We Love Cars, but These 6 Things Really Grind Our Gears
There are a lot of things to get angry about in the car world, like gas prices and out-of-production parts and careless owners and stuck bolts. We try not to focus on those too much, but each of us still have those little things that just … ugh. They just get on our nerves. This week, we decided to get nit-picky. In the spirit of good humor, we’re sharing our automotive pet peeves: the various features, behaviors, and perspectives that get under our skin way more than perhaps they should. No—on second thought, we are exactly as irritated as we should be because double parkers are the actual worst.
Pet Peeve #1: Switch Blanks
This is petty, I know, but for me, it’s switch blanks. Those are the little rectangular inserts, usually black plastic, that cover up where a switch for a control—whatever, be it a turn-off for automatic start/stop; fog lights; traction control—was supposed to go, but this particular vehicle doesn’t have that feature.
A switch blank bothers me for two reasons: One, it messes up the symmetry of the dashboard or console to save the manufacturer the small expense of covering it up by design, instead of a plug, and two, it advertises the fact that no matter what you spent on the car, there was some feature or features you couldn’t afford. Your car is loaded? No, it isn’t, because you have an eyesore switch blank. And it isn’t just cheap vehicles—I tested a $223,000 car a few weeks ago that had a switch blank. OK, end of rant. — Steven Cole Smith
Pet Peeve #2: Stereotyping a Person Based on Their Car
Saying X car is for Y kind of people. Based on the stereotypes that run with my car history, I’ve been a hairdresser, a redneck, someone who doesn’t know how to use turn signals, a retiree, an NPR listener, and who knows what else. (Bonus points to anyone who can accurately guess the cars I’ve owned based on the above.) What someone thinks about others based on their car often says more about the observer than the observed. — Eddy Eckart
Pet Peeve #3: Doing a Burnout Leaving a Car Show
Not exactly a controversial opinion but … doing a burnout when leaving a car show. You don’t look cool. You’re not cool. Nobody above the age of 15 thinks you’re cool. You’re making the rest of us look bad. You’re making the venue nervous. You’re annoying the police and the neighbors.
These kinds of burnouts are dangerous, and not the sexy, glamorous kind of danger but the pointless, sad kind. Oh, and all those people lining the road recording your obnoxious exit? They’re there to get a clip of you crashing and looking like an idiot. — Andrew Newton
Pet Peeve #4: Unpredictable Drivers
I get annoyed by car owners who don’t want their car to be touched. It’s just a car, but since you keep calling it “your baby,” let’s face it, you were—happily—going to wash and wax it for a third time this week anyway, so calm down.
Pound for pound, however, it’s the people who don’t understand right of way that win top prize: Four-way stops are all too often an exercise in frustration, and heaven forbid the power goes out and the traffic lights start to blink.
Drivers who stop to let pedestrians cross mid-block, making wild assumptions that everyone else will stop, too. Be predictable, not polite.
Oh, and there’s a special place in hell for drivers who come to a stop on freeway on-ramps. — Stefan Lombard
Pet Peeve #5: Multi-Spot Parking Job
I considered a handful of answers for this question as I drove to the grocery store to run a quick errand, but the RIGHT answer smacked me in the face as I pulled into the parking lot.
Hands down, my biggest pet peeve is folks who intentionally park their cars to take up multiple parking spots. Oftentimes the perpetrators here are just regular pickups, SUVs, or cars; there’s not anything inherently priceless about them. You just couldn’t be bothered to be considerate of anyone but your immediate self.
I bet you don’t return your shopping carts either. — Nate Petroelje
Pet Peeve #6: Maniac Merging
Some onramps around metro Detroit are criminally short, or curved, or both, and construction is omnipresent, but merging should not be this chaotic. Whether we’re merging left to right to avoid construction, or right to left following an onramp, Michigan seems to completely misunderstand merging. You’ve got the aggressively proactive law abiders, who move over the minute they see any sign, even the ones reading “lane ends in one mile,” and you’ve got the normal people who wait until the lane is actually about to merge—when they can actually lay eyes on the light-up arrow signs, or because they counted down on their GPS or odometer from that “one mile” sign, and are planning to nudge over, at speed, with a comfortable 0.2 miles to go.
