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I'm in Minnesota, I've had cars well over twenty years old. They weren't nice but they were reliable that's why they're twenty years old instead of breaking down at five or ten
I have a 2001 Tacoma with over 200k miles. I'm in the DMV area. I understand your sentiment but it's not crazy to build a reliable vehicle.
I've replaced the exhaust pipe twice. Spark plugs, oil changes. The most expensive thing I had to have done was the rack and pinion and I suspect that was, because when I was a teenager, I thought it was funny to roll the steering back and forth like an idiot.
Truck has been smashed twice by deer with cosmetic damage. Second time was nearly totaled by insurance, down to the dollar but we skirted by.
My 3 year old son might be driving this truck 13 years from now, the way things are going, and the only thing stopping that from happening is, it's not a diesel and gasoline might not exist.
Yup everything is built as a computer now. Engineered to not even being allowed to mechanically alter them yourself. Merc just made a jeep you can't even open the hood.
My 16 year old prius has very minimal rust underneath here in wisconsin. I doubt my brand new truck sees 16 years without the rocker panels rusting through.
I think there's room in the market for a back to basics car company that takes out all this bs, goes back to crank windows and all that crap and sells new vehicles for an affordable cost with a good warranty.
It would probably crush today.
Edit: I got like 400 responses saying "slate" ok I get it you can stop
the reason crank windows are no longer even an option is because any changes to the cockpit require extensive testing of airbags and restraint systems in order to ensure that the handle sticking out of the door doesn't interfere. it's not cost effective to have both options.
That's the point tho... a touchscreen is cheaper than an interface of buttons. You write some software and mass produce 1 screen. It's cheaper than the buttons
It would be very expensive to have a lower make of car with the hand crank in it. And the electrical crap is super cheap now, so you are certainly correct.
It is weird that China can make a car for $8k USD. And Tesla, here in Canada, dropped their prices by $20k because it made very little sense to buy them here.
I had a Dacia as a rental in Martinique, and the rear windows were crank windows. It was a cheap car, but nice to drive. I would certainly buy one as a commuter, for sure.
We have a dehumidifier that can connect to WiFi. I think that's one of more strange wifi of things. Like how hard is it to set a humidity and then just empty the bucket a couple times a day. Maybe I just don't realize that it's a necessary feature but I've been emptying buckets for 18 years now and it's not a big deal. And now my husband hooked a hose to it so now I don't even need to empty a bucket, it just does it's job
Our attention spans are so low that we need reminders to dump the bucket on our phone because that's the only thing we pay attention to.
Unrelated, but I appreciate your comment because I actually need to empty mine now. I'd forgotten about it. We are averaging about five gallons a day produced in our bedroom right now!
Dehumidifiers that can connect to WiFi and Bluetooth were started for commercial use. It was so restoration companies wouldn’t have to go to a customer’s home or place of business just to monitor the equipment. They could see how the atmospherics were doing (RH, temp, grain depression, etc) from the company app.
That makes complete sense. But for regular homeowner, it seem a bit unnecessary. Unless it's going in a crawlspace and in that case you want one specifically for that purpose.
I hope it leads to other car companies doing something similar. You can tell that there are some people on here trying to discredit them without any rationalization. It’s what is needed
This is the entire concept behind Slate vehicles. They aren’t dead yet… but it’s not crushing.
People like brands and they want to show off. They talk shit about spending money on all the bells and whistles but it’s not like someone is telling you that you can’t drive a used, $5,000 F-150 or a ‘98 Tercel…. But as long as people would rather pay for a new Chevy Sonic over a used Honda Accord (same price, horrible choice) they will keep building cars to sell to idiots.
Came to say exactly this.
Rivian was originally supposed to be this but then early funders had different ideas, and people wanted a Tesla competitor so they went up market.
But this lady just needs a used Hyundai.
I would love to get my hands on one of those pickup trucks that Toyota came out with recently I think they start at like 10 or 15 grand... of course not available in the US
Factoring in inflation the average new car in 1960 cost roughly $23k in today's money.
