And on a related note, the fact that the different gauges all use different badly labled scales that are virtually impossible to decipher without a protractor

great thread guys

the blower on mine turns itself on randomly, regardless of temperature, and especially if going over a speed-bump

for days the indicators self cancel, then for a few days they dont. repeat ad infinitum

sometimes the remote locks the doors and they unlock themselves instantly. wait 2 mins, try again and all is well

damn i'm missing my car

The standard rear tail pipe, held on with two puny spot welds that eventually give way as the pipe rots below them. resulting in the trim being blown down the road and the remaining exhaust melting the bumper.

The Pininfarina badges on the rear quarters. Why use bagdes that require holes when self adhesive would A) be simpler and b) wouldn't let water leak into the car.

They used self adhesive on the rear fiat badge though.

No turning circle.

But as Confucius says, ''Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.''

The rear arch liners trap dirt against the metal and it rubs the paint and you get rust.
The blessed holes in the sides.
The route the washer hose goes through for the rear wiper so it rubs a hole in its self under you back seat.
Crude rear suspension.
Too much weight in front of the front wheels.
The location of oil filter.

inferior bonnet struts

The bootlid that is designed to dump snow inside the car when you open it.

Under bonnet Sponge water traps
Seat belts that won't retract

when previous owners remove the undertray, so the inner plastic wings constanly pop out

Rear view mirrors that are little use other than to home petrol head spiders!

Stupidly small glovebox!

The interior pull handle for the doors, it's too far forward, weaklings struggle to pull the doors shut on a nose down slope!

Totally, totally useless sunvisors!

Otherwise, not a lot wrong with them, I miss mine.

Ahhhh! So thats why they never sat right! Bit late finding out now though!

Push them "in" towards the window and they self-drain...or drill a hole in the bottom of the casing

would like to get the how do on this. If anyone knows how to get the little metal slit cover to reclose on the boot key area that would be great, mine is always open and letting durt in :-( have WD40'd it to death and no luck.

Can i mention dipstick readings for fun..... i cant see why they didnt fit the electronic dipsticks used in the Lancia Prisma, was class in it day!

Great thread and I agree with most of comments, whilst sitting here smiling and nodding at the comments

Still wouldn't be without mine though

Not personal annoyances of mine, but probably are for other people and dont think they've been mentioned yet:

Wiper arms rubbing through the top edge of the bonnet.

Rocker cover which easily cracks at the top right corner.

Melting rear bumpers from exhaust.

Reflectors dropping out of rear bumpers.

Disintegrating number plate lights.

Washers often failing due to the non retun valve or pump problems.

Bonnet catch often breaking.


Can't think of any others at the moment

Aux belt slippage straight into cambelt.

CHOD.

(learning quick)

Mine was open for a long time and when it rained or I washed the car water used to pour in to the boot! You'll find it's dirt which has clogged it up, preventing the little flap from fully closing. Get a pin in there and scrape all around where the flap closes, then hoover out the crap. The ideal solution is to replace the whole mechanism.

Im not drilling them
However i will give the other idea ago

Just buy a small mop for the spider.

The handbrake. Rubbish when it works and embarrasing when it doesn't. (Mine currently doesn't; cables are stretched and ive not got round to fitting new ones)


The fuel gauge - a quarter full, go round a corner - light comes on. Go round another corner, light goes off. Go down a hill; light comes on, go up a hill light goes off etc...

It's enough to panic a new owner into thinking youre almost out of fuel when you though you had enough to get you home...

Again - Ski hatch. If you're going to fit split rear seats, why not make the hole a bit bigger..?

The rubberised dash on the 20V - probably looked great when it came out of the factory, but after a few years of use; looks a bit ropey. Much like the idea behind the DeLorean bodywork. Great idea in principle, rubbish in practice...

Just buy a small mop for the spider.

Hilarious,love it

The route the washer hose goes through for the rear wiper so it rubs a hole in its self under you back seat.

Haha, i always wondered why there was a random patch of water under my rear footmat when cleaning my coupe, anyone else had this?!

Map reading light on the wrong side for those who drive on the proper side of the road.

I came up with a 'clever' way to reverse the interior light fitting - but now I have to move the mirror to get to the switches!

Opening the bonnet in winter, and tearing the sponge off it's fixings where it has frozen to the inside of the bonnet.

There is a tiny spring which should close the lid on the barrel
which may have become dislodged. Take out lock, carefully prise off chrome disc, re-site spring. When reassembling put the key through the disc first then into the barrel and ease disc back into place with spring and lid held in position. Have meant to do a howto for ages.

Back on topic, my fear is the knockout boot lid caught by a strong gust of wind

LOVE this thread!

They're not design flaws, they're quirks specially engineered in to give the cars character...maybe

After filling the boot full. Then realizing you can't quite get everything in and have to move it around to allow for the hoops of the boot hinge!!

Flaking lacquer on Scotts Green roofs?

A vicous rumour started by jealous sprinty owners

keep telling your self that lol

next you will be saying Proccys car made it a month with out a vist from RAC!!

Totally agree that these 'flaws' make the car more fun, characterful compared to boring german/jap cars but my oh my how that positive attitude changes come winter time, i hate my coupe in the winter, so embarassing lol