The shitty engineering competition is fierce among American automakers.
Couple of runner up ideas that I've personally encountered:
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Connect every climate control damper to the modulator with a thin piece of brittle plastic that will break after 10 years, requiring removal of the entire dashboard to repair. -- Ford, 3rd Gen Explorers and Lincoln Aviators (2002-2005)
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Place the distributor -- which happens to be very sensitive to fluids -- immediately under the water pump so when the water pump bearings inevitably fail, the distributor gets wet and is destroyed. -- GM LT1 Engine (1992 - 1997)
I remember working on the first Toyota I owned and thinking, "Wow! These people really put a ton of thought into where everything is located. This is nice." We've had a Toyota as the primary family vehicle since.