Followers in the U.S.:
I frequently bemoan the state of new cars on the market. Too much invasive vehicle telemetry and "safety" features that are more hazard than help because they aren't ready for prime-time.
Starting to look into replacements for my wife's car, which has become a money pit rather prematurely (only 140k miles and scheduled for a new transmission).
I know most cars are awful, so Im looking for recs if you've bought a car in the past few years that you're actually happy with.
@tsrono @tiotasram @paulknightly I mostly charge at my residence. It's only L1 charging, but at 12A it can give me 50 miles of range in 8 hours of charging, which is enough to exceed my average drive.
Still, I'm in a PHEV because fast charging was near-nonexistent around here when last I purchased a car, and I have needed to do ~300 mi. drives so I'm glad I could just pump gas into it for those.
I'm hoping the infrastructure continues to improve and my next car can be a pure EV. And, I hope my current car gives me another 10 years before I really need to replace it.
My newest car is 14 years old. Less than 130k miles.
My oldest car is 23 years old. Less than 90k miles.
Yes, I have put a lot of money into them.
But, this is cheaper than buying new junk.
@paulknightly I'm quite happy with my 2019 Chevy Volt, but it does have OnStar that can be used for remote tracking and control. I never investigated disabling it, but I've heard it is possible.
I had to replace the 12V battery after 5 years, and the cabin heating valve stuck/broke and had to be replaced by a dealer (my local mechanic couldn't source the part), but other than that it's just been a few oil changes and a new set of tires.
Best of luck finding something that works for you; I hope it is EV or HEV.
@paulknightly We bought a used 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid in about 2013 and recently sold it with just shy of 200,000 miles on it. We didn't replace it with a newer Escape Hybrid but now wish we had. Ford also makes a plugin Escape.
We also have a Ford Maverick Hybrid (tiny, 5-seater, pickup) that we love. Gets about 40 miles per gallon.
@paulknightly Another vote here for the Subaru Crosstrek.
It has headroom and legroom in the back for adults, comes with an actual spare tire, and the all-wheel drive works well to get you going in the winter (if you need it).
On most days the CVT feels like a normal automatic, complete with fake shift points. On the rare occasion it doesnāt, put your foot into it (or switch from āIā mode to āSā) to make it remember how to behave.
EyeSight works really well in most situations, especially the crash prevention system. I always try to drive as safely as possible, but a few weeks ago I was thankful I had it when another driver did something unpredictable.
The adaptive cruise control has moments where it brakes too aggressively, but otherwise works flawlessly. Itāll even slow you right down to a complete stop and hold it there for you if youāve got auto-hold braking turned on. To get going again you just have to tap the gas pedal and the adaptive cruise control happily keeps driving for you.
The main issues are the data collection which Iām sure it does and the sluggishness of the infotainment system when it first boots. For some reason any messages that come in while CarPlay is active but Iām listening to FM radio, the entire system switches to the CarPlay view to show the notification before exiting and returning to the radio view.
Unless you install a device that simulates pressing the on-screen buttons for ādisable auto stop/startā and āauto vehicle holdā, by default theyāre set to on and off respectively. You can configure EyeSight to detect your face and itāll remember your settings for those buttons, but I wasnāt willing to turn over that kind of data to Subaru and its partners.
Remote start is available through an app and a subscription, but at least the app is decent. Once again, Iām sure that dataās being mined too, but Iāve never owned a car that had remote start and itās come in handy on a few particularly bad days where the weather was miserable.
Handling is better than youād expect it to be, and having almost 8.5ā of ground clearance really helps in deep snow. Thereās even an extra mode (selectable by an on-screen button) just for snow, and another for mud.
Air conditioning is cold when it needs to be, and the heater gets hot in a reasonable amount of time. Temperature controls are thankfully on physical buttons, but everything else is done by touchscreen.
The windshield washer reservoir holds a gallon of fluid and the oil filter is amazingly accessible from the top of the engine compartment once you open the hood. This thing was designed to be easy to maintain.
Do I hate the idea that itās probably sending my driving habits and other data back to Subaru? Yes.
Do I love that itās just a great car thatās built well and has been highly reliable for me? Yes.
Did it surprise me when it took an OTA update for the infotainment system and then applied it while I was driving? You bet!
Maybe one day Iāll even take it camping instead of just driving it to work š„².
@paulknightly It isnāt just Subaru. Almost all brands are now surveillance machines
https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/categories/cars/
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