Let’s say you’re a car designer and you’re penning a new model from scratch, so you can put the switches and levers essentially anywhere you want. You’re probably going to place them with established conventions in mind, perhaps ergonomic data, certainly some sort of common sense, right? You’d think.
So why do some manufacturers choose the most absurd locations for controls?
There are plenty of examples out there. Here are just a few instances of some really idiotic control placements:
Saab 9-3: Rear seat heater switch in the front of the car
No, I am not gonna mention the ignition key, which is not as bad a placement as you might think. It’s the fact that the rear seat heat button is impossible to access from the back. And most people didn’t know it had rear seat heaters. I owned one of these, and if you had an infantile mentality and wanted to mess with rear-seat passengers, you would not be the first.
Alfa 75 Milano: Power window switches on the ceiling (front only)
Well, the front power window switches are up there. Not only is the position odd, but the buttons are both unlabeled and do an odd left/right press to make the windows go up and down.
The rear window switches are located on the panel behind the lid on the center console where both front and rear occupants have to contort to get to them. Rolling down all four windows requires some aerobic exercise. Of course, it’s an old Alfa so just be happy that they put the switches inside of the car; if you value ergonomics over a Busso V6 at full song this ain’t the car for you anyway.
Porsche 944/968: Odometer reset by pushing in an air vent
And no, it isn’t labeled at all.
Audi Coupe: Trunk only opens from inside the car
See the clean trunk lid? Yup, no key. And this was a decade or so before they got wireless key fob releases, so no dice if you’re trying to open it when you’re standing at the bumper, hands full of shit. Unsurprisingly, the Alfa Milanos (and a number of other cars) are the same way.
Sterling 825: Hood release in passenger’s side footwell
This is the Acura Legend that the Brits covered in their own body and interior (and electrics – ahhh!). Both the Honda and the Rover were home market RHD cars, and while the Japanese car chose to move the hood release to the driver’s side on US cars, the English manufacturer kept it right where it was in old Blighty – you can see it below the ill-fitting glove box. Bad choice, especially since in this British version you’ll be opening that hood way more than in the Legend. I will say that wood still looks pretty damn nice, though.
What cars have you owned where you wondered if, as Jeremy Clarkson once said about the Porsche 911, the designers of the interior stuffed all the switches up their nose, sat in the driver’s seat, and sneezed to place them? We want to know!
I don’t know how common it is, but the 2nd gen Mazda3’s had the clock built into the stereo/hvac screen at the top of the dash, but instead of using the menu system to change the time, it had the dash buttons(H, M, :00) right below the hazard lights. I remember daylight savings time changes that I scrolled through every option in the menu to try and adjust the time having to give up because I could never find the clock settings. I felt like an idiot when I saw them later.
Also on my 86 4runner, the rear wiper control is in the center console, while the rear defroster is below the left side air vent.
my car has a lock button that’s on the dash but stashed in the left side right behind the steering, but the worst is not only it doesn’t lock automatically but the damn button is inverted, up for lock and down for unlock, it’s infuriating
Some MGBs, if equipped with electric overdrive, have the overdrive switch incorporated into the windshield wiper stalk. Push the stalk forward to engage overdrive.
The max front defrost and rear defrost buttons on my Golf R are on the headlight panel, to the left of the steering wheel. They didn’t even put redundant buttons for them in the touchscreen, as they did for everything else. Took me forever and a day to find them, because I was too stubborn to crack open the owners manual.
That’s almost a throwback to the seventies when Ford and Chrysler often put the entire HVAC switch panel on the driver’s side of the steering wheel
My Ford has two redundant trunk release buttons, for some reason. One in the middle of the dashboard, and one down low on the driver’s door.
Lexus LS 430.
There is a volume control potentiometer for the nav system route guidance chimes that lives way under the dash about 4″ to the left of the edge of the console.
You absolutely cannot see it while sitting in the driver’s seat.
And it’s not a cheap 30 cent component either. Like a knob in a fine stereo system, it is damped with just the right resistance to make it feel like it belongs in a flagship.
I remember the G platform Cadillac Seville had the TC off button inside the glove compartment. No idea why. Apparently all the way to at least 2004
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fany-idea-what-this-button-is-for-v0-tjup2iq0dbpb1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D41015c05421b7d8d14033cab8f3728eec8b505ea
That seemed to be the case for various GM cars of that era. I swear I’ve seen it before.
Younger readers will be weirded out by the location of the high beam switch on older cars…
Two of my cars (1/2 the fleet) have it there
The ideal place for it, imho.
While we’re talking inconvenient UI decisions, for *decades* well into the the middle 90s, the handbrake of the Ford Falcon in Australia was this weird umbrella-handle pull-and-turn nonsense beneath the steering column which made it super-hard to pull off cool handbrake turns on dirt or gravel roads… I’ve heard.
