Reader Question: Avoiding the “Latest Stuff”?

Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!

Scott asks: I was wondering if you have a recommendation? I too am sick of direct injection, twin turbochargers, 4 cylinders, sensors, sensors, sensors… . I am in the market for a new used car/SUV I am looking for a simple car/SUV that I can maintain for the next twenty years. I know there is some dude out there who drove a Volvo 3 million miles and I would like to give that a try. Bottom line do you have a car/SUV in mind that I can keep extremely well-maintained that you would recommend. Thank you for any recommendation and thank you for a great website. I grew up in Detroit when they actually made cars by car guys and miss them terribly.

My reply: A number of new cars are still relatively free of most of the worst stuff being installed in the new cars.  By which I mean the newest-design cars. But you can still pick up old new cars – models that are in the showroom now but which were designed as far back as 2008 or so – which do not have direct-injected engines, or turbos and so on. Examples include the current Chrysler 300/Dodge Charge/Challenger; also several current Toyota models, such as the 4Runner and LandCruiser.

I recommend looking up the specs of the vehicle you might be interested in – to see whether it hasn’t got the “features” you’re not interested in.

And, some general recommendations: If you go back to the early 2000s  even up to about 2005 or so – you’re pretty much safe from the worst of it. But beware of any car designed (or redesigned) since about 2015.

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Got a question about cars, Libertarian politics – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!