We gave you the stage earlier this week and asked you to unleash the automotive rant that you’ve been waiting to let loose, and it turns out you all are quite the opinionated bunch. There were over 100 answers provided, but I was only able to choose a few of my favorite answers, so if you’d like to go back and read the rants that your fellow Jalopnik readers so thoughtfully typed out, I recommend it. Just be warned, you might suddenly become annoyed about things that didn’t get to you prior to reading someone else’s rant.
My answer was that I still hate when drivers have their high beams on at night, despite them actively blinding the numerous unsuspecting motorists forced to look in their general direction. I used the example of a Prius in my question, and I have to say, especially now that it gets dark at 4 p.m., I’ve been noticing a lot more people, in particular third-generation Prius drivers, driving along with their high beams on, blissfully ignorant to the singed eyeballs of opposing traffic. If you see a blue light on your dashboard that looks like a jellyfish swimming sideways, your high beams are on. They should only be on if there are no other vehicles in sight. That’s enough of me ranting, this is about you. Read on to learn about the various gripes and grievances that your fellow Jalopnik readers felt compelled to share; it’s thoroughly entertaining.
Auto start/ stop settings should have memory
Disabling Idle Stop and Auto Start/Stop systems should be a memory setting in your car. You shouldn’t have to keep pushing a button disable it every time you start your car. I understand that manufacturers have to include it in to keep MPG up, but they already acknowledge that the systems aren’t useful in all situations by including the ability to disable them in the first place. Let me opt in to its use, instead of having to opt out every time I start the car.
Submitted by: half man half bear half pig
What’s with all the braking?
People who use the brakes unnecessarily. I routinely travel the 12 miles between two small towns, with a good number of hills (none too steep) between. On a good day, I’m able to make the entire trip without once touching the brakes, by planning ahead and by not following the next car too closely. But all too often, the car ahead of me applies the brakes repeatedly going down hills (sometimes going UP hills!), going around a curve, or following too close to the next car. I once saw a driver apply the brakes 45 times during this trip (yes, I counted). If someone like that is in front of me, I sometimes pull off the road and wait for a few minutes so I don’t have to watch them and their idiotic braking.
Submitted by: Jimmie G
The left lane is for passing
Left lane drivers that refuse to move over for faster traffic. In Texas it appears that they insist upon having a clear view ahead without ANY consideration for those behind. I often hear the excuse that they are going the speed limit and those that they are impeding are attempting to break the law and therefore are doing their patriotic duty to police others.
Submitted by: Gary Sonnenberg
Get off your phone, you’re driving
The amount of our fellow licensed citizens who drive with a phone in their hand is maddening. Nothing says IDGAF about other people like doom scrolling the crusty corners of the interwebs or posting to social media while operating several tons of machinery at 75mph.
Submitted by: SwarthyOgre
We need tiered driver’s licenses
Why doesn’t the Vehicle Type require a tier system for Driver’s Licenses?
How in the ever-loving universe did we come to a point where anyone can buy a monster pickup truck, a muscle car, or an SUV the size of a spaceship, then just jump in and barrel down the road like it’s Mario Kart with zero training?
Driving a Civic is not the same as driving a 9,000-pound Hummer EV that could squash your sedan like a bug, or a full-size SUV with blind spots big enough to hide a small country in front of it!
Physics, science, and plain old danger all scream “tiered licenses” at us.
Follow the data. Smaller cars have crash fatality rates nearly 80% higher than larger SUVs in frontal impacts. Meanwhile, pickups and SUVs have soared in fatal accident involvement by 62% in recent years. And we know who bears the brunt of their mass; smaller cars and pedestrians getting caught in the blind spots or overwhelmed by the sheer physics.
Driving a huge truck isn’t just about horsepower; it’s about mastering the art of blind spots, crazy stopping distances, and controlling more weight than some houses.
