I don't think there has ever been an engineer that didn't make mistakes. I don't know anything about automotive engineering or the scope of work that they do, but to pick out a few mistakes and damn them for being idiots is a little harsh is it not?
I could design an entire building ground up, size every member, call out every piece of steel, every connector, consider as much as possible, do 40 or so connection details, painfully scramble to meet the architect's deadline even though they keep changing stuff up until the due date, and get it out the door. Then have a construction guy catch one of my connection details that may not be the best way to do it and sum me up as an idiot for it. Seems a little harsh.
it's not a "few" mistakes. virtually every car out there has engineering nightmares.
oh yea....i wasn't referencing engineers in general....only those that design things for cars.
another example would be vans equipped with rear heat. you ever try to replace 30 feet of steel tubing? when it winds up and over the transmission, goes over the frame rail, down the side, over the rear axle, and then up into the rear heater core?
and did i mention that tube is a single piece? who in their right mind would do make that in one single piece?? now i know you're going to say something like "well by making it one piece, the chance for a coolant leak along that line is less". in reality, it is not. in reality, it is more likely to leak, as it's made of steel, it's exposed to the elements, and it is mounted against the frame rail, allowing places for water to sit, and start the rotting process.
