Stupid Car Features that Ruin Otherwise Good Cars

All GM vehicles because apparently, they like turning the reverse lights on anytime you hit an unlock button. It's the EXACT SAME LIGHT PATTERN as a car reversing with brakes off. HOW IS THAT A SMART IDEA IN A PARKING LOT?! GAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHAHRARRR!!!!!

That silver beak thing that Acura has/had. Took otherwise decent looking cars and turned them into the giant squid's face from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

Engine noise through the car stereo's system

Doesn't ruin it, but annoying as hell, Toyota 4-runner, if you unlock with key fob you have 30 seconds to open s door or it re locks itself.

Woody wrote: I dislike: -complicated radios (left knob should control volume, right knob changes station)

x100

I dunno who the first person was who thought a 'seek' button was better than a knob, but I'd like to give them a swift kick to the apples.

This may not be pretty, but it works:

nepa03focus wrote:

dinger wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: Traction control

Ugh, the Toyota Tundra I until recently owned had the WORST traction control system I've ever had the displeasure of using. ANY wheelspin and it cuts the throttle entirely for 2-3 seconds

That's what my ford transit work van does, it's horrible.

Agree, I had a hard time getting out of a flat parking lot at the grocery store this morning with my Transit Connect. Nothing had been done to the lot and the 2" of snow we got had been packed down to 1/2" of icy stuff. No matter how gentle I was with the throttle a wheel would spin then the traction control would kick in and the other wheel would start to spin. If I gave it more throttle the it would lock up both wheels and there I sat. Finally put it in first and let it idle its way out of the lot. Thankfully the lot was flat or I would still be there.

oldtin wrote: Doesn't ruin it, but annoying as hell, Toyota 4-runner, if you unlock with key fob you have 30 seconds to open s door or it re locks itself.

I have a Tacoma that does this. It's very annoying and I haven't been able to disable it.

The self locking doors on my MINI. To get out you have to pull the door lever twice, once to unlock the door and the second pull actually opens it. Dumb.

Also, any car with a glass sunroof, especially if it's not equipped with a solid shade. Glass and a perforated shade on the westerly commute from work was a great, big PITA with the sunroof "flashing" sunlight constantly.

My MINI does that stupid traction control nonsense, too, but at least there's a switch to turn it off. I'm surprised that no ambulance chasers have yet started a law suit for some poor sod getting killed when his car won't accelerate into traffic.

DeadSkunk wrote: The self locking doors on my MINI. To get out you have to pull the door lever twice, once to unlock the door and the second pull actually opens it. Dumb.

That's normal on a whole lot of cars anymore. Especially German ones.

Chris_V wrote:

bravenrace wrote: Any car that has oversized flat areas around the wheel wells. I blame Nissan for starting this fulgy trend,

Nissan?

The 60's Toro didn't start a trend as far as I can tell. Plus, that was a huge car, and those flat wheel lips tied into the side lines of the car, creating what I consider to be a very nice car. Not. The. Same. Result.

Expensive key fobs. I can get a key for my car cut for less than $20. A Mazda with a switchblade? $200. A keyless entry system? Don't ask. It's a huge PITA if you need another or need to replace a key.

Point was, there have been numerous versions of that flare look before the Juke. So you really can't say the Juke started it, even as a trend. Not defending the Juke, just pointing out the history.

This one also had that flat flare area before the Juke:

In reply to Chris_V:

Yeah, that one was long before the Juke, and thus didn't start the trend. And I didn't say the Juke started it anyway, I said the recent TREND was started by Nissan. I used the Juke as an example of the design element. You can disagree, but please read my post carefully first so your comments are at least accurate.

Daytime running lights.

Non-defeatable ESC. It has almost caused me to wreck in my Golf coming on as I'm beginning to let the car rotate and counter steer in the snow. I can shut traction control off at least, but ESC stays on no matter what.

Also, throttle override when the brake pedal is on. If the brake pedal is depressed for more than 1 second while the throttle is applied, the ECU kills the throttle for about a second after the brake pedal is released. No left foot braking to keep the turbo spooled up.

The only good thing about these two "features" is it is keeping me from hooning the car and wearing stuff out. It is just a DD after all.

Turn signal switches that aren't actually switches, but momentary buttons.

Press up slightly for a lane change or all the way for a right turn and it stays. Same for the left.

The new style switches? Press up for right and it returns to center, so you think to turn it off you press down. Nope. Now the left signal is on. At this point you panic and push it back and forth while screaming at the top of your lungs at the stupid thing. Meanwhile the people around you on the road are trying to figure out just what in the hell is going on with you.

So you either have to make a turn to cancel it or pull over to read the manual to finally figure out that you have to push the switch in the same direction again to cancel it.

First discovered this "feature" on a newer BMW. Great, some people already complain that BMW people don't use their signals, now you're going to make it more difficult for them?

Screw you people who that was a good idea. Seriously.

Nissan is a world leader in ugly. The hideous door handles on the 350Z are a prime example, and helped to kill that car's looks. IMHO

"clear" tail-lights also help to ruin otherwise attractive designs. "Altezza" lights looked dumb to begin with--- then everyone copied them and uglified their cars. Too many to list-- RX-8, S2000, Pontiac G8, etc. etc.....

and of course BMW's I-Drive---- the worst infotainment system ever. (But also one of the earliest, so they get a bit of a break)

Later G37 sedans have a little chrome spoiler thing on the trunklid - why?

Cars with hvac/audio/etc. controlled via a touchscreen.

No tactile feedback = looking away from road = drifting into traffic = explosion

I have some features, but the cars they ruin weren't necessarily good cars to being with. TPMS as has been said earlier, any "package" that makes the lower model look like the upper model (GT package, Trans Am package) also any non-functional scoops/boatholes/aero.

There was that time in the 80's with the automatic seatbelt too, can't remember if it was all imports, but those were pretty terrible.

My Astra has rain-sensing wipers, but they don't appear to sense the rain very well, quite annoying.

Hungary Bill wrote: Engine noise through the car stereo's system

Not going to lie. I did this to my first car back in '98. I hooked a mic up to the aux input of my stereo and zip tied it inside the airbox. Vroom Vroom noises in quad surround I also put purple neon under the car, so 16 year old me wasn't making the best life choices...

Woody wrote: I dislike: -auto dimming mirrors (not as good as the day/night flippers) -automatic climate control (again, I'd rather adjust it myself) -touch screens (I can reach over and adjust knobs without taking my eyes off the road. I cannot operate a touch screen without taking my eyes off the road) -complicated radios (left knob should control volume, right knob changes station)

All this plus horn buttons on the steering wheel spokes and giant wheels, 18s don't belong on everything, can I buy a truck with less than 20s on it?

Putting a diff built for a Solstice on the CTS-V. A 400-hp car that can't do a burnout without breaking itself in a very expensive fashion makes me a sad panda.

Also, 6-lug wheels on the same car.