A Volkswagon Golf???
First off, Volkswagons are the crappiest built car ever made. Simply replacing a headlight is extended from a 2 minute snap into a 15 minute minute ordeal (not counting the on-line research, etc.). The engineers figured that they’d be creative by engineering cars from scratch, but they lost 100 years of discovering what not to do. For starters: don’t run electrical cables loosely right past the ash tray, or else be prepared to have your car’s electrical system require service every time anyone uses or fiddles with the ash tray. And why would I ever think of looking on the roof to find the clock? (At least the emergency flashers’ button are in a nice, very visible place. God help the person who drives an unfamiliar Buick without being instructed to feel around on top of the steering column for it.)
You are right. The guys from Mythbusters lamented the same thing in my last issue of Popular Mechanics. They basically said those designing cars today had never worked on cars in their past. They have no idea that placing something (like a battery) in a great spot for space-saving purposes, takes a 5-minute job of replacing the battery to a 2-hour ordeal. Of course, that’s not to say that all past mechanical developments were better (V-8 Monzas, and changing the rear spark plugs, come to mind).