As we all know, there is a trend in the automotive industry towards ever more digital "features" in cars. Many of these software systems pose privacy risks; many others simply don't work as intended, leading to frustration and trips to the dealership. For those of us who are "old-school" and prefer their cars without fancy digital gimmicks, which cars would you recommend?
Readit News
If you want a new car, instead of a used one, I'd try that same pattern: low end, low trim. Honda almost certainly sells a Civic without too many digital gimmicks, other automakers probably have the same.
It's a dying breed though, complicated "driver assist" systems are becoming standard or even mandated :(.
I'm on the opposite side of this. All the new safety & driver assist features are the best part about getting a new car. I wouldn't buy a new daily driver that doesn't have blind spot monitoring, collision avoidance, lane keep assist, etc. Once you have these features and you are accustomed to how they work, you can't go back.
I drive a 2019 XC40 and these safety features are my favorite part about it. Being able to turn on Pilot Assist on the highway makes driving so much more comfortable, it's like having two people driving at the same time! I don't let my guard down completely of course, but it definitely takes the edge off. I don't find these features getting in my way.
And I don't like them. But only one of us has the government taking away our choice by making them mandatory.
I wouldn't mind them if it wasn't for the fact that they universally seem to be points of failure that shorten the lifespan of the car.
All the other times, it's causing me frustration and pain. It signals a collision as I am avoiding potholes in a tight one-way street and cars parked on both sides of the road (yep, I am going to slam into that parked car for sure — at least it did not forcibly brake which would definitely cause cars behind me to slam into me).
It brakes when I am backing out of a parking spot into a street and vehicles appear from the other direction (a lane I was not getting into) — this happens so frequently that I am tempted to turn it off.
Pilot Assist on the highway seems to wait too long to slow down as I approach a car in front of me and then it abruptly slows down, yet it requires me to use the turn signal way too early if I want to overtake someone I caught up with: my drive was much more fluid with a simple stay-at-this-speed cruise control of my previous car.
I keep all of the "helpers" on (those that can be turned off) just in case I lose focus and because crashing once might be once too many, but I worry how much unpredictable behaviour is going to mess with other drivers causing them to make mistakes instead and crash into me.
Perhaps it works well for US roads, but European old-town driving is way too complex for safety features to keep up (esp as Volvo is considered to be among the best manufacturers for safety features, including these new-fangled ones).
Edit: and blind spot monitoring — the sales guy was so high on it, yet I don't see the purpose: it's right there flashing on your side mirrors so you have to look at them, yet side mirrors are large enough and concave (like on all modern cars) that if you set them up properly, there's really no blind spot a car or bike can fit in. And I still prefer to look over my shoulder to top it off.
The collection of driver behaviour, and GPS, data is not
And here I am puttering along in my 2003 VW Golf with a manual transmission. :)
Unfortunately the rear-cross-traffic is very useful and I can't turn off one without the other.
It saves lives, even if the systems are not 100% effective.
Small cars with low hoods and good visibility don't need those systems nearly as much as large SUV's with dangerous hood designs and poor side/rear visibility. I think we should focus on the total safety of the vehicle instead of pushing everything to be bigger and more expensive which makes car ownership hard for poorer people.
Driving is just too big of a distraction from playing with instagram...
I’ve learned a lot by working on it, but I do have the say that the plastic engine protector is a travesty. Clips were originally broken during a commercial oil change. Ever since, I’ve just been using self tapping screws to reattach it.
Dead Comment
There are actually quite a few these days, but I'm partial to Japanese cars, myself.
1) Mazda MX-5 Miata I own one. It's awesome to drive. Has few features and a simple dash. It's quite economical to operate (inexpensive to insure, gets over 35 mpg, very popular so lots of parts availability and lots of aftermarket parts, Mazda reliability and maintenance costs).
2) Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 Also awesome to drive. This car is a bit more practical than the Miata because of its roof and trunk space. Less economical to operate: it's less fuel efficient and people speed in them so insurance is more expensive. The boxer engine gives it inherently better handling than most vehicles.
3) Honda Civic Type R This is my dream car.
4) Subaru WRX If you need all-wheel drive, this is pretty much it.
5) Nissan 370Z Nissans aren't my cup of tea but they go fast.
As for trucks, the only truck that interests me is the Toyota Tacoma, since it still comes with a manual transmission. I wish I could purchase a Toyota Hilux in the US. I also wish I could purchase a Suzuki Jimny here, alas. I'm not at all interested in SUVs, so I can't help you there.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
If you think a commenter's comments are dead in error, you can email the mods via the Contact link in the footer so they can take appropriate action.
