This article is part of the GM Authority Mailbag series, where we feature and reply to your questions, comments, and observations.
The following comes to us from Steve B.:
Not sure how to start, but what bird brain decided it would be good to put cupholders in the doors. Hot coffee with a snap-on lid put into the cupholder in the door because the bird-brain engineers removed the cupholders in the back-seat area. Guess what happens when you forgot the half-a-cup of coffee in the door cupholder when you get out and close the door behind you. The lid pops off and the coffee goes everywhere, leaving a mess to clean up!
Oh, you might say they are intended for water bottles with a screw-on lid or some other seal-tight container. Great, just bring back the cupholders behind the center console. A great place to be able to access your cup with a snap-on lid.
Well, Steve, while we can certainly sympathize with you when it comes to cleaning up a big, coffee-stained mess in the rear seat, we think you pretty much hit the nail on the head in your second paragraph. Those cupholders in the rear doors are indeed intended for containers with a secure lid, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if a soft cup spills when the door is jarred from opening or closing.
“But wait!” you might say. “Where am I supposed to put my cup in the back seat?”
Well, if you’re in the back seat, then you aren’t driving, which means you can go ahead and hold onto the cup with your hands. If you need to put it down for whatever reason, then just make sure to grab it before opening the door.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is Steve’s complaint legitimate, or does he just need to remember to grab the cup before exiting the vehicle? Let us know your take in the comments section below, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
LOL. So funny this article popped up now. I just returned from delivering a new Mazda to a broker about 40 miles away. As is the norm, I have to request a Lyft (Uber) back to the dealership. So I find this article and his complaint spot on. The Lyft driver pulled up today in a Nissan Juke and I get into the back seat with my large McDonald’s Ice tea. After buckling up, I start to look for the rear seat armrest in which there wan’t one. So I ask the driver where the cup holders are at, and he says “it’s in the door”. Let’s just say there is zero way of getting a large paper drink container in one of those without the lid coming off and the cup leaning over. So here I am, 40 miles ride with my large drink stuck between my legs as the cup sweats on my pants and the leather seats. This is not the first time for this.
So my vote is that Steve has a totally perfect reason to complain!
Your complaint is for Nissan vehicles. GM and Ford vehicles have proper cup holders since we in the U.S. invented them.
This is the same with the suburbans, tahoes, yukons and escalades, they all have them in the door….after having 3 yukons with the same design and more than a few spills, get the cup holder in the center please!! Everyone especially in this segment does and its put in the center for a reason!
Holy crap you hit the nail on the head!
The “cup holders” in the rear seats of the current GM full sized SUV’s are like tits on a nun…..F*CKIN USELESS!! First of all, how many cups can you think of that are square? Second of all, the damn things are so shallow that even one of those mini water bottles will fly out of it when the door is shut! And don’t you even think about trying to put a large coffee/soda cup in it!
Between the current, and previous gen GM SUV’s, if there on thing that has lacked in both vehicles, its been cup holders. The last gen had em inconveniently placed on the floor very far away from the passengers, and this one has em in good location, but they are not functional in the slightest.
I forgot to mention how shallow they are, its terrible! I don’t mind if they have one in the lower door and then in the center console, but thats about as much as I can take….
The door pockets aren’t really a cup holder, more of a water bottle
Exactly. Just because you can do something stupid, doesn’t mean you should.
Don’t put coffee cups in the doors, and for God’s sake don’t shut the doors with cups of coffee in them!
I remember using the door cup holders in my old van on a trip and it’s a good place for water bottles when you’re traveling .
You are missing the point, there are no other available cupholders in the middle row of the new traverse. That’s fine to only put a water bottle in the door, but that limits the center row passengers to only drinking tiny water bottles in this vehicle. Stupid design.
Andrew gets the prize!,
These are not cup holders they are for bottles with caps. Be it water, tea or cola but they are only for capped bottles. Even a Yeti cup or cup with closing secure lid will work.
Only an idiot would put a paper cup with a cheap plastic lid in a slanted door holder.
Even if they are up right a large MC D cup would lose its lid when you slam the door.
@Andrew
That’s about it. My 2012 GMC 3500 HD Crewcab has same almost useless cup / bottle holder in the front doors, However I have 3 in the front console and 2 in the back seat, total of 7 . Not sure what mental midget had that idea… oh well more on THAT GREAT GM FEELING… GET IT MORE ON, LOL bad joke
I am the opposite. I hate Cars that DO NOT have Water Bottle Cutouts in the doors. Not having that cutout is extremely inconvenient. Especially on longer Road Trips.
I am obviously talking about everyday vehicles not sports Cars like C8 and Ferrari and stuff.
I bet you need them to relieve yourself during those long trips. You know there are rest rooms?
@Raymond Ramirez
Now that was funny. Lol
I find it extremely useful to have Door Pockets that will hold a Water Bottle. And I am not the only one I know that prefers them.
I hate how ‘rattle’-ee those are. My wife puts glass bottles in them. I’d rather eliminate them and make them additional glove compartments.
