"Improvements" to road vehicles which have arguably made things worse?

[edwin_m]

Now that lighting is universally becoming solid state, I suggest it's time to re-visit hazard lights. If one side is obscured then the hazard light looks as if the vehicle is indicating to the other side. Operating the hazard lights could cause them to flash at a different rate, such as a double strobe, as is often seen with flashing beacon lights.

 

[Bald Rick]

Now that lighting is universally becoming solid state, I suggest it's time to re-visit hazard lights. If one side is obscured then the hazard light looks as if the vehicle is indicating to the other side. Operating the hazard lights could cause them to flash at a different rate, such as a double strobe, as is often seen with flashing beacon lights.

Ooh good idea. Suspect that might need a change in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regs (1989) although there is a bit of wiggle room:

Every indicator (other than a semaphore arm, that is an indicator in the form of an illuminated sign which when in operation temporarily alters the outline of the vehicle to the extent of at least 150 mm measured horizontally and is visible from both the front and rear of the vehicle) shall when in operation show a light which flashes constantly at the rate of not less than 60 nor more than 120 flashes per minute.

 

[Harpo]

Now that lighting is universally becoming solid state, I suggest it's time to re-visit hazard lights. If one side is obscured then the hazard light looks as if the vehicle is indicating to the other side.

Agreed. Hazards main role nowadays seems to be as a delivery drivers’ ‘parking wherever I want’ indicator.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed. Hazards main role nowadays seems to be as a delivery drivers’ ‘parking wherever I want’ indicator.

I've always called them "idiot lights" as they are mostly used to identify someone parking or manoeuvring in a way that is either illegal, inconsiderate or both. Only very occasionally are they used to identify a vehicle that is in a dangerous place unintentionally (i.e. broken down).

 

[Taunton]

Suppose it depends where you drive. I've had plenty of nails and screws, which usually leave a repairable tyre (if gunk isn't used). It seems to be par for the course if doing home renovation works - however hard you look, there's always an errant screw or nail hiding on the floor at the tip waiting to get you, and a new tyre every time can prove rather costly.

Alas, mine seem to be things like sudden front wheel deflation at 70mph in the outside lane of the M25 (Junction 26 at Waltham Cross, westbound, if you must know), where by the time I pulled onto the hard shoulder it was shredded.

Nice car though, kept in a straight line as all this was going on. Reflecting on this afterwards, I was impressed.

Having only had two or three tyre failures in what I calculate is 1/4 million miles of driving in the past 20-odd years, I seem better than others.

 

[Bald Rick]

Having only had two or three tyre failures in what I calculate is 1/4 million miles of driving in the past 20-odd years, I seem better than others.

I‘ve been driving over 40 years (most of them legally ) and have probably had 20-30 punctures in that time. At one point I was getting so many nails and screws in the tyres I was seriously suspecting someone was doing it deliberately. I think my record was 4 in one tyre at the same time, one of which was a 10mm bolt. To be fair I only knew about this as the tyre deflation warning came on.

As an aside, I still have the receipt for the repair of my first puncture, but only because all it said was:

1 x puncher - £7.50

 

[GordonT]

First time of seeing a local town service bus broken down at the side of the road because it had run out of lecky this evening as opposed to lack of diesel towards the end of its day's work. Doesn't exactly conform to the thread title of improvements making things worse but you would think the latest technology would enable a clearer advance indication of when to expect powerlessness?

 

[E27007]

I nominate headlamps lenses made of plastic, as the car ages the lenses turn opaque, an MoT failure, and require repair or replacement, never had such issues with glass.

 

[jfollows]

In the 1970s the late Jimmy Carter's administration introduced legislation mandating either air bags (even then, a proven technology) or "automated seat belts" by the mid 1980s.

I lived in the USA in the late 1980s, and came across these horrible "automated seat belts", for example when I hired cars. One of the issues was that virtually nobody at the time used seat belts even when fitted, and there were few if no state laws mandating their use.

The federal requirement for either air bags or "automated seat belts" meant that many manufacturers opted for the vastly cheaper seat belt option. For anyone not unfortunate enough to suffer them, the way they worked was a motorised drive down the car ‘A’ pillar for front seat passengers, meaning that the driver (or front seat passenger) got in the car and when the door was closed a nasty motor whirred and put the diagonal part of the seat belt across you, in place.

