It’s too bad about the transmission in that car, (so I’ve heard anyway.) Just kinda kills the fun of it a bit. 

Just a terrible interior in those older FCA cars though. Just not nearly as nice of a place to be as the cars I’ve listed. 

The back up cameras on both of our vehicles regularly freeze over, same with our proximity sensors. Unless they have a heated element to melt them, I could see that being an issue. 

The 9-2X would be a great option too, but hard to find in decent shape. I sold mine (a unicorn) and miss it every day. I tried to buy it back, but it ended up getting totaled. One of roughly 250 Aeros with the EJ25 and a stick. 

Golf Alltrack or Sportwagen and then mod it.
Audi Allroad then mod it.
BMW 330i xDrive Wagon

Not sure what else I’d suggest other than the Volvo above. 

I just want to see a picture of the back seat floor. The reason I’m in a half ton is because every decent midsize truck doesn’t have a flat back seat floor. They all have big plastic bins under the rear seats. 

You do not need to save to build credit. I had a credit score north of 800 with zero in the bank and $5,000 in credit card debt. 

Don’t live in SoCal.

We drove a 200k+ mile ancient Impala for years and years. Road tripped it all over. I drove my 240k mile Sierra all over, (the guy we bought it from drove it across the country frequently.) My 180k F150? Drove it everywhere. My 175k mazda? Took it across several states. My buddies 250k mile Audi? We took it to…

Or they could save for a bit and buy a $2000 beater like multiple people I know have done while they repair their credit. We had a $2000 beater when I was young, drove it for 5 years. 

Oh I know they are made to be removed, and I’ve seen a lot of EV work, (subscribe to Rich Rebuilds.) But to me at least, changing the battery pack seems more daunting than swapping engines, which I’ve done multiple times. Perhaps I’m just over weary of the high voltage stuff. 

Once cars are fully autonomous I think that will likely be the scenario, not even just for the lower income, but for many.

That said cheap old cars aren’t as unreliable as people make them out to be, and frequently replacement parts, (especially used) are not that pricey. I know a lot of people that drive older high…

Are you going to do the battery swap yourself? If not it will never be under several grand based on labor alone. I’ve done timing belts in cars, replaced transmissions etc. Ripping into high voltage equipment tho? Not something home mechanics will be doing very often I don’t think.

What your oil change argument misses…

Low income people can’t afford new car leases. For example I bought a car for $2300 when I was young, and we drove it for 5 years with only regular maintenance. (Had over 200k miles on it when we bought it.)

I know plenty of low income people that commute a lot more than 30 miles a day, especially in rural areas.

200 miles won’t get you Detroit to Chicago, you’ll end up sitting somewhere in Indiana, (hopefully not Gary) waiting to charge.

Doing a head gasket or timing belt isn’t $5,000+. 

To me the biggest issue with EVs isn’t battery recycling after the car is done, it’s what happens to older EVs still on the road, and to the lower income people that rely on older cars. The average age of a car on the road in the US is 12 years old, (meaning many cars are older than that.) How much range will a 10, 12…

I’m not for subsidizing any industry.

We’re still a long ways from a 15min charge. Level 3 charging gets you 90-120 miles in 30 minutes. That’s terrible. Tesla superchargers get you 50% battery in 20 minutes, and about 80% at 40 minutes, (if your battery is the right temp at the start.) Still way too slow. I can fill my truck up in 5 minutes and I have…

“The Tuatara accelerated from 274-286 MPH within 2.87 seconds at the end of the southbound run”

It was still accelerating pretty hard at 280+ mph, I think 300+ mph is pretty reasonable. 331? Not sure, but who knows. At 300mph, you’re covering 5 miles a minute, not a lot of time to accelerate. Honestly I’d think they’d…