Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 183 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#61

Post by cactacea »

MrDrMcCoy wrote: post #44
ryanSrich wrote: post #20

The new LandCruiser 70 series matches exactly what you want. I believe you can buy them in many countries (U.S. not included). https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46001237/toyota-land-crui...

Seems that some will reach the US, and I hope so. This seems great, and thank you!

Unfortunately Toyota doesn't currently have plans to bring the 70 series over. I'd love to buy one but for better or worse there's not much of a market in the US for a stripped down Land Cruiser with no power windows, power locks, heated seats, etc.

The 4Runner and Lexus GX are also built on the LC platform and share tons of parts. If a 70 series fits your needs then either of those would be workable as well. Absolutely none of them would meet your stated fuel economy requirements however. :)

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#62

Post by cactacea »

Andaith wrote: post #37

Toyota just released a hilux that's so bare bones it doesn't even come with seatbelts by default. Maybe find that locally and start adding only the features you want & see how much that costs?

Homologation of vehicles for import is... non trivial to say the least. This route would only end with your brand new truck in a crusher unless you really, really like doing paperwork.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#63

Post by cactacea »

MrDrMcCoy wrote: post #40
stakhanov wrote: post #17

Maybe the Ineos Grenadier? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ineos_Grenadier

Pricey, but seems to check my boxes. Thanks!

Ah yes, the Grenadier - BMW engine and modeled after a Defender. Certainly a paragon of reliability right here.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#64

Post by Shekelphile »

MrDrMcCoy wrote: post #19
Shekelphile wrote: post #8

You won't find a new one. If you want a car made newer than the last 10 years you would need to look at models sold into fleets which would limit you to basically work trucks/vans and base model ford and GM sedans and subcompacts. Last time I was car shopping base trim ford fiesta's were under $10k and came with a manual transmission, no power windows, no power locks, no cruise control and a standard double DIN radio…

I've never bought an ex-fleet car before, and don't recall ever seeing listings like that on any of the usual used car sites. Would you please point me in the right direction for how to shop for these?

Most fleet vehicles are sold as normal vehicles to consumers as well. I don't know where to find them, just saw the normal base trim versions of those fleet cars listed on normal used car sites. There's tons of them out there: chevy spark/sonic, ford fiesta, mitsubishi mirage, nissan versa, WT trim f150/silverado/ram 1500 etc.

If you want to buy new and don't mind forking over more money than most would consider reasonable you could probably buy a brand new ford escape interceptor or tahoe ppv which is pretty much guaranteed to be as barebones and 'dumb' on the inside since they're meant to be converted to police vehicles. Don't think many dealers would order them for individuals but if you search around there's probably some out there that will.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#65

Post by bombcar »

MrDrMcCoy wrote: post #25
bombcar wrote: post #15

Maybe a commercial vehicle. If small enough. Otherwise buy or fix an older vehicle. Or go nuts doing an EV conversion.

I would love to do an EV conversion of an old Subaru, but I'm not the handiest with cars myself, lack suitable garage space, and have not found any shops anywhere in the US that do conversions for anything other than classics. If you have a lead on EV conversions for 90s-ish cars, I'd really appreciate it.

It was years ago but the guys at EVTV were reverse engineering Tesla stuff so you could scrounge parts from wrecked ones and make things go.

https://store.evtv.me/ and https://youtube.com/@EVTVMotors

It’s expensive. It’s almost certainly never worth it. But it looks like it can be hella fun.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#66

Post by joezydeco »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #58

I'm in a similar boat. You might be look at a ~2020 Mazda 3. This was after Mazda announced they were moving away from touchscreens [0] but before internet connected remote start came standard [1]. Cars produced since 2018 are required to have a backup camera and therefor will have a screen of some kind. The AWD hatchback claims 24/32 MPG and these reviewers got 41 MPG from it [2]. Get the base model to avoid the Car…

All Mazdas of that era can operate the IVI through the jog dial on the center console, the touchscreen only works when parked anyway. Taking the captouch away wasn't a huge loss. The dial is more convenient. CarPlay also works with the dial.

These cars also have manual controls (or semi electronic) for HVAC.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#68

Post by silisili »

Shekelphile wrote: post #8

You won't find a new one. If you want a car made newer than the last 10 years you would need to look at models sold into fleets which would limit you to basically work trucks/vans and base model ford and GM sedans and subcompacts. Last time I was car shopping base trim ford fiesta's were under $10k and came with a manual transmission, no power windows, no power locks, no cruise control and a standard double DIN radio…

Even the cheap work trucks have built in onstar and such now. If OP doesn't want to be tracked, they'd need to disable that somehow.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#69

Post by winrid »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #58

I'm in a similar boat. You might be look at a ~2020 Mazda 3. This was after Mazda announced they were moving away from touchscreens [0] but before internet connected remote start came standard [1]. Cars produced since 2018 are required to have a backup camera and therefor will have a screen of some kind. The AWD hatchback claims 24/32 MPG and these reviewers got 41 MPG from it [2]. Get the base model to avoid the Car…

My 2015 Chevy Colorado has a backup camera, but the screen is not a touch screen. Base model (with optional heated seats) FTW :)

Re: Ask HN: What's the best car without undesirable features?

#70

Post by winrid »

hot_gril wrote: post #48
jeffbee wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Under what circumstances would a BJ70 get over, or anywhere near, 30 MPG?

30MPG and AWD is already a pretty tough combo to satisfy. Guess it points to Subaru.

Yeah, the 2020 Tiguan I just got averages 27 if I'm lucky. You'd probably have to get a Honda CRV or something smaller like that.
Post reply on HN