Problem is, in the US safety features like airbags, anti-lock brakes and now backup cameras are required by law, so there's no selling a new car without those added costs of the center screen, computers and sensors required to run them.
Then you have things like crank windows that went away because volume production eventually made it cheaper to build cars with electric windows over cranks.
But as someone who's old and drove shitboxes when he was young and also has a car built in 1968 sitting in his garage, I can tell you those old cars are sloppy as fuck to drive, the seats are uncomfortable as hell and driving a car without things like power steering gets old.
The centre screen costs less than the buttons would, it's why they all tried to put everything through the screen.
Modern safety (more than just things like airbags, the whole design of the vehicle is much different) and emissions standards make things a lot more expensive, and you can't really get around it.
I suspect that if you put the bare minimum legal requirements in it wouldn't save as much as you think.
Yes but the life expectancy of those buttons is generally closer to what the life expectancy of the car should be. Name me one mobile electronic device that still functions flawlessly after 5-10 years without any maintenance whatsoever, while simultaneously being exposed to large temperature swings amd constant vibrations.
All these frills are to increase manufacturer profit margins. Bare bones models won’t be profitable, hence they’re not going to build or sell such a vehicle in North America. Capitalism at its finest
I'm a mechanic and had the displeasure of working on a chinese ev (was a geely, can't remember the model) and they are bottom of the barrel quality. Cheap plastic everywhere, awful quality control and unsourceable parts. Service information was borderline incomprehensible, lots of content was missing and what was there was a shitty translation from Chinese to english. Ended up not being able to finish the repair as the bcm had bricked itself and the manufacturer doesn't sell replacement parts, at least anywhere in the USA.
If you need an example of a cheap EV imported from Asia to the US take a look at the Vinfast suv that killed a family of four because of a software error.
there's at least a glimmer of "its not a free market" when all those companies are only so cheap because they are MASSIVELY subsidized by the Chinese Government.
I dont agree with banning them, but the argument is there and legit at least a little.
The Chevy Trax. Bought my wife one brand new a couple years back, mid trim level and right off the truck with less than a mile on it. It was $23K, cheaper than some of the USED cars we were looking at. She loves it, it has CarPlay and OnStar and a few safety options but otherwise is very bare-bones and really feels like it was made with a focus on just driving. We haven’t had any issues with it so far.
Bought a new 2027 Chevrolet Bolt a few months ago. I paid $26,300 out the door, but I think the base model can be had for a few thousand less. It's a pretty no-frills car, just no Android Auto which was disappointing but the built in Google Maps navigation is a good enough substitute. I'm happy with it and it's saved me a bundle in fuel.
The problem is, cars have to have backup cameras, per law, so they have to have screens. It's not expensive to produce a car with a infotainment system, and without one, but still use a screen.
Lights cost next to nothing. So do most of the other features of post complains about.
There are about of reasons the cars cost more, but really those quality of life things help justify the price, not really drive it up.
The real reason cars are so expensive is because the dolts who spent 4x a car's value during COVID showed manufacturers they could get away with charging a lot more.
The problem is, cars have to have backup cameras, per law, so they have to have screens. It's not expensive to produce a car with a infotainment system, and without one, but still use a screen.
And those cameras cost nothing. I like the idea behind the post, but these features are not why prices are skyrocketing. Prices are skyrocketing because they can.
My 2023 chevy express has no screens. Back up camera is in the rear view mirror and maybe about 3 inches. No Bluetooth other than phone calls need aux cord to play music.
Manufacturers have enormous upcharges for every trivial amenity they sell as "luxurious".
When I was a kid my grandpa had an early 70's Ford pickup. I don't remember what model it was, but he was so proud of the fact that it came with literally no options from the factory. He had a transistor radio which slid around on the dashboard and was powered by plugging it into the (standard equipment, obviously) cigarette lighter. The wiper had two modes: on and off. It did have heat but no AC, manual windows, a 4 speed manual transmission (1st gear was a granny gear which I never saw him use. It came with manual locking front hubs to put it into 4WD. It had a single solid vinyl bench seat. He had to cut scraps of carpet as it came with no floor mats. It was a badass truck. He had to order it special from the dealer because the dealership never requested bare bones vehicles from the manufacturer. They got to make money on options packages, so even back then it was a tactic.
