How bad are 2020s cars? Let me count the ways. (Some of these points only apply to drivers in the US)
An increasing number of vehicle components are being equipped with chips that "pair" them with a specific vehicle. You can't replace these parts unless you pay a dealer to re-sync them.
If you figure out a workaround to pair the parts yourself and share it with others, you can be charged under DMCA for "breaking a digital lock", and be dealt heavy fines or sent to prison.
All these added electronics are even more fun at a time when trade conflicts and the AI race to the bottom are driving up the cost of components.
In a 2023 privacy review by the Mozilla Foundation, every single manufacturer doing business in the US received a failing grade. Car companies collect and sell data about your driving behavior, as well as anything coming through the mic feed or Bluetooth phone connections.
- Nissan's privacy policy says that they collect such things as sexual activity data, health diagnosis data and genetic data, and they expect you to make any prospective passenger in your car read the privacy policy and accept it as well.
- Kia's privacy policy says they can collect information about your "sex life".
- Drivers of GM vehicles recently found their insurance rates going up as the company sold data about their driving habits to insurance companies.
If you connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth, they can download your text messages and contacts, too.
Section 24220 of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, known by detractors as the "kill-switch law", requires all US vehicles from 2026 onward to include driver monitoring systems that will disable a vehicle if they deem a driver to be impaired or inattentive. It sounds nice on paper, but doesn't provide specific guidance on how these systems are to be implemented, or what you're supposed to do to re-enable your vehicle once it's shut itself down.
The general assumption is that the system will include a camera focused on the driver at all times, combined with monitoring driving behavior for sudden swerves, stops, or acceleration. Of course, there are many outside factors besides inebriation that may cause a driver to suddenly swerve or stop. It remains to be seen how these systems will account for this.
Safety's great, but the increasing number of airbags and exterior sensors on newer cars drive up purchase costs and insurance premiums. Even a relatively minor accident could end up "totaling" your car as these components cost so much to replace if damaged or deployed.
Increasing vehicle weights speed up the deterioration of both tires and roads.
BMW received flack last year for building heated seats into their vehicles, but charging a monthly subscription fee to use them. Tesla does something similar, allowing you to purchase better vehicle performance through their app.
Touch screens. Ugh, touch screens. Not only are they unsafe to operate at speed, but a lot of them are integrated into vehicle operations and cannot be simply swapped out to suit owner preference like older stereo head units. Infotainment systems have become the number one source of customer complaints in newer vehicles. Nothing like a car with a load-bearing radio.
Stellantis (Dodge, Jeep, etc) owners have been receiving full-screen marketing ads on their infotainment screens lately.
Just because customers are complaining about infotainment systems, that doesn't mean the traditional parts are doing any better. Vehicle reliability has been down across the board over the past few years, even for companies like Toyota that built their reputations on dependable products.
In short, the cars on dealer lots right now are expensive, disposable privacy nukes that give you about as much agency as Windows 11. That's on top of them being huge, ugly, and depressingly grey.
I would not recommend buying any vehicle built in this decade. My 2003 daily driver, which has over 300k miles and is more rust than steel at this point, will probably be around longer than a lot of the stuff currently being produced. I can replace anything on it for less than the cost of a couple new car payments.
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