Crap design features of your car

[Matt UK]

I'm running around in an old Mini Cooper S. A good steer and fun to punt, but...

When you pull back on the washer stalk for some screen wash action, you then have to activate the wipers yourself! It's the same with the rear wash! And for those of you with a Mini, you'll know that in the current weather you need to do this approx every 3 1/2 minutes.

When would you ever, and I really do mean ever, require a burst of screen wash all over the glass but not require the wipers?!?!?! I've never come across a car that does this and must put it down to utterly rubbish thinking / design / execution by those who made it.

A first world problem / cool starry bra etc. But humour me - what crap design features does your car have?

[Zippee]

I have a 55 plate Cooper s and the wipers come on with my wash, have you tried holding the stalk back a couple of seconds longer?
One crap design feature though is the central Speedo - never use it and am lumped with the tiny digital one on the computer

[Negative Creep]

Having to pull the stalk halfway back to flash someone or fully back to switch main beam on. So of course every time you flash someone you pull it too far and have to switch them off again

[Matt UK]

Zippee said:

I have a 55 plate Cooper s and the wipers come on with my wash, have you tried holding the stalk back a couple of seconds longer?

I haven't, but I will. I hope you are right! I have to hold the stalk back and then hold it down to activate the manual wipe.

Zippee said:

One crap design feature though is the central Speedo - never use it and am lumped with the tiny digital one on the computer

Yes, this is a car I now drive using gearbox / rev counter with no real idea as to the speed I'm travelling at.

[Matt UK]

Negative Creep said:

Having to pull the stalk halfway back to flash someone or fully back to switch main beam on. So of course every time you flash someone you pull it too far and have to switch them off again

Yes, this is another one!
On the Mini I keep meaning to flash someone once, and instead at night just light them up and wonder why they are staring back at me like a startled deer!

I really must get the hang of this car soon...

[Nohedes]

In my wife's 3-series you have to individually adjust each side of the dual-zone climate control. My OCD means I like to have them at the same temp if I'm on my own in the car and this drives me nuts!

[leefee]

When you drive a lot on salted roads in freezing conditions that suddenly becomes a brilliant design feature, nothing worse than trying to wash the screen to find out the washers are frozen then the wipers smear the drying out salty road film all over making seeing impossible.

[P I Staker]

Poorly sealed rear trailing arm bearings so water gets in and destroys the bearing and the stub pin so you have to replace the whole axle...

[Mound Dawg]

Alfa 75.

Thread lock imminent.

[rayyan171]

Poorly designed elbows on the drain pipes of a sunroof on an XC90. Utter mess everywhere with water soaking the important computer.

ABS module next to the exhaust in an E39 5 series. My speedo isn't working as well. Is that related maybe?

[AdamGP]

My mini GP has no rear wiper from factory, right pain in winter

[Stack]

On my Octavia Vrs the heated door mirrors are switched on my twisting the little joystick thing that let's you alter the mirrors angle.

The problem is there is no real visual indication to tell you have switched it on so you can burn the thing out in no time. All other cars I've had have had the heated door mirrors come on when you hit the rear window switch which goes off after 15 mins.

[kambites]

I suspect the interweb isn't big enough to list all of the Elise's.

[Insanity Magnet]

Renault's hands-free card system is mighty bloody annoying. Wander off to pay for fuel / lock house up etc and return to find OH and kids are playing statues to stop the volumetric from triggering...

Have to remember to leave the drivers' door on half catch.

[TREMAiNE]

The gear knob on my RX-8 is rotor shaped, which is a nice nod toward the rotary engine but also a little uncomfortable.

[Stack]

Nohedes said:

In my wife's 3-series you have to individually adjust each side of the dual-zone climate control. My OCD means I like to have them at the same temp if I'm on my own in the car and this drives me nuts!

My Skoda does this but if you alter the right side when the ignition is on you can gain control of both sides , not sure if you bmw allows this

[kambites]

On the Octavia, I haven't a clue what the remote boot release is actually meant to be for - it just takes the boot off the main latch onto the backup... there is then no easy way to tell that it's on the secondary latch until the wind changes direction and the alarm goes off.

Usually at 3am.

[S7Paul]

Nohedes said:

In my wife's 3-series you have to individually adjust each side of the dual-zone climate control. My OCD means I like to have them at the same temp if I'm on my own in the car and this drives me nuts!

I'm glad I'm not the only one - I do that too (320d Sport).

The other annoyance is that it has no key, so it would be good if it would let me start the car, turn on the demisters, and then lock it while I nip indoors (so the windows are clearing without the risk of someone driving the car away), but it won't. Seems a wasted opportunity.

[Blib]

Maserati Quattroporte duo select & 4200CC. Each time I start the car up, even though I've previously selected "sport" and "manual" as the gearbox options, the car always resets to "auto".

Silly Italians.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Electric parking brake on my Porsche,

• Full on or full off, no graduation.
• Have to lean forward to reach the switch to activate it.
• Car rolls back slightly and jerks to a stop on hills.
• Automatic release threatens to stall the car.

Real rubbish. (I suspect it may work better on automatics than on manuals.)