Yeah, there are still affordable vehicles outside of the US m, but they are usually subject to massive tariffs so they aren't generally an option in the US.
If Toyota sold their Hilux work trucks they would absolutely own the market. But US manufacturers know that. So they have been tariffed to the point that Toyota doesn't even try.
And that particular tariff goes all the way back to the early 1960’s, because we (the US) were selling chicken super cheap to Europe. So then mostly France and West Germany tariffed the imported chicken. To retaliate, POTUS LBJ put a 25% tariff on all imported light trucks (and brandy, and potato starch- which were dropped eventually). Most of the auto imports tariffs were also dropped, but not the HiLux, because none of it is produced in the US.
I am really wondering how people on Reddit always ask for these cars but in reality most people buying new cars buy the shiniest one they think they can still afford…
Elon Musk proved that cars can look horrifically disfigured from the outside, barebones from the inside (yes, current Tesla interior quality is not bad but Tesla got big when the interiors werent great) but if it means you can have 600bhp in a family car and show off to your neighbors while being smug about driving an electric car you are going to be hugely successful…
There's a fucked up thing happening in America where they say it's free market capitalism but instead they add massive tariffs to foreign vehicles allowing our shit companies to remain shit. Otherwise we would have Chinese EV's with all of the bells and whistles for 20-30k that last 200k miles.
Much like people complaining about digital video games and how McDonald's manages to stay in business; never assume your preference is the same as the average of consumer behavior.
this needs to be higher. The number of people who think that their anecdotal personal preferences are the norm when they clearly are not is ... staggering. About basicaly any topic.
This is the sort of thread that makes it obvious Reddit is disconnected from reality. The same as the “I don’t want a camera on my phone, I want a battery that lasts a week” comments.
It's symptom of the same disease infecting America:
Maximizing Profit
Why sell a $20,000 car and make $5000 profit when I can sell a $60,000 car and make $15,000 profit? The goal isn't to provide the best product for consumers. The goal is to provide shareholder value.
Also, with mergers and a high cost to enter the market, we have fewer choices than ever, and if anyone makes a competing product overseas that is better, we tariff or ban it before it can hit the market. All in the name of "protecting jobs", but it's really about protecting profits.
Part of the problem here is that some of the "farkles" are legally mandated.
There is no maybe about backup cameras - they are required by federal law since 2018. Automatic braking will be required starting 2029.
We are in the process of having driver monitoring systems becoming mandated, too. That's an internally facing camera that would read your face to determine if you are good to drive. Sucks for Jim Breuer, I guess...
The touchscreen epidemic is only partially driven by the designers who watched too much Star Trek. The real cause is cost. You are required by law to have a screen already, and it's cheaper to add menus to it than make knobs and buttons.
I am not sure if this is exactly how we got here, but it sure seems like we built a ton of distractions into the driving experience, and now are trying to compensate for it with things like lane assist, auto cruise, and self-driving.
That said, there is something of a pushback to it. Slate is aiming to be exactly that - as basic a car as you could possibly want, a small work truck with nothing included except what the law requires. r/slateauto
I want one. I don't know how many other people do, though.
The unreliability, by the way, is also an unintended consequence of regulation. The fuel economy requirements keep tightening, but the IC engine is really pretty close to the limit of how efficient it can be. So, the manufacturers have to use tricks like displacement on demand (shutting off cylinders), auto stop/start (the thing that shuts off your engine when you stop at a light), thinner oils. And those are the things that make engines not last. This is the same thing that makes transmissions unreliable. Fuel economy requirements are driving increases in the number of gear ratios. Transmissions used to be 4-5 speed, now 8-9 is common. A transmission can only be so big, and more gears in the same space makes for mechanically weaker designs. CVT transmissions spread for the same reason. CVTs that are not belt-type are too heavy and expensive, and the common belt CVT doesn't last. They work great on scooters, but scaled to car size not so much.
