2aHawaii
General Topics => Off Topic => Topic started by: astroboy on August 05, 2026, 09:18:42 AM
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Joey from Vegas has a great channel with useful information.
https://youtu.be/TJL_bePlZW4
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He makes some good points but I wouldn’t limit my search only to cars 2000-2012. I bought a 2013 Prius V with 69,600 miles that just had the whole brake system replaced. The brake actuator was a weak spot on those years. Owner paid over $4000 for that repair. Bought it for $11,700 two years ago and it currently has 93,700 miles. I have not had a single problem with it. It had the original hybrid battery, I checked it a few months ago with the Dr Prius app and it showed 69% life left.
In March of this year I bought a 2017 Ram 1500 Longhorn 4x4 with the 5.7 Hemi to replace my 2001 Ram 2500 4x4 Cummins with a 6 spd stick. Since I am retired I no longer need a heavy duty truck. I bought this truck from WA state with 76,500 miles and my friend who lives there went to look at it for me. Truck was in immaculate condition and even the undercarriage was spotless. Not a drop of fluid or oil mist anywhere and even stuff that you normally see surface rust on, like the hose spring clamps were clean and shiny. When I got the truck, I changed the engine and trans oil. Yesterday I installed a Diablo Trinity 2 with the unlocked PCM. In addition to improving the power, throttle response and sharpening the transmission shifts, it also disabled the MDS cylinder deactivation. I did due diligence and checked for best years and 2017 is at the top of the list in many surveys.
The last new car I bought was a 2011 Scion XB. I definitely would not buy anything newer than 2022 and I would not limit my choices to 2000-2012 like was suggested in the video.
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My car doesn’t have a computer. Sometimes I whisper conspiracy theories into the fuel tank when I’m filling up and get a couple extra miles running on pure spite.
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all these milestones in car complexity:
air bags (gotta watch out for those yellow wires under the dash, good luck troubleshooting your horn button)
electric or power-steering boosted brakes (sudden failure mode)
ABS (master cylinder/ABS module replacement on Toyota $3K)
demise of carburetors (tune with vacuum gauge & tach), advent of EFI (laptop to tune)
catalytic converters and those pesky post-cat O2 sensors
OBD-I (not too bad)
OBD-II (now you need a scanner)
DEF (diesel)
cylinder deactivation
camshaft phasers
OnStar
not sure when the govt started getting the ability to control your car, late 20-teens? Yeah, I know, these all have benefits, "it's a small sacrifice to make for the greater good". Where have we heard that before? Give 'em an inch, and they'll take a mile. Try fixing your own car nowadays.
once upon a time, we didn't even have PCV valves, just "road draft tubes".
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brand new 2003....