The obvious problem is that the lower horizontal lap belt still had to be done up manually. So anyone who used seatbelts anyway had no saving, and had to remember to do up the manual part of the belt. Anyone who didn't do up the horizontal belt was in danger of being ejected in to the seat well in an accident.

Eventually, by 1998, new legislation mandated air bags, which killed off the "automated seat belt” thing.

I was fortunate that my 1991 Ford Mustang had air bags, not that I would have bought any car with the automated seat belt thing.

I guess most posters here won't have encountered these, they would have had to have been driving in the US in the 1980s and 1990s. They were instantly horrible in my opinion, and I doubt the sanity of anyone who thought they were a good idea - presumably someone decided because they were "better" than nothing at all, and presumably in face of lobbying by car manufacturers, the cheap and nasty "solution" existed for a number of years.

 

[Stathern Jc]

On VW keyfobs, our 22 plate Passat was even more annoying, opening the boot on the move if the key fob got squashed in my pocket.

I have to admit, motorised tailgates don't appeal to me at all.
I'm quite happy to give the tailgate a good slam rether than having to wait for a motor to wind it down.

My Mk 7 GTD is 9 years old and I'll have to accept that there will be a number of "updates" on whatever I eventually have to replace it with. Like @Harpo I don't find that the Mk 8 Golf has anything like the same appeal, not least the central display now looking like someone's stuck a tablet on the dashboard.

I'm thinking that I might look towards a A-Class or an A3 next, but either will have some of the "irritations" already mentioned that I'll need to get used to.
Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to change sooner rather than later, before the "intelligent" cars become more prescriptive, and (apologies for drifting off subject) prices for conventional cars creep up in a couple of years from the penalties for manufacturers not meeting increasing EV quotas.

 

[Tester]

In the 1970s the late Jimmy Carter's administration introduced legislation mandating either air bags (even then, a proven technology) or "automated seat belts" by the mid 1980s.

I lived in the USA in the late 1980s, and came across these horrible "automated seat belts", for example when I hired cars. One of the issues was that virtually nobody at the time used seat belts even when fitted, and there were few if no state laws mandating their use.

The federal requirement for either air bags or "automated seat belts" meant that many manufacturers opted for the vastly cheaper seat belt option. For anyone not unfortunate enough to suffer them, the way they worked was a motorised drive down the car ‘A’ pillar for front seat passengers, meaning that the driver (or front seat passenger) got in the car and when the door was closed a nasty motor whirred and put the diagonal part of the seat belt across you, in place.

The obvious problem is that the lower horizontal lap belt still had to be done up manually. So anyone who used seatbelts anyway had no saving, and had to remember to do up the manual part of the belt. Anyone who didn't do up the horizontal belt was in danger of being ejected in to the seat well in an accident.

Eventually, by 1998, new legislation mandated air bags, which killed off the "automated seat belt” thing.

I was fortunate that my 1991 Ford Mustang had air bags, not that I would have bought any car with the automated seat belt thing.

I guess most posters here won't have encountered these, they would have had to have been driving in the US in the 1980s and 1990s. They were instantly horrible in my opinion, and I doubt the sanity of anyone who thought they were a good idea - presumably someone decided because they were "better" than nothing at all, and presumably in face of lobbying by car manufacturers, the cheap and nasty "solution" existed for a number of years.

I used one of these in 2004 - absolutely ridiculous, as you say.

 

[Stewart2887]

I have to admit, motorised tailgates don't appeal to me at all.
I'm quite happy to give the tailgate a good slam rether than having to wait for a motor to wind it down.

My Mk 7 GTD is 9 years old and I'll have to accept that there will be a number of "updates" on whatever I eventually have to replace it with. Like @Harpo I don't find that the Mk 8 Golf has anything like the same appeal, not least the central display now looking like someone's stuck a tablet on the dashboard.

I'm thinking that I might look towards a A-Class or an A3 next, but either will have some of the "irritations" already mentioned that I'll need to get used to.
Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to change sooner rather than later, before the "intelligent" cars become more prescriptive, and (apologies for drifting off subject) prices for conventional cars creep up in a couple of years from the penalties for manufacturers not meeting increasing EV quotas.

I hear what you're saying. I have a Golf 8, and I like the digital dashboard. Thre's not much I need to adjust using it, still controls on the wheel or dashboard for important things. Navigation stuff on the move is crap though. I'm sure this car will die electronically before mechanically. The 1.5 petrol engine is both quite lively and economical, two cylinders disabled much of the time

 

[66701GBRF]

I nominate headlamps lenses made of plastic, as the car ages the lenses turn opaque, an MoT failure, and require repair or replacement, never had such issues with glass.

