Really agree about touch screens. They're dangerous. We need knobs and buttons! I have a 97 Del Sol and a 2000 4Runner. Keeping them both till I die. Growing up in Detroit, I've been a car guy as long as I've been alive. Now? I HATE new cars.
@UmmYeahOk4 ай бұрын
My car has auto drive, which enables cruise control, auto braking and lane keeping. I use this expensive high tech feature when… …I need to look at the stupid touch screen.🤦♀️
@chrisfreemesser57074 ай бұрын
Not just cars...all sorts of things we buy today are designed to either not be repairable at all, require specialized tools that a DIY'er can't get their hands on, or bespoke parts that are crazy expensive. It's not a path we as a world can keep walking down
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
You are correct.
@g.c.brooks72144 ай бұрын
It has occurred to me that technology after the 2000s has actually made vehicles worse. There are very few new cars I that I actually find to be desirable. Most of the cars I think are cool were built between 1964 & 2009.
@seana8063 ай бұрын
The peak reliability of cars I’d was was from the late 80’s to about mid 2000’s. In the late 2000’s, they began to use lower tension piston rings for “efficiency” to reduce friction, but all that does is cause the engine to burn oil when it shouldn’t. 2010’s is when things took a turn for the worst, unfortunately.
@Tigerfire754 ай бұрын
I think it is crazy that Lincoln cars from the 70's and 80's like the Town Car looks small compared to cars today.
@Jett-Crash4 ай бұрын
Name one modern car that makes a 19 foot long 1978 Lincoln Continental look “small”. And no, I don’t mean a long bed, four door pickup. You specifically said car.
@georgerogers11664 ай бұрын
80s
@J09-5554 ай бұрын
@@Jett-Crash The SUVs 😂
@Jett-Crash3 ай бұрын
@@legalisquestae ‘78 Lincoln Mk V. 19.2 ft long Bentley flying spur. 17.4 ft long. Toyota crown. 16.1 ft long RR phantom. 18 ft long I’ll give you the phantom, but your own “point” is pretty shaky.
@Primus544 ай бұрын
Excellent, thought-provoking video, HCG. As a 70-year old who once drove 25+k miles per year during my career, I definitely appreciated the safety improvements over the much more aesthetically pleasing cars of the ‘50s and ‘60s. I watch many of the police chase and vehicle accident videos available on KZfaq and am amazed at some of the wrecks people walk away from with barely a scratch that were undoubtedly fatal a few decades ago. But as you point out, there are trade-offs depending upon what is deemed important (or legislated). As for technology, my current daily driver has a touchscreen that is pretty intuitive and has a ton of features, most of which I’ve either never bothered to learn or used so seldomly that I forget how and have to refer to the manual. 🤣 Thanks for these weekly videos! 👍👍👍
@chrisjeffries23224 ай бұрын
Same here!
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching regularly. Better safety is certainly a good thing, as luck will run out eventually. However, I might be the most anti-tech I.T. person you will ever run across.
@chrisjeffries23224 ай бұрын
Excellent topic, thank you.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@navigationescaladed16594 ай бұрын
And this is why I prefer older junky vehicles over a new one where I can have more access to parts to learn about em better than taking it to a dealership or a shop without the knowledge with old parts that could really help me learn how to make it possible for the new ones to last than to make it doe and get the latest one and so on.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Me too.
@AtZero1384 ай бұрын
Cheers from Orange County California 🇺🇸 Daily Driver 68 Dodge Dart Restored to driver level... V8 swap and 9 years on the road since swap, 115k on my rebuilt 318...
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Nice.
@Freedom420694 ай бұрын
Them 318s are bulletproof! I have a 318 with 245k on it it my 2000 dodge ram
@thehopelesscarguy3 ай бұрын
@@Freedom42069 Perhaps and under rated engine.
@christianheidt57334 ай бұрын
I love old cars but, the best cars were from 1990's to 2012, after 2012 is when all the garbage starts. Im driving two 2010's right now, great gas mileage, great traction in winter, inexpensive tires, both pushing 250,000kms.
@charliepatterson93214 ай бұрын
79s and earlier are emp proof . I've had cars from the 70s that I flipped the odometer in 5 times . 60s and 70s were the best years for cars / trucks imo because of electronics or the lack thereof . Those vehicles didn't need a rocket scientist in a lab coat to repair , and parts were affordable . Again , just my opinion and not attempting to argue . Yet there is much to be said about a vehicle that can survive an emp 😊
@martinliehs25134 ай бұрын
I was going to say the same thing. We finally figured how to build reliable cars that are economical to run, practical and relatively smog free some time in the 1990s. Today's cars are loaded with fragile features that aren't needed, and power trains are pushed to the bleeding edge to extract as much efficiency as possible in exchange for hopelessly complex fuel and emissions hardware. I will probably never buy a new car in the future.
