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-   -   A must read for Car Manufacturers/Designer's - Little things that annoy you. (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/73691-must-read-car-manufacturers-designers-little-things-annoy-you.html)

Every one talks about the Cars performance, looks, Trim finishes etc but what about the little things. I mean the little things in everyday life that annoy you. To point a few.

QC issues - I was recently reading a thread where Safari Owners had rust issues with there chrome Logo's and feared the same with the wheels.

Design/Ergonomics Issues - I was travelling in a friends Ford Fiesta the other-day, looking for the Ash tray to dump some trash ( ya right like anyone believes that) and noticed that it was hidden behind the gear lever and wasn't the easiest to reach. Why? Why build a car and then make it the hardest for the passengers to throw away the trash. Why encourage people to use the road as a place to throw the trash.

I mean these are issues that only people who live with their cars everyday may face and they may eventually get used to it and not bother but I think in keeping with the T Bhp spirit of giving the best advice I propose this thread as a place to document your beefs with the ergonomic's of your car. Also you could suggest effective and ingenious solutions to get around them.

Mod's please move this to another location if it isn't the place to be. or let me know if there already exists a thread on the same. stupid:

Fantasic topic! Here is a small thing that irritates me. Car makers have got to start thinking about usability. The switches on the scorpio for the fuel lid, start stop, demister, etc are all on the left side. This is very easily accessible to a child! (If you ever see a white scorpio with its fuel lid open, don't forget to check the co pasenger's seat. If it is a 2 year old girl, the car is mine;) Besides, I would say, a guestimate 80% of people are right handed.<br>
I would also love it if we could sell things back to the company at the same price they charged us for it - I'd sell the ICE! Similarly, I wish we could choose only certain features and not go with specific models where we are forced to buy a lot of stuff (usually on the high end) model that we really wouldn't use. Example, the rear wiper. It should have been possible to install one even if the model you buy does not come with one. I faced this issue with the Indica. Only the top end came with the rear wiper. It also came with a audio system that I didn't care about. That is actually one reason why I bought the top end Scorpio. I just have to worry about throwing things out and not about getting them on.

Fiesta: Superb-ly designed in terms of practicality, but 2 things: Ash tray cannot be removed - How do you remove the ash? Well, either ways, this car is meant for non-smokers as it doesn't come with a cigarette lighter, and that is an option.
Also, bonnet open lever on passenger side!
However, unlike others, I am very content with the indicators on the other side. I prefer them that way.

Lancer: No space for anything! the door pockets are too shallow, and there is no other place to keep stuff properly.

Skoda Octavia: The cigarette lighter is below the handbrake!

Will post more, once I think of them.

My two paise:

1. Temperature Gauges : Yes or No? As the poll shows, 95% of enthusiasts / car owners view the temperature gauge as mandatory. Please don't do away with it (as some C segment cars already have).

2. Electronics : Keep it simple stupid. Especially to the Germans...keep the unnecessary gizmos away. Neither do we need them, nor are you able to make them work (as the last 5 - 10 years have shown). Your brand new cars are breaking down a dime a dozen these days. Reliability is paramount to a car's most basic purpose.

All major manufacturers world over have a option to "build your car".
Why cant they bring it in India. Do they still have an impression that Indian's do not understand Automobiles?
+1 to what triedeverything said, "I just have to worry about throwing things out and not about getting them on."
Chevy's, Toyota's, Renault's, Suzuki's,Ford, Fiat's, for that matter the Landrover and Jaguar our own Tata's have wonderful global websites. The ones we have are Yuk..

In the design of cars, they should prevent rats entering the cabin via AC ducts.
It hurts when my new ANHC a mice not rat (as it nibbled not ravaged the interior) entered and nibbled at plastics.
THey should have some mesh to prevent rats entering, in air passages.

One thing that scares me and wish it were there: option to switch from power windows to manual. I've read and even heard of deaths n near deaths due to failure of power windows during car crashes/breakdowns, that I wish this is considered as a safety feature. Unfortunately, the higher end variants (and now even many lower variants) will always come with power windows as a matter of convenience, but how i wish the manufacturers thought of having an optional manual mode of windows operation!

This may be a very little design cue but I found it quite weird. Recently I have notice that more and more new vehicles or new editions of old vehicles tend to have front indicators towards the grille of vehicle rather than conventional in the side placement followed over decades.