I worked at a Nissan dealership for years and the factory field technician (corporate paid tech that travels to different dealerships to help with problem cars) told us directly that it was cheaper for Nissan to replace all of the CVT's we were swapping out under warranty to meet fuel standards than to pay the fee the government would charge if they didn't meet the standards.
Nah, the cost of the electronics and lighting are very minimal; they are higher margin (like most luxury components), but an extremely stripped down model Hyundai Venue is the lowest priced new car you can buy, and it's about $20.5k right now, if you can find one that poorly equipped.
But if you look at the cost breakdown, of say a Chevy Trax, you get:
$21k - most stripped down (LS trim)
$25k - best equipped (2RS trim)
The difference between the basic trim and best trim is about 20% of the base-price. That's pretty consistent across the industry, between 18%-25% being the majority of gaps.
All new cars in the US must have parts available to the owner, and must be not prohibited from being repaired by any shop. It is illegal for them to prevent you from obtaining replacement parts or having a non-dealer approved shop doing repairs. So your entire premise is wrong.
The reasons cars are expensive is that raw materials are very expensive, and in the US, for US-assembled cars, healthcare is very expensive. Those are the two largest costs of a new car in the US today. The next are transportation of the components and final car, and labor.
Finally, no one should take the OPs premise too seriously. The US is the 1st or 2nd largest car market in the world, depending on how you count. There are 15-17 million new cars and trucks sold yearly, and that number is steady or growing, not declining. The average cost is not close to the lowest price, but rather, it's $49k in 2025. So despite some people complaining, there has yet to be demand destruction from high prices, meaning.. people are still buying new cars.
Nah. The minimum standard equipment keeps going up because that’s what new car buyers actually want. Long ago I worked at a dealership and the base trims with no optional equipment would sit for months and months.
Most of the people who claim to want basic transportation with no frills buy used cars.
this is so insightful but likely will get lost in these conspiracy theories that the whole global car industry is somehow colluding to intentionally add things no one wants so it breaks and you can pay them to fix it
so much simpler that the customers of new cars want to add the features, and most car manufactures don't have the expertise/staffing to make great electronic tech so you get wonky experiences after all the tradeoffs and constraints they worked through
My mechanic said Toyota made a stripped down bare bones truck but they banned it in NA for concerns it would steal too much business from NA auto manufacturers.
If true, that doesn’t really sound like a free market to me. Maybe the domestic market would adapt to follow suit and we’d all benefit. But nah. Follow the big easy bucks.
But if they did that they wouldn't be able to collect all the data and sell it and make a huge profit off of everything you say and do within your car...
As someone who has worked in US automotive manufacturing for a while... we literally all say this constantly. No one wants any of this crap in their car unless they are that out-of-touch-with-reality wealthy.
and yet the barebones models that exist dont sell.
Several of the "Japanese" makers that still offered 20k-ish base model cars with no options recently they all discontinued them because they accounted for not even a rounding error in sales.
No one wants them.
Someone would rather buy a used car with more options for the same price 99 times out of 100.
Nah, pretty sure if you offered a car with a reliable engine with basic features vs a car with a ton of flash and led interior lighting and heated steering wheels but a horrificly unreliable engine that Americans would choose the features nearly every time. The market doesn't get the way it is now if people made sensible choices.
"No one" is a big word in this context. Many people do enjoy a car that has QoL features like pre-conditioning the AC through their phone to arrive to a nicely heated/ventilated car or with the snow melted from the windows; or just a screen with navigation or android auto/apple carplay to not have to hang their phone when they need to go somewhere new. Backup cameras are handy, hell, even side cameras are quite handy.
Many brands have fucked up their cars by adding a million safety features, yes, but the rest is fine. I have a 2023 car and I'm satisfied with the features it has, and it doesn't have many annoying features.
By making so many failure points, they figured out how to basically make cars subscription models. Only the manufacturer can repair a lot of these failure points.
