Stupid little details you discovered after buying your car?
Discussion
In the spirit of Ari's topic, what features about your car have you noticed that wind you up, and/or think "why did they not fix that?"
My FN2 Civic Type-R likes to beep at the driver for everything. Insert the key, beepbeepbeepbeep, start the car but haven't put the seatbelt on, beep beep beep. Incredibly annoying. There's no need for the warnings to go off as soon as you get in the car.
Similarly the Type-R seats are angled enough such that if you're shorter than about 5'8" then the seatbelt doesn't rest on the seat bolster and retreats to the B-pillar. It's surprisingly far behind the seats and results in an awkward Dutch reach to try and get your seatbelt.
My mum's 1-series had a speed limiter, but no cruise control. So, if I wanted to maintain my speed (e.g. to be safe, through an average speed camera zone, or just to maintain progress on a motorway), I would have to set the speed limiter to 50mph or 70mph etc and just drive flat out everywhere. If you have one, surely you can have the other, and it feels rather idiotic to lock cruise control behind a paywall that would otherwise require you to drive with more throttle than necessary.
My FN2 Civic Type-R likes to beep at the driver for everything. Insert the key, beepbeepbeepbeep, start the car but haven't put the seatbelt on, beep beep beep. Incredibly annoying. There's no need for the warnings to go off as soon as you get in the car.
Similarly the Type-R seats are angled enough such that if you're shorter than about 5'8" then the seatbelt doesn't rest on the seat bolster and retreats to the B-pillar. It's surprisingly far behind the seats and results in an awkward Dutch reach to try and get your seatbelt.
My mum's 1-series had a speed limiter, but no cruise control. So, if I wanted to maintain my speed (e.g. to be safe, through an average speed camera zone, or just to maintain progress on a motorway), I would have to set the speed limiter to 50mph or 70mph etc and just drive flat out everywhere. If you have one, surely you can have the other, and it feels rather idiotic to lock cruise control behind a paywall that would otherwise require you to drive with more throttle than necessary.
Second Best said:
My mum's 1-series had a speed limiter, but no cruise control. So, if I wanted to maintain my speed (e.g. to be safe, through an average speed camera zone, or just to maintain progress on a motorway), I would have to set the speed limiter to 50mph or 70mph etc and just drive flat out everywhere. If you have one, surely you can have the other, and it feels rather idiotic to lock cruise control behind a paywall that would otherwise require you to drive with more throttle than necessary.
My 1 series has a speed limiter and cruise control, but I couldn't get ACC because it's a manual (other manufacturers manage it). Unless the road is relatively empty, I actually prefer the speed limiter because you have to twiddle the speed too much. Still an odd choice, but for me it wouldn't be as bad as it first seems.My 3 Series (F30 LCI) also has speed limiter and cruise control.
The cruise control has a brake function that will apply brakes to hold the set speed going downhill. The speed limiter will not apply the brakes; going downhill using the limiter frequently results in the car exceeding the set limit and bonging annoyingly to tell me that I’m travelling faster than the set limit.
Why the f**k didn’t BMW extend the brake function to work with the limiter as well as with the cruise control?
The cruise control has a brake function that will apply brakes to hold the set speed going downhill. The speed limiter will not apply the brakes; going downhill using the limiter frequently results in the car exceeding the set limit and bonging annoyingly to tell me that I’m travelling faster than the set limit.
Why the f**k didn’t BMW extend the brake function to work with the limiter as well as with the cruise control?
One of my cars is the most boring car on the planet
We got it for the business a long time but as its got older its more at of an at home car
Its a Pug Partner Combi (A van with seats and windows) Nobody on here would drive one!
Its a 2004 model and every time something goes wrong we just fix it I could have got a brand new one with the money I spent in the workshop
It is though the most reliable thing I have ever owned
but my favourite bits on it.
It has a big shelf in the roof above the dashboard for storage
It has buckets in the floor for storage
It has nets in the back for storage
A true shed for storage
We got it for the business a long time but as its got older its more at of an at home car
Its a Pug Partner Combi (A van with seats and windows) Nobody on here would drive one!
Its a 2004 model and every time something goes wrong we just fix it I could have got a brand new one with the money I spent in the workshop
It is though the most reliable thing I have ever owned
but my favourite bits on it.
It has a big shelf in the roof above the dashboard for storage
It has buckets in the floor for storage
It has nets in the back for storage
A true shed for storage
jeremyh1 said:
One of my cars is the most boring car on the planet
We got it for the business a long time but as its got older its more at of an at home car
Its a Pug Partner Combi (A van with seats and windows) Nobody on here would drive one!
Its a 2004 model and every time something goes wrong we just fix it I could have got a brand new one with the money I spent in the workshop
It is though the most reliable thing I have ever owned
but my favourite bits on it.
It has a big shelf in the roof above the dashboard for storage
It has buckets in the floor for storage
It has nets in the back for storage
A true shed for storage
Think you've posted this in the wrong thread...We got it for the business a long time but as its got older its more at of an at home car
Its a Pug Partner Combi (A van with seats and windows) Nobody on here would drive one!
