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I was curious what cars still come available with roll up windows, manual, 13" tires, etc. The more "luxuries" the more repairs, so I was curious to see if anyone knows of cars that still come with no features. Even the Yaris comes with power locks. I found this so far:
Chevrolet Aveo: In the final year of life, the base Aveo still comes with wind-up windows.
Chevrolet Cobalt: Its replacement comes with standard power windows, but some 2010 Cobalt sedans go the manual route.
Ford Fiesta: It's a party inside and out, but you'll need to roll down the windows yourselves.
Ford Focus: In its last year of production, the old Focus has a wind-up-window model--and so does the new 2012 version.
Hyundai Accent: The base Accent comes with wind-up windows only.
Kia Rio: You can get power features on higher-spec models, but base cars will need elbow power.
Kia Forte: The highly-rated Forte sedan skimps on the switches in its base form.
Nissan Versa: No Versa 1.6 sedan can be equipped with power windows.
Smart Fortwo: Pure coupes omit power windows.
Toyota Corolla and Matrix: Manual windows are standard on the base versions of the Corolla sedan.
Toyota Yaris: Power windows are an option on the base Yaris sedan.
They make crap so you'll buy crap be dissatisfied go back for another load of crap .....a different crap think your happy but your not....and then you found motorcycles way better , way less shit breaks ....park that fucker in the living room and wrench on it.... try that with your smart for 2
Almost every car I own is a classic, same goes for my bikes, so I'm pretty much out of the loop on new cars. I was just curious if you can still get basic cars, or if they are all loaded with extra junk.
mid/late 2000's model mazda 3's have manual windows. No one makes 13" tires anymore. I upgraded from 15's to 17's on my fiero and even 17's are getting small. 18-19" rims are becoming standard now on many vehicles. I personally wouldn't buy a car based only on how little options it has. Read up on many reviews of 5-7 year old cars. Most of those should have hundreds of thousands of miles on them and people will let you know what they don't like or what breaks on them.
The pickings are pretty slim these days.... When I bought my 2007 Suzuki SX4 (first year for the car) it was the last year stability control and traction control weren't standard. Obviously that's why I wanted one. All wheel drive with no nannies. When I traded it in on my current car, a 2012 Impreza Base hatch, I was disappointed that I couldn't get cruise control or a decent stereo with an i-pod controller, but stability control and traction control are not only standard, but non-defeatable. Hand-crank windows are a pipe-dream. It sure would be nice if manufacturers went back to the days where you could "delete" things you didn't want. Hell, my 89 S10 had radio and heater delete... When was the last time you saw manual steering or brakes? Even tire pressure monitoring is government mandated these days.
I was at a gas station a few months back with my 72 Lemans, next to my pump was a guy in a smart car..... Little man decides to comment ,"Bet you wish you had this car". I turned, looked at him and said, "If you gave me that p.o.s. I would sell it and buy another one of these".......
It's really hard to get a car without power windows and A/C these days. I would recommend that you just buy any Toyota or Honda. Every manufacturer has some issues with their cars at some point (some more than others), but your power windows will work for a very, very long time without failure. Every Honda or Toyota that I have ever been in regardless of the mileage had switches and controls that still felt like they did when they were new even after 15 years.
My Yaris is not totally bare bones but basic as I could get. I needed to have an automatic transmission for when my wife uses it, but other than that the only other thing it has is power door locks, but even that is only the basic version. There is a button on the center console, that's it, no key fob to unlock the doors. Love it though, I don't like a lot of frills with my vehicles.
In todays automated assembly process, it's much easier for the manufacturer to build them all with A/C, P/S, P/W, P/L rather than some with and some without... Then you have the re-sale factor... they get bragging rights to how well they retain their value and most people want all that shit nowadays. Hard to resell a used car without it to the average John Q. Public.
I've got base model covered quite sufficiently... 1972 VW Super Beetle has manual everything; 1949 Dodge 1/2 ton truck has manual everything AND a points fired, generator equipped flathead 6 cylinder. 1969 Dodge 1/2 ton has a slushomatic trans, everything else is manually operated, and it still has points.
Got "modern" covered too... 1985 C10 short wide, other than the 4bbl carb on the 4.3L V6, has a/c and power everything; 1992 Ranger (parts truck) has efi, a/c, p/s and p/b, but a 5 speed and crank up windows. 1994 Ranger is the same way but licensed for the road... 1995 Subaru Outback (project, it died and I refuse to fix it) has all the bells and whistles except leather interior. 2006 Vibe has crank up windows, touchy fly by wire throttle (hate it)...
I prefer simple. If my Dodges break down, usually a dime and a match book to reset the points gap and it's good to go. I do need to rewire the 69 Dodge though before it goes back on the road...
The newest car I have right now is 1992 Honda Civic Lx. It's power windows still work, back are a little slow. Power steering is starting to whine a little. 45 mpg on the highway, 30's in town. I enjoy it as a daily driver, but I am going to eventually replace it with something else.
The reason I started looking was because I travel six months per year with work and I am constantly seeing awesome cars while abroad. Everything is manual, diesel, no power anything. Just like on my 92 honda, I have a vinyl headliner and a plastic dash. That is what I want.
I was looking at the Yaris as well. I want to check the interiors out and see how durable they look. I wish Toyota would reproduce some of their 80's stuff.
Not really. Ran great from Memphis to Nashville and back. Couplke days later you step on the brake and it starts feeling like the engine is going to jump out through the hood. Then it got to where it runs a few seconds and shuts off. Check engine light is on, but the guaranteed to work on it scanner can't pull any codes. Fuel infested slushomatic, it can sit there and rot.
I think you can still get basic vans .. like Ford Transit. Honest to God, I see one in my future by the time I'm 30. You could sleep in it, tools on the walls, open bed all enclosed. Moto would fit perfect, spare space. Sweet long haul vehicle potentially.
I know what you mean about simple utilitarian vehicles. It's the reason I pull all electric-start components off of all of my bikes. My knee works fine.
The last four-wheeled vehicle I owned was well of course for business only, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one. It was a 2008 F-250 6.4L diesel. Thing was, on the doors it said "U.S. Customs and Border Protection". Most of the crap was basic. I don't even recall if it could play CD's. They also did me a favor by unplugging a bunch of automatic crap like cab lights that illuminate when the door is open.
They're called fleet vehicles. Ford makes a thing I saw in Mexico called the Tornado. If you could get the fleet version of that, it may be just what you're looking for.
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