As a young motoring enthusiast, I was drawn to interior images more than anything else. I remember being completely blown away by the 2001 BMW 7 Series’ interior and iDrive, even though the rest of the car was so ugly it made me want to vomit in the pages of the automotive magazine.
As it turns out, iDrive was mildly annoying at first, but over the years BMW sorted it out. Now it feels like second nature, but that doesn’t mean the beloved German automaker is immune to dumb ideas. My personal pet peeve and one of the dumbest ideas of the last two decades comes straight from BMW. Gesture control was a big miss. Why would I sit there making stupid gestures, when the button to turn up the volume is right there on the steering wheel? If I had to choose a design feature, it would be piano black trim.
The piano black thing seems to be just me, but Jalopnik recently asked its readers what design details annoy them the most, and since you spend the most time in your cars, you’re the experts.
Reading through the comments, we couldn’t help but nod along with furious commenters. Here, in no particular order, are the design details that annoy you the most.
The Lack Of Physical Controls
Give Me A Button FFS
2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS Sedan. Cabin. Interior. MBUX HyperscreenMercedes-Benz
Scream it from the rooftops, people. We hate the fact that you took our buttons away. Designers claim it’s done in the name of “minimalism,” but we know the real reason. High-resolution touchscreen interfaces have become so cheap to manufacture that it’s the new norm. Simply put, it would cost an automaker too much money to develop a series of well-placed buttons with just the right amount of resistance, which is why almost all the functions are now operated via the blasted touchscreen.
Even the front passenger now gets their own screen, but I have a theory about this. It’s cheaper to slap a screen on a surface that would have had to be covered by burr walnut or woven metal.
These are just some of the basic complaints. Let’s not even get into having to take your eyes off the road just because you want the car to be a bit warmer on the inside.
Stop It With The Fancy Shifters
Just Give Us A Normal Gear Lever
2027 Genesis GV60 Magma cupholders and center consoleJoel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet
Using the shifter used to be as straightforward as turning the key in the ignition. You either moved the shifter to “D” to go forward, or you moved it to “R” to go backward.
These days, the shifter has become another design element, probably because every other surface in the car is covered with a screen. I don’t particularly mind a creative shifter, but it seems you guys just want a basic gear lever that moves up and down, and doesn’t snap back into place after you’ve jiggled it.
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Expensive Lights Low Down On The Car’s Body
Terrible Placing For Repairs
2025-2026 Hyundai Kona Electric front 3/4 angle while drivingHyundai
If you bump your Porsche 911 into something, you’ll have to pay at least $5,765.14 ($7,838.90 with matrix beam) to get that headlight replaced. That’s sort of to be expected for a car with a sticker price above $100,000, but what about normal, everyday cars?
Hyundai is getting a lot of flak from the public for placing headlights and other expensive trim elements too low on the car. It’s hard to argue looking at the front of the Kona. The Robocop-like LED light looks cool, but that meant having to move the main headlights lower down and to the side, where they are quite exposed.
We looked into it, and an OEM replacement headlight can cost from $850 to $1,500, and labor can cost up to $400 because the bumper has to be removed to install it. That’s a lot of cash for a minor fender bender.
Big Wheels, Thin Rubber
It Really Needs To Stop
2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia alloy wheel and headlightAlfa Romeo
The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a criminally underrated car, and the best example of how bigger wheels can ruin the ride. With the standard 18-inch Dark Turbine wheels, it glides beautifully while still providing a decent amount of feedback. But it has to be said, the car does look cooler with the 19-inch Teledial-like wheels.
Unfortunately, the 18-inch alloys have just a lick of rubber, rather than an actual tire with a decent profile on it. The bigger alloys are not worth it, because the ride will be harsher. Alfa is not the only automaker guilty of this. The standard BMW 330i wheel is also 18 inches, but if you put an M-Sport badge on it, you also get a set of 19-inch wheels.
Blinding Chrome And Glossy Trim
My Eyes!
Fiat 500e Interior DashboardFiat
Thankfully, fake chrome interior trim went out of fashion in the 2000s, but there are still several cars with glossy interior trim. This stuff reflects the sun directly into your eyeballs, and it’s seriously annoying. It is possible to build a decent interior at an affordable price without having to resort to these tactics. The Toyota Corolla is a fine example.
Fake Vents And Hood Scoops
No Need To Go Overboard With Airflow
2021 Honda Civic Type R FK8 Blue Front viewHonda
A sporty car comes standard with a powerful engine that needs a lot of cooling. But going completely overboard with fake vents and hood scoops is a bit much. We understand why the Nissan GT-R has to have ducts on the hood to cool the engine’s turbochargers, but there’s simply no reason for the FK8 Civic Type R to have so many different fake vents and air ducts. If you look at the FK8 from straight on, you quickly realize that 90% of its aggressive aerodynamic elements do absolutely nothing at all, including the hood scoop.
It’s still a sensational car, fake vents and all.
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Deployable Spoilers, If You Don’t Drive A Hypercar
Erm, Okay
Porsche
Personally, I don’t agree with this one. A deployable spoiler makes me extremely happy, especially if it’s as well engineered as the spoilers you’ll find on a Porsche Panamera or Cayenne. They’re set to come out at a certain speed, but there is always a manual override so you can let it out at any time.
But we do get the annoyance, especially considering there are real hypercars that need these.
Electric Cars That Try Too Hard
We Get it, You’re An EV
Ferrari LuceFerrari
Back when electric cars were new, designers tried very hard to make them stand out against other cars. The first-generation Leaf looked like a frog, but the current version looks just like a standard crossover.
Now that there are millions of EVs on the road, there’s no need to shout about it. BMW got it right by making its latest EVs look just like the ICE-powered cars, but Mercedes-Benz went in the other direction by creating a series of cars shaped like half an egg.
But the biggest offender by far is the abomination known as the Ferrari Luce. It’s a massive departure from everything Ferrari has done before, and not in a good way.