Takes decades to get bad enough to fail an MOT and in that time plastic probably stands up to stones better than glass. In any case a light sand and buff takes away the opaque layer.

 

[Meerkat]

I love keyless but really don't understand why they don't have an off switch to avoid the theft issue. Pushing that button when you pick up the keys isn't a big issue and you keep the benefits of not needing to access keys at the car.

Re the reversing alarms comment up thread its either Kia or Hyundai that have ridiculously loud beepers - at night you can hear them right down the street with the windows closed.

Another supporter of banning touch screens as they are unsafe. A compromise would be like aviation where the screen has buttons around the edge that align to the adjacent purpose on the screen - which can be changed and changes as you go through menus.

LED lights have allowed designers to make lighting unsafe* - tiny indicators and/or indicators in the middle of or too close to main lights for them to show up.
Had a moment when one cars tiny indicator was hidden by a small branch!

*Though VW managed that with old lights on the Golfs that had a circular indicator in the middle of a ring for the rear and brake lights!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I love keyless but really don't understand why they don't have an off switch to avoid the theft issue. Pushing that button when you pick up the keys isn't a big issue and you keep the benefits of not needing to access keys at the car.

This seems a good compromise. Push a button on the fob to activate keyless for ten minutes, say. So you can push it as you pick up your bags from the Tesco checkout and then wave your foot under the boot for it to automatically open so you can put them in, but someone can't nick your car at 5am using the feature.

 

[Ediswan]

LED lights have allowed designers to make lighting unsafe* - tiny indicators and/or indicators in the middle of or too close to main lights for them to show up.
Had a moment when one cars tiny indicator was hidden by a small branch!

Agreed. Vehicle lighting regulations should be updated to mandate a minimum illuminated area for indicators. Old style indicators are much harder to miss.

 

[Meerkat]

This seems a good compromise. Push a button on the fob to activate keyless for ten minutes, say. So you can push it as you pick up your bags from the Tesco checkout and then wave your foot under the boot for it to automatically open so you can put them in, but someone can't nick your car at 5am using the feature.

In reality you only need to switch them off at home - do cars get stolen by the key repeater method from anywhere else?

 

[Camberman]

Call me a cynic, but I believe one of the reasons for providing these "improvements" is to deliver greater profits for the vehicle manufacturers....

 

[Mawkie]

Push a button on the fob to activate keyless for ten minutes

I believe Hyundai/Kia introduced a keyless key that turned itself off if it didn't detect movement for 10 minutes, but that seems to have been usurped by digital keys (using your mobile to open and start the car). Not sure if that's more or less secure.

 

[DM352]

Call me a cynic, but I believe one of the reasons for providing these "improvements" is to deliver greater profits for the vehicle manufacturers....

I read during the pandemic and some degree now, focus was for mid to high level trim to make more profits made 'affordable' still on longer amortisation. The base models are less basic when are available.

Two other things are:
1. Fixing the bells and whistles has to often be done by a dealer as less uniparts out there. The service department are also a profit centre. My ancient car used to fix myself or an independent shop.
2. Insurance as I learned is higher as the cost to fix/replace for a total loss is higher.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Obviously the so-called brighter headlights being too bright, especially on SUVs where their dipped beam dips right into other drivers faces

I second this. Hate the feature.

 

[aar0]

Due to a fault with the new car, power was unexpectedly lost and the car rolled back and collided with the car behind. The driver had panicked at the loss of power and she is sure that if there had been a handbrake lever as in all her previous cars she would have instinctively yanked it on quickly enough to prevent any impact with the car behind.

Did this and previous cars not have a foot pedal to operate the brakes she could have instinctively depressed?

One of the manufacturers (possibly Ford) did look at making the bonnet non-user-openable. There'd be a filler cap for screenwash, covered similarly to the fuel filler, and everything else would only be accessible at a service. Certainly a few manufacturers have made the dipstick an optional extra, since checking the oil level is no longer a weekly maintenance task.

The Audi A2 had this, opening the bonnet is a dealer only job

 

[E27007]

Takes decades to get bad enough to fail an MOT and in that time plastic probably stands up to stones better than glass. In any case a light sand and buff takes away the opaque layer.

