I’m not interested in anything after 2015, so moot point. But my neighbor’s 2022 Forester has a single disc player.
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True. On occasion, I’ve had that "where did that Fedex truck come from??" moment when I nearly side-swipe it, even with the mirrors set outward and not showing my own rear fenders.
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It was something like a 4 lane 50-55mph road, so certainly fast enough. The mirrors weren’t adjusted for me, so I couldn’t watch things like I normally do when driving, so I don’t know what led up to the event. It’s possible that the other vehicle came into the adjacent more from the side than the from behind or something? IDK.
I also use fish-eyes, or similar. The SAAB actually has a very cool design for it’s passenger side mirror - it’s convex as normal, but the outer corner has an extra bend on it that does the job of a fish-eye. I’m sure it’s b/c the convertible top leaves a distinct blind spot even if you turn your head.
Anyway, I wouldn’t reject any vehicle for these features, and I would use them if I had them. And I’d say that generally my comments about it here have been driven by the concern that most people will ignore the fact that they are for “assistance.” I will never ever become the person who doesn’t constantly monitor what is behind me, including blindspots and reversing and whatnot. I think these things will make people sloppier drivers. Of course, that is no reason not to have them.
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I occasionally did. I used to live in a house with a long-ish driveway. The point is the camera display blocks use of the nav/infotainment/hvac systems.
I remember the miserly fuel economy to be the only fun thing about those cars. Don’t get me wrong, I think they were a great value for the dollar, but I’d rather spend 2 dollars and get some level of comfort and performance.
My thoughts exactly about blind-spot, lane-keep, other assists, and cameras.
Drivers slowly become more reliant on them, and lose something else in the process.
As far as the Tercel . . . and also the later Yaris . . . pricing goes, I always felt it was a little steep for what you got
I think it would have been better . . . at the time . . . to spend a little more and get a mor substantial car, such as a plain-jane Corolla, that at least had a 5speed and power steering
I remember the bottom-level Tercel had 4spd, manual steering, no trip meter, no passenger exterior mirror, no folding rear seatback and those particularly low-quality vinyl seats
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Yeah, the base model was too spartan even for my tastes. The “DX” was the one to buy, which had cloth upholstery, dual exterior mirrors (manual adjust), instrument cluster with trip odometer, composite headlights, full wheel covers, and a factory AM/FM/cassette stereo with fairly decent speakers. The “LE” model added a clock, cupholder, softer upholstery, standard rear defroster, standard A/C, and a nicer trunk emblem.
This used to be a very common car, but I hardly ever see them anymore. Tercels are rare now, even in junkyards.
Friend went to buy a Tercel, changed to a Corolla once he had a chance to drive both.
Good luck with that in 10 years.
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Says the Gen-Z…
You make a very good point
I recently got rid of one of my cars . . . which just happened to be 25 years old
I’m not going to go into too much detail, but some of the parts that were needed hadn’t been available new OR aftermarket for several years
Repairing them wasn’t a good option
And the used parts available were in no better shape than mine, usually in even WORSE shape
Sometimes you need less common parts that are NOT sold new on rockauto, amazon, parts geek, etc.
And if the car happens to be worth very little and gets comparatively poor fuel economy, versus a new(er) car . . . maybe it’s appropriate to call time on the car
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Mike is in his 70s.
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So is now a good time to rebuild a 32-year old Dodge Shadow, which hasn’t run in years? With the goal of making a reliable daily driver? Asking for a friend, of course.
It probably needs them at this point but $2000 is ridiculous .
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I thought Mike was the youngest software engineer to ever retire in his 20’s with 50 years on the job experience… 
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Why do you older folks have such accepting attitudes toward what I consider, fairly since 2015 or so, automotive features that I think are gimmickry?
Even my 67 year old pastor would queue up at the local Apple shop every time a new iPhone generation was announced.
I’m 55 and my policy is to keep each new phone for as long as one might keep the same range and refrigerator in their kitchen.
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So all the phones in your house are rotary phones, no cordless phones??
And I guess you are still on dial up phone wired internet??
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Think, McFly.
I kept my iPhone 4, 5, and 12 going for 6 years each.
That’s the point I’m trying to make.
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I went from a non smartphone to a Galaxy S3, then S9, and just got the S24 a few months ago… lol
My issue is, I am OCD and know where everything is and how it works, I hate updates that change stuff, like just went through an update that removed the chrome search engine from google chrome and replaced it with yahoo search engine, wtf?? I couldn’t find photos or my gmail, I don’t even have yahoo on my computer… Took my sone to figure out how to change it back to google search, the way it was before the stupid update…
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I just traded an iPhone 8 for an iPhone 16. The 8 what I needed it to, but the new iPhone is far superior. The computer is faster and the 5G is significantly faster than the 4G. I could buy a refurbished iPhone 8, but at about $100, it’s a waste of money.