Stupid car design ideas of our time

“…and thicker-than-necessary pillars”

As others have mentioned above regarding changing bulbs.

I started to change one of the front turn signal bulbs (also doubles as the daytime running light on the front) on my Toyota Tacoma and after reading the directions realized it took some major disassembly from inside in front of the engine, so decided to save myself some aggravation and took it to the Toyota dealer—they did it in about 10 minutes.

Having been a first on the scene to a off set front crash between a new scoda octavia (or at least new in 2013) and a modus. The renault had been completely spun around but the doors still opened which made getting the driver out easliy. The skoda however you couldn’t open the drivers door and the driver had to be taken over the front seats in to the rear (the passenger door was hard up against the bank). We had to get him out as the engine on the modus had caught fire and the brigade, whilst on there way we’re going to be 20 minutes due to the location. Both drivers only suffered minor injuries which wouldn’t have been the case of the cars were older.

Mazda 3. Every 6 windscreen washes it automatically sprayed the headlights twice. The headlight spray also blew up onto the windscreen and the second headlight spray was after the last windscreen wiper pass which meant the now clear windscreen got sprayed with water! Stupid.

‘Both drivers only suffered minor injuries which wouldn’t have been the case of the cars were older.”

Crash scene investigation conclusion was it ?

Having seen the outcome of a lotus elise vs a volvo v70 (and a drunk driver)head on at high speed. luck on point of impact plays more of a factor imo than the age of the car ill take an older saab over a brand new great wall for example.

– the lotus faired very well its passenger cell mostly in tact , crumple zone trashed and my mate had a cut nose- drunk volvo driver was cut out his volvo.

VW T5…. The hazard light button is above the drinks holder pull out thing. Fine until you have a drink in the holder.

Mk1 Citroen C4. Hazard warning light button is obscured by your left hand when driving with your hands in the traditional 10 to 2 position

2013 Octavia estate:
Windscreen wash sprays headlights before windscreen if lights are on or in auto mode. That’s fine except the washer bottle is feccin tiny so you run out of liquid on a long drive.

Most modern cars have the battery behind a headlight so changing the bulb is a challenge if you’re an adult.
Space saver spare wheels are shite
No spare wheel – WTF?

Some cars have large engine bay but all the things you need to use or check eg washer bottle levels or coolant levels are placed in the least ergonomic position

ElShalimo – Member

Most modern cars have the battery behind a headlight so changing the bulb is a challenge if you’re an adult.

I really like the Mondeo approach- the entire headlight comes out, which sounds unnecessary but it’s mounted with 2 very large clips so it’s literally 2 bodywork poppers, then 2 clips and it’s done. Wiring bundle is very easy to disconnect etc. Took me as long to open the bulb packet as it took to change the bulb… Seems to me that this could be done on most cars

So the batterys behind the headlight ……

13mm spanner for the neg , unclip the pos and undo the battery clamp. Lift battey out …

13mm spanner for the neg , unclip the pos and undo the battery clamp. Lift battey out …

Reset all the presets on the radio, hope that it doesn’t screw up the security stuff and all that. How about just design it properly.

Just follow the reconnection proceedure in the manual.

Ive worked on all sorts of old/new stuff and bar occasionally putting a radio code.

Its not rocket science.

If you all want more and more toys and safety in your compact car its something youll have to live with. Bit like bencoopers smart needing the wheel to come off.

But then people are shit scared of their cars these days it doesnt surprise me.

Why cant we have led headlights make more sence than ever for cars, just need the price to come down , 300 quid for a set of e marked ones for the landy…..not happening but when they come down ill have some.

Its not rocket science.

If you all want more and more toys and safety in your compact car its something youll have to live with.

Not rocket science but it is piss poor design, sometimes designers need to step back and think for a moment. There should also be a banner across the design department saying “If you need to take parts out to change a bulb you got it wrong”

I really like the Mondeo approach- the entire headlight comes out

Same in the XC90 – open bonnet, pull two big pins out remove headlight unit. Great.

Aye , no reason it cant come out forwards with a few clips

Not sure where safety comes into it really, fact is when the battery comes out you end up having to deal with more issues than you started with. Also, that sounds like a fun job on the side of a road, in the dark. Still doesn’t address the issue on the other side of the car either.

LEDs are shite as well, 25 year lifespan is about as likely as 10 years from a CFL and will fail long before then. Keeping the headlight unit clean and polished will do far more for your output than throwing good money after bad.

Rang the dealer, their going to switch off the Skoda double click passenger door thingy this afternoon. May have a chat about the lights too, high beam isn’t anywhere near as powerful as our other cars or the ones I get from work, maybe some of those extra powerful bulbs are required?

Here’s one I’ve only just learnt: If the turbo goes on a Landrover Discovery 3/4 the body has to be removed from the chasis to replace it!

Well designed quality led will outlast your incandecent bulbs by several times…..

Negate the changing issues by fitting something that rarely needs changing.

