I want to know how people choose what car to drive, and what metrics people optimize for.
My wife was spending 300$ a month on gas with her commute. Now that costs us 30$ a month. Basically our total cost of ownership is the same, but we upgraded from a Yaris so well worth it in our case.
Works for us because we have a garage and can charge at home. Ours is old so we got FSD back in the day when it was a lot cheaper. FSD has vastly improved over the past 5 years, the car routinely drives 45 minutes to work with zero interventions and the latest update greatly improved park assist. The screen now visualizes all the nearby spots and you just touch the screen to select where you want it to park. Works well for me.
The used ones like CAD25k, worth it my opinion.
The 2018 I got has zero internet connectivity. The cell phone meets any needs. No built-in GPS. And no "telemetry" other than the phone.
Of course, it's older now and new instruments have vastly less glare. Everything's a distraction, so the less on the touch-screen, the safer I feel as a driver.
CA is a very large state and people seem to prefer hybrids.
I bought it for $1200 in 2011 and just never stopped daily driving it. Granted, I love doing the maintenance myself, and I easily have a few thousand dollars in tools for it lying around. Gets about 35mpg too.
I know my situation doesn't fit yours at all re: safety features and comfort. But I'm an advocate for any car that's paid off.
Reasons:
- €10,500 for a new car (in 2020)
- 5.5 l/100 km (~42 US mpg)
- no touch screens
- simple and reliable
- good clearance without being an SUV
- $10k
- Great gas mileage
- No fancy stuff
- Big enough for small little ones or hauling stuff
- All-glass roof :)