Maybe I’m biased, but the late 90s were just about perfect for cars. If you could get your hands on something like a Ranger or S10, it would be extremely practical. Automatic transmission, air conditioning, great fuel economy, and extremely easy to maintain and repair. And if it’s made after ‘96, it would have a OBD2 port that any modern scanner could read codes from.
I actually owned a 1998 S10 before I got that BMW. It was the most basic trim, with a manual transmission, a regular cab, and hand-cranked windows. That truck was a lot of fun because of how poor the traction was. I could skid around corners at 25 mph and one time I did a burnout accidentally when trying to start moving up a steep hill after stopping for a crossing guard letting a bunch of little kids across the street. I would love to have an S10 again but mine had the brakes fail in 2011 (to be fair, I had bought it used with 200k miles on it) and I wasn’t comfortable driving it after that. I can’t imagine how many problems it would have after 14 more years.
It’s too bad that there are exactly zero options for a truck like that these days. A truck would actually be very practical for me (I live alone so I don’t need passenger space but I do move big stuff sometimes) but there are no fun models that aren’t already old enough to drink.
You might be interested in the Slate, if that ever enters production. It’s electric but very basic, the size of a classic 1980s small pickup. No big fancy screens but they plan to offer a tablet mount for the dashboard in case you want to bring your own.
I definitely am interested in it, although I’m worried about buying a car from a new company’s first production run. I haven’t driven an electric car before but maybe it’ll be fun.
Yeah, I’m not even confident most new electric brands I see will ever reach prototype stage, let alone become a successful business that can sustain operations. I really like the idea in this of a very basic vehicle, though, so I hope they succeed.
Maybe I’m biased, but the late 90s were just about perfect for cars. If you could get your hands on something like a Ranger or S10, it would be extremely practical. Automatic transmission, air conditioning, great fuel economy, and extremely easy to maintain and repair. And if it’s made after ‘96, it would have a OBD2 port that any modern scanner could read codes from.
I actually owned a 1998 S10 before I got that BMW. It was the most basic trim, with a manual transmission, a regular cab, and hand-cranked windows. That truck was a lot of fun because of how poor the traction was. I could skid around corners at 25 mph and one time I did a burnout accidentally when trying to start moving up a steep hill after stopping for a crossing guard letting a bunch of little kids across the street. I would love to have an S10 again but mine had the brakes fail in 2011 (to be fair, I had bought it used with 200k miles on it) and I wasn’t comfortable driving it after that. I can’t imagine how many problems it would have after 14 more years.
It’s too bad that there are exactly zero options for a truck like that these days. A truck would actually be very practical for me (I live alone so I don’t need passenger space but I do move big stuff sometimes) but there are no fun models that aren’t already old enough to drink.
You might be interested in the Slate, if that ever enters production. It’s electric but very basic, the size of a classic 1980s small pickup. No big fancy screens but they plan to offer a tablet mount for the dashboard in case you want to bring your own.
I definitely am interested in it, although I’m worried about buying a car from a new company’s first production run. I haven’t driven an electric car before but maybe it’ll be fun.
Yeah, I’m not even confident most new electric brands I see will ever reach prototype stage, let alone become a successful business that can sustain operations. I really like the idea in this of a very basic vehicle, though, so I hope they succeed.
Both of those trucks get as good as their counterpart today or worse. Great mpg is a stretch if you compare to a Maverick - hybrid or not.