Worst design trend of the last 25 years

MiniDave said:

Back in the day when you couldn't afford hubcaps you had black steel wheels - that's what this trend reminds me of....

I think black steel wheels are way cooler than most hubcaps...

High belt lines and thick pillars.

Since roll cage tubes are smaller than modern pillars, why not just use as a core with a decrotive pillar around it?

Whats gained by getting rid of dipsticks? A lot of cars still have a tube with a plug in the end. Don't say cost cutting. That stick is way cheaper than a sensor, wiring, and display.

I was going to mention the horrible floating roof/C-pillar trend but STM317 beat me to it.

How about over complicated lighting assemblies? If a headlight or taillight got broke, it was a simple swap of the lense or assembly. Now it's a $1500 part with multiple sensors, adaptive optics, cameras, etc. 

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) said:

Grillz

I really can't believe that BMW opted to use that cheap E36 M3 perforated metal that your sleazy landord put over the radiators in your crappy first apartment.

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

Whats gained by getting rid of dipsticks? A lot of cars still have a tube with a plug in the end. Don't say cost cutting. That stick is way cheaper than a sensor, wiring, and display.

You may be surprised.  I wouldn't put money on a spring steel dip stick, with a seat and an overmolded plastic 'handle'  being cheaper than a simple sensor.  The display is essentially free, as it's not a seperate light or fitting, it's just a read out on an existing display, just rearanging some electons.

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

Whats gained by getting rid of dipsticks? A lot of cars still have a tube with a plug in the end. Don't say cost cutting. That stick is way cheaper than a sensor, wiring, and display.

You may be surprised.  I wouldn't put money on a spring steel dip stick, with a seat and an overmolded plastic 'handle'  being cheaper than a simple sensor.  The display is essentially free, as it's not a seperate light or fitting, it's just a read out on an existing display, just rearanging some electons.

I have been told it's related to evaporative emissions from the crankcase.

Toyota seems to be going with the "fu manchu" look now. 
 

Fu manchu PLUS a "if you thought our headlights were not blinding enough, now we have a blinding light bar to let everyone know how much of an offroad poser you are in the mall parking lot"

toyotas new ad campaign, "TOYOTA, berk your eyes"

My vote goes to either a) touchscreen controls replacing physical buttons or b) high seating positions

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

Whats gained by getting rid of dipsticks? A lot of cars still have a tube with a plug in the end. Don't say cost cutting. That stick is way cheaper than a sensor, wiring, and display.

You may be surprised.  I wouldn't put money on a spring steel dip stick, with a seat and an overmolded plastic 'handle'  being cheaper than a simple sensor.  The display is essentially free, as it's not a seperate light or fitting, it's just a read out on an existing display, just rearanging some electons.

I have been told it's related to evaporative emissions from the crankcase.

That's my understanding as well.  When you're trying to control crankcase airflow very precisely, the more potentially leaky seals you can eliminate, the better.  BMW was pulling vacuum on their crankcases via the CCV with no return air 20+ years ago and had 2 big o-rings on the dipstick to keep it sealed.  Pulling it with the engine running actually introduces a vacuum leak. 

I guess I like cars that have actual shapes.  It seems like everything is starting to look like a mad origami artist had been at work.

In reply to CJ :

Some poor drafter came up with a nice, simple silhouette, but 10 junior execs where standing behind him breathing down his neck telling him to add a crease here and a fold over there... and put that gap over there at the back of the side window.

The grills are it for me.

Optimus Prime may be cool but I don't want his face on my car.

earlybroncoguy1 said:

Front wheel drive.

Four cylinders.

Wow. And I thought that I was an old fogey!

Ironically I've been giving a lot of thought to buying a Citroen Traction Avant. Front wheel drive, four cylinders. They started that annoying design trend in 1934.

My biggest beef with cars.. they keep making them bigger. Then, when they get too big, they have to make another smaller model to fit under it. Think BMW 3 series and Honda Civic, They used to be the small models in the lineup,  now they are the middle cars and the 1 and Fit are slotted into their place.  

Toyota has been good with the Corolla, but even that is looking a little portly.

Don't get me started on trucks that you cannot reach over the side of the bed to put stuff in or out of.

In reply to mad_machine :

Absolutely, also the Maverick was not bad, though still bigger than it needs to be. At least reaching over the bed is not too bad.

In reply to mad_machine :

That has always perplexed me too.

Did any mfg ever install a grease/lubrication nipple on cable parking brakes straight from the factory?

In reply to TJL (Forum Supporter) :

For me it's two intersecting trends - bigger/taller vehicles all around + mega-bright headlights. Driving a sports car at night means you can reliably expect to get blinded by other drivers.

Frustratingly, two trends that are related in part to people thinking about safety on an individual basis (i.e. "I'm higher/heavier and less vulnerable in a collision; brighter lights mean I can see better) result in a degradation in collective safety. And of course, roads being shared, collective safety is what matters.

Stupid tall truck beds and gaint trucks, overly bright headlights (imo GM trucks and SUVs is the freaking worst).

Tyler H said:

BMWs do jacking points right.  Front jacking puck fits perfectly in the saddle of a typical trolley jack.  Pretty easy to get them on four jack stands without screwing anything up.  They even have pucks for the jackstands, so you aren't tearing up a pinch weld seam.

I am pretty sure that is a joke in there about BMWs needing to be jacked up a lot more often.

Well looky there, you can put lipstick on a pig.

I'm also on the "black wheels suck" bandwagon.  When you stand more than 15 feet away from the car, almost all the detail of the wheel is visually lost.  And for me, wheels go a long way at making or breaking the appeal of a car.

I'm with a lot of you on here. These are not in any particular order

1) Electronic E-brakes that fail closed when the battery dies. Have a manual car that you could potentially push start? Good luck. 

2) The Jelly bean design aesthetic. Not only is it ugly and uninspiring, they aren't ergonomic, and have less cargo space than a sedan counterpart. 

3) Interior color offerings. Since the mid-90s we've been subjected to mostly beige, white, black, some variation of gray, and maybe some red, filled with cheap plastics, fake wood/carbon fiber/aluminum/you name it trim. I need pea green, mustard yellow, houndstooth, plaid, etc to come back. 

4) Do exterior color offerings count as design trends? Neutrals with a red and/or blue offering seems to be the standard across the industry for any car on the market. With a limited release of a few one off colors that get a dealer market and then have an insane demand because, well it's not something normal. Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep maybe the one outlier here. BMW and Porsche individual colors also don't count because of the absurd markup to get a custom color. 

5) Up-scaling everything. As others have stated, why is it impossible to find bare bones vehicles?

6) The evolution of a generation of a car taking a step backwards - My example is the 3rd generation Toyota Sequoia. The first two gens, perfect family vehicles, with a decent towing capacity, plenty of power, and plenty of space to haul your crotch demons around. The 3rd generation gets a ton of updates to things like the infotainment and towing capacity while taking away the functionality of the rear cargo area. The new Sequoia has less cargo space than a highlander or 4 runner because of the hybrid system while also ditching the rear rolldown window in favor of a safari/hinged window. 

I am also not a fan of the large grills on new vehicles.  The digital dashes & infotainment systems that just look like a tablet glued to the dash is another bad one.  I could also live without the push button door handles that are becoming more common.