Nah. The minimum standard equipment keeps going up because that’s what new car buyers actually want. Long ago I worked at a dealership and the base trims with no optional equipment would sit for months and months.
Most of the people who claim to want basic transportation with no frills buy used cars.
this is so insightful but likely will get lost in these conspiracy theories that the whole global car industry is somehow colluding to intentionally add things no one wants so it breaks and you can pay them to fix it
so much simpler that the customers of new cars want to add the features, and most car manufactures don't have the expertise/staffing to make great electronic tech so you get wonky experiences after all the tradeoffs and constraints they worked through
Like you said, I want those extra features. I do want cameras around my car. The birds eye view rendering in some cars I’ve seen is awesome and looks super helpful. I also want a screen for GPS so I’m not buying another screen or using my small phone screen on a stand. I want the modern safety features and QoL features like lane assist and adaptive cruise. I don’t want required software updates, but I do want to be able to patch an issue with the electrical system the manufacturer identified a year after sale. I don’t want the most basic features on something I’ll be using almost daily for years.
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u/Impossible_Offer7988 9h ago edited 9h ago
You don't, but they do.
That stuff will break, and it's so specialized that only they can repair it.
That is how they make their money they can charge you more because the cars are so loaded.
The cars are now filled with stuff that requires more (expensive maintenance)
that's two cases of putting money in their pockets.
Dealers and banks also now earn more (the manufacturer gets a cut of that as well).
So this is never gonna change.