Automotive EE here: Personally I’d recommend 2014 mid tier vehicles. Jeep, RAM, and GM trucks. 2014 is a good start for many body styles. 2018 saw regulatory

Automotive EE here: Personally I’d recommend 2014 mid tier vehicles. Jeep, RAM, and GM trucks. 2014 is a good start for many body styles. 2018 saw regulatory changes and a lot of new body styles. A 2000-2010 is 11-21 years old now and they just don’t last that long. I can tell you there was a massive change in quality right around the time 4G/LTE/WIFI access points were added. It meant we could finish software after shipping in many cases. I’m not sure anything but high-end had OTA in 2014-2016. You aren’t going to get away from CAN busses unless you go back to 2005 or earlier. So get the ones that actually worked pretty well. There was a bell curve of shitty to good to overloaded and shitty again. I’m provided vehicles by my work. But man, if I had to buy one… I’d be in the same boat man. EDIT: Another poster had a good point. The commercial vans are really decontented. I only know Promasters and Sprinters, but yes, those actually do have less electronics. Iirc a recent Promaster city only has one or two data busses, instead of the typical 7-9.