- Some engineering choices seem to make no sense at all.
- We share at least three that we’ve come across over the years.
- Then we ask about your experience with similar designs.
Every car enthusiast has a moment in the garage where they stop, stare at a part in their hand, and wonder which engineer woke up and decided their job that day was to make life difficult.
It’s one of those rites of passage in the garage, a mix of disbelief, annoyance, and the creeping suspicion that someone, somewhere, is laughing at you from behind a CAD screen.
Read: Apparently You Need Hyundai’s Permission To Change Your Own Brakes
A Redditor working on a Jeep Renegade sparked that exact conversation after attempting what should’ve been a simple cosmetic swap: installing black grille inserts in place of the stock chrome ones. This is a job that, in theory, could take as little as 60 seconds.
One doesn’t need to pop the hood. They don’t need to remove anything but the old inserts. They don’t even need to disconnect the battery, which is the first step in almost every DIY car job. The Renegade, however, had other plans.
After fifteen minutes of pushing, twisting, and second-guessing reality itself, the owner discovered the punchline. All seven inserts are unique. Not slightly unique. Not “left side vs. right side.” Each individual grille slot requires its own specific insert, complete with its own lettering code and its own subtly misaligned locating tabs to prevent installation anywhere else.
That kind of design led us to reach out to Jeep for an explanation. As of this writing, the brand says one is coming, but we don’t have it yet.
Nevertheless, it has us wondering what other bizarre, needlessly complicated, or outright maddening engineering choices automakers have slipped into otherwise normal cars? We here at Carscoops have dealt with a few.
I sold my E60 BMW 535i after learning that I had to drop my subframe to replace my oxygen sensors. Very little on that car was easy to work on, and the O2 sensors were the last straw. Our EIC, John Halas, mentioned the absurd task of replacing headlights in the Honda S2000.
From what I understand, owners have two options. One is to remove the bumper to gain access to the light housing. Two is to put the car up on jack stands or a lift and then remove the wheel and inner fender liner (see this write up on S2KI). Imagine having a headlight go out on a long road trip at night. Good luck with that. That’s not just inconvenient, it’s borderline sabotage.
So now we want to hear from you. What’s the most mind-bending, illogically complex bit of automotive engineering you’ve run into while repairing or maintaining your car? Bonus points if it made you swear off the brand entirely.