this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2025
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[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 week ago (3 children)

No keys, full of unnecessary electronic gadgets, heavier, bigger, clumsier handling, no manual transmission option, filled to the brim with spyware, subscription based features that used to just be pay once to have it, uses huge wheels and tires that are more expensive to replace, touchscreen controls for everything, full of obnoxious and intrusive driver aids....

I'm going to keep my car until it is a pile of rust. Then I'm probably riding a motorcycle everywhere unless the car market somehow de-enshitifies itself.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

One good thing about EVs is that generally they're extremely low maintenance.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (3 children)

You still have intrusive surveillance for everything you say and everywhere you go. With the way the government is right now you probably don't want to give them more data points.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Buy used, out of warranty, and remove all the wireless connectivity? It sucks but I think it will have to be that way if you care about privacy.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I have an idea for a project that would enable the driver to connect/disconnect the cellular and WiFi antennas on a Tesla via a switch. I did some research and it's more expensive/complicated than I hoped so I haven't done anything about it but it's definitely possible.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Couldn’t they just get all that from your phone anyway?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There's like a bunch of these now! If I'm already on grqphene would I want to look at the other ones?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Only agree to buy it if the dealership removes the TCU? I've heard of that working.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not as reliable anymore. Just watched a pine hallow automotive video where he diag a 2019 jeep Rubicon with a bad cam at 70k and they can't get a replacement for it. Chrysler /Stellantis are the worst. Even Toyota has engine recalls.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your probably right, 2019 is right around the cut-off when electronic shit started completely overtaking the last 75 years of car improvments. I was given a loaner recently while recall work was being done (Subaru) and the loaner car just felt wrong. Tactile feedback is very important because if your flipping through touch screen menus, your not looking at the road.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

It's funny but I think you nailed the timeline on the head. I got a 2019 corolla (it's a manual and it doesn't need a key!) and all I had to do to get it off the internet was pull a single fuse and reroute a speaker wire. The controls are actually a pretty good mix of physical and touch too.

It used to have support for showing maps on the head unit, but that never worked reliably and required special software that has been discontinued. I tried manual updating the software and that feature is gone gone.

I have actually rented a couple corollas since then, and they've all been disappointingly worse as far as everything about them is concerned.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Got me a Civic Sport at the end of '24 just before they dropped the manual. It's great. No cellular, no subscription features, nothing. Just a nice car with good handling and a gear lever.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My 2003 dodge ram is still kicken after 260,000 miles. If it dies on me I'm gonna crashout. New cars are impossible to maintain I stg

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I'm thinking of getting a new 4×4 instead of another round of mods. Pretty much only one option these days, the Toyota LandCruiser 7-series. New engine/powertrain, but otherwise as simple as ever. Just a car that won't let you down if shit fails in the middle of no where...well, apart from the shit that failed, but that's usually repairable in a couple hours with basic tools and a spare parts or workaround.

The only other way to get that is buying an old car and keeping the money in it to keep it running well and modernised (speakers, nav, lights, etc.)

As you Americans call it, a "truck" should only be about chassis, powertrain, suspension, repairability, and practicality. If you want more than that, you can, but the base shouldn't have shit all through it already, stuff that has little to do with the whole concept of why you'd have a truck.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (9 children)

LMAO, f keys, when I switched I instantly fell in love.

  • No more digging for keys
  • No more fumbling
  • Much easier to unlock with full hands
  • Really easy to leave the car running and lock it from the outside
  • The key can be ANYWHERE in the car e.g. gym bag

When it comes to cars, half the time I swear the complaints are just old car heads who just hate those "new fangled features". Like the need for "manual" transmissions because automatic sucks, automatic transmissions haven't sucked for a long while now. Initially it did, but it's quite refined now.

Fuck the subscriptions though, I want the "fancy electronic features" just sans subscriptions and data collection

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (7 children)

There isnt a single car on the market where you get the fancy features without the data collection.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's not the automatic transmission I hate. It's the electronic handbrake that disengaged itself and made me nearly rear end a parked car because I had the audacity to put it in gear, or the lane assist that wanted me to drive into a brick wall and then later on through a hedge. Also touchscreen for everything. Just give me buttons.

Luckily my actual car only needs the touchscreen for me to change to media instead of radio, then I have buttons on a stalk for it. The handbrake is manual and it has no lane assist either.

Automatics are just scary cus I've never driven one. I'm sure they are going to be fine when I am pushed to buy a new car.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Electric parking brake is one of those modern "conveniences" I really hate. I want a physical lever that directly actuates a brake. It should work even in a catastrophic failure (so should the steering and regular brakes, but it should be a separate system)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Great until the fob dies. Then your car turns into an art piece.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Every keyless vehicle I've driven has had a failsafe, usually something along the lines of starting the car by pushing the start button with the top of the FOB and it'll temporarily be powered enough to read whatever security codes it needs

Some brands have a hidden manual key inside the FOB that you could use

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Keyless is really something that once you daily drive it, you will miss it everytime you don't have it.

