Stupid car design ideas of our time

Power socket in my focus is on all the time, found that out when i accidently dropped a penny in it, annother stupid feature ‘ash trays’, now only ever used for keeping change in, next to a verticaly mounted coin sized electrical socket! I now keep an extra spare fuse for it becasue I know something will fall out my pocket, onto the handbrake console and into the bloomin socket!

all cars, not even just new ones, not designed for people > 5ft11. don’t recall the last car I drove where I could see the top part of the speedo without ducking. that’s at 6ft2, steering wheel at furthest reach and highest adjustment. good job I can still see and stare at the 20/30 mph section outside schools with flashing 20 zone lights

I almost caused a crash the first time i used my car in the dark after the missus had borrowed it. Set the wheel where i thought was comfortable (i like it low and close so my forearms are more level), turns out the top of the wheel perfectly covered the indicators and they failed to self cancel so i aproached a junction on the left with my left indicator and the car waiting pulled out as i approached at 30-40mph, the only thing tighter than the gap was my sphincter!

The kind of idioticaly simple thing that really shouldn’t be possible! Stick the warning lights in speed/tachometer where they’re always visible.

Those stupid daytime driving lights on modern cars.

Now everybody drives round at night with no rear lights on!

Not really a safety feature is it…
…to use the power socket with the ignition off.

Unless of course what you use it for is unsafe or accidental, say an actual cigarette lighter which you knocked getting out of the car, a crappy battery/charger which might be prone to catching fire.

Your requirement to have your car broken into because you left your phone on charge leave your phone on charge in a [likely unattended] vehicle because shouldn’t trump actual safety concerns

This is so trivial but it annoys me… My Mondeo has a 60/40 split rear seat, which is a really good idea. Except the rear bench is a single piece, so you can split the seats if you fold them forward with the base down (which doesn’t work very well) but if you want the seats down properly it’s all or nothing.

Buttons instead of dials for temperature controls- to go from cold to hot means holding the button for ages on mine. Oh and the standard stereo’s volume/on off button was right in front of the gearstick so I kept turning it off when I shifted into third.

I was pretty spoiled by my mk1.5 focus, it was a bit of a nail but the ergonomics of the thing were just brilliant.

I think you can get a garage/dealer to turn off this feature via VAG-com if you really don’t want it, so one click unlocks all doors.

I’m pretty sure it can. I keep meaning to check if VCDS-Lite can change this setting when I next have it hooked up.

In our MX5 when you change gear into 2nd, 4th or reverse you half open a cup holder.

In the previous Audi A3 when anyone with normal length forearms changes gear into 2nd or 4th your elbow batters off a bizarre arm rest lump thing.

Any Ford where you wash the windscreen, it wipes the wipers, stops then does a last wipe a few seconds later, smearing the windscreen again.

Peugeot vans with the handbrake on the right and where the full beam for the lights is on a separate stalk on the same side as the indicator stalk which you move up or down to go to full beams instead of towards you/away from you. WTF?

Those stupid daytime driving lights on modern cars.

-1
Best thing ever and certainly saves accidents. Don’t DRLs switch on the rear lights as well (they do on our cars)?

most of the civic with the pointy bits to stab you, lack of visibility and mismash of spares bin parts to make a dash

😯

Whilst I agree that the rear visibility left a little to be desired, the dash/cockpit was the best in any car I’ve ever owned.

Mercedes foot hand brakes. I never mastered entering a main road from a side road that was on a slope.

Drls are not automatic lights sharkbait.

Drl are little front lights that cars have on all the time.

I vote any car that has an outward opening door….. You know the type that ding the car next.

After having sliding rear side doors id be quite happy to have sherpa van sliding front doors 🙂

Certainly any family car should have sliding rears to help mum and dad get the kids in as ever time i see a car gettinf “doored” its from a parent strugling with the door and strapping the child in.

I hate the VW multiclick car opening, argghhhh, its stupid.

Audi A3 with only one cup holder in the front, its a £20K+ car and they can’t count to two. Plus the ride, if I wanted bone shaking stiffness I’d get horse and cart.

Drl are little front lights that cars have on all the time.

Fair enough…. I’m coming from a the viewpoint of a Volvo owner of about 16 years – they’ve always called them DRL’s but they’ve just been headlights with the main beam disabled, rear lights were always on.

Any Ford where you wash the windscreen, it wipes the wipers, stops then does a last wipe a few seconds later, smearing the windscreen again.

I find it clears the bits of washer fluid than run back onto the screen. Which is what it’s supposed to do.

Also peugeot and citroen cigarette lighter continue to work for 30 minutes after keys out ignition if you put it in eco mode, that is to turn off , remove key and put your radio on then off using the button on the stereo.

