Things That Grind Our Gears
Cars are one of the most relied-upon tools in daily life, but that doesn't mean they're free from frustration. Whether it's a design quirk that makes no practical sense or a maintenance issue that always seems to creep up at the worst possible time, drivers everywhere have a laundry list of complaints about their vehicles. Here are 20 things people can't stand about their cars.
1. All of the Beeping
You open your door, your car beeps. You unlock your car, it beeps. You lock it, it beeps. You place a bag of groceries in the passenger seat, it beeps. Sure, your car is great and all and you're able to run your errands because of it, but it'd be great if there weren't so much beeping.
2. Cup Holders That Don't Actually Fit Anything
Sure, sometimes it's okay and your drink fits, but it's almost like your car cup holder was designed to hold something that doesn't actually exist. It's either your water bottle doesn't fit or your morning coffee wobbles around every time you drive. Good grief.
3. A/C and Heat That Take Forever to Kick In
Climbing into a sweltering car in July or an ice-cold one in January is unpleasant enough, but the wait for the climate control to actually do something is its own special brand of misery. You're sitting there blasting hot or cold air at full force while the cabin stubbornly refuses to do the thing it's supposed to do. By the time it finally feels livable, you're already frozen or sweating in your seat.
4. Vague Warning Lights
Few things trigger mild panic like a dashboard warning light appearing out of nowhere, especially when the symbol is an obscure icon that doesn't really tell you anything. Some lights are specific enough to be useful, sure, but others leave you with nothing more than a general sense of doom.
5. Too-Bright Headlights
Yes, your headlights help you navigate in the dark, but do they really need to be that bright? It's annoying enough when other drivers shine their beams in your eyes, but it feels 10 times more embarrassing and obnoxious when it's your car blinding everyone else.
6. Sun Visors That Don't Block the Sun
Sun visors have one job, and they still somehow don't actually do the job they're supposed to do. The sun outside your windshield always seems to find that precise angle where the visor doesn't quite reach, leaving a blinding strip of light directly in your line of sight. Extending the visor, angling it sideways, and sliding down in your seat only get you so far before you're just squinting and hoping for the best.
7. Getting Easily Dirty
You just ran your car through a car wash, but not even a full 24 hours later, it somehow always ends up having another dirty spot. Whether it's bird poop or dirt that splashed onto your paint when you drove in the rain, it'd be really great if your car didn't need a bath every two seconds.
8. Uncomfortable Seats on Long Drives
Car seats might look comfortable and luxurious in the showroom, but after two or three hours on the highway, the reality is often a different story. Lower back pain, numb legs, and a stiff neck are remarkably common complaints among long-distance drivers, even in newer vehicles. For people who do a lot of highway driving...good luck.
9. Side Mirrors That Don't Show the Full Picture
10. Parking Sensors That Go Off for No Reason
Parking sensors are extremely helpful in tight spots, but they have a frustrating tendency to start beeping (again with the beeping) when there's clearly nothing around your car. What's even more annoying? When it doesn't beep or warn you when there is an obstacle.
11. Windshield Wipers That Leave Streaks
Wiper blades tend to work beautifully when you first replace them and then start leaving obnoxious streaks across your field of vision within a few months. Driving in light rain with streaky wipers is arguably worse than driving with no wipers at all, because the smearing actually distorts your visibility rather than clearing it, which just ruins the whole point of having them.
12. Expensive Gas
If you drive an electric car, you're probably glad you don't have to deal with this one, but those who drive cars that use gas (or God forbid, diesel), it actually hurts your heart every time the fuel gauge is low and your wallet ends up empty afterwards. You need your car to get around, but if only it wasn't so expensive to fill it up...
13. Too-Small Trunks
You'd think that buying a midsize sedan would give you enough cargo space for a grocery run or a weekend bag, but think again. A full set of grocery bags, a stroller, or luggage will quickly take up all the available space in cars, which becomes a major grievance when you're heading out on road trips.
Divaris Shirichena on Unsplash
14. Touchscreens That Lag
The shift from physical buttons to touchscreens has been a slightly controversial one, and for good reason. A laggy or unresponsive infotainment screen while you're trying to change the temperature or skip a song is one of the most distracting things you can deal with while driving. You end up tapping the screen multiple times, missing your input entirely, and taking your eyes off the road far longer than you should, which isn't good.
15. High Insurance Costs
Sure, you're happy with your car—until you see what it costs to insure it. Premiums can rise because of the model, repair costs, theft rates, or features that make the vehicle more expensive to cover. That ongoing expense can make ownership feel far less satisfying, especially when the monthly payment is already high enough.
16. Tight Backseats in Compact Cars
Compact and subcompact cars often sacrifice rear passenger comfort in favor of a more aerodynamic exterior profile, and the people sitting in the back tend to pay the price. Limited legroom, low headroom, and a cramped feeling overall make the rear seat of many small cars tolerable only for short trips. If you regularly carry adults in the back seat, this is the kind of thing that can make you reconsider your vehicle choice in a hurry.
17. Depreciation That Happens Too Fast
A lot of owners hate how quickly a car can lose value after they buy it. Even when the vehicle is still in great condition, its resale or trade-in price may drop much faster than expected, which makes the purchase feel harder to justify. It’s one of the most annoying parts of car ownership because there’s often very little you can do to stop it.
18. Paint That Chips Far Too Easily
Modern automotive paint jobs look sleek and polished straight from the factory, but they can start showing chips and scratches from normal driving in a surprisingly short time. Highway gravel, door dings in parking lots, and minor scrapes are all it takes to start damaging the finish on many vehicles, which can cause a major headache.
Volodymyr Dobrovolskyy on Unsplash
19. Overly Sensitive Lane-Assist Features
Lane-keeping assist, like parking sensors, is a helpful safety feature that keeps you positioned, but it can also become annoying when it's overly sensitive. On roads with faded lane markings or tight curves, the system will often nudge the steering wheel or sound an alert when you haven't actually drifted out of your lane. The alerts and corrections can feel jarring and intrusive, which can make you tempted to turn the feature off.
20. The Sheer Cost of Routine Maintenance
Oil changes, tire rotations, brake inspections, fluid top-offs...the list goes on. The cost of keeping a vehicle in good running order has risen steadily alongside the increasing complexity of modern cars, which means your wallet keeps emptying out. It's probably by far the biggest grievance on this list, and all car owners will understand the pain.
