A Car You Love With a Feature You Loathe

confuZion3 said:

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.

At least ten years ago, the rental mustang had a top speed limit (80mph? My memory is fuzzy). Coworker spent the whole drive from Atlanta to Charlotte trying to defeat it

I will say that V6 Mustang was easily my favorite rental car I've had, but I've certainly never rented anything exotic  

Maverick hybrid.
It will not retain your choice for drive mode once you turn the key off. So if you prefer Sport or Eco mode, every time you start it up you have to push a button on the steering wheel 4 times to clear VERY IMPOTENT messages (hey you took the parking brake off, hey you buckled your seatbelt, hey your vehicle is ready to drive and I forget the last one) in order to see the drive mode indicator (because those VERY IMPOTENT messages block that part of the display). Then you have to push the drive mode button on the center console 4 times to get Eco mode or 5 times to get Sport mode. Really Ford? 

I have a Volvo C30. I love it. It's a joy to drive. The parking brake is on the wrong side of the console.

most cars have it on the passenger side, but nope. Crammed right against my leg.

I wear BDUs to work and every single time my wallet catches it on the way out.

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

Wait, really? Every car I've owned has the ebrake on the driver's side or centered. 

AClockworkGarage said:

I have a Volvo C30. I love it. It's a joy to drive. The parking brake is on the wrong side of the console.

most cars have it on the passenger side, but nope. Crammed right against my leg.

I wear BDUs to work and every single time my wallet catches it on the way out.

Also why do you need the e-brake in an auto unless you're parking on a slope? 

My 23 Raptor - I love the car. I hate that even though I've turned off automatic downloads/updates/etc to the infotainment, it still prompts me every time I turn on the car to allow it to download the most recent updates. This prompt delays carplay from starting up on the phone too. Minor inconvenience but it's annoying. 

I hate the auto start/stop on this as well. 

The TCM is terrible in all 10 speed F-150s too, widely known issues that Ford refuses to acknowledge. 

I hate that is has this beautiful digital screen for the gauge cluster and you can't customize it at all. I want retro F-150 guages like the Mustang can get. I'm thinking the early 2000s indiglo gauges on the Lightning LOL. But seriously, these cars are filled with so much tech but so neutered in their capabilities/scalabilities for the user. 

I also hate that the tailgate opens with a button sans a phyical handle/latch system. If it senses any kind of object/obstruction it simply won't open or close. There are times I'm hauling things and the tailgate simply won't open because it thinks there's an obstruction. 

2023 GR Corolla.  I still look forward to driving it every morning.

The digital nannies have taken a bit to get used to.  I'm glad I learned how to turn off the adaptive cruise.  The lane change assist/warning thing that fought me and the steering wheel if I tried to change lanes suddenly to avoid Karen on her cellphone.  That's not when I want you second guessing me.

But right now the biggest nuisance is the PSC or whatever they call the warning system for someone in front of me.  I get almost daily flashing red dashboard and beeps because it thinks I don't realize someone is slowing down in front of me.  The worst is when someone was coming to a stop sign to my right while I was heading down a 35mph road and it freaked out, flashing red, beeping, HITTING THE BRAKES.  Adrenaline is better than coffee.

I finally realized it has 3 adjustments, default is middle, I think I have it at least annoying now.  It's possible to turn off but it restarts with every drive.

Anything equipped with autostart stop that you cant disable or have to disable every time you get in, and pretty much an ADAS feature

rustomatic said:

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.

I wonder, this morning, what the oldest car is that can be hacked to run DOOM on its infotainment stack.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Considering DOOM can be run on anything from digital picture frames to a 1998 Kodak DC260 digital camera, I'd wager it's an older vehicle than we think...

My 2003 Sierra Denali. By far the best truck I have ever owned. The revers opening rear doors that can only open if the front door is opened was so annoying.  
 

It's best feature was the Quadrasteer. It gave it the turning radius of my Corolla and made towing so much better.

I want GM to bring that back. Such a great feature. 