Toyota used that style for a while too. super weird.
My 2004 Sequoia was clearly designed for this in mind because the empty cavity for the hand brake is there, but it has a foot brake instead.
Could be a placeholder for the hand throttle too. https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-35ma7e5h04/images/stencil/1280×1280/products/654/2181/products-IMG_0381__62547.1537387541.1280.1280__33236.1643769830.jpg
Thought I didn’t think that platform had those provisions.
Not sure if the Sequoia ever used it, but the Tundra used the same dash and offered it, so that would make sense.
Tacomas still offered that handbrake style for…a long time, on some build varieties. I think up to the end of the 2nd gen?
It’s the same dash from the Tundra, but did the Tundra have a hand brake? I’ve driven a few 1st gen Tundras and I recall them having a foot brake.
I just spent the week using one of our work Hiace’s, its a 2020 (the old style flat front model) minibus with an umbrella handbrake. My dad’s ’99 Hilux has one too. As did the ’92 4Runner I learnt to drive in.
Brake pedal in the Driver Ed car passenger seat for the instructor.
My mom owned an MK2 Focus and I recall it didn’t have an interior hood release. You had to step out with your key, flip the front grille mounted emblem almost 180 degrees and there was a key hole for the hood release.
Also, the door lock doubled as the power lock switch; there was no separate switch anywhere in the car so the driver’s side would perform as a manual door lock that would lock-in the rest of the doors remotely.
My wife’s MK6 Jetta has a manual TPMS reset switch in the glovebox. It won’t clear itself after getting the right PSI, you have to stretch out to the glovebox and press that on for 3-5 seconds and you’re good to go.
All of them are kind of poor design if you ask me.
Interestingly enough, my partner’s 1994 Isuzu Amigo allows you to lock the hood latch release that’s in the cabin with the key. Not that you couldn’t just reach behind the lever and manipulate the cable; I suppose they just thought it’d be a good theft deterrent, especially as it’s an open-top car some of the time.
that one makes total sense. Not in a mass market compact car with no interior hood release, though
Oh my gosh! I forgot about that one. My ’02 Mondeo had that too!
The hood release thing strikes me as the odd one out in this article. While the others all speak to some kind of intentional idiosyncrasy or design vision, the hood release is just old-fashioned corporate bean-counting about an infrequent touch-point. As someone in a RHD market who drives cars that were originally engineered in LHD countries, I’ve seen the ‘off-side’ hood releases in Saabs, Fiats, Alfas, VWs, and European-derived Ford and GM products.
Those manufacturers have also typically neglected to spend any money to move the indicator stalk to the ‘outboard’ side of the steering column closest to the driver’s door, too. I’m fine with that personally – I even prefer it, at least in a manual: I indicate, then move that left hand off the wheel to change gear. But it does occasionally mean I trigger the wipers instead of the indicators when I drive my partner’s Kia or any other car that has the indicator stalk on the ‘conventional’ side.
Now that I think of it, of all the cars in Australia that I’ve driven that were build in LHD countries, the only ones where the manufacturer bothered to re-engineer RHD-specific versions of the hood release and the indicator stalk mechanisms have been Kias and Hyundais. Maybe it’s the “they’re the underdogs so they try harder” factor?
The R55 MINI Clubman is an interesting example – built in the UK, from an (ostensibly) British brand, but designed largely in Germany and aimed largely at the US export market, so the lone rear passenger door is on the right side (opening onto the pavement in LHD markets, but out into traffic in RHD ones when parked at the kerb).
1st gen new MINIs had the hood release (sorry – bonnet release!) on the right side of the car – whether LHD or RHD. Second gen cars had it on the left side…..at least in the US.
What’s especially odd is that you’d think it would’ve been cheaper to commonize them between the Honda/Acura and Rover/Sterling variants.
We had a Ford Kuga with the bonnet latch on the wrong side – RHD car. Had a Holden Commodore with the boot release in the glove box. The only other way to open it was with the key fob. That was poor design.
I’m pretty sure the Buick century I drove for a winter had the trunk release in the glove box. I’m not overly familiar with GM cars but I feel like it was a common place for the release for quite a while.
Was it a locking glove box? Any car I’ve seen with the release located there has been locking, so it’s probably a bit of cost savings (no point including a second locking mechanism when you can use one to cover both).
It probably was. Either way its dumb design.
Honda/Acuras with the sunroof switch on the left side dash behind the steering wheel
I love those. It’s a way better place to put them. I had them on my 3G Integra, 2G CRX, 5G Prelude, and my dad had it on his TL. It’s a way better place for them.
