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My plan is to buy an old 1960-1970 280SL (or, really, any somewhat reliable vintage car) and stubbornly refuse to drive anything else.

diggan 2y ago
There are more recent cars than going back to the 70s that doesn't force data collection on you... My car is from 2018 and has none of that stuff, and it even has buttons for all controls, no touchscreen (2018 Audi A3). I like the feel of driving classic/older cars, but I really cannot justify the safety and pollution drawbacks if I wanted to use them daily.
- tomrod 2y ago
  What do you recommend? I thought everything 2015 forward collected data.
  - diggan 2y ago
    As mentioned elsewhere in the subthreads somewhere here, I got a 2018 Audi A3 in 2019, wrote about the experience re data collection + that purchase here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42736918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42736918
  - capitainenemo 2y ago
    Probably not the kind of car you are looking for, but my friend's 2015 honda odyssey (which he just traded in) had no smarts. No cellular, no GPS, console used knobs instead of a touchscreen... Whatever Deadpool's opinion of it was, it did make a great van for cargo and humans with good fuel economy for that class... But, sooner or later it'll be a problem. What would be interesting to me is, is it possible to deactivate cellular on a modern car without losing key functionality, and, if it is ever reactivated (say, to pull updates) would it promptly push years of data upstream.
    - tomrod 2y ago
      Ironically, we're replacing a 2011 Honda Odyssey!
  - dvdbloc 2y ago
    If you’re willing to do a little bit of work you can often remove the cellular radio from some modern cars to remove the data collection connectivity, not sure if it’d still be buffered on the device still but it’s a step in the correct direction. I’ve read about this in some modern BMWs so it might be worth a bit of googling if you have a particular modern car you are interested in. Or if no one else has done it with a particular model you could also blaze your own path here.
    - tomrod 2y ago
      I worry that removal or faraday caging might cause bricking.
  - pmontra 2y ago
    My second hand Citroën C3 originally sold on 2016 doesn't collect data AFAIK and has button and wheel controls. There is a small touchscreen (7 inches?) for configuration, trip data, radio stations etc but all controls are also on the wheel or around it.
- LeftHandPath 2y ago
  For sure. I just really like the SL! Currently have a 2012 C350 Coupe that I love to death. Have had it since 2018. Fantastic car, I don’t think it spies on me too much
- autoexec 2y ago
  More recent cars probably have onstar systems installed that need to be removed.

diggan 2y ago

There are more recent cars than going back to the 70s that doesn't force data collection on you... My car is from 2018 and has none of that stuff, and it even has buttons for all controls, no touchscreen (2018 Audi A3). I like the feel of driving classic/older cars, but I really cannot justify the safety and pollution drawbacks if I wanted to use them daily.

tomrod 2y ago
What do you recommend? I thought everything 2015 forward collected data.
- diggan 2y ago
  As mentioned elsewhere in the subthreads somewhere here, I got a 2018 Audi A3 in 2019, wrote about the experience re data collection + that purchase here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42736918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42736918
- capitainenemo 2y ago
  Probably not the kind of car you are looking for, but my friend's 2015 honda odyssey (which he just traded in) had no smarts. No cellular, no GPS, console used knobs instead of a touchscreen... Whatever Deadpool's opinion of it was, it did make a great van for cargo and humans with good fuel economy for that class... But, sooner or later it'll be a problem. What would be interesting to me is, is it possible to deactivate cellular on a modern car without losing key functionality, and, if it is ever reactivated (say, to pull updates) would it promptly push years of data upstream.
  - tomrod 2y ago
    Ironically, we're replacing a 2011 Honda Odyssey!
- dvdbloc 2y ago
  If you’re willing to do a little bit of work you can often remove the cellular radio from some modern cars to remove the data collection connectivity, not sure if it’d still be buffered on the device still but it’s a step in the correct direction. I’ve read about this in some modern BMWs so it might be worth a bit of googling if you have a particular modern car you are interested in. Or if no one else has done it with a particular model you could also blaze your own path here.
  - tomrod 2y ago
    I worry that removal or faraday caging might cause bricking.
- pmontra 2y ago
  My second hand Citroën C3 originally sold on 2016 doesn't collect data AFAIK and has button and wheel controls. There is a small touchscreen (7 inches?) for configuration, trip data, radio stations etc but all controls are also on the wheel or around it.
LeftHandPath 2y ago
For sure. I just really like the SL! Currently have a 2012 C350 Coupe that I love to death. Have had it since 2018. Fantastic car, I don’t think it spies on me too much
autoexec 2y ago
More recent cars probably have onstar systems installed that need to be removed.