Using soy-based wiring insulation to satisfy some stupid ill-conceived "green" initiative. Only the taste buds of the local rodent population see any benefit to this switchover. If there was only a way to give mice and rats soy-based allergies. I also hate how automotive engineers feel compelled to take every cubic millimeter available in the engine bay and just fill it with "stuff". Even doing simple tasks like changing a burned out bulb means an hour or three of automobile deconstruction. My 20 yr old Volvo excels at that time vampire exercise.

I have little recent experience with car makers; aside from our new car purchase from last year, the rest of our cars are at least 18 years old. With those, the biggest gripe is that new factory parts are getting harder to find, but you can't reasonably blame the car manufacturer for that.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by bronicabill:
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

Been there recently! That battery wasn't cheap, neither.

Nope! I bought a new battery for my 2000 Honda Accord about 2 years ago and it was under $100.00 out the door at my local Wally World. The replacement battery plus programming on the Jetta was something like $265.00 out the door... money I didn't really have at the time so had to resort to credit to pay for it!

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
<<snip>> 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.

Been there, done that... way too many times. Pisses me off royally! Would love to pound on the engineer who came up with that one!!!

quote:

Originally posted by bronicabill:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by bronicabill:
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

Been there recently! That battery wasn't cheap, neither.

Nope! I bought a new battery for my 2000 Honda Accord about 2 years ago and it was under $100.00 out the door at my local Wally World. The replacement battery plus programming on the Jetta was something like $265.00 out the door... money I didn't really have at the time so had to resort to credit to pay for it!

Did this this week.
$135 for a 3yr Interstate battery from Costco
$130 for a scan tool capable of registering the battery

vs

$135 battery
$200 for dealer to register it
or
$500 all in for the battery, install, register at the dealer.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

- Giant touch screens grafted onto the dash like warts on a toad

I don't understand this trend as well, how hard would it be to have the engineering people design a dash that incorporates a large screen that looks organic to it and like it was meant to be there. Instead it's almost like they build the car and then say "OK we'll just slap this big laptop screen right up here!"

I drive a Toyota, so besides the high price and crappy mileage, there isn't much.

I do wish they put a clock in the instrument panel right next to the outside temperature.

Dislike the massive infotainment screens, nothing but huge driver distraction areas. Some smaller screens that house critical info and are changeable like main screens are good.

Prefer analog dials for things, the new digital face radio I put in the trucks volume controls are little + and - and hard to find a simple vol dial is easy to find, remember where it is and use.

I had these things on my doors that you had to turn round and round to get your
window to go down. I was exhausted after doing that. But it never broke.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Prefer analog dials for things, the new digital face radio I put in the trucks volume controls are little + and - and hard to find a simple vol dial is easy to find, remember where it is and use.

Agreed, with the Lexus LFA tach being an exception.
Car revs so rapidly, an analog gauge can't keep up.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Dislike the massive infotainment screens, nothing but huge driver distraction areas. Some smaller screens that house critical info and are changeable like main screens are good.

Same. I made a point with all my vehicles, that the screens are double din sized. 1 was swapped out with aftermarket month 1. My newer performance car, OEM will be replaced within the next 6 months.

They can keep making them bigger and bigger until it’s a 42” flat screen in the vehicle, it doesn’t matter. People are so addicted to their phones, holding it, touching it, looking at it, that it doesn’t matter. They’ll still gonna surf and drive no matter what. Half the people I see driving are surfing the phone at the same time. I’ve never seen this level of addiction before.

Oh yes, the damn flatscreen in the dash that has no off switch, no dimmer switch, and no good reason to be there. Shining like a cops Streamlight in your window when they want to discuss your driving habits. The week I bought my 2013 Accord, I cut cardboard and black felt to cover that annoying screen.

I dislike manufacturers that don't put coolant temperature gauges in their cars, just blue for cold and red for hot. The problem with the latter is that the system is actively boiling over before the light comes on. It won't indicate a higher than normal temperature over a long period of time. Just running hot, but with no coolant loss, won't usually harm an engine. If it gets boiled dry, all bets are off.

Currently shopping for a new vehicle, so the list is long and growing with every test drive.

All the nanny state technology in everything in the last decade of production. I don't need or want lane keep, backup assist, radar cruise control (this one really chaps my ass on the interstate), start/stop and so on.
The idea that for some reason I can only get specific colors on specific trim levels. I get they're trying to upsell to a more profitable trim for them, but I just want a basic car in a decent color. Honda, I'm looking a you...
Everything is power now. I don't need a power seat or heated/cooled seats. I'm going to set it where I want it and leave it there. Nobody else drives my car, so i have no need for memory on seats.
$50k base model 1/2 ton trucks that might as well be family suvs. I don't need or want leather seats, rear ac, charging ports and rear screens in my basic bitch daily.

And we call them vent wings around here. I was glad to get away from frameless windows on car doors. They never sealed right and I always felt like I was going to break one.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I dislike manufacturers that don't put coolant temperature gauges in their cars, just blue for cold and red for hot. The problem with the latter is that the system is actively boiling over before the light comes on. It won't indicate a higher than normal temperature over a long period of time. Just running hot, but with no coolant loss, won't usually harm an engine. If it gets boiled dry, all bets are off.

Totally agree on this one! While I know aftermarket gauges could be added, things like temperature, voltage, and oil pressure should be standard. In the past I could see if the coolant temp was trending higher than normal, and if I wasn't driving under adverse conditions, it would warn me well ahead of time if a problem was developing BEFORE the car broke down or suffered engine damage! Same goes for oil pressure.

The problem with this is people have become so dumbed down that they don't have a clue what the gauges are telling them, or they just don't care to learn. There is a reason they were replaced with "IDIOT lights"!

Inadequate driver seat leg room. Gotta be a contortionist to get in and out. They don't make 'em like they used to.

A few things are pissing me off about car manufacturers.
1) Their dealers with used car salesmen sales tactics, add ons, doc fees, freight not included in the advertised prices. And their ludicrous hourly labor charges.
2) making pickup trucks that only come with 4-5' beds and giant crew cabs.

I really miss having the rain gutters above the windows.

Like these:



Yet another reason I bought this old '77.

Just wait until your new car decides you are impaired and won’t allow you to drive or perhaps reports to some authority if you don’t comply. Considering the prices of new stuff and the increasing number of features I do not want, restored older vehicles become more and more attractive.

Car that admonishes me to keep my hands on the wheel when Lane Keep Assist is engaged. Both my hands are on the fucking wheel, but apparently not where the sensors are.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
2) making pickup trucks that only come with 4-5' beds and giant crew cabs.

You ultimately have your fellow consumers to thank for this. Most people who buy a pickup these days use it to haul people in the cab way more than they use it to haul stuff in the beds.

Especially in the South, where many people buy trucks purely as a culture/status thing, and then use them as grocery getters/soccer-mom-mobiles rather than for their truck bed utility.

So the manufacturers have seen that this is what sells, and adjusted design and production to suit demand.

I can just see being in the middle of a riot or a carjacking and the car won't let you run over them because the pedestrian collision nanny system activated. (This may sound facetious, but only a little bit.) I don't mind (too much) a warning of an obstacle, drifting from a lane, etc., but cars that self-correct can't anticipate every situation.

A lot of things we blame the car makers for are actually the result of government meddling. For example, putting little turbo fours or even threes where large NA fours or V6s, as well as turbo V6s instead of V8s, used to be, stop/start, etc. stems from fuel economy standards. The meddlers would just as soon we had no engines, period.