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

Maverick hybrid.
It will not retain your choice for drive mode once you turn the key off. So if you prefer Sport or Eco mode, every time you start it up you have to push a button on the steering wheel 4 times to clear VERY IMPOTENT messages (hey you took the parking brake off, hey you buckled your seatbelt, hey your vehicle is ready to drive and I forget the last one) in order to see the drive mode indicator (because those VERY IMPOTENT messages block that part of the display). Then you have to push the drive mode button on the center console 4 times to get Eco mode or 5 times to get Sport mode. Really Ford? 

I'd look into coding for that. I'm not sure about the Maverick, but I remember mustangs having a pretty solid coding support. I wouldn't be surprised if you can fix all of that.

edit- check this out. https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/ultimate-forscan-ford-maverick-spreadsheet-masterlist-%F0%9F%97%92%EF%B8%8F.46617/

I don't get the auto-stop-start hate.  The only vehicle I've ever had it on was my Focus RS.  It was transparent and never got in my way.  It only did it when I took my foot of the clutch in neutral.  It was impossible to get the car back in gear before it restarted as way ready to go.  Maybe there are a ton of terrible implementations out there?

The radar functions on my 2020 Tacoma are fine.  The adaptive cruise control is useless when there's more than one lane going the direction you want to go, so I use normal cruise control in those situations.  It's quite useful in other situations, like miles-long single-lane construction zones.  I set it to closest distance (unless I'm pulling a trailer, in which case I set it to the farthest distance) and follow the person in front of me because there's nothing else to do.  I did once have it start to apply emergency braking in a maneuver where I was accelerating to get in front of the car to my left, and there was a much slower person in front of me that unexpectedly started braking.  Full wide open throttle disabled the braking and it was a non-issue.

I find the lane assist on my GR corolla to be quite annoying.  In normal driving, it's fine--it nudges you away from lane markers unless you use your turn signal. But in adaptive cruise control mode, it actively aims for the center of the lane.  Which means it's constantly applying steering input.  This would be fine if I could take my hands off the wheel and let it do its thing.  But it detects that and yells at me to my hands back on the wheel.  Having my hands on the wheel while it's constantly applying input is incredibly frustrating, so I just disable it.

I think the default-modes on start is related to EPA testing.  I think you can't claim EPA numbers in a mode that's not the default.  So the Corolla will stay in ECO mode or NORMAL mode, but won't stay in SPORT mode after a restart.  It's a single tap to get it back there, which is fine.

In reply to Berck :

Yeah the default Normal vs Sport isn't terrible.  I'm down to one button now (except to clear the "Don't drive like a maniac because the coolant is cold" warning).  The Abarth was the same way, normal vs sport was a button push every time.  It just became habit.

Reading through all of this, it almost seems like the features we all hate the most are the ones that weren't really ready for consumer use (or aren't intended to please consumers), but were mandated by government agencies who thought they seemed like good ideas.

DirtyBird222 said:

My 23 Raptor - I love the car. I hate that even though I've turned off automatic downloads/updates/etc to the infotainment, it still prompts me every time I turn on the car to allow it to download the most recent updates. This prompt delays carplay from starting up on the phone too. Minor inconvenience but it's annoying. 

I hate the auto start/stop on this as well. 

The TCM is terrible in all 10 speed F-150s too, widely known issues that Ford refuses to acknowledge. 

I hate that is has this beautiful digital screen for the gauge cluster and you can't customize it at all. I want retro F-150 guages like the Mustang can get. I'm thinking the early 2000s indiglo gauges on the Lightning LOL. But seriously, these cars are filled with so much tech but so neutered in their capabilities/scalabilities for the user. 

I also hate that the tailgate opens with a button sans a phyical handle/latch system. If it senses any kind of object/obstruction it simply won't open or close. There are times I'm hauling things and the tailgate simply won't open because it thinks there's an obstruction. 

"Love" might be a bit strong for our 2023 F-150, but why does it need to splash a little F-150 advertisement every time we power it on?  It isn't like we haven't already bought one.

