb requires an 8 fingered hand with several extra joints in your fingers, BUT ...
it can go from 7 seats to a van like boot in a few seconds, And have any combination of seats up or down, the back 2 are just kid seats , but with 4 kids its been invaluable, its has hauled combinations of people, buggys, animals, bodyboards, furniture and bikes and with a double airbed its not a terrible place to sleep for the night!
the other thing ti note is it's reliability*... weve had it 10 years, 98k, ive had to change 1 set of spark plugs, front discs, a few brake pads and recently the rear exhaust
*hope i haven't cursed our trip to Wales this weekend where its carrying all 6 of us plus tent and camping gear, 3 bikes on the back, 1 on the roof, along with roof box and 2 bikes inside!
Bad design - PSA/Citroen
The pedal box on the Berlingo is a module that can fit in either the left or right of the bulkhead. This means that any fault in the brake master cylinder or clutch pedal on a UK car is an engine out job! Scrapped an otherwise perfectly good Berlingo 2.0HDI because the clutch pedal cracked. I even looked to see if Willwood or AP made a pedal kit that could bot to the floor instead 😂
Good Design - PSA/Citroen
Berlingo's, big, boxy, simple, sliding doors.
Why aren't there more "utility vehicles" like that than "sports utility vehicles", I don't want the space of a fiesta in a car the size of a Mondeo, I want the space of a Mondeo in the size of a Fiesta!
On older nissans the intermittent wiper speed wasn't several notched pre-set speeds, you just twist the stalk like a volume knob so you can achive the exact wiper speed you want when set to intermittent.
All fords above poverty spec also have that.
The poverty spec auto-adjust based on clicking it on and off, so wipe once, wipe again, and it maintains that interval!
My Ioniq has a place to store your handbag between the centre console and the dash, so it doesn't have to go in anyone's footwell.
My Ioniq has a place to store your handbag between the centre console and the dash, so it doesn't have to go in anyone's footwell.
Do you remember the old Renault 5 umbrella gear lever sticking out of the dash? When my sister first got in mine she asked what it was and I told her it's to hang your handbag on, which she thought was a brilliant feature.
I loved changing gear on the Renault 4 and 2CVs I drove (you had an early 5, slowoldman, the later models had a floor change). I couldn't decide if it was more enjoyable driving or watching the girlfriends drive. 🙂
I always really liked the split tailgate on the Fiat Marea Weekend. It was a normal tailgate for an estate, but there was a lower part which folded down with some of the bumper and made wonderfully flat spot to sit on. Just the perfect height to use as actual feet on the floor seating. It was quite a nice piece of engineering and a shame it was quite short lived.
The original Fiat Panda rear seat was just two poles that clipped in top and bottom with some fabric strung between like a hammock. Not very comfortable to sit in but you could take them out easily which made 'making out' on the back seat a LOT easier when I was a teenager.