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| Staring back from the abyss  |
But then you wouldn't need to incur a dealer charge to tell you what's wrong.  ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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The one I'll get to figure out this weekend. Having to need a scan tool to inform the car that you've replaced the battery. $200 at the dealer to have them 'register' the battery to the car, or $500 all in for them to replace the battery & register it. I'll be buying a capable scan tool to DIY.
It really is shocking how heavy the Cruze is for its size.
Ah, 90s Mercedes. Don't know who thought that was a good idea
Or having it under the power passenger seat [WK Jeep Grand Cherokee & Mercedes ML] Dead battery? Remove the very heavy passenger seat, which the average owner wouldn't have the large torx bit to remove. Have also heard some where the carpet wasn't cut for the battery access & they also needed to cut the carpet. Oh, and the battery is about 1.5" longer than the opening, so you have to do some tiny fingered Jenga to make it fit. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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- Daytime running lights - Nanny technology - Fru-fru crap, instead of functional hardware - Giant touch screens grafted onto the dash like warts on a toad - Crappy metal - Lack of longevity (both the components and the overall assembly) - Near-impossible DIY (thanks a lot, CANBUS!) - Ever-increasing prices  God bless America. | |||
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^ DRLs don't bother me, I just don't like it when they use the headlights for it. Prefer a separate bulb & have coded my Fords to run the foglights as DRLs instead [except my Explorer which has a standalone DRL in the headlight housing]. Now, the DRLs that are so bright that morons don't realize their headlights aren't on, those I hate. Nissan Rogue is one of the worst offenders I've noticed around here. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
The INSANELY bright headlights that new cars all seem to have now. IMO they’re downright dangerous and may be causing accidents when people get blinded. Toyota seems to be one of the biggest offenders, I had a guy behind me in a Corolla for a few miles and had to turn my mirrors and rearview mirror down (doesn’t have the dimming as it’s an aftermarket rear camera screen mirror) because he was absolutely blinding the crap out of me with his 5 million lumen headlights. | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
That would be a number of Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicles. Having retired I no longer work on other people's cars daily. Already bad enough with all this needless complication (much of it directly or indirectly mandated by the government), they are getting worse. For example, who the hell thought it's a good idea to submerge a rubber belt in oil to drive critical components? (Some Ford engines for the timing belt or oil pump drive. YouTubers who I believe credible are reporting failures already.) Take the entire engine out to replace a steering gear? (Second-generation Toyota Tundra.) Servo-operated HVAC air duct doors that not only go bad, but often make you take the entire dashboard out to get to them? (Multiple makes and models.) I | |||
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What I don't like most about new cars is their capability to spy on you. My 2024 Camry has sign assist which illuminates every stop, yield and speed limit sign the car encounters which means Toyota knows exactly where your car is every second of the day. They also try and get you to download their Toyota app but don't tell you until after the fact downloading the app gives your consent for them to gather data on your driving habits and sell it to third parties.This message has been edited. Last edited by: calugo, | |||
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Vehicles that cannot be shifted into neutral without the engine running. I have come across numerous disabled vehicles that cannot be pushed off the roadway without the vehicle running. There are no neutral overrides. I also had a BMW suv which could not be moved after being rear ended at slow speeds at a stop sign. Think about if you were on a major highway and your vehicle thinks its smarter than you and now your stopped in the middle of the road. | |||
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I'll bet a lot of people don't know what a cozy wing is. They are great till a bumblebee hits it bounces off your chest and falls between your legs. 70 mph doin a dance in your seat.  | |||
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| You have cow? I lift cow! |
Plenty of things I can complain about. But these 2 right here are the worst. The horn one sends me into red zone rage cursing the car audibly every single time. | |||
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Took a wasp to the neck at >70mph. Driving with the windows down on the scenic back route between Beaumont > Austin. Hit me hard enough it killed the wasp 
Coded the 'car is running honk' out of my Explorer, need to do it on our Expedition. At least it only does it once. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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It may be worth getting the entry level trim on newer cars so as to avoid many of the unnecessary bells and whistles. Some of the rental cars nowadays have the "lightning" car charger, which is way different than the iPhone USB charger. And some of the infortainment centers are way too complex for the casual user. I bought a 2001 911 about a year ago. Thankfully it's still pretty basic mechanically and the doodads are limited. I invested $300 in the Durametric software that allows me to analyze dozens and dozens of components and systems in real time if it ever gets to that point. And the mechanical things are fairly straightforward. And I'm keeping my sweet, sweet 2000 Honda Odyssey until it drops dead. P229 | |||
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Make America Great Again |
That sums up ALL of what pisses me off about modern cars! The car is NOT smarter than me and has no way to determine what is "best" in each and every situation. Such things are seriously dangerous at times! As to irritating things, I just had one mentioned above happen about 2 months ago. My 2013 VW Jetta needed a new battery, so I go to my local auto parts to buy one, and was informed the computer had to be "reset" to work with the new battery, and they didn't have the reset tool available at that time. I thought I was being pranked, went back home and looked it up, and lo-and-behold it was legit! Had to take the car to a shop where they had the tool, pay more for the battery, plus $75.00 or so more to have it reprogrammed! I later figured out how I could have done it myself without reprogramming by simply keeping power to the cables via jumper cables from another car so mine never lost power, but it was too late by then. At least I'll know next time... if there IS a next time! _____________________________ Bill R. North Alabama | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm. |
 I'm going to hang on to my 2009 Toyota Corolla for as long as possible. For a modern car it has a minimum of electronics on it, just engine management, anti-theft, power steering and ABS. (I can take or leave ABS; I think it increases stopping distance on wet or snowy roads.) No power window regulators to go bad, nor does it have electronic servos for the HVAC.
And if you open the door they will put the transmission back into park and/or apply the electric parking brake. Yeah, a real pain in the ass when you need to work on them. Most brake, axle and driveline services need the trans in neutral, as does rolling the car back and forth on alignment rack turn plates. Chrysler and RAM do have a mechanical parking pawl override, but its operation is not readily apparent. | |||
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quarter MOA visionary |
Whoever decided to put the starter smack-dab in the middle of the engine? I know the Titan is being disco'd but that doesn't help me with this (doing the install now). Plenty of knuckle bustin'.  | |||
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Been there recently! That battery wasn't cheap, neither. God bless America. | |||
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unavoidable overpriced GPS nav systems I never use because my phone is easier and does a better job | |||
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| Page late and a dollar short |
I made a cheater tool to keep power to the car while changing a battery. I took an old cigarette lighter charger cord and cut the device plug off. Wired in a 9v battery connector after making sure of the polarity. Plug it into a power port,done. If the vehicle requires a full 12v I’d probably try that trick with a couple lantern batteries, less amperage to arc if something slips during installation. Usually that 9v is enough to keep the memory going in the computer systems, also keeps from having to reset the radio theft lockout and station preset. Also an additional target of ire is to the GM engineer (alleged anyhow) that designed the program to illuminate the backup lights when the vehicle is shut off. Don’t know how many times in parking lots I’ve sat there like a dolt waiting for a car to back out of a parking space only to see the driver exit and walk away. -------------------------------------—————— ————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman) | |||
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Using customers/buyers as beta testers. The ridiculous prices of everything now from economy car to truck to performance cars. It’s just insane but part of that is on people. If they wouldn’t roll their asses into debt for 84 months, the prices would come down. ADAS, of any kind. All you need is cruise control. What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone | |||
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| Staring back from the abyss |
We call 'em fly windows...for some reason or another. ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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