Stellantis will remember this.

I suspect it's media lying again, in order to normalize replacing vehicles more often.

He needs more surveillance in his truck.

If they are a frequent driver, they could be putting 20k-25k a year on their truck. Like yeah I wouldn't want a Ford with 120k miles on it either.

I mean, it's a Ford tho.

Surprisingly, a majority of Fords made in the 90's are still on the road today!

...It's simply not worth the expense to haul them away. XD

Jk

How much difference can you even see between that 2020 and a 2026 model really?

I wonder if it was manufactured in that weird sweet (bitter?) spot where "supply chain issues" made everyone use cheaper parts and forego many chip-based components entirely.

Seriously, all they have to do is make an EV or hybrid under $20k and not try to push subscription BS.

No. Buy a ferd f150000 to stomp your neighbors and make liberals cry! Go on TOUGH mountain trails with 18 row seating and 13000 lbs of Karen fuelled road rage!

*note can only carry 1 person 99% of the time. Cannot touch a non asphalt road or warranty void. Must kill at least 3 cyclists/children monthly due to 0 visibility.

don't have a screen

Its not legal to make that car anymore in Canada/USA and likely other places. They are mandated to have a backup camera all over the place.

There used to be a car like that, could get a manual and you could fix it yourself - on the rare occasion it needs work.

It was the 2014-2024 Mitsubishi Mirage, and the entire US made fun of it. That's what happens when someone makes a cheap, dependable, simple car in the US, people act like it's the worst vehicle ever made because you can see exposed screw heads when you open the door.

The things you seem to think are making cars more expensive, are actually the cost-cutting measures.

The screen is cheaper than a myriad of buttons. Which is literally why Ferrari hired Apple's Jony Ive to design their upcoming EV's interior... with physical controls (it'll still have a screen, but the important features have buttons and knobs and shit and they'll be made of metal and/or glass). To stand out from the crowd, as even premium manufacturers are using cheapo touchscreens instead of making proper interiors anymore.

As for "completely manual", if you mean manual transmission, those are gone because of low demand and the fact that it just costs more to support multiple options. Plus modern autos can actually be incredible. If you actually listen to the transmission manufacturer NOT the car manufacturer for maintenance schedules, they last longer than the clutch tends to do on most manuals and while a clutch job is easier than an auto trans rebuild, it's still not easy. Either one is going to total a 20 year old car for most people (not you or me if we work on our own cars, of course). Oh and automatic transmissions are now more fuel efficient than mediocre drivers with manual transmissions (not necessarily as fuel efficient as great drivers with manual transmissions though).

Anyway, screens themselves aren't bad. The best car I ever owned was (admittedly not under 30k new, but under 30k when I got it used) a 2019 Mercedes C-Class which had a nice screen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto support, but NO touch. There were physical buttons for everything you'd generally want, and you could control the screen with either the rotary knob, the touchpad in front of the armrest, or the steering wheel buttons. But you literally could NOT finger the screen itself to do anything. They changed that with the next generation a few years later, unfortunately. But for me this was perfect because I had a way to control navigation and the music on my phone that did not involve looking at my phone, or interacting with a touch screen.

In fact I don't think any of these features are what makes cars more expensive compared to 20-30 years ago. Screens are cheap now. Automatic everything has been figured out already, the R&D costs for most things already recuperated. It's the size creep if anything. They'll sell exclusively crossovers and SUVs because these are "premium" and margins are better. And even "small" cars, if they still exist, are bigger than the same model used to be. Oh and let's not forget that if you're in the US, everything needs to have like 500 horsepower now, while emissions and fuel efficiency goals dictate smaller engines, so everything HAS to have a turbo now.

In Europe, cheap cars still exist, though they've doubled in price over the last 2 decades (but what hasn't). You CAN still get a Dacia Sandero for 15k. It's so bare bones that to inflate the list of installed equipment, they list things like "fuel tank cap" and "front seat belts" among others. Even that comes with a 10" touch screen as standard because it's just so cheap to add one and it's much easier for them to design than a classic head unit with buttons.

There is a paradox with safety features that is really interesting: the safer you make roads, the more aggressive people drive. Better breaks led to people tailgating more aggressively. Better crumble zones has led to bigger and heavier cars. It's almost like there is a threshold of risk that people naturally gravitate to and that maybe the best way to improve traffic safety is through education

"Porcelain transmission" sent me.

Don't forget the oil pumps driven by rubber belts that need half the engine disassembled to replace it.

I'll take a fifteen year old car with a manual transmission.