Its a 2004 model and every time something goes wrong we just fix it I could have got a brand new one with the money I spent in the workshop
It is though the most reliable thing I have ever owned
but my favourite bits on it.
It has a big shelf in the roof above the dashboard for storage
It has buckets in the floor for storage
It has nets in the back for storage
A true shed for storage
2019 S550 mustang GT.
I love the car but there's two incredibly frustrating things about it for RHD cars that they didn't bother sorting from the LHD variants.
1. The passenger wing mirror can't adjust inward enough to be in any way useful when sat in the drivers seat on a RHD car. It is, pretty much, just an ornament.
2. Similar story with the centre console cup holders. The handbrake is still on the left hand side with the cup holders on the right. So you can have a drink in the holder OR change gear. Not both (easily!)
I love the car but there's two incredibly frustrating things about it for RHD cars that they didn't bother sorting from the LHD variants.
1. The passenger wing mirror can't adjust inward enough to be in any way useful when sat in the drivers seat on a RHD car. It is, pretty much, just an ornament.
2. Similar story with the centre console cup holders. The handbrake is still on the left hand side with the cup holders on the right. So you can have a drink in the holder OR change gear. Not both (easily!)
family bus is a zafira tourer. Has an electronic handbrake that you need to manually set every time you park up (ie doesn't come on when the ignition is switched off by default). Until that is the switch broke, at which point the car knows it has no switch and applies the handbrake for you at every ignition off. They built the convenience feature, then chose to block it.
Corolla hybrid, you can't put it into "EV Mode" on startup to prevent the engine from running. Which is annoying when all I want to do is move it off the drive to get the van out, a return trip of about 40 metres...
Also makes me wonder why they even bothered with the EV Mode button at all!
The Auris hybrid I had for work years ago was quite happy to do this.
Also makes me wonder why they even bothered with the EV Mode button at all!
The Auris hybrid I had for work years ago was quite happy to do this.
My Range Rover L322 has an occasional electrical hiccup, where the central locking will only unlock the front doors, and not the rears or tailgate.
That's annoying enough, but then, once you're inside, there is no button to unlock/lock all the doors and no way of opening the tailgate!
(unless I'm just being thick, there is a way and I haven't found it yet, of course...)
That's annoying enough, but then, once you're inside, there is no button to unlock/lock all the doors and no way of opening the tailgate!
(unless I'm just being thick, there is a way and I haven't found it yet, of course...)
Second Best said:
In the spirit of Ari's topic, what features about your car have you noticed that wind you up, and/or think "why did they not fix that?"
My FN2 Civic Type-R likes to beep at the driver for everything. Insert the key, beepbeepbeepbeep, start the car but haven't put the seatbelt on, beep beep beep. Incredibly annoying. There's no need for the warnings to go off as soon as you get in the car.
Similarly the Type-R seats are angled enough such that if you're shorter than about 5'8" then the seatbelt doesn't rest on the seat bolster and retreats to the B-pillar. It's surprisingly far behind the seats and results in an awkward Dutch reach to try and get your seatbelt.
My mum's 1-series had a speed limiter, but no cruise control. So, if I wanted to maintain my speed (e.g. to be safe, through an average speed camera zone, or just to maintain progress on a motorway), I would have to set the speed limiter to 50mph or 70mph etc and just drive flat out everywhere. If you have one, surely you can have the other, and it feels rather idiotic to lock cruise control behind a paywall that would otherwise require you to drive with more throttle than necessary.
Was the FN2 the one that the seats didn’t go back to where they were before if you had tilted them forwards to get access to the back? That was really annoying at the time!My FN2 Civic Type-R likes to beep at the driver for everything. Insert the key, beepbeepbeepbeep, start the car but haven't put the seatbelt on, beep beep beep. Incredibly annoying. There's no need for the warnings to go off as soon as you get in the car.
Similarly the Type-R seats are angled enough such that if you're shorter than about 5'8" then the seatbelt doesn't rest on the seat bolster and retreats to the B-pillar. It's surprisingly far behind the seats and results in an awkward Dutch reach to try and get your seatbelt.
My mum's 1-series had a speed limiter, but no cruise control. So, if I wanted to maintain my speed (e.g. to be safe, through an average speed camera zone, or just to maintain progress on a motorway), I would have to set the speed limiter to 50mph or 70mph etc and just drive flat out everywhere. If you have one, surely you can have the other, and it feels rather idiotic to lock cruise control behind a paywall that would otherwise require you to drive with more throttle than necessary.
My car makes the radio/navigation screen dimmer when the headlights are on (including sidelights). This is fine when driving normally at night but when using the reversing camera at night because nothing is visible so I have to choose between no lights except reversing lights or being able to use the camera.
Peugeot 108 Top. .
"Top" is the model with the retractable fabric roof. Because I like fresh air, I have the roof open anytime it's dry, regardless of temperature. This means on colder days, I'll set the dashboard vents to blow warm air at my hands while enjoying the open roof.
