Car Pet Peeves

[Jay]

That's the point though, it heats up quicker (or seems to) when set to those settings. 👍 My old cars used to take forever to demist the windscreen whereas this one does it almost instantly. I've yet to see how it fairs on a properly cold morning though.

Interesting, I wonder if they have some wire element or something in the heaterbox?

 

[Jondot]

Oh my god, the 500 has an annoying indicator stalk too! It works fine when you're pulling out of a straight junction but come to a roundabout and if the entry is curved, it's hell. Say I want to turn right at the roundabout, I approach the junction in the right hand lane and indicate right. But the road approaching the roundabout has a left curve to it. The 500 says I'm steering left so turns the indicator off! AAGGHHH!

Actually our C4 does that too, and it gets a little frustrating. It also seems to have a habit of canceling when you don't want it to, and not canceling when you do.

- CERTAIN COLORS FOR CERTAIN MODELS: Really guys? Some of you may remember that while I was heavily considering buying a brand-new Mazda 3, one of the big problems was the lack of color choices. I can understand why they may make some outrageous color only available for one year, but why can't they offer an otherwise "standard" color on all of the models? The blue I wanted wasn't available on '07 M3i models, but I'll be damned if it was on '08 ones. Stupid.

I know. And some of the outrageous colours they offer just make you ask 'why?'.

Who thought a mint green Discovery (with black wheels!) was a good idea?

Or a Hyundai Accent in the colour of a child's bedroom?

Or perhaps the Nissan Primera that couldn't decide?

(Although to be fair, it does look better in the metal)

 

[stumpydino]

iv seen a micra with similar paint to that primera
things i dont like
- parts that are made difficult to remove, bits that overlap other parts, why cant things just be screwed or bolted together! none of that fancy clip together plastic stuff that warps in an instant. in the astra i had to remove the seats to get the surrounding trim out.
- driving positions impossible to be comfortable, my steering wheel is non adjustable, i can move my seat back and forth and i can raise and lower it, but it only moves the rear of the seat so my knees stay in the same place, squashed under the wheel

 

[LiBi]

Why don't cars switch off their fog lights automatically when the engine is switched off?

In my oppinion that would kind of fight against the sole purpose of fog lights.
What if, it's a foggy night and you car stops running. It's easier for other drivers to notice you while you have fog lights on instead of just using hazards and parking lights.

As a motivated stalker though, it would be nice to be able to turn your lights off completely while the engine's running. The options on the switches should be made like: auto, on, off. This should also be applied to fog lights.

When it comes to my peeves I have come up with a couple off ones with my Volvo 850.

First of all, you should not make things that are supposed to hold heavy objects in place out of plastic. Nor should you make any fastening systems out of plastic. I faced a really frustrating situation when the carpet on the back of my car slided a little too much out and when I closed my trunk something snapped and the trunk wouldn't close anymore. Now, atleast in Volvos they have those red lights on the inside of the door wich lit up when a door is opened so that others can avoid ramming into it. It's a great system, but why do all of them have to be on while my trunk is opened? Wasn't really that bad when I was able to just pull out the fuse but still I consider it pretty idiotic engineering. Now when I don't have to be afraid that my battery will run out I still have an open trunk. Little bit of rope and then reversing the car as close to the wall as I can. ^^

The other one is the way the guys at Volvo have constructed the engine in terms of the block, cylinders and pistons. Or rather what materials they have used. Apparently, if you turn off the engine while the choke is still on, the engine cools down too fast and the parts in the block expand in a way, that the next time you try and start the engine, it wont start because there's not enough compression in the cylinder. This is the reason why my Volvo's stuck at the parking lot. Ofcourse it could be something else as well. Need to check once more if the fuel pump's running. ^^

 

[1241Penguin]

I would like to revive this thread because I've found myself once again waiting for a GM vehicle with its reverse lights on to back out of the spot only to find out that, in fact, someone has just locked or unlocked their car. I'm rather disappointed that GM is allowed to continue doing this despite the amount of confusion it can create.

A bit less annoying are cars with brake lights that double as turn signals. Not only do the turn signals share the same colour as a brake light, but if you activate the indicators while braking, the corresponding brake light will flash on and off. Not really safe in my opinion.

This is a good video describing the problem.

 

[GTV0819]

Bump.

Last weekend, me and my parents went out to look at a used first-generation Ford Expedition somewhere near our home. I found out that it has some niggles inside and this is one of them; a problem concerning its column shifter design.

 

[Volksauto]

Bump.

Last weekend, me and my parents went out to look at a used first-generation Ford Expedition somewhere near our home. I found out that it has some niggles inside and this is one of them; a problem concerning its column shifter design.

My father's 2000 Expedition had that issue

 

[GTV0819]

My father's 2000 Expedition had that issue

The Eddie Bauer trim of that model could have had its shifter located in the floor instead, since it has a center console in the middle, unlike the XLT trim which has a front passenger side seat that can accommodate two people. But since space is one of the things to consider in this class, they probably have maximized it by using the said design for the shifter.

 

[kikie]

My biggest pet peeve is the automatic transmission of my little Fiat 500. It is literally garbage.

Before you ask why did I buy it then. I bought the car for my father who became an invalid after a dentist tried to extract a tooth with an abscess. As a result his left hip muscles can't support his weight anymore and his left leg is now 9.5 cm shorter than his normal right leg. He can't operate a clutch anymore. So I bought an automatic for him.

 

[Volksauto]

My biggest pet peeve is the automatic transmission of my little Fiat 500. It is literally garbage.

Before you ask why did I buy it then. I bought the car for my father who became an invalid after a dentist tried to extract a tooth with an abscess. As a result his left hip muscles can't support his weight anymore and his left leg is now 9.5 cm shorter than his normal right leg. He can't operate a clutch anymore. So I bought an automatic for him.

Sweet little cars. But not your best pal in terms of dependability. Especially the auto.

Also, I'm sorry for your father.

 

[TexRex]

Spoked wheels/covers whose spokes are neither divisibly by nor into the number of lugs. It's less problematic as the number of spokes gets higher and as the spoke bottom gets farther from the lugs, but particularly bad are those whose lugs occupy a portion of the spoke...and simultaneously don't because of the discrepancy.