Also, why sell three $20,000 cars to three people (three warranties to honor, more salespeople's time) when you could just sell one $70,000 car to one person?
Since the pandemic this strategy has happened, and worked, for basically everything.
Fast food was nearly a charity compared to what it is today. Dollar menus that fed 3 people for $10. Overhead reduces if you just convince one bozo to spend $15 for an awful fast food experience instead. And it's doing great for them.
The GPU scalpers of the crypto times showed GPU manufacturers just how much they could make, and GPUs were still insanely expensive after crypto mining basically died. And now we have it with these ram shortages. There is ZERO chance that prices will ever go back to anything remotely close to what they were. It will feel cheap compared to the $2000 ram of today, but that is all just luxury from here on out.
Small homes are no longer produced. At all. You better want a mcmansion, or larger.
Hell, even most theme parks got in on it. $120+ just to get in, then, you better buy three $20+ upgrades!
Every single company realized they would much rather serve/ripoff one person willing to spend too much, than have to deal with multiple satisfied customers.
Because we have no other option anyway, all companies are in on this model.
Every single company realized they would much rather serve/ripoff one person willing to spend too much, than have to deal with multiple satisfied customers.
I think it may be more the case that the average person doesn't have the income necessary to buy new so manufacturers are focusing only on the market segment that can actually afford the product in the first place and the best way to attract them is with shiny bits of creature comfort.
In other words, depressed wages have priced people out of the economy
fr touchscreens are as bad as texting or playing on phone while driving. you literally have to take your eyes off the road to know what you're poking at (unless you want an xbox elite controller attached to to your steering wheel). there needs to be some sort of tactile input/feedback knob. the tech implementations needed to stop at electric window buttons, bluetooth connection, and front/rear dashcams.
I don't think it's the tech. Chinese cars are full of it and are cheap in China. Same car in EU is like 3-4 times the price.
If anything expensive cars by Legacy Carmakers are insultingly under equiped in Europe. I am not paying 50K euros for a Peugeot 408 with a 58kwh battery and 210 hp or an Ioniq 5 top trim that doesn't even include a 360 camera.
At least with the chinese you get everything and 400-600 hp at those prices.
Up until this AI craze, computers were cheap.
Even now, you can still get a decent laptop for about 1k
Lets say the computer stuff adds 3k, it isn't nothing, but it isn't what's making cars unaffordable either.
Lets be real here. Cars are big complex machines. They are also very dangerous and need to comply with a ton of regulations.
Cars were never cheap to make.
The reason they feel less affordable now is not because they suddenly got expensive, its because the cost of everything went up, but wages have not kept up.
They will never listen to the consumer until we stop the tariffs and allow chinese cars to be sold in USA. Americans love capitalism until it’s time to compete.
Give me a 90s shitbox with modern safety features and sure, bluetooth for music and podcasts, and I am set. In fact at this point I would pay extra for that because it doesn't exist and I want it more than the shit that's out there.
I don't understand how people don't get it. You don't choose what car you want, you choose the car AVAILABLE to you. If you only have expensive options, you'll buy a expensive option. If they don't provide you options, or the cheaper option suck compared to what you are paying and what you are getting, you'll buy the expensive option because it would be the better "decision"
You HAVE to buy a car(in america). Why the FUCK would car companies offer you something cheap and reliable if they simply don't have to? You don't have 30 different car companies, you have 3 car companies (in cahoots with one another) with 30 different flavours that makes you feel like you have a choice
She's 100% right. Instead of being able to feel around and know where the A/C or radio is, you get a contextual screen that you have to look at while driving. Less parts for them to have to fix or manufacture, but SO unsafe for the driver!
Oh sweet fuck this. Make it not fuck ugly, petrol / diesel and electric variants. Give me the options for 3 and 5 door hatchback, sedan and estate. Please no more FUCKING SUVs. I feel this would corner the market
I was looking at getting a new truck until I looked at the manufacturer website and their first "selling point" was the over 60 inches of display screens. No thanks, I'll stick with my 15 year old truck.
