Car(makers) trends you hate the most

[JLBoucher]

Some carmakers seem te be very keen about strange trends nobody asked for. I, for one, genuinely hate some of them.

1- Overly exaggerated center consoles
They look nice and shiny now. But they'll be obsolete in about 2 years. To make sure you want to buy another car soon, carmakers are putting the biggest screens, no knobs, with piano black. Piano black everywhere. I hate it. Oh, and they're designed to break. Since there's no standards, you can't replace it with any other system. Just give us what we need, nothing we don't.

2- Piano black
Who. In the blue hell. Decided. That. Was. A good. Idea. You scratch it in a matter of second, it collects dust and finger prints, it doesn't look nice in any way, shape or form. Carmakers, stop piano black. Seriously, stop it. STOP.

3- Fake exhausts/vents
Oh my God. Fake exhausts. I don't want to point fingers, but...VW Group, did you go completely nuts with fake exhausts? It doesn't look good, or cool, or sporty. It looks stupid. It's not even well integrated in the design of the car, most of the time. STOP IT. Get some help. As for vents...why would you want something that doesn't serve any purpose on your car? Why? It costs you extra money to build it and nobody cares. NOBODY.

4- Options you can't get for stupid reasons
So you go online to your configurator. "Wow, that's a nice spec. That's the one I want". Great. You call your dealer: "oh, unfortunately, you can't combine that lift kit with...these interior carpets!"

In what strange world can't you combine a lift kit with interior carpets? Who decided, in your multi-billion dollars company, that you can't order them together? What the hell is wrong with you?!

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[zrickety]

-Touchscreens in place of buttons are my pet peeve. At least there is some redundancy with the Jeep, but many automakers don't offer real buttons.
-Direct injection is another one, 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Carbon buildup is like a fungus.
-Nannies. Sure, they keep us safe. But many times they can't be completely turned off...in sporty cars especially this is an artificial handicap.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Packaged options rather than a la carte. This isn’t going to change. It makes more profit for manufacturers and it is much, much easier for production.

Limited color options. I can’t see how offering 30 colors for all models (including the obligatory 12 shades of silver/gray) is a problem. Rather than some models in certain colors and other models in different colors.

 

[Trainman]

My next Wrangler (2022) will be a stripped down model, the Willys Sport with only the A/C option, 6 spd manual and the stock V6. List Price around $33,900, actually you get a pretty nice Jeep for that price.

trainman

 

[jimim]

I need hard buttons also. Touch buttons are a pain. If I want to up my temp 1 or 2 degrees I don’t want to dig down 4 screens and 5 touches. I’m very glad Jeep still has all the hard buttons. Have never used the touch ones yet.

piano black is ok if not used so much like Subaru is doing now. My parents outback is covered woth it. It is better than silver trim. Silver is ok if it has other colors with It.

too Many layered plastics is my biggest complaint. Example my Tahoe. It is layer upon layer of different plastic textures and colors built up forcthe center console. If one moves you get a squeak that doesn’t go away or you can fix.

keep it simple.

 

[multicam]

 

[zrickety]

Looks like the parking lot at my kids school.

 

[sentience]

Every car looks angry now.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Subscription model. It’s just starting, and will be prolific in short order.

Pay monthly to unlock my heated steering wheel? Eff that.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bmw-subscription-model-for-features-2020-7

 

[Gladius Nova]

ESS....I absolutely can't stand it.

 

[JLBoucher]

Packaged options rather than a la carte. This isn’t going to change. It makes more profit for manufacturers and it is much, much easier for production.

Limited color options. I can’t see how offering 30 colors for all models (including the obligatory 12 shades of silver/gray) is a problem. Rather than some models in certain colors and other models in different colors.

That I can answer, thanks to my brother-in-law who's painting cars for Cadillac in United States.

Developing a color, for a car, is such a headache. It's your color, that you have to develop. Little did I know, they're mixing in batches, which means they have to make it every now and then for a production run (about every 3 weeks is what he says).

If your mix ain't right by a tiny marging, you have to waste it. It's very complicated and it's a science.

So the more you have options, the more you have to prep paint. The more you risk a mistake, the more you spend. So carmakers are offering colors people usually pick for that kind of car, that demographic, that part of the world, etc.

They have meetings, like...three times a week to show stats about what color is popular, what color costs too much to make, what color doesn't cut it, etc. It really is very complicated and there's about 67 charts for every color.

 

[JLBoucher]

OH!, i'm adding another trend that I can't stand: crossovers.

*Takes a deep breath*

Who...in his right frame on mind...would even spend a dime on crossovers. Hey, i'm guilty: fell into that trap once with a Mazda CX-30. And I can't believe my dealer bought it back for that price (high demand, don't ask me why).

They're not fun to drive, they don't have cargo space, they don't have a proper ground clearance, they don't have anything for them. Nothing! They're just glorified hatchbacks!

Give me a hatchback, then! Why are people willing to pay more for a beefed up Hyundai Accent is beyond my comprehension.

Hey, I made a "can it fit?" contest with my wife. My CX-30 vs her Mazda 3. I kid you not, it was easier to fit stuff in her car than mine. Hers would take a 2X4X8 in the car. Not mine.

THEY SUCK!

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[HungryHound]

Packaged options rather than a la carte. This isn’t going to change. It makes more profit for manufacturers and it is much, much easier for production.

Limited color options. I can’t see how offering 30 colors for all models (including the obligatory 12 shades of silver/gray) is a problem. Rather than some models in certain colors and other models in different colors.

Another reason I cancelled my Bronco reservation beyond availability was the fact that heated seats were buried in giant nanny package. With the JL, it's available singly.

 

[HungryHound]

OH!, i'm adding another trend that I can't stand: crossovers.

*Takes a deep breath*

Who...in his right frame on mind...would even spend a dime on crossovers. Hey, i'm guilty: fell into that trap once with a Mazda CX-30. And I can't believe my dealer bought it back for that price (high demand, don't ask me why).

They're not fun to drive, they don't have cargo space, they don't have a proper ground clearance, they don't have anything for them. Nothing! They're just glorified hatchbacks!

Give me a hatchback, then! Why are people willing to pay more for a beefed up Hyundai Accent is beyond my comprehension.

Hey, I made a "can it fit?" contest with my wife. My CX-30 vs her Mazda 3. I kid you not, it was easier to fit stuff in her car than mine. Hers would take a 2X4X8 in the car. Not mine.

THEY SUCK!

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Lots a d lots of older people who can't get up out of a car or into a Jeep buy them. Boomers are tearing up that market.

 

[JLBoucher]

Lots a d lots of older people who can't get up out of a car or into a Jeep buy them. Boomers are tearing up that market.

Oh, forget about boomers and such. Youngsters also buy this crap. We're 12 doctors at the hospital. We're all under 40. 9 of them have white crossovers. And i'm not talking about sensible CR-Vs or stuff like that. I'm talking about Acuras, Lexuses, Infinitis, Beemers. They cost a shit ton of money.

It looks like a parking lot that won the 2021 Stupid awards.

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