Small / economy car deathwatch: we've passed "peak econobox" again

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

If it does take over 5 years, 10 years, 15 years to go back to normal, what would be a good economy car?

A so-called economy car nowadays is basically impossible to certify for sale in the United States and Canada. And even in other regions, it's becoming harder to find a real economy car, considering so many models now have engines far from dumbproof, so maintenance becomes quite a nightmare.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

A so-called economy car nowadays is basically impossible to certify for sale in the United States and Canada. And even in other regions, it's becoming harder to find a real economy car, considering so many models now have engines far from dumbproof, so maintenance becomes quite a nightmare.

That is directly related to ever increasing fuel economy and emission standards. combined with consumer expectations. You mentioned a dislike of turbos in a post above but naturally aspirated engines are also complicated. Stop/Start, variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation. Nissan has a NA engine that has variable compression ratio. (I just spent $3,000 getting the variable timing fixed in my 2011 Acura TSX at an independent shop. The dealer wanted $5,000)

An old school simple NA 4 cylinder simply cannot deliver the driving experience that drivers want and the fuel economy / emissions that automakers are required to deliver.

[Isaac Zachary]

Overall it's not the end of the world. There are forces that make cars cheaper and forces that make the more expensive. Both are at play here, and as noted, cars haven't really become more expensive, with the exception of the used car market and temporarily with the new car market, both due to the pandemic. But there seems to be an overall optimism that things will go back to normal, and they're not terribly far from normal anyway.

My budget is still $15,000. I might not be able to get a 50k mile 5-year-old Avalon Hybrid with that kind of money, but there are lots of $15,000 cars out there that can get a guy like me from point A to point B.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by JSH

An old school simple NA 4 cylinder simply cannot deliver the driving experience that drivers want and ...

[Bicycle Bob]

It is 15 years since I bought a car, but I never paid over $1,000 for a car, and never had a big repair bill to drive them for years.

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Nice but it's squirrely under high performance stops and starts is bad weather.

Btdt bought a Golf

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

That is directly related to ever increasing fuel economy and emission standards. combined with consumer expectations.

Safety standards also have their share on this issue. Otherwise, Americans would've had the chance to buy a Kia Pregio in 2004 for instance.

You mentioned a dislike of turbos in a post above but naturally aspirated engines are also complicated. Stop/Start, variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation.

I'm well aware not only about Argentinians replacing a port-injection setup for a carburettor as a makeshift fix in simpler old-school engines, but also replacing a more complex one for whichever would be better suited to the carburettor trick.

An old school simple NA 4 cylinder simply cannot deliver the driving experience that drivers want and the fuel economy / emissions that automakers are required to deliver.

Odd enough, until some years ago, some folks still got the approval at the technical inspection in Argentina, in cars adapted with a carburettor to replace the EFI. Sure there were some comprimises regarding performance...

[freebeard]

Keep on truckin, hey, hey, hey hey...

$10K Toyota IMV Zero Toyota Ceo Reveals New $10K Pickup Truck That Shakes Up The Whole Industry!

$10K Chevy Montana GM CEO Reveals NEW $10,000 Pickup Truck & SHOCKED Everyone!

$10K Ford Ranchero Ford CEO Announces ALL NEW $10,000 Pickup Truck & SHOCKS The Entire Industry!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Forget the clickbaits, but the Chevrolet Montana is real, yet it's not so compact as its predecessors used to be.

[freebeard]

Is that currently in production? At what price?

Clickbait is as close to new cars as I'm likely to get. Here's another: Toyota CEO: "We're Switching To Direct To Consumer!"

I know sandy Munro despises 'stealerships'.

New Years eve, I watched an hour of television. First time in ever. The ads were all for Toyota dealers and T-mobile (the corp that will fine their customer if they say something not on the approved opinion list). If the dealers fall on hard time, the TV stations will suffer. Fine by me.

The Seattle Space Needle fireworks was funny, a cloud with red parks coming out of the top.