Now your 12v outlets will operate for 30 minutes.

dangeourbrain – Member

Not really a safety feature is it…
…to use the power socket with the ignition off.

Unless of course what you use it for is unsafe or accidental, say an actual cigarette lighter which you knocked getting out of the car, a crappy battery/charger which might be prone to catching fire.

Your requirement to have your car broken into because you left your phone on charge leave your phone on charge in a [likely unattended] vehicle because shouldn’t trump actual safety concerns

The cigarette lighter can be safely ‘knocked’. If you knock it into the ‘on’ position (which would take a firm button press, rather than a knock, but anyway…) it will just pop up when it reaches temperature as normal. It won’t magically pop out of the lighter socket when the ignition is off and set fire to the car. If it is not far enough into the lighter socket for be held in place safely, then it definitely won’t be far enough in to actually turn on if ‘knocked’.

Crappy battery/charger catching fire – very low risk. Especially if you don’t buy cheap crap. I have used 10’s (perhaps hundreds) of different chargers over the years for all sorts of purposes both in and out of the car and never had one overheat/explode or catch fire. I’d say the risk is low enough to be negligible.

So, my car might be broken into. Yeah. OK. I can use my judgement about when might be safe to leave a phone in my car unattended.
The one time my car was broken into, I had forgotten to take my phone with me, and get this…….it wasn’t even charging!!

When I’m camping, my car is right next to my tent and I want to charge my phone….is it safer to:
a) unlock car, plug phone in to charge and re-lock car, or
b) unlock car, place key in ignition to position II, plug phone in to charge, leave key in ignition, leave car unlocked (with key in ignition)…..?

And that’s ignoring cars that have a power socket in the boot, in which case you could plug things into them and leave them completely out of view from any would be crims…..

Safety feature – yeah, OK.

trail_rat – Member

Also peugeot and citroen cigarette lighter continue to work for 30 minutes after keys out ignition if you put it in eco mode, that is to turn off , remove key and put your radio on then off using the button on the stereo.

Ooooh, didn’t know that. Will have to try it next time I encounter an unresponsive power socket. Cheers, t_r.

Generation II Smart Fortwo headlight bulb replacement.

It was impossible to do without taking the whole of the front wings, bonnet and ariel off. Even if you trained as a gynocologist you had no chance of reaching the bulbs without doing any of this. Or an hour labour at Mercedes-Benz

and you still legally need to carry spare bulb kit in several EU countries 😉

Cup holders in my Clio that you can’t actually get a cup/can in/out of without spilling, and if you’re in 1st/3rd/5th you just can’t get into at all. Then again, the entire interior seems to have just happened by accident

I get grumpy about my rain sensing wipers and the automatic re-wipe thing on my ford… But it nearly works, and I reckon it’s still better than manual. I just wish it had the option to revert to manual, or a little bit more user controllability. Things that nearly work can be more annoying than things that don’t work at all!

I never thought I’d trust the automatic headlights but now it seems weird not to have them.

There’s a few that really annoy me, for example the centrally mounted instruments that small car manufacturers seem to love. I don’t.

Vauxhall. Now, I’ve driven a few of them over the years but not one of them has had the steering wheel, seat and pedals properly aligned. All have had varying degrees of offset which have resulted in back/neck pain.

Now, I used to own a Mk 2 Golf, which was designed in the late 1970s. The seat, wheel and pedal position were perfect. All the controls were a finger top away and the stereo was almost at eye level along with the heater. The electric window switches were placed in the centre console, which meant you could raise and lower the passenger window at will. The seats were excellent and supportive and the visibility out of the car was first class.

VW got this right when most manufacturers were still dallying with vinyl seats and bakelite. Thirty five years on there’s absolutely no excuse for any manufacturer to make a car that’s uncomfortable to sit in and a PITA to adjust the heating.

This is so trivial but it annoys me… My Mondeo has a 60/40 split rear seat, which is a really good idea. Except the rear bench is a single piece, so you can split the seats if you fold them forward with the base down (which doesn’t work very well) but if you want the seats down properly it’s all or nothing.

Funny that the my original Sierra had proper 60/40 folding seats, but the face-lift one had the stupid bench bottom.

The electric window switches were placed in the centre console,

PITA having to search to the left when wanting to open the window to my right. Although better than (Alfa) having them in the roof console.

Everyone complaining about the VAG multi click thing… you realise this can be turned off right?

Just a few clicks with the right stalk in the Maxidot/MFD.

Also Renault Megans, just in general – everything about them is a funking nightmare. Had one as a hire car snowboarding a few years ago, most infuriating heap of turd I’ve ever had the misfortune to drive.

Car radio (or ICE if you must) in wife’s Renault. Get in, start the car, and a few seconds later, blast cheesy pop music (the kids) at full volume. And why cant the radio just turn off when I turn the car off? Why do I have to open the door first?