@martinliehs25134 ай бұрын
@charliepatterson9321 that's true, as long as you don't live in the rust belt. Where I live, all pre-80s cars rotted out from the road salt after just a few winters.
@charliepatterson93214 ай бұрын
@@martinliehs2513 tragically you are correct . My Ranchero lasted 30 years under my ownership buying it in 1991. Drove the crap out of it . Hurricane Ike killed it because I drove it through brackish water and 2 years later the underside rusted out . It still ran strong when I sold it . If not for the Hurricane it would've lasted longer . The real sad part is I knew every nut and bolt on it . I replaced it with an 03 ranger and now I have to learn all of its parts . Changing all of the sensors alone cost me a grand . I abhor sensors !!!
@colinschmitz82974 ай бұрын
Modern cars are terrible especially if you have back problems. You can have any car you want so long as it has no padding in the seats, rock hard suspension, and oversized rims with tiny tire profiles. Thank you automotive press for ruining everything.
@g.c.brooks72144 ай бұрын
I call it the Germanification of cars. Everything now has rock hard seats, and stiff rides like a BMW. The homogenous nature of modern cars is boring. There was much more variety back in the day.
@colinschmitz82974 ай бұрын
@@g.c.brooks7214 agreed! My saying is not everybody wants a BMW. Some of us want a floaty Buick.
@CJColvin3 ай бұрын
@@g.c.brooks7214Exactly mate
@AlleghenyAlternations4 ай бұрын
from the perspective of a non-professional urbanist (someone who wants our cities to be accessible to a variety of transit options like walking, biking and using public transit alongside cars rather than having them be almost exclusively accessible to cars), i can pretty safely say that the core issue spawning all of these "tradeoffs" is american car dependency above all. since we here in the U.S. have (re)designed almost every city and town in our nation _exclusively_ around cars since WW2, everyone _needs_ a car to be able to do basically _anything_ (because it's both unsafe and highly inefficient to use any other means of transit [especially applicable to active transit, aka walking and biking]). if you wanna go to work, you _need_ a car. if you wanna go to the gym, you _have_ to take a car to get there (as ironic as that is). if you wanna hang out with friends, you _need_ a car at minimum for yourself, if not for each person going. what that leads to is cars being designed for the _largest_ possible market (and best advertising) so this highly restrictive city design philosophy we use currently can exist, which leads to almost every modern car sucking at being a _car._ p.s. not saying _having a car_ is bad, just that _everyone needing one to survive and lead healthy lives_ is bad. you can 100% drive if you want, i just want it to be a _choice_ rather than the only (effective and safe) option like it is now. p.p.s. yes this is long sorry, this is kind of a depressingly interesting topic (to me at least)
@sblsbl76004 ай бұрын
When I retire I'm going to buy a few 1970s vehicles to avoid EVs. I'll fix them up, put disc brakes all around and put modern motors in them.
@andgate20003 ай бұрын
The ev bits fine....but the design is terrible.
@sterlinsilver4 ай бұрын
Its sad because I actually love the exterior design of cars these past few years. I just wouldn't want to drive them though because i just really dispise flat screens
@hendo3374 ай бұрын
The trade off was reached between technology, servicability, reliability, longevity, power, simplicity and affordability by GM between 1997-2007 with the Gen III and GenIV without AFM or VCT LS 5.7, 6.0,6.2 and Vortec 4.8, 5.3,6.0,6.2 after that the GenIV begins too become more sophisticated and expensive requiring deletion and extra disassembly with little extra strength or performance. The Gen V engines, especially the L8T iron 6.6L has promise with upto 2000hp capability with boost or taking at least a 4.125" bore and at least a 4.125" to 4.25" stroke making a 441-454ci. It's still expensive, sophisticated and requires extra work. Ford reached it between 1987-1997 with the 300,351w and 460, the 302 remained until 2001. The 6.2, 6.8 and 7.3 gas V8s show promise but the don't have the aftermarket support and aren't affordable. Mopar passed their peak after 1978 when the B and RB died, the 360 remained until 2002. The 5.7, 6.1, 6.2 and 6.4 aren't cheap or simple and are gone now. There aren't many things I would be willing to gamble money on buying new and trust that they could run 400k+ miles like an iron Vortec 4.8,5.3,6.0, a Ford 5.8L or 4.9L I6.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
I would say the term for what cars have become, is soft.
