Really stupid design features
Discussion
Steve Benson said:
RenesisEvo said:
That reminds me one particularly stupid design feature. The power tailgate.
Power tailgate. Press the button, then immediately stand back as it rises, ever...so... slowly...
Grab item. Press button to close. Wait...for...it...to...close...
Why would you do that? When I use mine it's opening as i'm walking towards it, fully open by the time I reach it, chuck stuff in and i'm in the drivers seat as it's closing, a real bonus in the rain.Power tailgate. Press the button, then immediately stand back as it rises, ever...so... slowly...
Grab item. Press button to close. Wait...for...it...to...close...
With central locking do you walk towards your car then stand there in the rain, then find your key and then press the button?
king peasants. Steve Benson said:
RenesisEvo said:
That reminds me one particularly stupid design feature. The power tailgate.
Power tailgate. Press the button, then immediately stand back as it rises, ever...so... slowly...
Grab item. Press button to close. Wait...for...it...to...close...
Why would you do that? When I use mine it's opening as i'm walking towards it, fully open by the time I reach it, chuck stuff in and i'm in the drivers seat as it's closing, a real bonus in the rain.Power tailgate. Press the button, then immediately stand back as it rises, ever...so... slowly...
Grab item. Press button to close. Wait...for...it...to...close...
With central locking do you walk towards your car then stand there in the rain, then find your key and then press the button?
The radio/CD/mp3 player in my wife's Fiat 500 *always* comes on when I switch on the ignition. Fine; I'm ready for it and I hit the mute button before hearing whatever trash pop music my kids were last insisting on... but after a few seconds the music restarts! Drives me mad.
The wiper stalk in my Saab 9-5 moves up for intermittent, but down for constant. If my wipers are on intermittent I have to move down two stops to speed them up, then back up two stops to get them intermittent again. Who thought that was a logical design?!
The wiper stalk in my Saab 9-5 moves up for intermittent, but down for constant. If my wipers are on intermittent I have to move down two stops to speed them up, then back up two stops to get them intermittent again. Who thought that was a logical design?!
Golf mk6 (and other VAG cars of similar age) Climate control. If 18 degrees is not quite cooling for you then the only other option is "low" which gives your face frostbite. Why not go down to 16 like all other climate controls!!??
The MFD has a silly amount of display options, but none of them allow outside temperature to be on the screen unless you have one of the engine stats up.
So to display temperature I have to have MPG/oil temp/range etc. Why can't I have the temperature on the other screens (like radio/phone)?
Also, the MFD hides the clock for several seconds when the screen has been changed (or after its displayed a random notification). I want to see the clock all the time!
Oh and every time I want to quickly and angrily hit the horn at someone who cuts me up, I miss completely and end up changing radio station due to the massive steering wheel buttons. My old Fieata's controls were column mounted which was a much better solution (they also didnt move with the wheel)
First World problems!
The MFD has a silly amount of display options, but none of them allow outside temperature to be on the screen unless you have one of the engine stats up.
So to display temperature I have to have MPG/oil temp/range etc. Why can't I have the temperature on the other screens (like radio/phone)?
Also, the MFD hides the clock for several seconds when the screen has been changed (or after its displayed a random notification). I want to see the clock all the time!
Oh and every time I want to quickly and angrily hit the horn at someone who cuts me up, I miss completely and end up changing radio station due to the massive steering wheel buttons. My old Fieata's controls were column mounted which was a much better solution (they also didnt move with the wheel)
First World problems!
It's the middle of winter, there's lots of salt and crud on the roads, low sun etc, and the windscreen washers get used more often than at any other time of the year.
Now, one plus of the two BMW 1-Series I've owned is that they have both had very capacious washer bottles (tanks?). The latest one lasted over 2000 miles before it needed it's first top-up. But now it's winter, a top-up only lasts a couple of weeks or so before that annoying alarm goes off and the dashboard starts nagging about low washer fluid. No problem - I've got plenty of screenwash, watering can and funnel standing by next to the garage door.
So, in the new 1 series, I open the bonnet (two pulls on the bonnet release and no bonnet catch these days - I like it) and go to the washer bottle filler cap. Nothing unusual here:
Yup, all standard stuff so far. I fill the watering can with water, grab the screenwash and washer fluid and return to the car. It's windy and raining, I'm bald and getting wet, so I want to quickly chuck some screenwash in and then fill up with water. This has never been difficult in any car I've ever owned or used. Why should it be? It's just a washer bottle.
So then I take off the lid to find this:
To be clear, that isn't a fancy mesh filter or rubber mat in the filler neck - it's just a nobbly black plastic bottom. The fluid actually drains into a hole in the side:
When I say "drains into a hole in the side", I actually mean "trickles gently and slowly through a tiny hole in the side of the filler neck at a pace which barely matches one of those tar pitch drop experiments".
