The 10 Most Infuriating Car Interiors Ever Made
This story was originally published on April 8, 2015
10.) Chevrolet Camaro (5th Generation)
The interior on the current Camaro is as cheap and plastic-heavy as you’d think, but what really sets it apart is the horrible visibility. In an effort to look manly and be safe, Chevy reduced all the windows to letterboxes.
Suggested By: opposauruswrx drifting drafter
9.) Mini Cooper
To their credit, Mini fixed these issues over time, but the interiors on the first new Minis were pretty damn annoying. They tried to be cutesy which lead it to be ugly, and they tried to be retro, which lead to placing a giant speedometer in the center.
They might as well have not included a speedometer at all.
Suggested By: Meatcoma
8.) TVR Sagaris
Low volume British sports cars are great for a variety of reasons, but you don’t buy them for interior ergonomics. Companies like TVR didn’t have the budget for R&D that big manufacturers did.
This sort of explains why the button to open the door on a Sagaris is next to the radio. Actually, no it doesn’t. Why the hell did they put it there?
Suggested By: Where have all the lightweights gone?
7.) Dodge Avenger
Everything horrible about mid-2000s American cars can be found inside a Dodge Avenger. You die a little more and more each day sitting in one of these.
Have you ever seen so much grey?
Suggested By: TheHondaBro, drives the Hoonda
6.) Pontiac Grand Prix (5th Generation)
Do you like buttons? Then I have the car for you! Let K5ING tell you about this one:
“Pontiac dashboards in the early 90’s always drove me nuts. 4 separate buttons for the lights? 4 more separate buttons for the wipers? A steering wheel full of buttons for God-knows-what? Don’t even get me started on the radio!”
Suggested By: K5ING
5.) Honda Civic (9th Generation)
So many screens. Touch screen for your infotainment, and two screens for your information right in your line of sight. Talk about sensory overload.
Honda, if you want to see how to do a compact interior right, dig the Mazda3: simple gauge cluster, navigation screen in just the right spot, and a projected HUD.
Suggested By: TotallyThatStupid
4.) Buick Reatta
On one hand, I applaud GM for being forward thinking and using a touchscreen to control the radio and HVAC, but on the other, it barely worked and was widely panned.
It was way too far ahead of it’s time, and GM paid the price.
Suggested By: Green Pig
3.) Fiat 500
Welp, there’s no question the 500 is Italian as N2Skylark will explain:
“1) No interior hatch release button. And the key fob button only works when the out of the ignition. A hatch that auto-locks makes this very frustrating.
2) No proper interior door lock buttons. You have to push the handles in. But when unlocking the passenger door from the inside, from the driver’s seat, you either have to reach over and just open the door, or relock/unlock both doors from your interior handle.
3) Until 2014, the USB port was in the glove box, with no depression for the wire leading to your smartphone. In the year I had my 500, I went through at least 4 different wires because shutting my glove box on the wires kept damaging them.
4) The glove box isn’t big enough for the Fiat owner’s manual book.
5) The passenger seat until 2014 was fixed far too high.
6) The rear head restraints have to be lifted to sit in the backseat.
7) On manual ac models, the ac button is not marked at all. You turn the ac on by pushing the temp dial. It indicates it’s on by lighting a graphic on the dial no differently than it would be with the headlights on.
8) Until 2014, the cupholders were useless.
9) The only way to see the gauges fully is to tilt the steering wheel to its maximum height.
10) The head unit is the least-intuitive, most poorly labeled piece I have ever encountered.”
Suggested By: N2Skylark
2.) BMW 7-Series (E65)
The E65 was the car that marked the shift of BMWs from simple, elegant driver’s cars to overly-complex, ugly luxobarges. The iDrive system made it’s first appearance here and it was almost universally panned.
Mercifully, BMW has rectified it over the years, but the E65 will not be fondly remembered.
Suggested By: Mr-PLP
1.) Chevrolet Cavalier
No one does a bad interior quite like GM, and the appropriately-named Cavalier might be the worst of them all. I’ll let Jordan Hewlett give you the rundown:
“See where those HVAC controls are? Yes, right behind the cup holders. Want to put your drink down and adjust the heat? TOO BAD.
Fischer Price uses better quality plastics for their kids toys.
See that centre mounted defroster vent? I hope you like waiting for 10 minutes until it has a chance to defrost the entire windshield...from the middle outward.
The gauges glow a lovely shade of snot green...that’s if the bulbs haven’t burnt out. I also love how everything in the interior has these swoopy lines...right up until you reach the steering wheel with its block of cheese for a middle.
A park bench is more comfortable than these seats, at least a park bench doesn’t poke you in the back with broken springs. Who puts the button for the shifter on TOP of the knob?
The cigarette lighter is behind the steering wheel, so it’s a pain in the neck trying to plug auxiliary power sources into it.
The power window switches are nowhere near the windows. The rear seat becomes completely useless when you fold it down, because it’s not split. This is probably the worst interior of all time. End rant.”
Suggested By: Jordan Hewlett
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