My truck is -07 and it’s the newest vehicle I’ve ever had. I’m not even especially interested about newer models because they just get more difficult to fix yourself and come with bunch of features that I prefer to live without. I prefer a work horse over fashion accessories tho mine is quite nice to look at aswell. Especially from distance.
Good news for a bad reason.
Even if money is no object, in many ways 10-15 year old vehicles may be the sweet spot in terms of decent features without sacrificing privacy.
I don’t want a monolithic touchscreen (zero physical buttons) with apps, integration, cameras on me in the cabin, data collection and harvesting etc. For that reason I will stick with a decade plus old car.
I watched a video that basically points this out. People have already figured out how to make the most optimum vehicle about 10 years ago, hell probably before, but because we live in a capitalistic society, manufacturers have to keep “innovating” and raising prices and adding useless features that create more problems than convenience. Touchsreens in cars are a perfect example: 1 - At first they were used to display radio and connect to gps, but are now overglorofied phones that have basic car features buried behind menus and laggy screens 2 - Distracted driving was already a problem with texting and driving. So lets put a giant screen on the dash where you can watch Netflix (while I doubt you can while driving, the fact I still gotta look at a screen to turn my wipers on in a flash of rain is a major flaw) 3 - Its a new source of revanue, you’d be stupid NOT to put a screen in your car. All that juicy data, waiting to be collected and sold. If Watch_Dogs taught me anything, its that making our world smarter only makes us more vulnerable. 4 - We were able to get around WITHOUT a screen in our car. A phone mount, a bluetooth adapter, and a dashcam make my 2012 mini cooper feel like a 2025 modern smartcar. Sure it sucks that I had to buy the external upgrades, but I’ve still got modern conveniences like seat warmers, AC, cruise control, traction control. (The only feature I can give Tesla is Self-Driving mode, which is still in beta, so you’re more of a test subject and not a paying customer) 5 - (This is a personal rant) A screen looks fancy, until you realize its actually cheaper to call it a software problem, rather than manufacturing dedicated switches. Making it even harder to repair, since your mechanic now has to learn to code, alnogside manual labor if a part is broken.
The only benefit I see in buying the latest car is if you’re worried about the car being overworked. Aka its legit old and undrivable, but the way I see it, its cheaper to fix your old car over breaking your brand new cybertruck before its off the lot.
They also have been holding up better and last more miles. Unfortunately that means the road to switching to EVs is going to take longer.
Great news. Cars are lasting longer these days. Only late stage capitalism could spin that as a bad thing.
Right? They portray it as a problem rather than as a sign that cars have finally hit the point where they’re not dramatically improving in reliability, safety, and efficiency anymore. That is not a bad thing really.
For capitalists, a healthy used market is a bad thing. Captial requires continuous production to make returns on itself.
One of the few things anymore that has a really strong used market besides cars is housing, so the capitalists switched their investment from developing new housing to vacuuming up the existing stock to instead collect rent and increase the value of their portfolio.
Safety is still improving. There are quite a bit more safety features in average cars than 12 years ago. Blind spot detection, collision warnings, brake assist, lane departure, rearview cameras, pedestrian detection, more airbags, driver attention warnings, etc.
A lot of those features were more often available in luxury cars, but they are becoming standard everywhere.
Yes, but the difference in safety over 12 years from a 2000 -> 2012 is much bigger than 2012 -> 2024. There are a lot more features now to stop a crash from occurring, but in terms of crash safety which is what a lot of people consider in buying a car, the difference is much less.
Wrapped myself around a telephone pole several years ago in a 2013 SUV and didn’t have a scratch on me. Crumple zones are one of the greatest inventions of the past few decades.
Saying cars aren’t improving in reliability, safety, and efficiency anymore is a bit of a simplification given the massive upheaval underway as the industry electrifies. BEVs are a massive step change in efficiency. My takeaway is just that shortages during COVID increased prices, coupled with inflation and high interest rates making the payments mind boggingly stupid as people are squeezed financially. I wish it was people driving less and riding ebikes more, but not sure any data points to that.
My 10 year old car has 4 wheels, a good engine, comfy seats and bluetooth. Heating and cooling are fantastic. It does not have sensors that shit themselves if you get too close to a road line, does not need to go to the dealership for an authorized computer reset after the oil is changed, and it doesn’t have any “eco” turbos waiting for their seals to leak.
What more can I ask from a vehicle? Maybe I’m getting old and cranky, but everything they’ve added to new cars is useless crap to distract drivers and eventually break.
