That's how SUVs were sold to everyone, with the added benefit of "We didn't standardize the bumper heights, so accidents everywhere are worse".

I'm large and in charge.

I know so many Gen X and Boomer yuppies who scoff at the idea of driving any kind of fuel efficient, regular sized sedan or smaller. "You're out of luck if you ever get into an accident with that thing!"

Ignoring that it's only that way because douchebags like them are obsessed with SUVs, oversized pickups, and Hummers (that they never take off road).

Seemed that Americans were briefly interested in fuel efficient cars during the 00s when gas prices were high. They immediately brought back the Hummer when gas prices dropped. Now they're crying about gas being expensive again. They cry about having to fill up their huge vehicle and drive 90 minutes to work (one way) because they wanted a huge house in the boonies.

I've already decided that my next car will be electric. I'm not sure when that will be. My TT, despite being 21 years old and SOL when it comes to parts, is still incredibly reliable. (I will mourn the loss of the manual transmission.)

I am in much the same position, babying an ageing mini because I fear losing the stick. The other thing that's kept me off the electrics are the touchscreens, I will likely die while trying to adjust the heater or something.

Yeah, I'm hoping there will be an electric without all the bells and whistles. I had a modern loaner recently and touched nothing but the on/off button and the blinker (once I found it). I also want a real key. Old dog, new tricks, I guess.

I’m leasing an i3s, it’s really fun. No touch screen. Used ones are pretty reasonable.

I pay a premium on rent to live in the city with decent public transit and bicycle routes, so I don't have to drive anywhere. My girlfriend's family shares a car and we mostly just use it to go skiing or hiking, out-of-city stuff. If we didn't have that we would have the option of a car-share thing, which I think runs about 100CAD/day. That feels expensive for just a day, but if we only use it a few times a month it's still way cheaper than owning a car.

I also dread being forced to use a modern car with a huge touchscreen. Those should be illegal.

Mine still has a CD player!

I'd still have the one with a tape deck if a drunken frat boy didn't total it.

When I lived in the Houston TX in 2016 I bought a 1995 Toyota Pickup (pre-Tacoma) that still had the original tape player in it. I even bought random cassettes at Goodwill and one of them was a recording off the radio from Dallas around 1997, it was pretty fun driving that around.

Unfortunately the audio sounded like ass, so I replaced it with a "modern" head unit with CD player, aux input, and USB. No bluetooth though. I retained the original tape player and sold it along with the truck last summer.

still burning mix CD's for the car here, would rather have tape for my moldy oldies, but I'm not gonna pull the stock cd player for one.