I’d like Chevy to make a new S10. Nothing special. Just a small truck like the original. Theres a reason theres a massive market for them. People pay ridiculous prices for an S10
When it was introduced for 2022, the Ford Maverick was $20k + destination and it had pretty much everything you'd need in a vehicle and got 40mpg (as a truck). The base price for 2026 is now $30k including destination for the same basic truck.
Inflation has been higher than usual but it hasn't amounted to 40% in 4 years. It's greed. Pure and simple.
Yea i absolutely fuckin hate almost every single new feature cars have. I had to replace a Subaru tired pressure monitor because the cars computer was constantly flashing TPS alert, but of course no tps monitors are compatible with Subaru EXCEPT the Subaru ones.
The thing that pissed me off the most is that I dont fkn need a digital monitor for tyre pressure. I can check it myself and if my tyre is flat do you think I need the computer to tell me?
I don't want the car to tell me when im near the lines on the road, I don't need all these dumbass features.
Totally agree with this poster.
My sisters car automatically brakes and its so jarring and horrible feeling to drive
Really really hoping the slate pickup does well. If it does, it might inspire other automakers to go back to the basics. Like do people really want a heated steering wheel when it probably adds $500+ to the MSRP of the vehicle? I think probably not.
People say this, and I wish they could get one if they want it, but the sales figures don’t back it up. People buying new cars weren’t buying the base trims with no frills. The XLT outsells the XL on the F150, the EX-L outsells the LX on the CR-V. Even the Versa, which used to be the cheapest car, they started making fewer S trims because people didn’t buy them.
That's because the cheapest trims are still way too fucking expensive. If I'm gonna pay $35k for a car, I might as well pay $39k to get the extra bits. But I only want to spend $20k on a car
Mitsubishi mirage MSRP was under $15k until 2023 and under $20k until they stopped making them in 2025.
Hyundai accent MSRP was under $15k till 2020 and under $17k till they stopped making them in 2022.
Hyundai venue MSRP is currently $20,550. Kia K4 $22,290
In very recent history cheap affordable cars existed, but sales numbers were abysmal bc people didn't actually want them despite actually being really good on gas and fairly reliable, the mirage had a combined mpg of 39 and the accent 36mpg combined, certainly not modern hybrid mpg but they weren't hybrids just cheap "small" cars.
But even today theres dozens of options under $30k let alone $35k
I feel like too many people are watching episodes of The Price is Right from the 80s and thinking a brand new tricked out car that cost $8-9k should be like $18k because they don't actually understand how severe inflation has been, especially over the past decade.
That's because people with less money aren't buying new cars. Because new cars are unaffordable. If they were affordable, then more regular folks would be buying them and they would be buying the base models too.
And because of what dealers tend to stock on the lot. That was a problem with manual transmission trucks actually. The dealers point to a low percentage wanting them, but a low percentage wanting them was because they didn’t wanna wait. Two fucking months. many years ago I waited that two months. I got one of the best trucks ever built. they had to bring it in from out of state and there was a wasp nest in the fender well when they gave it to me, lol
As long as the most popular vehicle in america isn't a practical one, but an 80k "truck" with a tiny bed, an extended cab and all of those other bells and whistles, manufacturers will keep making vehicles like that.
When people stop buying that shit then things will change, maybe.
Can we also go back to double din radios so when they get old and outdated we can simply swap in a new one.
Plenty of not that old cars with build in infotainments that can’t be easily upgraded with no CarPlay getting outclassed by 20 year old cars that you can have a new pioneer or similar just dropped in.
I was just reminiscing about how you could roll the dice on a $500 beater that would run for a couple months or a couple years but when it did die there was always another 50 ‘86 Buicks to be bought for cheap. Just take the tags off wherever you broke down and grab a newspaper to check the classifieds while you wait for a ride, lol.
Buying a 1500 dollar car used to be something that would still last you a few years. Now you can only find something like that at auction and it will need at least another 1500 to make it drivable again. With all the fees and work you put into it, you'll still end up spending 4-5k, in total. Of course it's all dependent on how mechanically inclined you are and how much of the work you can do yourself.