I am all for having project/summer cars which are cool in some particular way, but daily driver should be car that most easily transports you from place to another

If tech would be ready enough, I would be willing to go for 100% automation. If I could have magic egg were I just sit in and tell where to go, and by itself it just takes me there, that would be perfect.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

That's the difference between people that have to drive and people that like to drive. I would love for most people to have reliable, comfortable, hands-off transportation so that they could get out of my way.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My 2020 Subaru Crosstrek has a key and a manual transmission.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

As gods intended

[–] rabber 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

When all the old cars are gone and I have to drive something newer than 2013 I'm going to just kill myself

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Don’t worry, the lack of crumple zones will get you first!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I drove a couple 90's shitboxes that were still gracefully deteriorating one piece at a time. New cars are made for people who buy new cars instead of the second hand market

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My 2016 Toyota has only ever been a handful of times in maintenance since I bought it. Still works perfectly in every aspect.

Stop buying shit brands and claiming the old cars that survived up until now are better.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Toyota is top tier for making cars that last.

My 2007 is still running strong. It sounds like it will die at any time, but it keeps holding on. At this point I've been waiting for it to die for 3 years now, and can't justify the cost of a newer vehicle as long as this one keeps going

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Had a 2006 Subaru Baja, stupidly traded it in on a Tacoma "because I needed something bigger." The guy who bought the Baja off the dealer tracked me down online, because the story about the crazy Baja guy followed the vehicle (affectionately known as the caruck). Three years later, I caught his forum DM and called him. Had a good hour long discussion about the Baja and asked for first dibs if he ever sold it.

Fast forwards a few years, and it blew a headgasket outside Saugerties, NY. I gave him $1,500 cash and towed it home. Chassis was all rotted out, so I bought another '06 Baja from Virginia and shipped it north. It turned out to have a bum engine (water pump leaking bad, and oil sitting on top of the block). Swapped engines, drove it for another year and a half when the head gaskets blew again. She sits out front now, ready for the next set of hgs.

I'm not making the same mistake and getting rid of my Baja again. I'll keep throwing head gaskets and whatever else I need to keep her running... And soaking her in Fluid Film.

Crazy Baja guy. That's me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Yesterday I saw a Subaru Baja in a parking lot, that car is gorgeous.

i hate pikups, but in that size? I'll make an exception. glad you got it back

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I wonder, is there any vehicle rating service that goes off of privacy and security? Some source that tells us what cars have what data collection, and possibly how to turn it off?

My car is dying soon, and I could use a replacement. It would be nice to have that information on hand when shopping.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Find a nice used MK 7 Golf. Bonus if you get a Wolfsburg produced model. You can have all the nice modern features of android auto physical controls, and radar cruise control, but without the constant monitoring. You can get it with faster engines or AWD if that's your jam, or a diesel estate wagon if you live in the civilized side of the world. manual transmission avaliable too.

They're a popular platform with a strong community, albeit weak water pumps, so budget it in. the trunk is a black hole to store your shit.

James May said it was the best car for being a car or something like that, Clarkson owned a bunch of gti's as well.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Not a strict guide, but privacy wise the earlier in the 2010s the better. If you can find a low mileage 90s/2000s that's even more simple and less connected, but you begin to enter the age issue where everything rubber is disintegrating. Pretty much to care about your privacy in a car you have to become a little bit of a gearhead to keep some simple old beater healthy and maintained.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

2003 fiat doblo and 1990 fiat uno. Two tanks, one of which i've managed to keep going myself. they're some of the best i've driven (not like that says mutch...)

Why did stellantis have to destroy fiat?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Drove my father's 2020 F350 the other day. Has keys, but everything feels so fragile. Door handles and tailgate handle all feel like I can break them off if I pull slightly too hard. In fact, the tailgate handle already pulled off and we fixed it with PL Construction Adhesive. Never felt like I was going to pull the handles off of my 1999 F250. Never gonna git rid of that thing. If it gets in a wreak, I'll pull the engine and trans and stick it in something even older.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Someone stole a truck in my neighborhood last month. I had never heard of the attack before. They bring a laptop up to the house and use a directional scan to find your car keys (in your house) they replicate the code using the laptop and keep it going as they drive away in your car.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Had to get something new, (thanks Ford for making water pumps that instantly nuke engines when they fail because they're driven by the timing system inside the timing cover #@^% you Ford) and since used car prices were SO insane I got a new Civic- a 2024 with a 2 liter and a six speed manual.

Sure, it's "keyless" but dang it, it sure seems like a pretty great little car. Port injected even, so no ruined/carbon'ed up valves for me.

I hear the new ones don't offer a manual any more unless you buy an SI/R? That sucks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I had a 1995 celica. I miss that car, now it's near impossible to find them.

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