Polishing your lenses all day long wont help your output when the bulbs dead….

The number of cars i see around here seem to blow bulbs alot. In my current (french) cars i cant think of the last time i changed a bulb. Our old “quality” golf with its solid sounding doors used to blow headligt and sidelight bulbs for fun …..POS. they were easy to change at least.

Yep sharkbait Its the same on the rr sports too

Although i have seen some specialists who claim they can do it on both discos and rrs without a body lift the official land rover line is – body off

Nissan X trail washer bottle, which has a long conical filler tube that no matter how carefully you pour fluids in causes them to froth and means you only fill the bottle about 3/4 full unless you stand there trickling the water in for ages.

Peugeot amateur (expert) van oil filler that is so tight under the bonnet that invariably when you top the oil up it goes all over the engine as well.

But the frequency of the change doesn’t excuse bad design in the first place, it’s no good having a bulb that lasts “several times as long” if you still need to faff about to replace it when it does go. And I still remain to be convinced that “well designed quality LEDs” will live up to their claimed lifetime let alone their cost.

Never had a blown bulb in several thousand miles (at least 60k), probably by virtue of the fact I stopped turning them on when starting. Don’t bother with crap like Nightbreakers or the Philips equivalents either since they fade down to normal output in a short time anyway.

TBH it’s about time that type apporoval submissions were rejected until every manufacturer produces a car that can have its bulbs changed, by the roadside, at night, in the cold in five minutes or less. There is no excuse at all for this ridiculous place we’ve got to where a consumable safety item cannot be easily replaced.

Used to go through 10watt bulbs on my bike lights 10 a penny … Bought some leds when they came out …. That was the end of the blowing bulbs,

Used to blow 50 watt halogens on a monthly basis , splashed out on leds and have not replaced a bulb in 3 years

Also it doesnt matter how easy you make it it will be a cold day in hell before the general populous changes their own bulb ….. Never mind stopping to do it at the side of the road ….

Still no good reasons for not designing something that can be changed easily trail rat. The ford idea about unclipping and pulling them out forward seems like a great idea. Such a simple solution really, just things like that are not sexy and don’t sell on ads.

Well my french car used to blow bulbs at a rate faster than any other consumable. Yes, I even got pulled by the plod for a light out in Bristol… get this… on the way home from an MOT where the bulb had been replaced and realigned in order to pass.

That pieice of paper showing the headlight beam angle is totally worthless. Rules of the road quite rightly say the driver is responsible for a roadworthy car.

They allowed me to drive to Halfrauds to replace it.

So my Spanish Golf blowing a headlight, typically 1 per year or so, but ALWAYS in winter in the snow, and usually in Innsbruck or the Dolomites, is actually quite infrequent. PITFA changing the LH one. Easy as pie to change the RH one. LH indicators all have “character”. Virtually impossible to change, but 99% of the time the wiggling of the connector plug makes it magically work again.

So by your ideology we should complain that brake and fuel lines are a **** to change in most cars – they only need done after 10-15 years…..a similar time frame to an good led bulb really.

Im all for making it easy removable but im further leaning to making it fit and forget as far as practiacly possible.

not really, bulbs blow, they are a safety item that you can replace. Making them difficult to change probably explains the number of people driving round with blown headlights. Long lasted LED’s might be a bit of a solution but as with anything like that they will be prone to just failing.

As a bare minimum you should need no tools or mechanical know how to swap a bulb, top up washers or check your fluids in a modern car. It’s not a big ask is it?

Dont worry audi have just the car. You dont need tools…or even to open the bonnet to check the fluid…..
Ill let you know how i get on with leds, needed new lights for the land rover anyway as the old ones were old , cracked l leaking and corroded.

Cost 40 quid more than quality oem units and are ip67 rated.

Dunno what’s bugging you but you seem to be acting awkward for the sake of it. At the end of the day bulbs, whether you like it or not are consumables and therefore the ease of replacement should be proportional to their required safety function, ie. as easy as possible.

Brake and fuel lines, on the other hand, are NOT consumables so your analogy is somewhat rubbish.

If you have some good brands of LED to recommend then go for it, if I can get something brighter and longer lasting that won’t fade then I’d happily do so however anyone I’ve ever heard of retrofitting has had either reliability problems or not seen a cost benefit.

EDIT:Aargh you edited!

Retrofiting is not a good idea with leds i agree…. Using resistors to fool the ecu as the current draw of an led isnt big enough it signals the light blown circuit.

But going forward there is no reason other than cost they cant fit leds in new cars.

Remind me fuel and brake lines aint a consumable when your car reaches 15 years old dave, an age the my first set of led lights have just reached….and still in daily use when im in the uk….

Make the bulb a long term consumable then its not as much of an issue as incandescant bulbs that blow when you look at them funny.

Im a fan of led technology incase you hadnt noticed.

Swing open doors are still more of an issue for me than light bulbs blowing 🙂