@user-sp4xm1ox6i3 ай бұрын
Wall to Wall Touch Screens appearing now are Ridiculously Distracting I'm glad you mentioned this How can the driver possibly look at the displays across the whole dashboard and not be distracted even for a second
@mortimersnerd99914 ай бұрын
So many excellent points. Cheaper new cars, with fewer features, should be more popular. I actually like some things about modern powertrains. But I could do without power seats and power windows. Motorized doors serve no purpose. I loath touch screens. The only wreck lane keeping feature prevents is for someone who should not be driving in the first place. How much does that cost? Electronic climate controls are infuriating. A mirror or a window is more reliable than a camera. All I really need for a “radio” is to make the car a Bluetooth speaker. I don’t want any more than that. A well powered, smooth, reliable car with power steering, power brakes and basic AC and Bluetooth connectivity is all I need. They don’t sell that. By the time you get into well powered and smooth, all the rest of the junk gets piled on. Electric cars are even worse in this regard. They will never make a basic electric car.
@desobrien3827Ай бұрын
You have expressed every view/opinion I have for the so called modern car...I loathe any vehicle that is "connected", & has touch screens. No one is permitted to works on my "non connected" vehicles!!!
@ML-vy8xo4 ай бұрын
I started out thinking your point of view was very America-centric but ended up thinking your presentation was very well balanced. Many thanks for another enjoyable video
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@fonziebulldog57864 ай бұрын
There was a time when a mechanic repaired things but these days they most often only change the same thing when the knowledge on repairing most often are long gone and only written about in history books about a time when those who knew what they was doing got extinct.
@nlpnt4 ай бұрын
The touchscreen's real purpose is cost-cutting, all those physical knobs and buttons cost the automakers more money than a single touchscreen and infinitely reproducable software.
@andgate20003 ай бұрын
Correct...and the marketing depts have convinced us its cool.
@0wl9994 ай бұрын
I miss my first car, a 1969 Ford Falcon. 200 ci, easy to work on, cheap parts, and reliable.😮
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
I can see why you would.
@luigi551254 ай бұрын
New cars are an anomaly. They seem to be cheaper and lower quality in every way than old cars, with things like cheap plastic parts, yet they're more reliable and last way longer. Many old cars were lucky to hit 100,000 miles without blowing up and being abandoned in a field, with rust holes in the floors so big you can Fred Flintstone it. Meanwhile, you now have 200k mile Fiats, plastic parts and all, that run like they left the factory yesterday.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
I've heard the 100k mile thing since I was a kid, although every car I've ever owned easily exceeded 100k miles. But it was a plastic thermostat housing the spelled the end of my Ford Ranger engine at 147k.
@lancejac62504 ай бұрын
This was vary insightful. And not really biased, just informative.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Thanks.
@servicerifle164 ай бұрын
The only problem with customers preferring the simpler, stripped down trim levels is many dealers just don't stock them so you're forced to either order one and wait while the dealer plays games with you or buy one of the higher trims with features you don't want or need. An example is all but base trim for most manufacturers come with leather heated seats, I hate the feel of leather seats and having them heated is an unnecessary for Florida which is where I live.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
There is much talk about how sales have shown what buyer do and don't want, but as you said, buyers often don't get what they want, they get what is available.
@palco224 ай бұрын
I agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree and agree ............
@Coonotafoo4 ай бұрын
I don't mind touchscreens, in fact I don't plan to ever purchase a daily driver without one again. BUT, I do want it to still have physical buttons as well. I do not ever want to have to navigate through multiple different screens, to say, change the climate controls. And if the screen ever fails I'd like there to be a button backup for the radio as well. For now, both options are generally equipped on most newer vehicle. However I don't like that the trend is starting to shift to touchscreen only without physical buttons.
@RoadRunnergarage85704 ай бұрын
Great points!!
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Thanks.
@charliepatterson93214 ай бұрын
When detroit died so did America
@CJColvin3 ай бұрын
Agreed
@davidpistek62414 ай бұрын
Even with my 23 civic I had to locate a 6 speed transmissions now are either weak cvts or over complicated 9 or 10 speed units and ,,its no longer simple to upgrade a radio no longer standardized head unit size and everything has complex amp and wiring not like getting a pioneer and 4 speakers and being done
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
I get that. The last time we purchased a new car, finding one with a manual was a time consuming chore. And dealers would search for the nearest one and then tell us it was only 500 miles away.
@bryanhill30414 ай бұрын
Man U nailed it!!!
