My list of WTFs!
Power door locks. USE SOLENOIDS instead of motors!
What's with the armrest panel stuck on the driver's seat? What about an actual use of that armrest as a cover for a little bin to carry CDs or other things?
Yes, that little cubby thing that can barely fit a ping-pong ball.
Change the type of plastic for those headlights.
Put the splash shield on the right side of the car to protect the alternator. It'll prevent the alternator from turning off when riding over a puddle.
Change the friggin tranny! My thing jolts when I drive too fast too long.
Soundproofing must have been bypassed when they build the Contour. I am almost in need of using an aviation headset to listen to music!
What's with the wiper/turn signal knobs? They're so friggin short!
The cupholders are too shallow. I have the stain from a large cup of Mountain Dew on my carpet to prove it!
Whoever designed the aesthetics of the car must have been drunk. I find nothing "pretty" about the car.
Find a way to extend range. Of my family's fleet of cars, my Contour has the least amount of range.
When any door is open too long (11 seconds) the horn will honk 3 times.
The manual says that one of the fuseboxes is near where the passenger sits. Do I need to take the car apart to find it?
Instead of stuffing electronics into the car to let it run, just do this:
Simplify your systems!
In aircraft (I'm more familiar with aircraft systems than automotive systems), simplicity is the key. Backup systems are in order for EVERYTHING. If something goes wrong, you have another system to back it up. That's why we use magnetoes, two of them. For multiple fuel-tank aircraft (and in multiengine aircraft) the use of fuel selector valves is in order. Fuel cutoff is mandatory, and possible fuel cross-feed is also put in for good measure. We pilots are safety oriented, and the Contour comes against all mannerisms of safety.
You may think, "Well, why won't he get rid of it?". It wasn't choice that brought me to the contour. I had already heard bad things about the car long before I even owned it, and I never even wanted one in the first place. Sure, the one I have only had 38,000 miles when I bought it. But, it felt as if it had 138,000 miles!
That, I feel, came from the factory.
Then, comes the things the previous owner put in:
The audio system. An Aiwa MDC-835 CD Changer, with a corded remore control, attached to a thick, short wire, below the dash.
I removed the annoying kill switch.
There's a reason why the Contour had such a short production life.