These opposite behaviors produce the strangest dynamics: People slamming on their brakes to merge as soon as they know a merge is coming, no matter if it’s a mile or half a mile away, and get behind each other in the most courteous yet most dangerously chaotic way, and the others shotgunning past those obsessively orderly cars, who of course honk at anyone who “cuts” the line. Anywhere else, that cutting would just be regular merging! — Grace Houghton
a lot of annoyances have been mentioned, and i agree with many. but, as with a particular twilight zone episode, if no one was around wherever i was, well, problems solved!
and beyond all that’s been mentioned, one of my many peeves is certified driver training not being mandatory on a national level (btw, driving is a privilege, not a luxury). this would greatly reduce most if not all peeves in this article’s thread.
fwiw, i’ve greatly reduced my stereotyping. for me, it rarely does good, tends to make me feel self-justified (not good), and can get me all worked up and ruin an otherwise good day (another not good). imo some generalizations are true, but not 100% or 100% of the time. what greatly reduces my level of stress or road rage, in a sort of selfish way, is applying these 2 rules on every driver around me. 1) don’t put me in an unsafe situation, and 2) don’t slow me down. when these rules are followed, some things the other drivers do can be pure entertainment
People need to educate themselves on the Zipper method during a a closing of a lane for construction on the highway. It was announced in Michigan some time ago to use this method. Yet, I see a mile or more backups with the left lane empty. And when YOU try to execute the zipper you’re the odd man out and I’m sure upsetting the line. ?????
Switch blanks just don’t bother me; I guess I have had so many cars (bought used) in my life that have those blanks, clock blanks, gauge blanks, etc..
The switch blanks are better than the butchered holes in the dash from some idiot/clown either installing his own “options” or replacing defective switches with whatever he can find to “do the job”.
I LIKE having a few blanks so I CAN add options without having to drill holes (heated seats and AC in my old Ranger would have been a LOT easier with a few blanks – – – )
There are basically only two kinds of drivers: Maniacs and Morons. The Maniacs are all going faster than me, while the Morons are all going slower.
That’s an old George Carlin routine, only it’s “Idiots and A-holes”.
Someone using my car and then changing the presets on my radio
I lived in NC and now SC. People in both states are unable to take a left turn. I see people not turning left because there’s a car 1/4 mile down the road. I’m originally from Boston, so when I see this I’m always thinking, “If this was Boston, 11 cars would have been able to take that left turn before that car got even remotely close.” If you’re ever being chased, in NC or SC, and you want to lose them real quick, take a left-hand turn
It’s bad enough when people drive with their front fog lights on when it’s clear out. But I get peeved when they drive with the rear fog lights on and it’s clear. I typically see this with Audi drivers. Having owned a couple of Audis, it’s obvious they don’t know how to use the light switch properly. They’re yanking the switch all the way out and turning both front and rear fogs on.
And don’t get me started on the Bro trucks with a gazillion LEDs on the roof and in the grille. Those guys are annoying.
I agree with most/all the pet peeves on drivers. My biggest pet peeve on new cars is how uncomfortable they are. I am vertically challenged (5-2) and I can only describe the new cars in terms of levels of uncomfortable. I feel like my back and shoulders are rounded with the head rest shoving my head forward, straining my neck. After talking to other short individuals I have come to the conclusion this is fairly common. What happened to car seats that were comfortable for everyone?
You can take the headrest off the seat,
you just push a button and pull it up.
Driving commercial tanker trucks I would try to be courteous and stay to the right. Often I would be passed by a vehicle not wanting to be behind a high profile vehicle. They would then slow down below the posted limit. When trying to pass them I have had cars accelerate 20 mph over the limit only to slow down again to below the limit!
I’ve been a hairdresser, …….. Mercedes GLA250
a redneck, ……… Dodge RAM diesel Pick up
someone who doesn’t know how to use turn signals, ….. Any Turdyota, but especially a Camry
a retiree, …… Red Corvette
an NPR listener, ….. Subaru
Litterbugs tossing out garbage. Also lit cigarette butts bouncing off my windshield. Grrr!!!!
Drivers on on-ramps that stop at the end of the ramp instead of adjusting their speed, either up or down to safely merge into traffic
They must be from Texas. I remember many short on ramps on to the Central Expressway that had stop signs at the end of the ramp, access point. They were really disgusting.
PEDESTRIANS! Not to mention, modern cars have huge A-pillars, so its not always easy to see the guy who just starts strolling out in front of me assuming I will stop. I remember the good old days when people looked both ways and waited for a car to go by that was in too close of a proximity for sudden stopping. When I’m on foot, I assume a driver can’t see me. So far it’s kept me alive.
AMEN. Huge A-Pillars + and oversized side mirrors.
Hairdresser – Boxster (woulda said Miata but you put in the hint pic’)
Redneck – Pick-up, I’ll say F-250
Signalless – BMW
Retiree – Buick
NPR – SAAB
W.N.W.E. – Chevy
Now, where are my internet points.
Most annoying? Lane splitting motorcycle riders. Doing 60 through stopped traffic is rolling the dice with your life.