CrustyRedXpress said:
NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) said:
The "you're in reverse" persistent beeping in the Prius bugs me.
Came here to say exactly this!
No clue why the designers thought the beeping should be on the inside of the car.
Here is my understanding of the Prius reverse gear beep...
All reverse gear is done via silent electric motor. Therefore, someone thought it wise to audibly alert the diver the car was in reverse.
However, just because the Prius is in reverse gear does not mean that the engine will not be on. While traveling in reverse, the engine could be recharging the battery or trying to warm to meet the demand for in-cabin heat. But, what makes the car move in reverse is electric.
For Gen3's (2010+) this beeping can be turned off through software. The easiest of that software is the Dr. Prius app and a bluetooth dongle. Sadly, for Gen2's ('04-'09) this beeping can not be turned off.
My biggest Prius complaint is the "unique for the purpose of being unique" transmission shifter.
I'd also really like it if the trunk latch was not an electric latch...especially since the 12v battery is IN THE TRUNK!. If you have no power...you can not easily open the trunk to get to the battery. Oh, sure, there is a manual release that requires crawling yourself into the trunk but even then it is buried and far from being an intuitive procedure.
Auto start stop in the F150. I deactivate it each time I get in, way too clunky.
Auto wipers in the Model Y. It relies on the camera and no mic/sensor like most every other car on the road. Wipers will go full high-speed mode in a light mist or random shadow, then barely run during a full downpour. Drives me crazy!!
ddavidv
UltimaDork
2/11/25 7:27 a.m.
My fleet Equinox is actually very nice to drive. But it has several 'features' I wish it did not have.
Auto start/stop, though it works better than most. And I can turn it off.
Front collision warning that is WAAAAAY to active, and thinks mailboxes by the roadside are threats. I cannot turn it off.
Transmission programming that WILL NOT allow it to downshift to the real, proper gear when making a turn onto a side street. I have to push down on the gas, invoking a forced kickdown coupled with engine revving acceleration I did not want. I'd like to punch the guy who programmed this thing in the throat every single day.
buzzboy
UltraDork
2/11/25 8:23 a.m.
My 96 XJ is fanfreakingtastic in the snow, but the wipers don't fold up. Every icy morning I have to chip them out with my scraper
Our '23 CX-50 has been a decent car so far, but has two features that are infuriating:
- I-Stop. That's their auto start-stop function. It does it seemingly at random at stoplights, and is kinda clunky when you need to start moving again. It's defeatable with a button, at least.
- The cupholder location. Not my pic, but you get the point:
If you have a bottle bigger than a soda can, it will obscure the HVAC controls. Furthermore, there's a little shelf above it, and if you put anything on that shelf, it usually falls into the cupholders, causing you to have to fumble around and toss that stuff somewhere else just to put your drink back in there. I don't understand how/why they put these here. Dumb design.
One missing feature really bothers me: lack of cruise control on my 2002 Vanquish.
This was my dream car. It's an amazing highway cruiser, but it's VERY easy to let the speed get away from you. Why would any car built in the last 30 years not have cruise control available even as an option?
[not my photo: it's from Evo magazine]
After reading the posted link above, mine now seems trivial, but here it is anyway ... the dimwitted automatic wipers on my Acura RDX. They never seem to be able to match the actual amount of rain / snow coming down. PLEASE give me the regular old intermittent wiper setting, Acura!
Tony Sestito said:
Our '23 CX-50 has been a decent car...
If you have a bottle bigger than a soda can, it will obscure the HVAC controls.
What trim level? Do you have a thread on this car here? We are shopping cute utes. AW loves the looks, but we haven't driven one yet.
In reply to LanEvo :
The Vanquish is so pretty.
For the auto stop/start folks - does your vehicle have a "sport" setting? If so going to that setting keeps the S/S from operating - at least it does in my Audi. Same thing with the trans not wanting to downshift unless you give it too much go, the sport setting fixes this. Probably costs me 1 MPG in fuel economy, but I'm ok with that. Only thing I don't like is that I have to be a little judicious with the throttle, and it won't go into top gear on the highway unless I manually shift it into 7th.
My concern with what's going on with Musk is that it could cost a lot of people their jobs if sales continue to fall off, and I don't like that people who drive a Tesla are being branded as Musk "followers", when maybe all they did was buy a car they liked. And I def don't like that those cars are being vandalized.
My new-to-me CX-5 is great, but it does have the one thing that really irritates me - the cruise control slows down if you turn the wheel more than a few degrees. It's surprising how often it does that, even on the interstate. I've learned to anticipate and just use the ol' right foot to keep the speed steady, which seems to defeat the purpose of CC.
