Car terminology that makes you cringe

lordrobs · 10 Jun 2021 at 08:38

So I'm sat in the SEAT dealer while they sort out whatever is making my car rattle like a bag of spanners and I spotted that the new Leon has a "distinctive coast-to-coast rear light" :rolleyes:

I'm sure there are plenty of equally awful terms out there, what have you got?

lordrobs · 11 Jun 2021 at 08:40

Joe T said:
With you on that one. Especially when marketed as being "better" because it doesnt need plugging in.

Toyota will need an abrupt change in their marketing strategy sometime soon....

I don't mind that term myself. I mean, the hybrid system does charge itself as it needs no outside intervention (ie plugging in) to do it. I don't think Toyota/Lexus intend to BBB their way into people thinking the energy just magics itself into the battery pack.

Plenty of people worry about not having anywhere to charge a car up so one that has advantages of a hybrid plus doesn't need a charger is an advantage to a lot of people.

Lots of people mentioning 'delete'. One from a few years back that used to wind me up but has thankfully disappeared was the *anything*ectomy phrase to describe removing something. "I've done a mufflerectomy" which translated "I've just fitted a straight through exhaust" or one from the MX5 world "I did a foamectomy on my drivers seat" which meant you chopped a lump of foam out to help fit your oversized frame into a small car

lordrobs · 11 Jun 2021 at 13:00

Thought of a couple more that seem to bug me.

Infotainment - the word just winds me up for some reason especially when it has to be quoted with the screen size in inches.

Turbo - Obviously only applicable to the Taycan. Turbo short for Turbocharger... which an EV doesn't have :mad:

lordrobs · 11 Jun 2021 at 14:31

paradigm said:
To be honest the addition of a "Turbo" badge is, these days, rather irrelevant even for those cars with turbocharged engines (99% of the Internal Combustion Engine new-car market?). Back in the 80s where a turbo was rare or a novelty, sure, but when it's synonymous with "engine", kinda pointless.

Zafira TURBO, rofl.

True, I guess it should be filed in the same category as 16v badges from the 1990s!