I’ve never really liked the term “pet peeve.” It always sounded like the type of thing a sort of fussy person would keep track of in a little leather-bound journal, and that’s not really who I want to be. But, the word is useful in its specificity: some little habit or detail or practice that just rubs you wrong, and you end up making those annoyances your own special little irritants. They’re pet peeves, after all, and as pets, they need attention and need to be fed. So, that’s what I’m going to do right now, with two automotive pet peeves of mine!
A pet peeve generally is something sort of trivial, not Earth-shaking, and I think that qualifies for the ones I feel a need to share with you today, because, objectively, they’re not big things at all, and I should just get over it.
But I can’t. They don’t stop annoying me. So let me vent them out here, and hopefully I’ll be free!
Peeve One: Rear Windows Are Not “Windshields”
I feel like I encounter this one a lot, and every time I hear it, I wince a bit. And it’s not like it’s uncommon, or not accepted in general use. I know automotive designers like to call it a “backlight” but I always found that a strange and slightly confusing term, though it is better than “DLO” or “daylight opening” which just sounds like what an alien might call a window, were they unfamiliar with the concept.
I think the reason I don’t like “rear windshield” is because it simply isn’t a shield, dammit, not in the way a windshield is. The windshield literally shields you from the wind, from the air you’re pushing out of the way as you drive forward. The rear window? It just doesn’t do that. Well, I guess in reverse it does, a bit, but by that logic we’d call back-up lights “rear headlights” and no one does that.
This is a little thing, I know, but I feel like I can always spot someone who does not care about cars if they call a back window a “rear windshield.” Does that make me a dickhead? Does anyone else understand what I’m talking about here? I hope so.
Peeve Two: Using Clear Bulbs Instead of Amber Bulbs In Clear-Lensed Turn Indicators
Okay, this is a taillight-related peeve, so you know it’s important. I was reminded of this one again when I saw this Kia Soul the other day:
See what’s going on there? This one car is an object lesson in what I’m talking about. When car designers want an amber turn indicator – front or rear – but don’t necessarily want a big amber lens, they will often have a clear lens with an amber bulb inside, a compromise to get the proper color of light without all the bright visual orange some people – especially a lot of designers – seem to want to avoid.
When they do this, there’s a sort of unspoken agreement between you and the designer that when those bulbs need changing, you’ll find replacement amber bulbs and not just throw in some clear bulb, which hasn’t been the legal color of turn indicators since 1962. It’s like the people who don’t play ball here are going to ruin the concept of clear lens/amber bulb for everyone with this bullshit, because this lack of shit-givery is how we get mandated lens colors, people.
And let’s not forget the troubles we went through just getting from white to amber:
It wasn’t easy!
That Kia up there had one amber bulb and one clear one: for fuck’s sake, Kia owner, stop being so lazy! Where’s your sense of taillight dignity?
Man, after writing these out, they really do seem fussy and trivial. But I guess that’s the nature of a pet peeve, right?
Okay, now tell me yours! Make mine seem less inane, please?
Tinted headlights and taillights.
Porsche key fobs.
Yeah, anyone who calls a rear window a rear windshield…is a dumbfuck
What if i drive backwards everywhere?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Red turn signals. They should be amber.
I think this we can validly elevate this above simple pet peeve, it does have genuine safety implications.
Unfortunately the US DOT doesn’t think so, and it remains a pet peeve. Even more so when an automaker brings a car to the US, and switches the tail lights to all red (I’m looking at you, Acura TSX).
James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in….. Rear Windshield
Almost every new car for the last 20 plus years has a remote to lock/ unlock the car. All I want is a keyfob that has an indicator telling me the status of the cars locks. So I don’t have to walk back from a block away and lock it again. It seems like a simple ask. I know a lot of new cars have apps that do this, but it seems so simple to add.
Cars don’t talk back to a (normal) keyfob. All it could do is light up if you pressed the lock button on the fob, but it would have no way of knowing if the car received the signal, if someone hadn’t closed a door yet so the car ignored the lock signal, or if the car was locked via the buttons on the door.
To do more than that, it needs a microcontroller and some kind of network connection, in which case just use your phone.
I have a ’21 ford expedition and a ’23 volvo s90. Both have an option to auto fold the mirrors upon locking. I use that to confirm the status all the time
Owners of Inline 4 cylinder engines saying they have “headers” no, you have a header, singular.
Also tints, you either have tinted windows, or you got window tint installed.
Tintz, yo
If we’re going to complain about people that drive cars, that list is going to be a lot longer. Search BMW V6 on craigslist. That one bugs me
Flocking or cloth on p-billar interior trim or any other things (door pads etc) that are easy magnets for greasy fingerprints or handprints esp when you take your ride in for service. So many writeups online about how to clean that stuff. It ain’t easy. Exposed greezy seat tracks with worm-gears in the center, often w/ sharp edges. Man, my rad Haggar bell bottoms are gonna get snagged on those things. Or greezed all up on my cuffs. What about my lady’s long dresses? Do they think of that? Giant keyfobs. We need real and small keys with just enough electronics in them for the immobilizer chip. Every kid knows that you turn the key and it goes “boo-gee-gee-gee, VROOM”