I also have an '54 Chevy, a '62 CJ, a '69 wagon, a '68 Suburban, and a '84 Ford. I have a pretty good track record of keeping old things running well. Eventually my new cars (01 and two 03s) will cease to be repairable, but I have invested time and money in a very well maintained fleet of older vehicles, it's one of my only practical hobbies.
That's your choice. You can buy new, convienent, modern cars that spy on you and will be dead in ten years. Or you can buy old, reliable cars that lack most modern amenities but can be repaired forever with a metal lathe and a welder.
It's my choice not to learn how to use a metal lathe and a welder, or find someone with those skills to do it for me? How is that supposed to scale to millions of people who want the same privacy?
Never once suggested it would. All I said was that this is why I personally avoid new cars. I dislike things I cannot fix and I dislike things that actively harm me. If you or anyone else feels this way, the onus is upon you to solve it.
Most people want their data taken, or are ambivalent at best. Most people would hate driving old cars. They take work, most people want less work, not more.
Not to mention the fact that most such cars are already gone - so if more people adopt the GPs position, the prices will go through the roof for him too.
That's true, but this isn't a solution, it's my hobby. No one has suggested that people should buy only antique vehicles.
But to clear up this, it's a relatively inexpensive hobby if you are discerning and can wait. Only my wife's 03 Suburban cost more than $3000. Most of my antiques I have bought for far less. I bought the CJ5 this summer and it cost me $500 plus a new starter ($40). I also bought the '54 Chevy 2-ton this year, that cost $1000 and a new pair of contacts ($7) to get running and passing inspection.
My coworkers all play video games. They spend more on computer parts than I spend on most entire vehicles.
To be clear, I agree with you (and drive a car from the 80s when I need to drive) - but am also in favour of legislation absolutely banning this kind of collection for when I ever do need a new vehicle. If you want your hobby to remain affordable it's probably a good idea to push for new cars to be at least as good as old ones!
Most of the parts for a pre-computerised car can be made in a decent machine shop. The computers and software for newer cars are a huge contrast from that.
Really depends, you can find some 80s and I think even till 93, trucks without any computers. I have a 1954 Chevy 2-ton and the early 90s Chevy 3500HDs and the early 90s GM box trucks are great donors because a lot of stuff is sized (axles is a big one) right and the box truck's engine is a drop in replacement if you want to convert to diesel.
“Always” is a long time. Cars from the 1920s are on the road today, but do you want that to be your daily driver? Do you care about safety or the safety of your passengers?
This kind of backwards thinking does not scale to everyone who wants privacy in their car. And it does not scale into the long-term future of driving.
> Do you care about safety or the safety of your passengers?
One could make an argument that modern vehicles have gone way too far in the "protect occupants at all costs" direction at the expense of safety for literally everyone else.
E.g. Very thick A-pillars are a major cause of pedestrians and cyclist getting hit. "I literally didn't see them :(" So many cases. All of this nonsense so that the passengers can have 40+ airbags cushion their special asses - and only if they screw up. All of that lack of visibility and tons of extra mass just in case. Pedestrians and cyclists almost universally suffer more for every extra safety measure added for the occupants of vehicles.
I was in a newish car (~2019 as opposed to my 51-year-old one) recently and those THICC pillars really stood out as being detrimental to visibility, not to mention the claustrophobic overall feeling of the interior.
I'm fine with seatbelts, and even a few airbags, as long as they're safety devices that stay out of the way when they're not in operation.
The windshield on my old Chevy truck is greater than 180°, it's fantastic, especially since it's such a large vehicle, you really want to see as much as possible
