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.

@paulknightly
We're quite happy with our '21 Subaru Forester; more to the point, the experience at CarMax was 120% including their purchase of tired old vehicle.
One thing about all the new tech, ... auto insurance on this is cheaper than it was on +/-'2012 Subaru Impreza Outback, .... due to the handy-dandy safety and accident-avoidance features.