Regarding bare bone vehicles as in reliable older cars without a metric ton of bells and whistles, those days are gone. Unfortunately.

Regarding TPMS sensors, if your state doesn't require them to be working to pass State vehicle inspections, just have them replaced with regular old rubber tire stems next round of tire replacements. One of them on my F150 became brittle and broke off (cheap pot metal), and another stopped working. Since working TPMS sensors are not required my in state, I just told my tire installer to just throw them out and install normal rubber tire stems.

The tpms warning light turns on periodically to remind of of my ultimate solution, but it doesn't bother me. Unfortunately it's prob not easily re-programmed out, but it doesn't affect the running of the vehicle.

If you can live with the visual annoyance for any length of time, you may be able to get used to it so it won't even register any more in your brain when it pops up.

I believe the last available vehicle in the US with crank windows was the 2024 Jeep Wrangler.

You just described my 01 Silverado. Love that truck and I'm keeping it until it turns into powder (for those of you from the south, everything rusts up here at some point unless you hide it in a garage all winter and don't use it for 6 months out of the year).

If you're ok with an EV, Slate isn't dead. They're here in town, actively converting the old RR Donnelly/LSC communications plant into a manufacturing facility. They put in a big sign out front, and I actually just talked to one of their employees last week. I'm not sure how close they are to actually rolling out a vehicle, but the company still exists and still appears to be moving in the right direction from what I can see. They brought a demo model of one of their trucks to town around July 4 this year, and I got to poke around at it a bit. It's not as capable as my 3/4 ton Silverado...can't haul 4500lbs of rock or firewood with it...but for a runaround town vehicle or to pull my little 16' Sea Nymph fishing boat to the lake it would work just fine.

https://www.inkfreenews.com/20...facility-renovation/

I have been looking at old restored trucks from the early seventies. The only thing I would change if I could get one would be from carburetor to fuel injection.

Is it still possible to custom order a car built to your specifications with as little crap installed as possible?

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
Is it still possible to custom order a car built to your specifications with as little crap installed as possible?

Yes but the catch is "as possible". The cheapest base Corolla has stuff that older base cars did not. Take power windows, it would probably cost a manufacture as much or more to install crank operated ones as electric. And then who would choose crank over electric because crank mechanisms are no more reliable as electric motors now a days and they're much less convenient.

The massive amount of federal regulations that the automakers have to adhere to make it impossible to produce a bare-bones car. Also, the market demands power everything, upgraded infotainment systems, and all the other bells and whistles. Most people in the US will not buy cars with manual crank widows, no a/c, basic am-fm radios, no abs, and so forth. Don’t get me started on all the emission controls.

Plus..all the bells and whistles equal more profit for the automakers.

Wow, you’ve really had enough with technology, haven’t you, my generous Asian friend. Looking for an analog car in 2025, but now you’re driving a Lexus?!? I think you knew when you posted this that the world has left crank windows behind, and that you’re looking for a used car or truck made before the Berlin Wall fell.

quote:

Originally posted by 2Adefender:
The massive amount of federal regulations that the automakers have to adhere to make it impossible to produce a bare-bones car.

No doubt.

quote:

you’re looking for a used car or truck made before the Berlin Wall fell.

Lol...any idea where I can get a used Trabant? I'd drive the wheels off that thing!

Those turds were a menace on the autobahn ^^^

Possibly a used Yugo?

1974 Pinto?

Toyota makes a fleet/contractor base line no frills line. Ive seen both a tacoma and corolla or Camry (forget which). basic am/fm radio, crank windows, key ignition, cloth seats

As a car enthusiast, I can tell you that TPMS is almost always a nightmare of sorts. On my car for example, it works perfectly (tracks pressure correctly, wails when it's supposed to, resets normally, switches between tire sets, etc.), yet whenever I hook up my diagnostic tool to check something, the car is still always throwing a code for the TPMS system, guaranteed. It could be a module, a fuse, some wiring, or a relay. Who even knows?

In my experience, power windows fail much less than crank windows, but I still understand the desire for analog. My biggest beef these days is with direct fuel injection and most new emissions hardware.

There are some very simple vehicles on the market. But I say that in context of the vehicular landscape that exists today. And those choices are few and far between. I’m going to attempt to buy one next year before they redesign it, and it gets more complex and expensive. There are a few of them left but they are performance variants, coupes or convertible. Very simple and basic but they still have TPMS sensors and some minor flavor of ADAS.

The upcoming Slate EV is something I would pay attention to. EV, yes, but it’s like a mini truck. Like the little Nissans and Isuzus of the 90’s. No ADAS, manual rolling windows, extremely bare bones. I want one myself down the road once they are out say 2 years as I like to let everyone else be a test dummy first. IIRC, base model is 150 mile range. You move up, it’s 240 or 220 mile range, something like that. Makes excellent sense as a daily driver and a beater. That way you can leave the more complex Lexus, BMW, Infiniti, Mercedes, what have you, at home, and use it for fun and weekends. Use the Slate as your donkey. Due to the relatively low cost, comparatively to the market (average new car price in Murica is now over $50k), well as long as it’s not a POS. Amazon and Bezos are going to sell a fuck ton of them. People using them as commuters. Every lawn guy, pool guy, remodeling contractors. That vehicle is going to be a license to print money because every other company has gone complexity, bigger and bigger, and expensive as fuck.

I had to buy 4 Toyota TPMS sensors for my winter wheels and tires 2 years ago. Toyota loves to charge you for them too. They were not cheap. I think somewhere around $300 a set? It was somewhere around there. You can buy them online, ship them to your house, then take them up to DT, and they’ll sort them out for you, easily. I prefer to stick to OEM TPMS sensors versus aftermarket but a lot of people use aftermarket. My Toyota has TPMS1 and TPMS2 so I can run two sets. When I swap wheels every 6 months I just go into the dash, select them in the instrument cluster then it takes 5 miles or so for them to register and work as intended.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
<<snip>>
Took my Lexus RX in today for regular maintenance. No problem there. But, the tire pressure light has lit up forever, but it’s not because of low air pressure. It’s just the damn sensor malfunction. Dealer quoted me $1375 to replace all four sensors. I said no thanks. The sensor light can be on for all I care.

I have the same issue on my Jetta, but I bought my own set of sensors from Amazon for $40.00 for a set of 4. Installation is simple with one bolt holding them in, and the fronts can be done without even removing the wheel. Your dealer is full of feces!!!

1979 or earlier F150.

The DX models from Honda were no frills, the asain Indians were the biggest market for them

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
The DX models from Honda were no frills, the asain Indians were the biggest market for them

The CX [hatchback only] was even more basic. No power steering, no rear wiper.
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