With an average U.S. new-vehicle selling price of just over $45,000 last month, many can’t afford to buy new — even though prices are down more than $2,000 from the peak in December of 2022, according to J.D. Power.
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.
I test drove a new Audi a few months ago and I was actually overwhelmed by the amount of information it pushes into the driver's view. And there's so many screens to navigate to adjust basic stuff. I felt like I spent more time fiddling with controls than focusing on the road, and now I understand why cars need all these safety features...