Are there any simple cars left?

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That depends on your definition of simple. My WS6 is simple to work on to me and dosen't give any emissions problems.

I think simple comes with what you grow up with.
I will never own anything with a Carb again!
 
Originally Posted By: calvin1

I was surprised to see that Chevy actually had a Colorado on the floor of this year's Chicago Auto show with a 5 speed manual. Vinyl or cloth seats, rubber floors, manual windows & locks, solid axles, fuel injection: sounds pretty good to me.


NAPA, Advance and AutoZone call those things "delivery trucks".

Although. my local Advance is using a bare bones Vibe as a delivery vehicle as well.
 
A good friend of my sister wanted a bare bones Nissan Versa. However, the local megadealer won't stock anything that isn't nearly/fully loaded.

She finally found what she wanted at a dealer a couple of hours from here. A nice 5 door Versa with next to nothing on it.
 
Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Ford ranger base pickup.

+1

I'd agree with this if my wiring harness didn't look like it was assembled by preschoolers (read: CEL codes!), my rear slider didn't leak, my 4cyl didn't have 8 spark plugs, my instrument panel didn't blow lights from time-to-time and my rack & pinion didn't fall apart to the tune of $350.

But besides that, it's great! I'll keep it forever...now that it's sorted out.
 
I see, you mean no options, because to me an Engine is an Engine.
With a good scanner and an understanding of how all the sensors work and what the sensors do most new cars are pretty simple to diagnose.

I did have an 04 Silverado and the only option was the AC, No CD, manual windows, door locks and shifter on the floor for the 4x4. Vinyl seats and 5.3. 120,000 miles I replaced the brakes once. It was really easy to work on.
 
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Lots of old people here, I guess.....J/k!

Anyways, compacts are built more for kids now. The same kids that get everything they want.

So, do you think they want a bare bones car?

There is a reason why Scion was so hot....

Heck, if it doesn't play their MP3 player..look out.

That being said, I like my bare bones Cobalt.....
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: calvin1

I was surprised to see that Chevy actually had a Colorado on the floor of this year's Chicago Auto show with a 5 speed manual. Vinyl or cloth seats, rubber floors, manual windows & locks, solid axles, fuel injection: sounds pretty good to me.


NAPA, Advance and AutoZone call those things "delivery trucks".

Although. my local Advance is using a bare bones Vibe as a delivery vehicle as well.



Same here...
 
I'm pretty sure our '03 Tracker is the last model year that a 4cyl, true 4x4(transfer case)with a manual transmission vehicle sold was in N.A.
Ours has no options at all, and unsurprisingly there hasn't been much to fix.
GM had to offer discounts adding up to $8500 on a $23000 MSRP vehicle to sell the last of them so I guess there wasn't really alot of demand for new simple vehicle...
I guess our $17k could have bought a loaded 4 year old loaded Explorer, and I think the used market is what keeps car makers from making simple cars.
My next car will be a used 4cyl manual trans simple wagon but after that I think it will be hard to get anything that's simple until pure electric cars become common.
 
My low end 2008 jeep wrangler is pretty close. It has a/C 6 speed manual a transfer case, solid axles, rollup windows, AM Fm radio SIngle disk with the auzillary outlet. It does have some traction control but it does have an override switch. No cruise control vinyl seats, removable carptet to drag out and hose down. Easy to work on. All the fluids can be changed without a jack. THe 3.8 engine is a simple OHV design. Fanciest thing about it is the variable intake. Transfer case is a manually engaged type. The Soft top is Manually Operated.

That's the simplest newwer vehicle I have had in a while.
 
Maybe there's only a couple of us out here, but I find stuff like Sync and Onstar, traction control, even ABS, built in a real turn off on the new cars. Is ABS mandated now? I really don't want that stuff. A couple have mentioned the base Ranger truck, which would be a good idea except I frequently have to carry up to four people, sometimes more, mostly for short distances. What got me thinking about this was looking at an old Volvo 240 for sale near here--solid, simple, comfortable, but with not a lot of extra junk. Someone else mentioned all the sensors we have to deal with now, which really become a huge hassle on an older car. Sure you can figure out the code easily enough, but then try to fix it! And around here a light means it won't pass inspection.
 
I agree mostly......But for the average idiot driver, who would still be out there in a panick slam on the brakes situation.....I love my ABS. It's made me lazy in my braking habits, to my old way of thinking. But I think it's the single best "new" thing from the last thirty years.
 
I rented a new yaris this past year for about a couple weeks in florida. We put about 1500 miles on it.

I'm about 6 foot 5. I had no problems fitting into it, and actually liked the little car. Get a 4 door sedan. Ours had no options on it, not even cruise.

I would consider one for the misses. I wouldn't go so far to get a car with no air conditioning. I live in Buffalo and we still use it at least a few months out of the year.
 
Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
The government designs cars today, so no.


That's for the safety features.

I'd give anything for a contemporary version of the original Ranger ..or the Mazda morphed Courier (or the Nissan or Toyota offerings of the 70's).

I can surely live with the electronics and fuel system management of today ..but the "complications" that seem to be sought out to incorporate are just silly.

I'm very thankful that I have jeeps. No ABS ..just air bags ...no power windows (you can reach the other side on the one that actually has full doors) Relatively simple mechanicals.

My biggest fear factor (aside from having fuel available to put in it) is having something like the heater core going bad. It's replacement has "complications" and will probably run me a lot of money if and when it occurs. The rest of the thing has simple mechanical parts.


I'd buy a 4cylinder/4speed/4 door econo box in a minute if it has less to go wrong with it.
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
I agree mostly......But for the average idiot driver, who would still be out there in a panick slam on the brakes situation.....I love my ABS. It's made me lazy in my braking habits, to my old way of thinking. But I think it's the single best "new" thing from the last thirty years.


I'd say Fuel Injection is the best thing that all cars have in the last 30 years.

ABS is nice but a lot of cars do not have it. My 05 Corolla does not. The 04 GMC and Subaru do.

Take care, bill
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
That depends on your definition of simple. My WS6 is simple to work on to me and dosen't give any emissions problems.

I think simple comes with what you grow up with.
I will never own anything with a Carb again!


im the same way but i will also never own anything with spark plugs again. unfortunately thanks to the EPA the end of a true diesel is also gone.
 
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