@John Hart
Well that depends on the Auto Maker. Most put either Felt or some sort of rubber so you cant hear any Rattling. Now as far as GM is concerned they are too cheap to do so and are just Hard Plastics. This is why I always state GM needs to up the ante in their Interior Department. All the small things that people find annoying or cheap add up and the next vehicle they will be looking for will not be a GM unless they are GM fans like us.
How they haven’t figured this out yet is mind Numbing.
GM desperately needs a Bob Lutz guy that pushes hard for better interiors.
I agree with most of the posts here. “What bird brain decided it would be good to put ” coffee in the doors? No one I know puts any liquids in the doors. My wife and I only put two umbrellas (a small personal size and a medium size) since they are wet after use. All my vehicles have at least two cup and bottle holders, and my 2009 Chevy Equinox hides them where past vehicles had ashtrays.
this is a stupid complaint. The cutouts are for water bottles. And in the case of my current equinox, I really like them because they are big enough to accommodate a large nalgene bottle. Really good for adventuring because you need to take a lot of water, and everybody has a couple Nalgenes.
If they made them smaller and more snug, then me and many others would complain we couldn’t fit our nalgene.
Smaller bottles sometimes rattle around in them. If they added foam or padding inside it, it would be more difficult to clean and harder to push a large bottle into it.
Basically, they gambled and thought people would want to put larger water containers in the doors. In my case they were right. And I hope they don’t change them because they were work PERFECTLY and they are easy to clean.
Cup=holders integrated in the doors are much more convenient than having them in the center stack especially as vehicles are getting smaller and more narrow; it’s just more ergonomic.
I don’t care for them in the doors either. The center console is my choice. Then I go to Wally World (Walmart) and buy a center console that sits on the hump and that helps immensely. I can put 2 various size drinks and a few more things in it. That is just my way of overcoming that problem!!!
It’s useless to complain about any amenities in any vehicle. Engineers have a degree and know better than you how things should be. The consumer is just the person using the item and if they don’t like it, they should go to college and get a degree. The one obvious trait lacking in an engineer is common sense, the one of many things that can’t be taught!!!
I’m sorry this happened to you. However, don’t blame well intentioned auto manufacturers for your mistakes. The fact that they tried to help you with your liquid consumption while you drive does not make them a bird brain. This conundrum of yours is very easy to fix. In fact, a child can figure out a simple solution to prevent that. Just remove your cup from the door cup holder before you exit the vehicle, or drink the whole thing, or don’t use the door cup holder, or don’t drink while you drive. Simple!
the pull down armrest in the back seat has cupholders, the up holders in the doors are good for your water bottles. we think ours has a good amount of cupholders built in
BUICK…How about a Buick truck..I can’t wait to see the luxurious interior!!💜
Obviously putting coffee in the door is not a good idea, BUT! My brand new 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 SLE does not come equipped with 2 simple cup holders in the rear (besides the crappy door ones) for my wife to set her drink down while dealing with our infant son or WHATEVER reason it may be. It’s called convenience and a way to avoid spilling no matter what the reason is for setting down a beverage. We spent close to 50 GRAND! Put some cup holders back there for heavens sake! And why the heck did you design this truck so poorly for aftermarket fog lights!? Holy crap, this is why engineers are considered “educated idiots” in a lot of books because they never think of the person working on an issue after the fact. Vent almost over… have fun charging outrageous amounts and leaving out so much. The auto industry is truly a rip off now.
obviously your young….
back in yesteryear we had to hold our beer 🍺 between our legs… while driving…
cup holders lol….
simple minded….
In the 2020 Traverse the center console cup holders and even the door cutouts in front and back are not big enough to accommodate a larger Nalgene bottle or anything bigger than a standard size water bottle. Does anyone know of a hack or after market product that will expand the center console cup holders. Or can the Trailblazer cup holders be added to the Traverse?
Boy, just completing a weekend road trip. The guys in the front seat and my sister and I in the back seat. Before we even got out of our driveway, I was exercising my vocals on where were cup holders to hold my Tervis and my sister’s Yeti. Spilled before we even left and words exchanged between me and the hubs. They would not fit in the door cup holders. There are no other holders. What the hell? If Chevrolet thinks this is trivial, let me say my soon to be son in law lost a sale over the amount of cupholders for a young family. I had not sat in the backseat until now. My husband just traded in my beloved Lexus SUV for this Tahoe. I won’t say I am ready to trade over cup holders, that’s a bit much. But I will say it will be something for consideration when we buy again. I am on the hunt for something to put in the back seat floor board now. Poor design and it should definitely be in the design platform for newer models. Just so wrong, on so many levels. These vehicles aren’t inexpensive!
I just traded my Terrain for a Traverse. To my surprisee I have 2 cupholders in the middle front and none on the back. How much would it have taken to put cupholders in the back of the middle console? I had 2 in the front, 2 in the front side doors and 2 between the back seats in the Terrain. There is no way you can convince me those little squares in the door are cupholders. Such a disappointment! For the price of a Traverse, really you couldn’t put in a couple more?