I came here looking for mention of the dash-mount Honda sunroof switch, ready to defend its honor too. It seemed illogical until I got my 6th-gen Accord, when Honda ergonomics were still at a peak.
It’s just a short reach from the steering wheel, falling easily to hand, and closer to the driver’s window controls. There’s no twisting your arm up to the roof, fumbling for the button and holding it, farther away from the rest of the major controls, while the motor does its thing.
It’s not like they did it because it was less wiring, seems like the opposite actually. Now that they’re all one-touch automatic open/close, it doesn’t matter as much since it’s a quick button push.
I swear it was there on my 1990 Honda Accord.
It indeed would’ve been, I don’t think they ever put it anywhere else until the mid 2000s. The 2005 Odyssey was probably the last new model introduced with the dash switch placement while the 2006 Civic had it on the roof; although not the first as the 2004 TL I believe was a roof switch.
The horn that looked like a turn signal lever on the Ford Fairmonts.
To be clear the stalk had both functions – turn signals AND horn activation. That was Ford’s attempt a “Euro” flair since lots of European cars had this too.
Yes, this was the horn location on the Mk1 Cortina, at least some trim levels of the XA Falcon, and the (European) Mk 1 Grenada. Hot top; buying a car because it was in a TV show, especially if it’s a grey import? Rarely a wise idea.
It was a long time ago and I couldn’t remember if it was a separate stalk. Either way, horrible idea.
My ’85 Ford LTD has a turn signal switch from a Fairmont, so in theory I could activate the horn with the turn signal switch, but the actual stalk attached to it is from a Ford Tempo which is curved and doesn’t allow the stalk to be pushed in far enough to activate the horn.
A lot of French cars had the signal stalk on the right hand side
Most Fords from around 1979-83 had the signal stalk that also controlled the horn (push) and high beams (pull). The lever behind it (totally out of reach from the steering wheel) controlled the wipers and washers (and the intermittent cycle was adjusted by a knob on the end)
1966 Mercury Cyclone GT. The four way flasher was a toggle mounted in the glove box. You had to turn it on and then activate the turn signal lever. If you forgot to turn off the toggle, the flashers would come on every time you signaled a turn.
The window switches on the Coupe GT and Ur-Q were on the console, as well.
And various other foreign-market cars, like the Pontiac G8 and Chevy Caprice PPV. Saves some money if you don’t have to have (and wire) two separate switch packs for the front driver and passenger windows. If they mount it further rearward, as in today’s example, all four outboard occupants can reach it.
The Wrangler continues to have the window switches on the center stack, which makes sense, because they’ve tried to keep electronics in the removable doors to a minimum. And the PT Cruiser had them there ostensibly to save money. But the 2003-2006 Lincoln Navigator had center-console window switches, inexplicably. The Aviator might have also; I’m too lazy to look it up.
GM did this heavily on their smaller car lines that were designed/debuted in the ’80s. J-bodies had this placement, N-bodies I believe too, and then Saturn also did on the S-Series.
Saturn continued it on the L-Series and the VUE in the 2000s, but this was met with more criticism by some as they were arrayed around the shifter, not grouped together. Unless you had particularly good dexterity, you couldn’t easily hit many switches at the same time, like both front or both back windows, or lower all 4 together. This was carried over in the VUE’s counterparts, the original Equinox and Torrent, and related gen2 Suzuki XL7.
The emergency frunk release in a Tesla Model Y requires removing what looks like a tow point cover on the front bumper and connecting 2 bare wires to a 9V battery.
The late 90s I30 (but not the Maxima) has the fuel door release on the dash behind the wiper stalk:
https://momentcar.com/images/infiniti-i30-1996-9.jpg
Some other markets’ versions of the A32 have the fuel release by the ashtray/cigarette lighter.
Some Corvettes and the Cadillac XLR have the interior door handles on the floor, like where you’d expect the trunk pop or the fuel door release.
I could see the dash placement on the I30 being a carryover from any RHD examples that used that version of the dash (not sure if the Cefiro did), assuming those controls didn’t get flipped. Then it would actually be closer to the outside of the car when the driver exits.
not the case. Here’s a JDM Cefiro for reference:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BK59a3wcEdw/maxresdefault.jpg
Technically, that’s the emergency door release on the Corvette/XLR, in the event the door release button on the door doesn’t work.
Of course, as I remember, in the event the battery dies (which isn’t shocking on a car that might get put away for whole seasons), the process to open the hood and jump start it involves using the hidden key lock over the rear license plate to open the hatch. I want to say there’s a door release in the trunk as well, because otherwise how are you popping the hood?