Yup. My wife’s car is a '22 and while overall solid drives her crazy with its sensors yelling at her. Thankfully, the auto adjustment to steering if you ‘veer out of your lane’ can be disabled. It still beeps at her for usually no good reason, though. Meanwhile, I hate it because it uses Android auto and is absolutely horrible at managing multiple phones. When I drive it won’t connect. Meanwhile, when she gets home, it hijacks my bluetooth even if I’m listening to something with my headphones. If I unpair it on the phone side it spams pair requests until I block it.
Meanwhile, my car is roughly 10 years old, runs just fine, doesn’t beep just because I used my turn signal with a car next to me, and has basic bluetooth that just works. I much prefer mine.
You can get the same effect as a new car by buying a used car and then lighting $20,000 on fire when you drive it off the lot.
My '21 is functionally the same cost as when I bought it, minus what I would call normal depreciation. Keeping cars for longer also means used prices are remaining higher for longer, reducing access to getting a new one if something happens to your current vehicle and completely throws out anyone getting a new (to them) car for the first time.
Or perhaps people are starting to realize that you don’t need a new car as soon as your 5-year loan is paid off.
I do okay financially; if I wanted a new car, I’d buy one. I bought mine brand new off the lot 15 years ago, and I intend to keep driving it until I can no longer repair it. Why would I possibly want to buy a new, 5G-connected, spyware-infected plastic shitbox when what I have works perfectly well and probably has another 100k miles of life with a few minor repairs and maybe an engine swap at 2-300k or so?
Same, my 2013 Sonata Hybrid has ~80’000 miles (130k km), paid off yeeeaaarrrsss ago, no problem with it, why change?
Car payments are a poverty trap. I haven’t had one in a decade. Buying a used car for cash is such a better deal anyway. I do need suckers to get those 1-2 year leases though to make my cars cheaper.
Pretty much the same here only 12 years ago. I remember telling my dad I made the final payment and his immediate reply was something along the lines of, “Now you can trade it in and get something new again”. I learned long ago not to take financial advice from that guy lol.
Only reason I am thinking of replacing our car is because a BEV would pay for itself fairly quickly if I hear back from a job I applied to that has a 50 mile round-trip commute. Gas alone would be an extra $1000 per year compared to our current 11 year old vehicle.
I’d personally wait a bit as the market is trending down from the high prices during COVID and manufacturers are slowly rolling out more and more incentives again.
There are a good amount of incentives for EVs honestly. My state is also giving a more inclusive rebate for them.
CarPlay and radar cruise control are worth it for commuting imo… but beyond that I don’t care.
2021 civic I’ll be driving into the ground thank you very much.
Installed CarPlay in my 2011 car. It’s awesome and still no car payment.
I frequent the Bay Area (Cali) and wouldn’t dream of taking a car without some semi-autonomous driving features. Sitting in traffic while the car brakes, accelerates and steers is the best.
As a lover of manual transmissions, I think that would make me feel very strange.
It’s takes sometimes an hour to go 15 miles up hills on 680 in the bay. My competition clutch car can help me enjoy the canyon roads, but my “self driving” car can take care of my “grindset” driving.
I used to drive all around the Bay Area with my Honda del Sol. Ah, good times. I miss my twenties.
Only reason Id buy a new car is to get a full electric, affordable, nontesla that has more than 150 horsepower.
How to sound like a boomer without saying you’re a boomer.
“It’s just more stuff to break! I don’t need none of that wifi or internets and touch screens or whathaveya”
Okay techbro
I guess you didn’t see the recent article that studied all the information manufacturers collect on you in these new generation of vehicles. Some notable ones are Nissan and Kia collecting information on your sexual activity and six companies collecting your genetic information all for what? So you can control Spotify from your infotainment screen?
Not wanting unnecessary “features“ that are just thinly veiled spyware that overcomplicate every aspect of driving is not a boomer opinion. Wanting buttons you can feel without looking for instead of a giant screen that has automatic updates and needs to have access to your cellphone for basic functionality is not a boomer opinion.
Knowing that tacking voice activation onto every ‘smart’ device, including vehicles, is just an excuse for companies to record everything you say for their shitty marketing isn’t a boomer opinion.
In my experience doing tech work, boomers love that shit and fall for all of it, and it all fucks up in some way much more quickly than should be allowed.
Ya if you don’t like pissing your money away that makes you a boomer!
Sick take chief.
What a strange take. In fact most highly technical people tend to want simple unless they have enough money to treat things like cars as toys.
I’m not OP, but if wanting cars that have physical buttons and cars that don’t charge me subscription fees makes me a boomer, then I guess I’m a boomer.
For sure. I had my last car for 20 years until it finally NEEDED to be replaced. And my current car I’ve had for five years. After paying it off early, I’ve enjoyed not having that payment, and I hope it lasts just as long as my last car.