In reply to theruleslawyer :
I just read that. It looks legitimate, and rage-inducing. I like my Model Y, but if I ever receive an ad on the infotainment screen in that car, I'm setting it on fire in the parking lot of a Tesla store. When I get out of jail, I'll buy an old Miata and be done with new cars.
In reply to MiniDave :
Perhaps VAG has better engineers for this specific technology than do some of the manufacturers with products represented in this thread. My 2019 GTI has an almost seamless start/stop function. To turn it off means I have to press one button that's easily located.
Plus, even when on it's so easy to control: just the most incremental twitch of the steering wheel or a similar twitch on the brake pedal restarts the engine any time I want.
Prior to my purchase, I was trained by the internet and fully expected to hate such "nanny-state" technology. Six years on, it's just a "meh, whatever, internet."
I don't discount what others report for their vehicles. I just don't know why more manufacturers don't study this and make it a non-issue for their customers. It seems like it should be such an easy fix.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:
Tony Sestito said:
Our '23 CX-50 has been a decent car...
If you have a bottle bigger than a soda can, it will obscure the HVAC controls.
What trim level? Do you have a thread on this car here? We are shopping cute utes. AW loves the looks, but we haven't driven one yet.
It's a Turbo Premium. No thread here... yet. Has basically all the options except heated mirrors and heated rear seats. We like it, but there were a few quality issues we've dealt with early on that were annoying (blower motor died, HVAC blend door mechanism died, OEM brake pads wore out before 20k, driver's seat bolster tear that seems to happen to all of them, and a broken trim clip). Other than those things, we like it a lot. It feels like a big, automatic WRX to me. I feel it's more of a Porsche Macan competitor than a Subaru Outback competitor with how it drives and handles. I'd consider one if you're looking for something like that, but probably get a newer one to avoid first year issues (ours was one of the first off the line in '22).
Not so much a feature itself as a very poor execution of a feature: the automatic climate control in my AW11 has a temperature range of 70 to 85 degrees, with full cold and full hot at either end. When set to 70, it will provide full heat until 70 is reached. Slide the knob just left of 70 and you're into full cooling.
Swing and a miss.
I normally don't use cruise control, or at least I don't drive the car with it, but I will use it to set a minimum speed and then drive the car as normal. Like, say set it for 65 and drive faster if I want, but I won't go slower.
In the S60, the second car I've had this century with cruise control, if you hold the accelerator for more than ten seconds, it turns cruise control off. When I discovered this, I'd slowed to about 45 on a rural interstate. (Night time, so no traffic or good frames of reference) So, the cruise control is basically useless.
Part two. This car is geared ridiculously tall. It won't even shift to 6th until over 60mph. At about 70 the engine is turning only 2200-2300rpm. That's the same speed as 5th gear at about 55.
The upshot is, I'll be driving 55 and think I'm going 70 because the engine is making 2200-2300rpm vibrations, because the thing is in 5th gear not 6th.
Speaking of cruise control... I found that if I set the cruise in the Prius at, say 40, when I'm on the highway with hills going 70 or so, that when I let off going down, the re-gen seems more pronounced.
You know, these modern rental cars with fancy computers won't allow a good brake torque, neutral drop or a hand brake slide any more.
Generations of young business people will never feel the joy of relieving boredom on a company sales trip.
The entire concept of "infotainment" can suck it. Give me devices with knobs. I will use them or not use them, but only when I feel like it. That's it.
Datsun240ZGuy said:
You know, these modern rental cars with fancy computers won't allow a good brake torque, neutral drop or a hand brake slide any more.
Generations of young business people will never feel the joy of relieving boredom on a company sales trip.
And I present to you: the Mustang. Twice, now, I've rented Mustangs with automatic transmissions with the line lock feature still enabled (not sure if they can disable that). What car says business more than the Mustang? I dare say you'll be hard-pressed to find a more businessy car.
In reply to confuZion3 :
A neutral drop brings the largest smile. Will it do that?
Hmm. Probably not. I've never actually attempted a neutral drop in any vehicle on purpose.
confuZion3 said:
Hmm. Probably not. I've never actually attempted a neutral drop in any vehicle on purpose.
I, too, also like not having broken U joints or broken engine mounts.
Neutral drops were banned in the NHRA after one too many starters and other officials got showered with hot trans fluid when the transmission would grenade at launch. This was before high stall speed converters were generally available, so that was just how people tried to launch automatics. Especially pushbutton Mopars.
The lack of a trunk lid on current CTS/CT4/CT5-V's.
Yes, I know they have a trunk - they just don't have a trunk LID. The rear window extends all the way back to the taillights. It's ugly.
I love the cars - the fronts look great, the interiors, they're fast as hell, they sound great....but no trunk lid.
Now, if someone were to give me a CT5-V to drive, for free...I'm sure I could find a way to overlook that minor styling fail. At least while I was driving it, anyway.