The plastic lens has a coat of UV filtering varnish, the coating deteriorates and abrades away exposing the lens to UV , the lens turns opaque, in some cases after a few years, , polishing can help, after polishing the lens should be re-coated with UV varnish.Try finding a supplier of the UV varnish!

 

[bspahh]

The plastic lens has a coat of UV filtering varnish, the coating deteriorates and abrades away exposing the lens to UV , the lens turns opaque, in some cases after a few years, , polishing can help, after polishing the lens should be re-coated with UV varnish.Try finding a supplier of the UV varnish!

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[Dr_Paul]

I would prefer to not have electric windows. I often find them distracting when they don't do what I want them to, like opening fully instead of just a small amount. Also when parking having to turn the ignition back on when I've forgotten to close them.

It's the same with me. Plus on my motor, locking the driver's door with the key sometimes opens both the front-door windows. Why this happens is a mystery.

I'd not heard of some of these features mentioned in this thread, such as an electric handbrake, mandatory lane departure warning, hill start system. One day I'll be needing to buy a new motor, and I'm wondering what new features I'll have to learn to use.

 

[bspahh]

It's the same with me. Plus on my motor, locking the driver's door with the key sometimes opens both the front-door windows. Why this happens is a mystery.

With my Mondeo, its a feature where a long click will unlock the doors and open all the windows. That is fine on a hot day when its quicker to cool the car down.

Then the folding mechanism for my key got worn, so I got a £10 replacement from eBay. The buttons to unlock the car are bigger. Sometimes the windows would all open when I didn't want them, if I knelt down and the buttons got squeezed in my pocket. If I didn't notice that, and it was wet, then the seats would get wet.

I got a dealer to program the electronics and turn off this feature.

 

[Kite159]

Having the key being able to open the front electric windows is one thing I still miss from my old car, even though it's been gone nearly 6 years. Just for the ability to open the windows when approaching the car on a roasting hot day to allow some of the hot air to escape before I reached the car and opened the door.

Rather than opening the door and the air hitting you similar to opening an oven.

 

[DelW]

I'd not heard of some of these features mentioned in this thread, such as an electric handbrake, mandatory lane departure warning, hill start system. One day I'll be needing to buy a new motor, and I'm wondering what new features I'll have to learn to use.

I've been driving a car with an electronic handbrake for the last four and a half years, and it's only after reading this thread that I've experimented and found that it does indeed release when I touch the accelerator . I'd always released it using the switch, which also needs the brake pedal to be pressed. I suppose it goes to prove that I should have RTFM, but that's 300+ pages long and includes a lot of stuff about variations and options that mine doesn't have.

 

[GusB]

I've been driving a car with an electronic handbrake for the last four and a half years, and it's only after reading this thread that I've experimented and found that it does indeed release when I touch the accelerator . I'd always released it using the switch, which also needs the brake pedal to be pressed. I suppose it goes to prove that I should have RTFM, but that's 300+ pages long and includes a lot of stuff about variations and options that mine doesn't have.

My car has an electronic handbrake, but it's not completely automatic. It will release automatically when I bring the clutch to the bite and press the accelerator, although I can manually release it if I want to (again with brake pedal pressed - it beeps at me otherwise).

If I need to apply the handbrake, I still need to do so manually - the only difference is that I flick a switch instead of pulling on a lever. The brakes will automatically hold for a few seconds on a hill but the car will eventually roll back.

I was a little bit daunted at first and I just treated it the same way I would have done if the car had a mechanical handbrake. However, it's second nature now and it's one less thing to think about if I'm starting on a hill or waiting to get out of a junction that's on an incline.

 

[E27007]

BIOS engines, "Belt in Oil".
I have always favoured engines where the camshaft is driven by a timing chain over engines which use a belt.
I am prepared to accept a belt-driven camshaft engine provided the belt is dry , but not the crazy design by Ford (Ecoboost) and Stellantis ( Puretech) where the belt runs in sump oil. Hot engine oil and synthetic belts do not get along in a friendly fashion.
The oil-wetted belt will deteriorate shedding debris which blocks oil flow from the sump to the oil pump, and an early demise to an expensive engine
It is a well-known fault in the trade, Puretech and Ecoboost engines failing at 50,000 miles .
I hear Ford in the USA have lost a law-suit class action for Ecoboost "wet-belt" failing engines and an expensive recall and compensation campaign is in hand.