I am sure there is no practical reasoning for change in placement then why oh why do it? NHC, ANHC, Fiesta all have this new arrangement and is actually a bit of hazard considering a vehicle parked roadside with hazard warning light on could be mistaken for small width than it actually is...

This is something that will take some effort and time to implement in India.
In the U.S., it is easier to have something as the whole design of the production and supply chain is different, as compared to India. Also, users are more tech savvy out there.
Out here too, we are able to build our own models, however, the changes are done by the showroom, and one needs to do it in person.

I just came back home from a rather long road trip, during which I was constantly shouting expletives at the designers of the Ford Focus.

1) It had a single stick behind the steering wheel for all the operations (indicators, wiper, washer, hi/low beam). This made it very difficult to use the wiper/washer, which I had to use constantly due to the poor weather conditions. Thank god this was a rental car. If I were to test drive this car, I would discarded it in a matter of seconds because of this reason.

2) In addition to this, they had programmed the wiper in a weird way. Every time I used the wiper/washer, the wipers would run for a couple of seconds - then wipe once again after a few seconds (when the glass is dry) and mess the whole screen up!! I just didn't get the logic behind this!! I was left screaming "Why Ford?? WHY??!!" They also managed to conveniently not have a 'single wipe' feature, which most drivers use in poor weather.

3) The cup holders were in the most awkward position ever (beside the hand brake lever). I couldn't access it without being distracted. I had to always ask my co-passenger to hand my coffee and put it back.

This is also present in the Scorpi. As long as you use the lever, it sprays and wipes, then it stops and a couple of seconds later, it wipes again. I've found it useful when I have to clean the windshield using the spray while the car is moving (and it is not raining). The last stroke essentially takes care of the few drops that start to move down after the last stroke of the wiper. On a dry day, these few drops leave a stain on the windshield especially if you have some kind of soap in the spray.

I cant think of any specific car or manufacturer flaw but a generic one that irritates a lot when you buy a brand new car of almost any make.

ICE enthusiasts are going to find this one the most annoying.

Consider this, you buy the top end model with EVERYTHING & are really pleased with yourself. That is until you feel all charged up to listen to your favourite track at a decent amount of volume. Your face goes from :D to :Frustrati

The OE speakers that most manufacturers provide are utter nonsense. Heck, even a layman who doesnt much care about SQ will cringe at the sound. Why even provide them as it takes away so much from their flagship (top-end) variant, they shouldnt even put these in the cheapest variant of the cheapest car. The speakers are generally the crappy, paper cone, one way speakers. Even my cell phone plays better quality music & almost as loud. hehe. And these 50 times bigger speakers arent able to reproduce that same song in the same quality as my cell phone!!!
How did the actual speaker manufacturers engineer this crap?

Though there are a few exceptions but it is generally throughout most car companies. 2 exceptions to this that come to mind are Mitsubishi & Hyundai. The Mitsubishi Outlander comes with a nice Rockford Fosgate system with a woofer as standard on the top end variant (not as an option like most premium car manufacturers do, offer you a decent system & charge a bomb for an upgrade).

In case of Hyundai, i cannot speak for their other cars but my Hyundai Verna pleasantly suprised me as the OE speakers were decent. 2 in the front & 2 at the back, had acceptable sound quality, were loud enough & even had good punch to them. They have been upgraded now, but i wouldnt have minded keeping them.

+2 to that

@leodelg & @triedeverything : check the owner's manual if these cars have a programmable intermittent speed wiper.

absolutely;that's why I am a great fan of the Japanese autos

I believe that there should be the manual option on at least one door(like emergency exit in aircraft)

and the best part is you pay road tax,insurance and other taxes because this crap also gets included in the invoiceable value

My additions:

1. There should be enough room on the sides to move your thighs left or right(found this absent on the City ZX)
2. Every car must have the option to open boot from inside.
3. Slot for HU must be at easy to reach position - find the NHC(Dolphin and ZX) good in this aspect
4. A/C controls must also be within easy reach - the "benchmark" here is the Logan
5. Wiper and light controls must be standard across all cars-wiper controls on left stalk and lights on right
6. slightly off thread,but the Bullet must feature rear brake lever on right
7. both wiper blades must be equal in length

Some stuff that annoy me:
No boot light. I sometimes feel like setting up my own. Am surprised by the number of car models that don't have this feature.

There's another similar thread on TBHP which you will find interesting - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ht-before.html