However, the central dash vent is hidden behind the touchscreen, and points up at the rearview mirror - totally unadjustable. This results in a warm right hand and frozen left hand. What would be much better would have been ditching the touchscreen and putting a proper adjustable vent there instead.
"Top" is the model with the retractable fabric roof. Because I like fresh air, I have the roof open anytime it's dry, regardless of temperature. This means on colder days, I'll set the dashboard vents to blow warm air at my hands while enjoying the open roof.
However, the central dash vent is hidden behind the touchscreen, and points up at the rearview mirror - totally unadjustable. This results in a warm right hand and frozen left hand. What would be much better would have been ditching the touchscreen and putting a proper adjustable vent there instead.
CrouchingWayne said:
Was the FN2 the one that the seats didn’t go back to where they were before if you had tilted them forwards to get access to the back? That was really annoying at the time!
Yes, anytime you let someone in or out the back it returns the seat to a default setting. Really annoying. Also the A pillar is massive so there is a huge blind spot you have to look around. Apart from that, good cars.Magnum 475 said:
My 3 Series (F30 LCI) also has speed limiter and cruise control.
The cruise control has a brake function that will apply brakes to hold the set speed going downhill. The speed limiter will not apply the brakes; going downhill using the limiter frequently results in the car exceeding the set limit and bonging annoyingly to tell me that I’m travelling faster than the set limit.
Why the f**k didn’t BMW extend the brake function to work with the limiter as well as with the cruise control?
There's a clue in the name! A speed limiter is intended to prevent you going over a certain speed, but not to interfere with normal driving. Cruise control is intended to maintain a certain speed on roads where no speed variation is necessary.The cruise control has a brake function that will apply brakes to hold the set speed going downhill. The speed limiter will not apply the brakes; going downhill using the limiter frequently results in the car exceeding the set limit and bonging annoyingly to tell me that I’m travelling faster than the set limit.
Why the f**k didn’t BMW extend the brake function to work with the limiter as well as with the cruise control?
I have no idea how it might be useful to extend the brake function to the limiter. It would turn it into cruise control which is not its purpose.
If you moved the seats on the FN2 Type R to get into the back seat, then they spring back to a neutral position, so you need to re-adjust them every time you move them. The back seats were for emergency use only!
My current Volvo XC60 and previous V60 had an automatic tailgate with a 'wave your foot to open' feature. Unfortunately the 'wave your foot to open' seems to be enabled to work ultra-effectively when you're washing the car, and never in real life when you actually need it.
My current Volvo XC60 and previous V60 had an automatic tailgate with a 'wave your foot to open' feature. Unfortunately the 'wave your foot to open' seems to be enabled to work ultra-effectively when you're washing the car, and never in real life when you actually need it.
On my 5 series I can open the boot with they key from my pocket when I'm in my house.
It has been wide open all night more than once. Thankfully it has always been dry and it's parked where nobody sees it.
Fingers crossed the groundwork to get into my new garage will be finished soon.
It has been wide open all night more than once. Thankfully it has always been dry and it's parked where nobody sees it.
Fingers crossed the groundwork to get into my new garage will be finished soon.
Jonny_ said:
Corolla hybrid, you can't put it into "EV Mode" on startup to prevent the engine from running. Which is annoying when all I want to do is move it off the drive to get the van out, a return trip of about 40 metres...
Also makes me wonder why they even bothered with the EV Mode button at all!
The Auris hybrid I had for work years ago was quite happy to do this.
You can too in the Corolla , as long as there is enough power in the hybrid battery and you also turn off the climate control.Also makes me wonder why they even bothered with the EV Mode button at all!
The Auris hybrid I had for work years ago was quite happy to do this.
I've used it many times just like I used to in my Auris - it's very handy for moving around on the drive or if you want to change some of the settings on the infotainment.
My delightful Mazda has orange warning lights for features that are inactive but turned on. Cruise control, for example, has no light if it's off, an orange light if it's on but not being used and a green light if it's on and engaged. Why not just turn the green light on and off like every other manufacturer does? The lane assist also has a light on when it's engaged, then it goes amber when it's too slow or unable to detect lanes, and off when I don't want the stupid light on my dashboard.. Rear view monitor is permanently green though. That only does on and off, even if it's faulty.
I end up turning loads of features off that I wouldn't actually mind using just so I don't have 75 lights on my dashboard.
I end up turning loads of features off that I wouldn't actually mind using just so I don't have 75 lights on my dashboard.
One thing in my old IS250 that was the only thing I didn't like... There was basically only one 'Something is wrong' light, supplemented by text on the display.
So when the screenwash was low, a giant red exclamation mark in a red triangle popped up, just like you'd get if you managed to kill it dead, accompanied by a warning noise. It made me almost s
t myself every time because it seemed like something really serious had happened!
So when the screenwash was low, a giant red exclamation mark in a red triangle popped up, just like you'd get if you managed to kill it dead, accompanied by a warning noise. It made me almost s
t myself every time because it seemed like something really serious had happened!Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff