Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older. A study published Wednesday says U.S. vehicles hit a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their rides largely because new ones cost so much.
I drive a 2009 Crown Hybrid. It’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s great on fuel, it’s luxurious, the build quality is extremely high, and on top of that, it didn’t cost much. I can’t see what a new car could offer me other than touchscreens, mandatory data collection, and a heap of tech I’ll never use more than once. Mine has radar cruise, that’s as advanced as I need a feature to be tbh
Wow they had that in 09? I can’t live without that anymore. Beware Nissan’s implementation though, it suddenly disables with a tone if you’re fully stopped in traffic more than 10s. Complete trash.
Toyota really weren’t fucking around with the Crown Hybrids back then. They threw everything into them. It also has soft close doors and trunk, TV/DVD, factory Bluetooth audio, heated/cooled front and rear seats, reclining rear seats, lane keep assist, night vision front and fender/rear cameras, keyless everything, and a heap more.
I’ve borrowed a top spec Audi A6 from 2004 for a bit last year and that had adaptive cruise control as well. Honestly if not for the infotainment GUI, which felt very “spy kids”, it would have passed for a ~2020 car as well feature wise.
Hmm… I wonder where the cutting edge currently is at this point? I had no idea they’d been experimenting with radar in automotive applications that far back!
I drive a 2009 Crown Hybrid. It’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s great on fuel, it’s luxurious, the build quality is extremely high, and on top of that, it didn’t cost much. I can’t see what a new car could offer me other than touchscreens, mandatory data collection, and a heap of tech I’ll never use more than once. Mine has radar cruise, that’s as advanced as I need a feature to be tbh
Wow they had that in 09? I can’t live without that anymore. Beware Nissan’s implementation though, it suddenly disables with a tone if you’re fully stopped in traffic more than 10s. Complete trash.
Toyota really weren’t fucking around with the Crown Hybrids back then. They threw everything into them. It also has soft close doors and trunk, TV/DVD, factory Bluetooth audio, heated/cooled front and rear seats, reclining rear seats, lane keep assist, night vision front and fender/rear cameras, keyless everything, and a heap more.
I fucking love the Toyota Crown.
I’ve borrowed a top spec Audi A6 from 2004 for a bit last year and that had adaptive cruise control as well. Honestly if not for the infotainment GUI, which felt very “spy kids”, it would have passed for a ~2020 car as well feature wise.
Hmm… I wonder where the cutting edge currently is at this point? I had no idea they’d been experimenting with radar in automotive applications that far back!