Every car I have ever owned since I started driving in the 1990s, I have driven until I can’t anymore. Either they got too old and broke down or something was just so expensive to fix that it wasn’t worth it or someone totaled it. All of them have been bought used as well. And I plan to do it again with my 2016 Prius. I’d love to own an EV, but no way am I going to look into getting one until the Prius isn’t driveable any longer. If that’s more than 12.6 years, so be it.
Drive it until the frame is toast is what I do, then I buy the same car used and the old becomes a donor.
I’m in your camp. Take care of them and drive them into the ground.
I can understand the lure of buying a new car. They’re neat and shiny and have features your car doesn’t. But it’s so wasteful and unnecessary. It’s not like upgrading a computer because it won’t work with any modern software and you won’t be able to use the internet. A model A Ford can drive on the same roads as a Tesla assuming it’s been maintained.
It also won’t drive you into a train against your will.
Macroeconomically, it’s not wasteful because cars find new life in resale. It’s definitely wasteful to your pocketbook to get a new car every 5 years.
Right, but only the first buyer gets to decide what’s produced. So someone buying new dumb pickups every two years is flooding the market with gas guzzlers and this results is much more waste than someone doing the same with Camrys. That’s not the same definition of waste that you used though, but I wanted to chime in because the new car buyers define the future used market.
I feel like driving a car into the ground isn’t taking care of it…
300k miles, then engine swap!
where I like salt gets the body before the engine goes. I have 220k on one and it is starting to rust through.
Frame and body repair, or get a donor car!
Nice in 220. What car you got?
Town and counry minivan.
I buy or lease every 3-4 years. Why? Because I can. I’m doing my part to make sure to eat the depreciation hit for people who want to buy them on the used car market and drive them to the wheels fall off.
There’s definitely good arguments for this, for some people, although I do believe many are making a mistake.
There’s an even better argument for leasing an EV, since the technology is changing so rapidly. A prime example is the upcoming shift to NACS chargers in the US. From the larger perspective, it’s an even better idea to help jump start the used EV market
Two of my my recent leases were/are EVs for that reason.
Seems about right. I rather continue keeping my current vehicle (2016) well maintained than to get a high interest loan with a overpriced price tag on a new OR used vehicle.
Seems right to me as well. I do buy new but always kept them until repairs cost more than the car is worth, generally 10-15 years in.
I’m sure someone willing to either do the repairs themselves or risk spending more, could keep my cars on the road even longer
Due to cost or reliability improvements? Or both? Because cars are definitely operational a lot longer than they were 25-50 years ago.
My baby turns 24 this year 🥹
I seriously have an emotional attachment to my car at this point. Driving something for so long, I’m going to be sad when it bites the dust. I’m shooting for another 10 years or until it hits 300k miles.
Wow 24 years and still under 300k? Impressive
I was fortunate enough to live very close to my job for a number of years. Now I wfh so she doesnt get a lot of mileage these days either.
I’m daily driving a 32-year old car. I have no interest in something newer. AMA.
Please tell us more. Make? Model? Any modifications? Your history with the car?
It’s a blue 1992 Mazda Miata with a hardtop. I’ve owned it for about 7 years. No mods besides basics like a bluetooth radio and a short fixed antenna (instead of the factory retracting whip antenna). Maintenance is easy and replacement parts are dirt cheap. Recently replaced the clutch master/slave cylinders for about $40 worth of parts. A set of four tires can easily be found under $400. It averages around 26.5 miles per gallon in combined city/highway driving and I got 32 on my last long distance highway trip.
Are you in a rust prone area?
I love my Miata but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to daily it. Especially in winter.
I live in a 7a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone, so it gets down to around 0°F and salt is definitely used in the winter. However, if I drove a different car, then it would be the one to get the additional wear and tear. Seems more cost effective to limit the exposure to one vehicle.
Also, I’m not one to baby my belongings. I mentioned the car is blue from the factory, but it’s currently rocking a used red front bumper cover and hood after a front-end collision. In another example of my vehicular abuse, I had to replace the power steering rack after a failed attempt at a creek crossing. Water got in the original one and it started getting crunchy. Parts aren’t too expensive though, so it was fixed with a $400 remanufactured unit off eBay.
7a is barely getting salt in the roads.
Fair, but I think I highlighted my other abuses. Salt isn’t the only enemy, sometimes it’s myself.
Ah man, I wish I lived in a climate where I could daily an NA Miata (or any other classic).
Yeah bruh, i bought a Camry 11 years ago and a Sienna 7 years ago, i plan to drive them both for 20 years, minimum.
Feel the same way. My Camry is a 2013—recent enough to have a simple display and Bluetooth, but old enough to predate the ‘modern’ infotainment systems.
Believe me, I plan to drive this car until the scrapyards run out of part donors.
