8 ms·

I use a similar strategy of targeting 2 to 4 year old used cars in good condition, and then swapping out when they get around 10 years or 100k. It's worked quit

I use a similar strategy of targeting 2 to 4 year old used cars in good condition, and then swapping out when they get around 10 years or 100k. It's worked quite well for me. I have no idea what I'm going to do next time I'm in the market for a car, because every trend I see in the industry is stuff I do not want. And it's not just cars. It's freakin' everything. I don't need a touch screen on my fridge. Like that joke tweet from a decade ago, I feel like it's just a matter of years before all the couches on the market are wifi connected. I'm just sitting over here hoping there's blowback that keeps some reasonable stuff on the market. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to become some sort of personal expert on keeping things from 1990 or older running.

rurp 5y ago
I just went through this, buying a car to replace the one I'd had for 13 years. Oh man, I had no idea how terrible the car industry had gotten; it was every bit as bad as you're fearing. I had a slight preference for an automatic transmission but ended up looking mostly at manuals since those often lack a few of the "modern" anti-features. I wish I had better advice to give, the experience honestly bummed me out quite a bit.
- brokenmachine 5y ago
  I too dread this. My current car's getting to about the number of kms that I usually sell at. With covid making secondhand cars expensive for some weird reason, and all these terrible modern car trends, I just haven't been able to bring myself to "upgrade".
  - betwixthewires 5y ago
    Honestly, take the money you'd spend to upgrade and instead overhaul the car. Need new front seat upholstery? Some new plastic end pieces? Maybe an engine rebuild? It probably won't cost more than a new(ish) car, maybe even cheaper.
    - brokenmachine 5y ago
      Good idea, it's looking very much like I might end up going that way. There's nothing compelling me to get a newer car, except for engine wear.
- jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
  Yeah, I hear this. I like driving a manual because I find it almost meditative. I've done some rally clinics so not to brag but I know what I'm doing with it and double clutch, heel toe, routinely. It's like a little mini game to be as smooth and precise as possible at it every time I drive, and I like that. The dual clutch automatics that are in better cars today are legit pretty amazing tech, but, it just doesn't fit my vibe so to speak. In any case, I'm quite sure my next car is going to be pure electric so it may not even have a transmission, or if it does it'll be a two speed automatic you don't control. Meh.
heavyset_go 5y ago
> I'm just sitting over here hoping there's blowback that keeps some reasonable stuff on the market. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to become some sort of personal expert on keeping things from 1990 or older running. I'm at the point where I'm considering physically disabling the radios in my appliances.
- gbrown 5y ago
  "Error: cannot start (no connectivity). Please call a licensed repair technician to service your vehicle."
  - banana_giraffe 5y ago
    In case you're not aware, this is a thing that's happened (well, without the error message, I assume) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/zipcar-into-the-wilderness/597217/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/zipcar-int...
  - robotresearcher 5y ago
    Too helpful. More like "Failed with error 0xC0000005". That's a real error Windows 11 gave me this week. I know, never install a Windows version less than two years old. It's been so long I forgot.
    - sofixa 5y ago
      As if any Windows or in general Microsoft product gives useful error messages. Hex error codes, or generic "Something went wrong" errors are the norm at Microsoft.
  - SilasX 5y ago
    Not quite as bad, but when I tried out a car in 2008 with Ford/Microsoft's SYNC system (voice interface), there were cases where pressing an unconfigured button would disable the sound system until you restarted the engine. See number 8: http://blog.tyrannyofthemouse.com/2008/07/setting-sync-straight-or-sync-sucx.html http://blog.tyrannyofthemouse.com/2008/07/setting-sync-strai... Also, whenever the power goes out, I always express thanks that the toilets still work, and they didn't introduce some npm-style pointless dependency.

rurp 5y ago

I just went through this, buying a car to replace the one I'd had for 13 years. Oh man, I had no idea how terrible the car industry had gotten; it was every bit as bad as you're fearing. I had a slight preference for an automatic transmission but ended up looking mostly at manuals since those often lack a few of the "modern" anti-features. I wish I had better advice to give, the experience honestly bummed me out quite a bit.

brokenmachine 5y ago
I too dread this. My current car's getting to about the number of kms that I usually sell at. With covid making secondhand cars expensive for some weird reason, and all these terrible modern car trends, I just haven't been able to bring myself to "upgrade".
- betwixthewires 5y ago
  Honestly, take the money you'd spend to upgrade and instead overhaul the car. Need new front seat upholstery? Some new plastic end pieces? Maybe an engine rebuild? It probably won't cost more than a new(ish) car, maybe even cheaper.
  - brokenmachine 5y ago
    Good idea, it's looking very much like I might end up going that way. There's nothing compelling me to get a newer car, except for engine wear.
jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
Yeah, I hear this. I like driving a manual because I find it almost meditative. I've done some rally clinics so not to brag but I know what I'm doing with it and double clutch, heel toe, routinely. It's like a little mini game to be as smooth and precise as possible at it every time I drive, and I like that. The dual clutch automatics that are in better cars today are legit pretty amazing tech, but, it just doesn't fit my vibe so to speak. In any case, I'm quite sure my next car is going to be pure electric so it may not even have a transmission, or if it does it'll be a two speed automatic you don't control. Meh.

heavyset_go 5y ago

> I'm just sitting over here hoping there's blowback that keeps some reasonable stuff on the market. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to become some sort of personal expert on keeping things from 1990 or older running. I'm at the point where I'm considering physically disabling the radios in my appliances.

gbrown 5y ago
"Error: cannot start (no connectivity). Please call a licensed repair technician to service your vehicle."
- banana_giraffe 5y ago
  In case you're not aware, this is a thing that's happened (well, without the error message, I assume) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/zipcar-into-the-wilderness/597217/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/zipcar-int...
- robotresearcher 5y ago
  Too helpful. More like "Failed with error 0xC0000005". That's a real error Windows 11 gave me this week. I know, never install a Windows version less than two years old. It's been so long I forgot.
  - sofixa 5y ago
    As if any Windows or in general Microsoft product gives useful error messages. Hex error codes, or generic "Something went wrong" errors are the norm at Microsoft.
- SilasX 5y ago
  Not quite as bad, but when I tried out a car in 2008 with Ford/Microsoft's SYNC system (voice interface), there were cases where pressing an unconfigured button would disable the sound system until you restarted the engine. See number 8: http://blog.tyrannyofthemouse.com/2008/07/setting-sync-straight-or-sync-sucx.html http://blog.tyrannyofthemouse.com/2008/07/setting-sync-strai... Also, whenever the power goes out, I always express thanks that the toilets still work, and they didn't introduce some npm-style pointless dependency.