We live in an age when bad automotive trends are spreading like wildfire, with manufacturers inexplicably copying one another helping proliferate them, despite their obvious downsides. It’s as if originality is not as important anymore, and most automakers are just content to just reimagine what other companies are doing, if whatever it is that they are doing seems successful.

Fake Exhausts - Audi A6

Many automakers are guilty for putting pieces of trim on the rear bumper of some of their cars that try to imitate the look of actual exhausts. Why do manufacturers do it? Do they think it fools buyers that the car has sporty poke-through-the-bumper exhausts even though it doesn’t, or maybe they are there should owners ever want to invest in a custom exhaust that is rerouted through there - you know, like some really cheap cars have a plastic cover in front of the place where the radio should be.

Read our full review on the 2018 Audi A6

Fake Vents - Honda Civic

The only other automotive trend that is as bad as fake exhausts is putting fake vents on the body, even though they serve no functional purpose. There are so many offenders there that it’s genuinely hard to pick one, but the distinction for the worst ones has to go to the Honda Civic, not even the Type R - just the regular Civic has what appear to be meshes that let air through, but are actually completely or ninety percent closed off.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Civic

Huge Grilles that are Mostly Blocked Off - Toyota Avalon

Similar to fake vents, but definitely a category in and of itself, big grilles that don’t really serve the purpose of letting air through are another trend we’d like to see abolished. You’d be surprised to note that it’s not Audi (a known offender in the field of pointless, oversized grilles) but Toyota that makes the worst one, which it put on the front of it latest Avalon sedan. Granted, it’s not the most ridiculous and pointless looking one out there (it actually works with the design), but it’s just too big and if the car doesn’t need it, you should really look for a different styling solution.

Read our full review on the 2019 Toyota Avalon

Fake Carbon Fiber - Honda Civic Type R

The industry has gone crazy with putting carbon fiber patterns on just about everything - the car may be a $10,000 city car, but it will have fake carbon weave on its exterior pieces of plastic trim, as well as on some of the ones inside - some cars even have the fake weave pattern printed onto their upholstery which is just plain daft. Offenders? How about the the aforementioned Honda Civic Type-R, already an offender in the fake vents category.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Civic Type R

No Physical Controls for Basic Functions - Tesla Model 3

Manufacturers are thankfully starting to get their act together after discovering touchscreens and thinking that they can remove all buttons and have all functions accessible through the infotainment. One of the biggest offenders here is Tesla, the manufacturer that kind of set this trend in the first place - in, say, a Model 3, the only physical button you have is for the hazard lights, and it’s awkwardly placed on the headliner, in between the two overhead interior lights.

Read our full review on the 2018 Tesla Model 3

Laggy Touchscreens - Current Honda Infotainment System

But at least Tesla’s touchscreens cannot be accused of poor touch response - they are truly excellent in this respect, better than pretty much any other rivals.However, there are other manufacturers out there trying the same approach (removing as many buttons and making the functions only accessible through the screen) and they’re using screens that either don’t register your touch, or they take too long to load or have a case of excessive menuitis. Take any current Honda as an example of how not to do an automotive touchscreen infotainment - their solution is laggy, confusing and some ways behind most rivals.

Confusing Gear Selectors - Honda Insight

You pull on it, click through its positions to get the car into gear - pulling towards you usually gets it in Drive or somewhere near, while pushing away from you puts the car in reverse and ultimately in its Park position and it’s all very straightforward. But but some manufacturers want their solution to be different just for the sake of it (with no apparent benefits to end user experience), like the new Honda Insight with its confusing buttons which don’t seen to have logic behind their layout - they just look kind of cool, but in terms of functionality leave a lot to be desired and Honda is definitely not the only offending manufacturer here. You also have Jeep and its weird gear selection dial.

Read our full review on the 2019 Honda Insight

Coupe Crossovers/SUVs - BMW X6

Please, automakers, cease this ridiculous trend of making an SUV that has the roofline of a fastback. Other manufacturers (realizing that the look launched by BMW isn’t what most people would call beautiful) have tried different approaches to the formula that have resulted in vehicles that are far easier on the eye while still retaining the same base philosophy.

Read our full review on the 2018 BMW X6