Their entire lineup offers a small set of effective and minimally intrusive digital/smart features. But, outside of that, they keep it simple.
The no-touchscreen is a much safer way to interact with the vehicle, and afaik they have stuck to the traditional 'car' formula. Most of their cars can be purchased in manual and have pretty good driving mechanics for a honda/toyota competitor.
The Mazda 3 Hatch, is IMO the best deal in cars right now.
Looks great, feels great, and all of the tech seems carefully considered and balanced. The closest thing to a complaint would be that I do prefer an analogue gauge cluster, but the digital display is tasteful and after driving I rarely even notice that it's on a screen.
Before purchasing, I was really looking for a hybrid or PHEV but nothing came close to feeling right in the same way. If Mazda offered exactly the same car that wasn't ICE, I would probably sell and buy again in an instant.
There's enough traffic where I live that former beeps every time I put my signal on before 11pm, while the latter is extremely useful.
+1 for Mazda.
It’s crazy out there right now.
A Saab 900 with an electric motor. Please make it.
Genesis announced earlier this year that they plan to be all electric by 2025. And unlike most of these statements from most manufacturers, this one is actually believable. Hyundai/Kia have been pretty successful at selling electric cars in Europe; they have the engineering resources built up for EVs and Genesis should be able to take advantage of that.
The GV70 is expected to have around 250 miles of range. In addition to that I think they're also going to be releasing the electrified G80 (midsize luxury sedan) pretty soon.
Imagine if your tesla’s interior looked like this: https://youtu.be/oPAvyt9ZNrg?t=221
https://smallblogv8.blogspot.com/2020/10/oh-yeah-tommykaira-...
A good candidate for a Tesla drive unit transplant, probably. Too bad I don't have the mechanical skills to do it myself (I have a non-running 1984 900 SPG in my garage)
Dead Comment
Current MiniEV ships with a display for instrument cluster, earlier ones had dials.
Deleted Comment
Old cars. The problem is the lack of modern safety features which really makes me do a double take before considering them. I wish cannibalizing a new car and ripping out all of the useless electronics was common enough for there to be tutorials for some brands
I drive a 2007 base model Porsche 911. No GPS, manual transmission, built to crash with ABS, traction, airbags, cage.
Late 90's saab 9000's have TCS, ABS, Dual Air Bag, so your standard set of 2000's features, and are also very safe.
Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of good crash test data publically on older (older than 2004) cars.
Personally I like physical UI controls (touch screens are hard to hit precisely, and don't give feedback when you're not looking) and definitely not baked-in AAA junk, but the rest I'm fine with. Lane-keeping often sucks so I disable it, but... it's disable-able, so meh. I almost never use the main UI for anything (my phone is infinitely more capable), so I don't particularly care how many features it has as long as I don't have to use it at all for most trips. My phone auto-connects, I hit play on Spotify and maybe start a navigation app, and I'm good. I'd probably deeply hate something that required button taps to start the car or shift out of park or something.
Base model mustang ecoboost is similar, you have to pay more to get the larger infotainment option but otherwise everything is manual including the hvac: https://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/models/ecoboost-fastback/ I assume the same would be true for the Camaro and Challenger
I would stay away from anything luxury. Family Haulers and Base model trucks are typically low-tech as well.
There are some downsides. Like the creepiness factor of owning a panel van as a large bearded guy, but most people warm up to it once I explain things. Also the commercial 7% interest on my financing plan. I'm used to financing around 1-3% interest on any car I've bought new, but at least in my state commercial vehicles carry a locked in interest rate.
Commercial trucks/vans also have shit for sound insulation so be prepared to do that yourself or pay a local stereo shop to quiet things down.
Other than that its hard to even find consumer cars with a manual transmission in my area, let alone a lack of electronic non-sense.
In general, look for vehicles that have a really old platform or really old 'redesign'. Eg: Look at model history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Express
I'm not sure of any way to look this up across brands and models? Perhaps a good opportunity for a microsite?
In general companies boast about how new their tech is, not how old.
Disclosure: I work for GM, this is solely my own opinion.
If you don't want OnStar or Satellite Radio, there are ways to disable it pretty easily.
How? Any pointers?
I would expect it to work to go to a credit union and have them write a consumer loan you could use to purchase the van. But they may refuse to do that if the typical loan an the type of vehicle is more expensive than the consumer rate.