Submitted by: potbellyjoe
There are too many automotive crybabies
My biggest rant isn’t driving related, as we all know a lot of people are just horrible. My biggest rant is to the people who yell about every new enthusiast vehicle on the internet . The moment anything is announced, they pounce to complain about SOMETHING. It’s not fast enough, it’s not practical enough, it’s not modern enough, it’s not “pure” because another company help make it. And these very same people are the people who admit they don’t buy new cars. They admit it by their purchase history and by the sales numbers. If sporty cars were profitable for manufacturers, they’d be everywhere. But they’re not – and it’s because enthusiasts don’t buy new cars (or can’t – another reason for manufacturers to not build them). Folks, if you really want manufacturers to listen to you it’s simple. BUY NEW CARS. That new car that is kinda cool but too slow? BUY IT. The Z that’s basically 20 years old? BUY IT. Until enthusiasts start buying new cars, they need to stop complaining about what is being made.
Submitted by: Gordon S.
Modern cars are too heavy
Oversized and heavy vehicles. It’s time. They take a toll on the safety of society, require an excess of resources, pollute more and damage infrastructure more. Let them pay for it.
Submitted by: Former Autoblog
Modern cars have too much power
I think cars today have too much power and accelerate too quickly. There is no reason that a massive SUV needs to go from 0-60 in 3 seconds.
Submitted by: Flashpoint Zero
The benefits of buying a luxury car are disappearing
That if cars have batteries (mostly applies to electric cars), and the interior is simply Apple Car Play, and essentially all buttons have been removed, and the dash is a big screen (and usually configurable)…what exactly am I paying a car company for? Why are you paying a premium for a BMW when…you’re just using Apple Car Play (that’s also in the cheapest cars available)…with a digital dash…with no buttons…that has no distinct performance outside of how big the battery capacity is? In this new world of cars, the difference between the most lowly Mitsubishi and the most expensive Mercedes is much closer. All of the same bells and whistles outside of maybe configurable interior lighting can be had on both vehicles. What happened to real design outside of a giant iPad plopped in the center? Where’s the craftsmanship and design of the instrument cluster? Where is the tactile feel of buttons and knobs that separated cheap and luxury vehicles? Where are the themed interior lighting that let you know you were in a specific make (Pontiac red lighting, VW’s early 2000’s indigo lighting, etc.)? Where are the unique sounds that varied from manufacturer to manufacturer (what is an Alfa that doesn’t sound like an Alfa)? Why do brands matter anymore if you’re just driving around a silent vehicle with a big iPad with touch screens?
Submitted by: drb1986
‘Save the manuals’ is insufferable
Automatic transmissions have been faster and better than manual transmissions for decades, at this point. You can’t out shift them, your car isn’t faster with a manual, you just like cosplaying a race car driver … and they’ve been clutchless in top-tier motorsports since the mid 1990s. The “save the manuals” crowd is insufferable.
Submitted by: Jo Borras
Don’t take an EV charging stall if you aren’t going to charge
This is something that often happens at my work. Fellow EV drivers, don’t park at a charging station if you’re not going to actually charge. You are taking that station away from a potential driver who might be low on battery power. Just park in a normal parking space if you don’t need the refill.
Submitted by: Giantsgiants
It’s drizzling, why are your wipers going Mach 3?
People thinking they only have high speed on their wipers. It’ll be barely spitting and you’ll inevitably see someone with their wipers on hurricane speed. Every new car has multiple speeds, to include intermittent. You don’t need them wiping an essentially dry windshield at mach speed.
Submitted by: Michael Tonelli
Stop lifting your vehicles
Federal agencies crash test a given vehicle at the ride height designed in by the manufacturer. Idiots come along, raise the center of gravity, place heavy large off-road tires on all corners, and proceed to make the vehicles turn horribly and stop worse. Safety issues for others on public roads. Ban the practice.
Submitted by: Frank in Philly
You don’t actually need an SUV
90% of people who own trucks and SUVs, could do everything exactly the same with a car.
Most don’t need to haul massive loads. Most don’t need to tow anything. Most wouldn’t even think of taking them off-road and risk scratching them.
Bring back cars. They’re lighter, easier to drive and maneuver, and all the vast majority really need.
Submitted by: Dr.Xyster
Constant in-car and on-road surveillance
I’m surprised nobody has brought up surveillance by roadside cameras and by our cars themselves. I’m used to traveling anywhere in the country in complete anonymity. It seems strange to me that it’s now nearly impossible to do that anymore and no one seems to care.
Submitted by: RWP