I loathe that my MGA has no actual windows, just side curtains.  It was made in 1960, even British Leyland knew how to make roll up windows by then.  Side curtains are just so terrible.  

Berck said:

I don't get the auto-stop-start hate.  The only vehicle I've ever had it on was my Focus RS.  It was transparent and never got in my way.  It only did it when I took my foot of the clutch in neutral.  It was impossible to get the car back in gear before it restarted as way ready to go.  Maybe there are a ton of terrible implementations out there?

The adaptive cruise control is useless when there's more than one lane going the direction you want to go, so I use normal cruise control in those situations. 

I find the lane assist on my GR corolla to be quite annoying.  

Perhaps auto stop/start is more annoying in an automatic?  You expect to be able to lift your foot off the brake and have it creep forwards, but it has to restart the engine to do that so becomes a lot less smooth.  I also just find it generally annoying, because sometimes it does it and sometimes it doesn't (depends a lot of not-immediately obvious factors), so you're never sure if the car has stalled or if it's just the stop/start system.  It's just pointless confusion, the amount of fuel it saves is miniscule.

Odd that your adaptive cruise doesn't work with multiple lanes -- I've used 3 or 4 different manufacturers' systems and they've all handled that just fine.  Adaptive cruise works great in the Audis I've owned and in my F-250, but the implementation in the Mazda CX-9 was not great.  All of them allow you to drive the car into the zone it wouldn't normally go with the throttle, but with the Mazda if you let off the throttle while you're still closer to the car in front than the setting it will hit the brakes HARD, potentially brake checking someone behind you.

I agree that having the car turning the wheel as well is spooky and disconcerting, so I generally leave it off unless I'm driving at night when I'm tired.  The vehicles I've owned with it have had the ability to enable/disable it separately from adaptive cruise.

Recon1342 said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Considering DOOM can be run on anything from digital picture frames to a 1998 Kodak DC260 digital camera, I'd wager it's an older vehicle than we think...

That's beautiful! I had no idea!

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

If autostart is annoying to people who creep forward at lights, all vehicles should have this feature and it should not be able to be disabled.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

If autostart is annoying to people who creep forward at lights, all vehicles should have this feature and it should not be able to be disabled.

It's annoying when parking.

We have a 2023 Highlander hybrid.  Like the thing overall, but Toyota's adaptive cruise control sucks.  Have to turn off the lane departure feature and set the following distance to minimum just to use it.  

Thought we would like the car to phone feature (where did you park, is the vehicle parked, etc).  It sucks too.  We live in an area where there are many places where there is no cell service.  Every time the cell service drops, the damn car wants you to re-authenticate with the phone.  Turned that off as well.

Finally, Toyota has a subscription navigation system.  Every time you start the car, an ad for the thing shows up.  No way to disable.  

And don't get me started on SiriusXM....

We liked our 2012 XC60's infotainment system much better.

P3PPY said:

Recon1342 said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Considering DOOM can be run on anything from digital picture frames to a 1998 Kodak DC260 digital camera, I'd wager it's an older vehicle than we think...

That's beautiful! I had no idea!

Bit of a derail, but you'll love this-

There's an entire subReddit dedicated to finding things that will run DOOM. 

The list includes Word, MSPaint, PDF, TI-84 graphing calculators, apple watch OS 2...

Will it run DOOM?

I really enjoy driving my dad's 2016 Chevy SS. Powerful V8 manual transmission good suspension good seats good visibility yet when you engage reverse the side view mirrors tip down and all you can see is the pavement immediately behind your bumper. I realize it has that camera deal the trunk lid but that can often be covered in dust mud or snow and then you back up by having to turn around and look over the back side it's a first world problem but damn it it's a first world car

I really enjoy driving my dad's 2016 Chevy SS. Powerful V8 manual transmission good suspension good seats good visibility yet when you engage reverse the side view mirrors tip down and all you can see is the pavement immediately behind your bumper. I realize it has that camera deal the trunk lid but that can often be covered in dust mud or snow and then you back up by having to turn around and look over the back side it's a first world problem but damn it it's a first world car