A couple of other offenders:

Saw a Merc today with a similar treatment. I do not enjoy them. But the VW ones are the worst.

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[–] 24 points 1 day ago (1 child)

They go on the front! Everybody knows this!

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  • [–] 12 points 1 day ago (4 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    Didn't Ford start that a long time ago? Looked bad then too.

    It was Mercury Sable that I was thinking of, back in 1986. But apparently lit logos and emblems go back further than that in a few models, with the Wolseley in 1932.

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  • [–] 1 point 22 hours ago (2 children)

    Light up Mercedes badges were some of the earliest that I can remember. In the early 2000s.

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  • [–] 1 point 22 hours ago (1 child)

    Updated my post. It's been a thing for a while, just not as common as now.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago*

    Ah yeah forgot about those front panels in the Sables. Such future.

    Porsches (and Audi, BMW, Merc) had rear reflector panels across the backs in the 80s too. Heckblende, and Radwood enthusiasts pay big hugs for vintage ones.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 day ago (4 children)
  • [–] 2 points 20 hours ago

    Yeah i think Tesla started this trend? Now a lot of new car have that. Kinda like Tron or cyberpunk stuff which that dork from Tesla love. It's nice at first but it's getting stale.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 day ago (4 children)

    Hyundai decided “cheap aftermarket cutouts” was the look they were going for on the ioniq rear bumper lights. Like someone ordered them from the JC Whitney catalog.

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  • [–] 3 points 19 hours ago* (3 children)

    Even worse, in Europe, on lower trims, this is the amber turn signal... And it's incandescent 🤢

    Also, at least in Canada, all trims of the IONIQ 5 come with these horrid, abhorrent LED reflector head lights. They piss light everywhere while being dim and not lighting up cross walks. I rented a 2024 Ultimate trim and was always getting caught off guard with pedestrians crossing the street because it doesn't light the sides of the road. Straight up dangerous.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

    It’s been pretty amazing to watch, in my lifetime, car headlights regress from being basically a solved problem to… “simultaneously bright enough to dazzle oncoming drivers, but too dark to see pedestrians.” It’s almost impressive how badly we’ve managed to fuck this one up.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    It's ridiculous! 2010 to 2020, a lot of cars had projector halogen bulbs. Great! I had a set in my 2020 Elantra, I put high end Diode Dynamics LED bulbs in there and they were perfect. Not too bright, excellent cut off, excellent lateral visibility, good beam pattern.

    Every 2019-2020 Elantra (AD-PE) had these projectors on every trims. Newer Elantras now have reflector LEDs on all trims below Luxury. Like what the hell happened?

    And it's not like we just stopped developing projector technology either. My 2026 K4 Hatchback GT-Line Turbo Limited has projector LED beams with a notch cut out for the opposite lane of traffic to avoid glaring oncoming drivers, dedicated and automatic high beams (whether the implementation is good is debatable, I would have rather had soft dimming high beams to not make other drivers think I'm flashing them), yet every trim below uses an array of three projector LEDs on either side.

    IMO we just need to ban LEDs in reflector housings. I think that would solve part of the night glare issue. They're not even good for the drivers, they're dimmer than halogen!

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  • [–] 2 points 5 hours ago

    It's very annoying. I used to enjoy driving at night quite a bit, but now I avoid it because other drivers' headlights give me eye strain 😅 I'm just like, who actually likes these things? Who is asking for them? Anecdotally, it feels like everyone I talk to hates them.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 day ago

    I agree the "cyber" aesthetic is stupid. Aesthetics are subjective, I guess.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago

    Porsche does them good but but most suck. especially BYD and VW look like toys

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (5 children)

    do they stay on or activate with the break lights. more visibility for break lights is a good thing. if they stay on though what is the point.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    Usually these type stay on as part of the running lights, and then the brake lights illuminate more lights or make these brighter.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    So you dont like the logo/name illuminated, or the rest of the brake light designs as well?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago

    Yeah like, in theory, it could be cool, but whenever I see them on the road, they don't look that great.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 day ago

    They're not there to look cool, they're for safety...

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  • [+] -6 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I know that one says p o r s c h e

    but, if you squint your eyes a little it becomes Ai slop letters.

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