+ 1 for sat navs that can’t search by post code.

Although better than (Alfa) having them in the roof console.

We had one of those! Alfa 164 or 75… can’t remember the exact model. It used to look for all the world like you were giving the car behind the finger. Remember baffled by irate drivers until realising what it must have looked like from the car behind!

Car radio (or ICE if you must) in wife’s Renault. Get in, start the car, and a few seconds later, blast cheesy pop music (the kids) at full volume. And why cant the radio just turn off when I turn the car off? Why do I have to open the door first?

Hit the (car) power button a second time and it’ll switch off. Personally I like this feature – great for when I’m waiting in the car to pick up miss mogrim from gymnastics, stop the motor but not the music.

Minor irritant: the chrome detail on the steering wheel, it catches the sun every now and then with an annoying flash.

Headlight main bulb failed on my Subaru Forester and Halfords were doing an offer on pairs so I thought I’d change them both to equal brightness and pop the other in the box as a spare…

One the nearside you have to undo and remove the battery and its sleeve etc to gain access. 😯

So for now, I’ve left it as it is. I’ll change it when it blows not twice 😀

Vans that you can’t get a coffee cup in, but you can get a can of coke in… If you drink half of it and rotate it 45 degrees to get the **** in!

3 seater vans with 1 cup holder..

The 3rd seat in a Berlingo thing… Even a child would struggle to sit in that half seat!

As a lot have said, ignition turning off after 20-30mins, damn annoying when trying to charge your phone for work.

My car beeps when your turn ignition off and leave key in.. It’s more like a flatlining sound, constant, ear piercing and not needed.

Key left in ignition is another.

I KNOW – HOW THE HELL WOULD I LOCK YOU WITHOUT THE KEY IN HAND.

Also, what is it with VAG cars and their insistence that it takes 15 button clicks to open the car?

As has been mentioned, this is a feature which takes 10 seconds to disable if you don’t want it. And there is something wrong if you have to press it 15 times. Once for the drivers side. Once more for the passenger side. In fact I think some VAG cars with the higher end Maxidot type displays, you’re able to disable this setting without the need to VCDS. You could choose whether to have it or not on my BMW.

A lot of what I’ve read is just people not knowing how to use their car properly.

How about the requirement to take the front end apart to change a headlamp or the radiator? I remember, back in the old days, I could take the rad out of my Golf by removing four bolts and a couple of hose clips. These days, it’s an hour’s labour and the whole front of the car off.

I’m not even going to start on four seater cars that only work for adults if the driver is less than five feet tall.

My mates Peugeot’s has a sat nav that cannot find destinations by post code, you need to know the street name and number.

At first I thought he’d just got the thing set up wrong, but no…it really only wants street names!

I had an Insignia with built in nav that did the same. Used to drive me mental.

On my alfa you can’t lift the front windscreen wipers fully off the screen as the bottom of the legs rub against the bonnet.

am i too late the mention the stupid, hateful, doesn’t ****ing work when i want it to… auto-dimming rear-view mirror?

what was wrong with the flippy-lever that rear view mirrors used to have?

i’ll tell you what was wrong with it, ****ing nothing, that’s what.

****ing Vauxhall.

DaveyBoyWonder

A lot of what I’ve read is just people not knowing how to use their car properly.

Anyway, another gripe – car stereo volume controls that you can catch with your knuckle going round a corner. Instant terrifying volume leap, doesn’t help manoeuvrings.

On my alfa you can’t lift the front windscreen wipers fully off the screen as the bottom of the legs rub against the bonnet

Passat does that. If you want to lift them you have to flip the windscreen lever down once after you’ve turned the car off and before you open the door. Flips them vertically. The hiding them presumably improves aerodynamics.

and while i’m venting,

rain-sensing wind-screen wipers, they can ****-off too. i’ve already got rain-sensors, they’re my ****ing eyes, i use them for (among other things) sensing rain, mine work better too.

having rain-sensing wind-screen-wipers is like letting a toddler choose when to operate the windscreen wipers, it’s more or less random, and extremely annoying.

cars are like bikes, all the problems have been solved, every change from here on will only make things worse.

willard – Member

How about the requirement to take the front end apart to change a headlamp or the radiator?

There’s a blown bulb in my dash. I’ve not even bothered to look up how to change it, I’m just assuming it’ll be a 5 spanner job that starts “dismantle entire car”

The bolt that holds the boot gas strut onto a Touran.

To access the bolt inside the rear pillar, you need to cut a hole in the bodywork, tighten or replace bolt, weld hole back up and re-spray back end.

I have an email from VW GB admitting it was an issue that they and VW Germany had no solution to, and were very sorry for.

(Or use a Riv-nut and epoxy as we did)