Stupidest Designs.......

[4WD]

Originally Posted by DGXR
New-fangled headlamps that blind other drivers on low beam. There's got to be a better way to see at night.
Also, plastic everything. Lord help us.


The good news ? Stupid design of them makes it so hard to get to the bulbs it might actually slow down

 

[Saabist]

Core plugs on back of the cylinder head and block on Jeep 4.0 engines. You need to either pull the engine or the transmission to get at them.

The many vehicles that require removal of the entire dashboard to get at heater core, blower, and/or evaporator. It's like the entire car is built up around the HVAC box.

Over-complicated radios with owner's manuals comprised of 150+ pages.

Touch screen controls. I hate touch screens.

"Connected" cars that spy on and collect data on the driver. Not for me, thank you. (https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/12/report-connected-cars-already-know-everything-about-you/)

Other questionable technology on new cars that offers few real benefits and will cost a fortune to repair out of warranty.

 

[grampi]

The entire back end of the new Civics...

 

[Passport1]

Had to have a body shop remove the front bumper on my Suzuki to replace the driver's side H7 headlight bulb. $13 for the bulb and $100 for the labor. Should have taken about 5 minutes on any other vehicle.

Engineers must never have to work on their creations.

 

[john_pifer]

Originally Posted by Passport1
Had to have a body shop remove the front bumper on my Suzuki to replace the driver's side H7 headlight bulb. $13 for the bulb and $100 for the labor. Should have taken about 5 minutes on any other vehicle.

Engineers must never have to work on their creations.


I can't imagine that was the only way to replace the headlight bulb...

 

[Passport1]

It sounds crazy. Unless you have tiny hands like maybe a 4 year old girl there's no way to replace the bulb w/o removing the bumper. I tried about an hour to remove the bumper and gave up. I don't drive much after dark anymore so maybe I won't ever have to do this again.

The body shop owner says he sees more and more cars like this today. He thinks it's to drive owners back to the dealer for service. I don't know, seems Machiavellian. Doesn't augur well for the auto industry.

see the job here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qObde83LY_g

 

[4WD]

Just went through that on 2014 Fusion Hybrid … went ahead and did 10 bulbs while the bumper cover hung down.

 

[The_Nuke]

How about cars that have easily ruptured gas tanks mounted in their rear sections and have a tendency to become engulfed in flames when they are hit from the back side by another vehicle?

The Ford Pinto and early ‘90s Crown Victoria's are guilty of this IIRC.

Although this would seem to cross over being a stupid design decision and land squarely on being a deadly one, so these examples may not qualify for this discussion.

 

[The_Nuke]

The late ‘90's Chevy Tahoes has a real head scratcher built in at the factory as I recall:

the transmission control module/panel had some quirk that would end up causing a short on it out after enough miles/years, and the functionality it dropped as a result directly affected the fluid's ability to circulate and keep the transmission cooled down when it was in operation.

Eventually the transmission would go out, but it was always on the vehicle owner to rectify since the underlying cause wasn't discovered for many years. And even then, GM never admitted it was a factory defect in design, so they wouldn't replace any of the transmissions their poor design choices ended up roasting.

————

And one more that bit me personally afflicted late 90s and early 00s Dodge Durangos (and other Dodge models as well, but I only know the Durango for sure):

They all had something wrong with their PCMs or how/where it was mounted that would eventually cause it to start overheating and killing the engine operation without warning. The driver would then be stranded where ever they could coast the dead vehicle and only have the cryptic "No BUS" message displayed on the EVIC as an indication of what went wrong.

The only remedy was to replace the PCM, but that could be an expensive approach since working ones were so rare to begin with.

 

[CR94]

Then there was the circa 1975 Chevy Monza V8, on which you had to lift the engine or drill a hole in the inner fender to change spark plugs. Their excuse was that it was designed for the aborted GM Wankel rotary, and the V8 was shoehorned in as a substitute.

 

[Anduril]

The 2.2 Cavaliers with the oil filter on the back of the engine and when you finally get your hand down in there just right and get it off, it spills oil all over your exhaust that you have to smell burn off for the next few days.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
The late ‘90's Chevy Tahoes has a real head scratcher built in at the factory as I recall:

the transmission control module/panel had some quirk that would end up causing a short on it out after enough miles/years, and the functionality it dropped as a result directly affected the fluid's ability to circulate and keep the transmission cooled down when it was in operation.