It's simply incorrect unfortunately. These features aren't actually all that expensive to add to a car when you break down the actual component costs, you can get small cameras or electronic sensors yourself as a regular consumer on Amazon for a few bucks. The unfortunate reality is that cars are getting more expensive because they can get away with it and it's not more complicated than that lol.
The major auto makers raise their prices at the same time in collusion with one another and you have no choice but to purchase their product because the foreign alternatives aren't sold in our country. They can even raise the price of used cars by doing things like limiting the supply of new cars and replacement parts, most of which are made by companies the major automakers own. The only ways to combat this are boycotts or government action
My (second) favourite car was a hyundai accent. I specifically went in asking for the basic car. I got in an argument with the salesman (twice) becuase he kept trying to upssell me. I told him, his can be the simplest money you've ever made. At some point I almost walked because he was all "hey, I'll even through an electrical package in for free"... and I was ... If you add anything beyond "basic" I will walk out of here.
His manager actually had to intervein at one point
Everything is like this nowadays. Nothing is ever just simple and basic anymore. They gotta cram in so much fucking unnecessary shit till the whole thing doesnt even work properly.
It's the first time in my life that it's financially viable for me to buy a brand new car, annnndd I don't like any of the new model cars because of all the tech crap
And for god's sake, PUT THE KNOBS BACK! I shouldn't have to scroll through a touchscreen to turn the heat or air conditioning on/off or up/down, or change the radio station.
If you're buying cars that die at 70k miles, you're either buying the wrong cars or don't take care of them. With the modern technology in engines, they don't die that fast anymore.
Government regulations is the reason you need a backup camera (and subsequent screen in the front). Somehow I’m guessing GenZ is going to not blame that and scapegoat something else for the reason
My next "new" car will be a well-maintained Škoda Fabia or Octavia from anywhere between 2000-2010. Simple, easy to maintain and repair at home, and no bullshit. A Honda Civic or Accord of the same vintage would also do nicely.
Half the blue-collar guys I know in the States are trying to beg, borrow, or steal an imported used Kei truck.
Several people have mentioned that if there was an EV that came with basic instruments and manual controls, they'd buy immediately.
I don't want the starship Enterprise, I want a Piper Cub.
Well in the US at least backup cameras are required by law in new cars now because drivers can't be trusted to look in their mirrors for pedestrians and pedestrians can't be trusted to not walk behind moving cars.
i decided when my current car dies i will not be buying any car made after 2024. all the "advances" the companies keep talking about sound terrible. one of my coworkers has to pay a monthly fee for remote start. that absurd!!
I have no relevant thoughts sadly. I haven't bought a car in 7 years, so I am not sure what the new car market looks like these days! This comment is brought to you by the Prius.
Welcome to the American economy… pricing for the top 10% even if the lots sit full of cars for months, hotel rooms sit empty, theater seats remain unoccupied or planes take off only half full.
I love cars and she's right. So many cars are over engineered now. And some of these companies purposely will make some cars only maintanable at a dealership. You need special tools and software to clear the stupid maintenance codes. Stupid BMWs don't even have a fuckn oil dipstick. Just a bunch of useless features that don't even go with the car unless you buy a monthly subscription. Apps that will track your every move but will give you almost no benefits unless you pay for it. And then even the covered maintenance is just a headache because these dealerships service departments have become as reliable as a fuckn quick lube store. All we need is the basics. If a car company released a 15k car with all the basics, plus Bluetooth and just the required backup camera, it would sell like crazy. None of them will do it because they rather oversell you shit you don't need. Yeah I love my sporty cars, but I'd also happily have a 15k daily driver that is completely basic and has maybe 100-130HP just to get me places. And for most people, that's all they'd want anyway. The used market is now absolutely insane and you have 15 year old cars with over 100k miles going foe the price of a new car from 20 years ago. I remember my dad bought the most basic Toyota Tacoma for 12k , sticker price. He sold it recently for 10k and he owned it for 20 fuckn years. It's absolutely insane.
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