Yeah, I have a 2012 Civic and I’m keeping that thing until the wheels fall off (assuming I can’t reattach them). The only thing I don’t have that would be useful is Bluetooth and that’s only because they’ve stopped making phones with headphone jacks. I had a much newer model as a loaner while it was being serviced one time and I fucking hated that thing. The only thing I’d consider trading in for would be a light truck with a full size bed but those don’t exist. At least not in USA.
I’m currently driving a low-mileage 2012 Mazda 3 that we have owned since new, and it’s pretty great. It’s a 40mpg hwy vehicle, is fun to drive on the back roads to work manually selecting gears, and I can load 8ft lumber and 10ft pipes into it lengthwise (it’s a sedan too, not hatchback) at home depot while the guys hopping back into their shiny $80,000 commuter trucks watch me.
I think I want to replace it with an MX5 one day. Recent Mazda interiors I’ve looked at seem to have kept a reasonable balance of physical controls along with moderately sized infotainment screens. So maybe a new one could be on the table. We’ll see how the next revision turns out.
Perhaps even a bit later. My 2014 F20 BMW 1-series was still pretty great. The facelift model of the same car I had after that (2017 or so) is the first one that started to include things that annoyed me.
Exactly why I had four 1-series since 2008 (E82, E81, F20 pre-facelift, F20 facelift). Switched to a G20 3-series when the 1-series went FWD, and soon it will be all electrical and qualities like “fun”, “light” and “simple” will be a thing of the past. We adapt and move on.
Sure, maybe I would wanna manual choke even today … but like twice, that’s it, just for the fun of it (it wouldn’t even work with modern engines anyways).
Also the environment changed, roads, congestion, etc.
I’m going to say there was and it was around 2010. Like maybe 2005 until 2015.
The BMWs of the E90/E87 generation that I drove in those years are still the pinnacle of automotive achievement for me. They had all the things I needed and nothing that annoyed me. Anything after that started to include more and more annoying stuff.
However you probably don’t miss the manual choke valve, double clutching, hand winded starter crank, or even window cranks.
There was really no golden period of car controls. It went fluidly from one kind of shit to another kind of shit.
From 2006-2012 we had decently reliable, simple to operate vehicles, that got not shit gas mileage
Yeah, I have a 2012 Civic and I’m keeping that thing until the wheels fall off (assuming I can’t reattach them). The only thing I don’t have that would be useful is Bluetooth and that’s only because they’ve stopped making phones with headphone jacks. I had a much newer model as a loaner while it was being serviced one time and I fucking hated that thing. The only thing I’d consider trading in for would be a light truck with a full size bed but those don’t exist. At least not in USA.
Those little FM transmitter things are better than nothing.
I’m currently driving a low-mileage 2012 Mazda 3 that we have owned since new, and it’s pretty great. It’s a 40mpg hwy vehicle, is fun to drive on the back roads to work manually selecting gears, and I can load 8ft lumber and 10ft pipes into it lengthwise (it’s a sedan too, not hatchback) at home depot while the guys hopping back into their shiny $80,000 commuter trucks watch me.
I think I want to replace it with an MX5 one day. Recent Mazda interiors I’ve looked at seem to have kept a reasonable balance of physical controls along with moderately sized infotainment screens. So maybe a new one could be on the table. We’ll see how the next revision turns out.
Perhaps even a bit later. My 2014 F20 BMW 1-series was still pretty great. The facelift model of the same car I had after that (2017 or so) is the first one that started to include things that annoyed me.
Light, rear-wheel drive, cheap to run and even mod, mechanically “simple” (relative to today’s BMW electronics), even slightly overspected.
Fun little car.
Exactly why I had four 1-series since 2008 (E82, E81, F20 pre-facelift, F20 facelift). Switched to a G20 3-series when the 1-series went FWD, and soon it will be all electrical and qualities like “fun”, “light” and “simple” will be a thing of the past. We adapt and move on.
That was also the period when the introduction of tire pressure sensors created brand new issue that people never had before.
And in the same day the crime was at the lowest someone still got killed, and the day the stock market rose to a new high some stocks went down.
Just because a problem exists doesn’t negate that it was the best time period
90s civics? I mean they’re all rotting now, but they were pretty reliable for like 20 years.
Or… 90’s Toyota Corolla, there are plenty of them riding around in here.
I dunno. I had an 03 Corolla that had heated seats and electric windows that held on to gas like a camel with water. Best car i ever has
Yes, this really describes it.
Sure, maybe I would wanna manual choke even today … but like twice, that’s it, just for the fun of it (it wouldn’t even work with modern engines anyways).
Also the environment changed, roads, congestion, etc.
You can find great examples from any era.
I’m going to say there was and it was around 2010. Like maybe 2005 until 2015.
The BMWs of the E90/E87 generation that I drove in those years are still the pinnacle of automotive achievement for me. They had all the things I needed and nothing that annoyed me. Anything after that started to include more and more annoying stuff.