What the fk BMW? I have to stand in the pissing rain with a freezing baldy head trying to slowly dribble washer fluid and water into the filler neck like a seagull regurgitating food for it's chicks, while the neck constantly overflows and tries to piss on my feet because I can't even stand my bd funnel up in the washer bottle neck due to the black nobbly bottom.
Thanks.
Now, one plus of the two BMW 1-Series I've owned is that they have both had very capacious washer bottles (tanks?). The latest one lasted over 2000 miles before it needed it's first top-up. But now it's winter, a top-up only lasts a couple of weeks or so before that annoying alarm goes off and the dashboard starts nagging about low washer fluid. No problem - I've got plenty of screenwash, watering can and funnel standing by next to the garage door.
So, in the new 1 series, I open the bonnet (two pulls on the bonnet release and no bonnet catch these days - I like it) and go to the washer bottle filler cap. Nothing unusual here:
Yup, all standard stuff so far. I fill the watering can with water, grab the screenwash and washer fluid and return to the car. It's windy and raining, I'm bald and getting wet, so I want to quickly chuck some screenwash in and then fill up with water. This has never been difficult in any car I've ever owned or used. Why should it be? It's just a washer bottle.
So then I take off the lid to find this:
To be clear, that isn't a fancy mesh filter or rubber mat in the filler neck - it's just a nobbly black plastic bottom. The fluid actually drains into a hole in the side:
When I say "drains into a hole in the side", I actually mean "trickles gently and slowly through a tiny hole in the side of the filler neck at a pace which barely matches one of those tar pitch drop experiments".
What the f
k BMW? I have to stand in the pissing rain with a freezing baldy head trying to slowly dribble washer fluid and water into the filler neck like a seagull regurgitating food for it's chicks, while the neck constantly overflows and tries to piss on my feet because I can't even stand my bd funnel up in the washer bottle neck due to the black nobbly bottom. Thanks.
Frameless windows on my Z4. To get in, they are programmed to drop a few millimetres to clear the door seal.
When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
Europa1 said:
Frameless windows on my Z4. To get in, they are programmed to drop a few millimetres to clear the door seal.
When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
Give this stuff a try on your window seals:When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EINSZETT-GUMMI-PFLEGE-ST...
Very useful on all rubber seals, but especially for frame less windows - keeps the rubber fresh, supple and lubricated. Stops the windows sticking to the seals in freezing conditions.
Europa1 said:
Frameless windows on my Z4. To get in, they are programmed to drop a few millimetres to clear the door seal.
When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
I used to have that problem with my old CLK and Mrs Local's old TT until I stumbled across this:When it's frosty, they neatly freeze together, meaning I can't get into my car. Genius. I am guessing the world renowned teutonic genius for engineering was on leave the day BMW designed those. Guys, here's some feedback - it can only be "the ultimate driving machine" if the driver can sodding get in the sodding car to sodding drive it.
Just rub it around your door seals and let it dry & it prevents door/seal stickage, even on Baltic mornings.
Seat Leon 2.
Fromt wipers that start at the sides and move downwards towards the bottom of the windscreen. Instead of flicking a small amount of snow or leaves off they compress it at the bottom of the screen.
Rear wipers that come on with reverse gear. Fine if it's raining but if it's dry or even frosty the harsh sound of the wiper against dry/frosty window makes me wince!
Fromt wipers that start at the sides and move downwards towards the bottom of the windscreen. Instead of flicking a small amount of snow or leaves off they compress it at the bottom of the screen.
Rear wipers that come on with reverse gear. Fine if it's raining but if it's dry or even frosty the harsh sound of the wiper against dry/frosty window makes me wince!
Damn, beaten to it.
kambites said:
That washer bottle thing is weird. I wonder what the rationale behind it is.
Sometimes, I wonder if engineers just occasionally design something just to piss people off. I mean, a lot of thought goes into designing every little part of a modern car, but just occasionally something crops up which makes me suspect an engineer has a quiet chuckle every now and again, thinking about my cold bald head and my wet feet.Golf MK7
1. Only car I know where if you have the window open and use the washer jets while on the move, the majority of the fluid ends up in the car. Not away with the drainage lines on the roof or down the side of the car.
2. The cup holders behind the gear lever. With DSG, not an issue, but for manual cars, anything over the height of a can of coke impedes changing gear.
3. Not making the software on the head unit upgradeable or be patched (more a personal gripe as it doesn't support PNG album art from an iPod).
1. Only car I know where if you have the window open and use the washer jets while on the move, the majority of the fluid ends up in the car. Not away with the drainage lines on the roof or down the side of the car.
2. The cup holders behind the gear lever. With DSG, not an issue, but for manual cars, anything over the height of a can of coke impedes changing gear.