@randylucas24584 ай бұрын
1:50 the 59 had most of its front end removed
@bparksiii61714 ай бұрын
Modern vehicles are better in one aspect, one is the power and performance of the smaller engines 4 and 6 cylinders with hemi heads, better induction fuel injection tuning, plus the handling and brakes (except the anti lock part, hate it), drove a rental KIA midsize sedan has lively performance from its 4 cylinder compared to my 4 cylinder postal Jeep which takes a while to get up and go, I'll stick with my old iron, that KIA is so hard for me to get in, it felt like I was getting in a Camaro or small sports car, my Jeep is much easier to get in, as well as my 83 Coupe De Ville and pickup truck, the new stuff is just use up and throwaway. Another stupid car item I hate is the radio type knob to select the gears on a automatic transmission instead of a lever, or at least push buttons like on Chrysler cars, Edsels, Ramblers ,and Packards, I just have no perception what gear I'm in, until I look at the dash display and I touch the gas pedal. Seem like when BMW came out with the selector button, everyone else followed.
@moesizlac25964 ай бұрын
On the proprietary issue: How is it that 100s of models of SUVs across 40 years of production by all brands haven't managed to accidentally repeat nearly any part. We all complain that all the new cars look the same, but if one window on one model made for one 3 year "design cycle" need replacement, there is no chance of finding that part used. Interior parts, door mechanisms and starters! Worse than headlights: Alternators: two alternator sizes would cover 100% of all cars ever made. But every year every car is redesigned to NOT be compatible with anything ever built before. 2mm change in mounting hardware, and nothing but a new one will work. Where are the environmentalists on that issue! Forget about CO2 etc, where are the protesters on the waste of raw materials designed destroy our ability to keep our cars from becoming landfill at the end of warranty?
@Slay0lot4 ай бұрын
Funny, I saw a clip on news with 1964 First Ford Mustang the price was $2648. Now your lucky to get a new car for $50,000. Ironic!
@alecjones72993 ай бұрын
I was born in 83, but I don’t buy anything newer than 72. All the good cars were made before I was born. I feel bad for the younger generations.
@m1a1hm4 ай бұрын
I agree new cars are not worth the money there are asking for . I don't know about the rest of you guys but ever time I pass a dealership it seem all new cars mostly only come in three colors white black and gray . I have two old cars a 1980 Z28 which came in blue and a 1971 Firebird which is red with a black top and ever time I drive them it really stands out compare to new cars of today.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
I imagine they would.
@BFSilenceDogood4 ай бұрын
Good piece
@kylejuve54942 ай бұрын
Amen
@pocketfuloducks10624 ай бұрын
1973 daily driver, here I come
@sluggo15154 ай бұрын
Yes. Peak auto was the aughts. It has gone downhill fast since then.
@denislandry75774 ай бұрын
You bet ya ❤
@georgeporteous82014 ай бұрын
1:22 the 340 duster he uses as the older car example is a unibody.
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
Yes it is.
@danw60144 ай бұрын
Chrysler went to a unibody in 1960.
@rolanddonovanjr98464 ай бұрын
THANKS!
@ljmorris64964 ай бұрын
The LTD II on the thumbnail was a unibody, also the massive 70s Chrysler C-body was unibody..
@thehopelesscarguy4 ай бұрын
As was the duster. And Unibodies are not all equal and many were used in combination with sub frames or even full ladder frames. And some of the best off roaders ever have been unibody. Yet that LTD II still survived what most modern SUV's will never be put through.
@ljmorris64964 ай бұрын
@thehopelesscarguy The LTD II was probably reinforced and modified for Hollywood driving in Rambo like the C-bodies in the Blues Brothers. Look at an modern police dash camera chase with the Explorer or Charger showing how robust an modern unibody can put up with.
@UmmYeahOk4 ай бұрын
TIL: air bags can expire! 😱
@aaroncostello88124 ай бұрын
Car companies used to build what people wanted. Now, they have to try to make people want what they are allowed to build. Simple as that.
@auntbarbara55764 ай бұрын
I hate all new vehicles.
@charliepatterson93214 ай бұрын
C'mon ,... they die before they're paid off so you can buy another new vehicle for the low price of 2 houses in the 70s jkjk
@auntbarbara55764 ай бұрын
@@charliepatterson9321 💯 tru dat 👌
@jamesonpace7264 ай бұрын
Yes, yes and yes....
@CJColvin3 ай бұрын
Modern vehicles are not only wayyyyyyy overpriced but they're made out of plastic as well and my 1996 Ford F150 with a 5.0L (302) Windsor V8 will outlast every single one of em (especially those overpriced plastic EcoBoost trucks).
@BlindBiker3Ай бұрын
Cars are so much worse now because of the regulation, it’s unbelievable. The regulators are fault for that.
@randylucas24584 ай бұрын
In 2008 Obama got elected and found out that gas is taxed by the gallon. Cars got a thousand pounds Heavier.