Eventually the transmission would go out, but it was always on the vehicle owner to rectify since the underlying cause wasn't discovered for many years. And even then, GM never admitted it was a factory defect in design, so they wouldn't replace any of the transmissions their poor design choices ended up roasting.

————

And one more that bit me personally afflicted late 90s and early 00s Dodge Durangos (and other Dodge models as well, but I only know the Durango for sure):

They all had something wrong with their PCMs or how/where it was mounted that would eventually cause it to start overheating and killing the engine operation without warning. The driver would then be stranded where ever they could coast the dead vehicle and only have the cryptic "No BUS" message displayed on the EVIC as an indication of what went wrong.

The only remedy was to replace the PCM, but that could be an expensive approach since working ones were so rare to begin with.



Ah the good ol' "No BUS" message. Or the craziness that can ensue from a battery that's "mostly" okay, or CTM failures!

 

[shiny]

Originally Posted by Saabist
The many vehicles that require removal of the entire dashboard to get at heater core, blower, and/or evaporator. It's like the entire car is built up around the HVAC box.


This describes the blend door actuator in Crown Vics. It's a cheap little $30 part that always breaks, with a 6-hour labor charge just to replace it. Every winter I commute an hour each direction with no heater because of this stupid design. The heater works GREAT, but the actuator died while on A/C. At least it's only a Phoenix winter, but still, driving in the 30's and 40's with no heat isn't what I call fun...

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
The late ‘90's Chevy Tahoes has a real head scratcher built in at the factory as I recall:

the transmission control module/panel had some quirk that would end up causing a short on it out after enough miles/years, and the functionality it dropped as a result directly affected the fluid's ability to circulate and keep the transmission cooled down when it was in operation.

Eventually the transmission would go out, but it was always on the vehicle owner to rectify since the underlying cause wasn't discovered for many years. And even then, GM never admitted it was a factory defect in design, so they wouldn't replace any of the transmissions their poor design choices ended up roasting.

————

And one more that bit me personally afflicted late 90s and early 00s Dodge Durangos (and other Dodge models as well, but I only know the Durango for sure):

They all had something wrong with their PCMs or how/where it was mounted that would eventually cause it to start overheating and killing the engine operation without warning. The driver would then be stranded where ever they could coast the dead vehicle and only have the cryptic "No BUS" message displayed on the EVIC as an indication of what went wrong.

The only remedy was to replace the PCM, but that could be an expensive approach since working ones were so rare to begin with.




I think that there is someone repairing these

 

[Loobit]

Chevy Traverse/Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia 3.6 V6 oil changes make my head spin. Extremely cramped engine bays with oil filters crammed under the exhaust manifold, and that area you get your hand in is also surrounded in hot AC lines. No time to wait for it to cool down in a shop, especially during summer. The best way to do it fast is to get a giant shop towel over my arm and get my oil filter wrench in there without dropping it. Taking the oil filter off spills oil all over the subframe, so time is also wasted cleaning it even with a drain pan underneath. You'd be lucky if the shop you take yours to even bothers to change out the pil filter. I go through it because I wanna do an honest job.

 

[Loobit]

Chevy Traverse/Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia 3.6 V6 oil changes make my head spin. Extremely cramped engine bays with oil filters crammed under the exhaust manifold, and that area you get your hand in is also surrounded in hot AC lines. No time to wait for it to cool down in a shop, especially during summer. The best way to do it fast is to get a giant shop towel over my arm and get my oil filter wrench in there without dropping it. Taking the oil filter off spills oil all over the subframe, so time is also wasted cleaning it even with a drain pan underneath. You'd be lucky if the shop you take yours to even bothers to change out the pil filter. I go through it because I wanna do an honest job.

 

[littleant]

1990's i believe Cadillac starter under intake manifold.

 

[WylieCoyote]

2006 Mazdaspeed 6 apparently had faulty shifter cable ends (transmission end) from the factory. Mine kept popping off the transmission during the 1-2 shift. I could limp somewhere in 2nd gear and re-connect, but it was just dangerous to leave that way.

What I would've thought to be a simple replacement turned out to require the ENTIRE dashboard removed. The dealership said U.S.-made Mazda 6 wasn't plagued with this replacement method.

 

[mbers1]

+1 on the Ford water pump. Plus the headlights that are nearly useless on my 2014 Taurus.

 

[69Torino]

When Blue Bird builds school buses, they run the interior wiring and THEN paint the whole interior white. So all of the interior wiring is painted. Makes tracing circuits an intolerable nightmare.