3. Not making the software on the head unit upgradeable or be patched (more a personal gripe as it doesn't support PNG album art from an iPod).
Rover 400 & 45 (5 door Civic Shape)
Same on both models
Put the rear seat down & had to have the drivers seat two notches further forward than normal
If I was tall I'd understand ... but I'm just short of 5'8"
...
VW up!
No passenger window switch on the drivers side
not seen this on any other car
Same on both models
Put the rear seat down & had to have the drivers seat two notches further forward than normal
If I was tall I'd understand ... but I'm just short of 5'8"
...
VW up!
No passenger window switch on the drivers side
not seen this on any other car
kambites said:
That washer bottle thing is weird. I wonder what the rationale behind it is.
Familiar size cap and common washer bottle but no proper rout down to a tank and limited height between body and bonnet hence the cake tin shape filler head. the tank therefore is remote with a narrow tube from the fill.It's basically a compromise based on the limited package between the hard points suspension/wheel arch and the A surface.
TankRizzo said:
The VX220 Turbo allows water through the engine bay vents and straight onto the plugs which then misfire.
Rev 2 MR2 turbos also do this.On my girlfriends Panda, the indicators self cancel no matter which way you turn. So say you come up to a wide roundabout in the inside lane, indicating right, you turn left to go round the roundabout, and when you turn the wheel back to go right the indicator will cancel. Rubbish and very annoying.
EP3:
The turning circle is laughable.
Seat doesn't go back to where it was if you let someone in the back.
Rear spoiler design means you can't put a bike rack on the car.
The washer bottle position makes it incredibly fiddly and knuckle grazing to change a drivers side bulb.
Most cars have the washer bottle lid permanently attached to the filler neck by a short, flexible piece of plastic. In fact, every vehicle I've ever filled with washer fluid has this...
Except one.
We had a 2012 Nissan Note until recently, and that didn't.
So what? I hear you say.
Well, if you forget, then the bloody lid falls off and clatters its way down the engine bay. And modern engine bays, especially on small cars with short bonnets and lots of complicated turbo/aircon/PAS plumbing, are pretty crowded. Things that fall in don't necessarily fall out onto the road.
I ended up using an endoscope and a hook attachment to extract the ttting thing from somewhere between the front edge of the inner arch and the back of the foglight housing. Without the endoscope (an Aldi bargain jobbie) I'd have been stuck with dismantling a multitude of covers and pipes to find it.
Needless to say, once retrieved it was tied to a nearby loom clip to avoid a repeat!
Except one.
We had a 2012 Nissan Note until recently, and that didn't.
So what? I hear you say.
Well, if you forget, then the bloody lid falls off and clatters its way down the engine bay. And modern engine bays, especially on small cars with short bonnets and lots of complicated turbo/aircon/PAS plumbing, are pretty crowded. Things that fall in don't necessarily fall out onto the road.
I ended up using an endoscope and a hook attachment to extract the t
tting thing from somewhere between the front edge of the inner arch and the back of the foglight housing. Without the endoscope (an Aldi bargain jobbie) I'd have been stuck with dismantling a multitude of covers and pipes to find it.Needless to say, once retrieved it was tied to a nearby loom clip to avoid a repeat!
Encountered at its worst on my 156, but any manufacturer using a steel bolt through aluminium. Talk about ridiculously unfriendly to dismantle! Just put a steel sleeve through the aluminium part ffs...
The Puma in general was a collection of design flaws! A boot that floods with water when opening in the wet, a parcel shelf which simply won't stay on its pegs. The passenger door mirror was so far back that you couldn't see it properly with any kind of a human passenger in the car, even with the passenger seat pushed completely back. Fancy-looking projector headlights which are about as much use as a candle in a jam-jar.
Common to the fiesta as well, but a heater diverter valve which is made of ludicrously brittle plastic where it goes through the firewall - eventually it'll split and gush coolant all over the engine bay! Cue a huge steam ploom and a cooked engine.
MX5 - on RHD models the little centre armrest cubby is hinged backwards! Why couldn't we have another moulding to get it the right way round?!
The Puma in general was a collection of design flaws! A boot that floods with water when opening in the wet, a parcel shelf which simply won't stay on its pegs. The passenger door mirror was so far back that you couldn't see it properly with any kind of a human passenger in the car, even with the passenger seat pushed completely back. Fancy-looking projector headlights which are about as much use as a candle in a jam-jar.
Common to the fiesta as well, but a heater diverter valve which is made of ludicrously brittle plastic where it goes through the firewall - eventually it'll split and gush coolant all over the engine bay! Cue a huge steam ploom and a cooked engine.
MX5 - on RHD models the little centre armrest cubby is hinged backwards! Why couldn't we have another moulding to get it the right way round?!
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