As an Aussie kid I was fortunate to travel a lot internationally, and I distinctly remember being upset at my dad for renting an ’86 Chrysler Lebaron convertible on Maui instead of a Mustang convertible. Why? Because the Mustang had rear seat switches for the back windows, whereas on the Lebaron the back windows could only be controlled by the driver. Pretty trivial now but I as a total gearhead kid I recall being grumpy about it for like a week.
College roommate had a 90’s Pontiac Grand Am or Grand Prix. About 2 years into his ownership the latch on the glovebox failed dumping its contents on the floor, at that point we discovered that his car does in fact have a trunk release other than using the key which works every time 60% of the time on the trunk, it’s just buried in the back of the glove box or something like that.
I might be wrong but I believe the late Ford Tempo/Topaz also had that glovebox mounted trunk release
It gets better – SN95 Mustangs had them until 2005!
My ’02 has an awesome unmarked yellow button in the glove compartment. When people see it, it’s always “what is that for??”
That was pretty common at the time. Weird, but common.
The old GM’s with the hazards switch on top of the steering column.
You either had to reach through the steering wheel or around it. Real easy while trying to control your car because of whatever needs you to turn on the hazards.
Oh, and the switch was a tiny, hard plastic turtle-necky thing that you had to pull up on to activate.
From the same era of GM’s: the electric trunk release switch inside the glovebox that was barely reachable from the driver’s seat.
The trunk release button in the glove box wasn’t exclusive to GMs. I know on Ford cop cars they actually had to relocate the button closer to the driver.
The idea was, apparently, that you could lock the glove box and then that disabled the trunk so when you valet parked your car you stuff was protected.
I always laughed at the valet key on my EJ Civic where you could lock the trunk release and fuel door and the valet key also wouldn’t work on the truck key holes (there were 2 – outside and inside above the rear seat).
A Honda Civic having a valet key was just a wild thought as a feature on an econo coupe.
Ooh, yeah, my van also had the hazard button on the steering column, albeit at least it was just a simple toggle switch. Yours sounds even worse.
However, the bright-headlight switch was on the floor, a placement that cannot be improved upon, and therefore balances out the hazardous hazard switch.
Ford had theirs on the column as well. Our old Darts were down on the side of the columns but at least they came with a little glowing green light that illuminated the ignition switch
Forgot about those! And all the ones I encountered needed a pretty determined pull, too.
Those switches were horrible to operate. They could get stuck if you didn’t use it. I never once looked at it and thought anything about it was good design.
That was a classic, and I know they had that at least as recently as the K2XX SUVs and trucks, which were the prior generation of Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade, Suburban, Sierra and Silverado.
The reason for it, at least on the older cars, was that it was tied into the turn signal stalk and made a physical connection within that assembly when pressed. It was still integrated into the wiper stalk assembly on the K2XXs, also, but certainly didn’t need to be there other than for familiarity’s sake.
Skoda 135 trunk release is in the driver-side passenger door jamb.
Also, why do Subarus have a hazard switch on the dash and another a foot away on the top of the steering column?
You mean two switches in the same car?
The door jam release thing you’ll see fairly often in Italian exotica I think.
If you’re talking ’90s Imprezas, the switch on the column is actually a dedicated parking light switch for some reason.
Mercedes and BMWs in American still had that turn-on-the-parking-lights-on-one-side-of-the-car feature; not sure if they still do.
I think you mean the parking light switch on top of the column on older Subarus. It started sometime in the mid ’80s, I believe, as I don’t recall my ’84 having it, but my mother’s ’87 did, which she triggered while cleaning the car and couldn’t figure out why the hell the lights wouldn’t go off after. Because Subaru was one of the few cars that shut off the headlights with the ignition off or the key removed (whichever it was), I guess they felt they needed to include that switch to allow operation of the parking lights with the ignition off/key removed (whichever it was). I guess it was for temporary parking on narrow streets or something I never had the occasion to need, but I always though it would be a lot more useful to be able to operate the headlights with it for better light when dumping bodies. Nowadays, everyone’s got a phone with a flashlight on it, so it’s not a concern, but back in the day, for a Subaru owner dumping people in remote spots at night, they needed to have well functioning rods. (This is all a joke—you wouldn’t want any lights on when dumping a body as it draws attention.)
Gold.
I can’t say I’ve encountered anything truly puzzling myself. It’s mildly off-putting to me that my Prius’s fuel cap release is on the floor (unlike, say, next to the hood release, like on a similar-year Sienna), but at least they made it noticeable and clearly labeled.
And this is clearly not designed to cause us to rant about glove boxes opening from a screen, or other, similar complaints, so I’ll leave that alone.
“Sterling 825: Hood release in passenger’s side footwell”
Well, it’s not the passenger side when it’s a Rover 825….