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Comment by beckingz | Hacker News Reader

I grew up driving a 1996 Honda accord. Later graduated to a 1992 Honda accord...

Those things were monstrously durable.

I once replaced a fifteen year old 1994 Acura Legend with a 1995 Acura Legend. That car lasted me almost ten years, and is still in use.

I could argue that I recently did an upgrade from a 2009 Mazda 3 to a 2011 Mazda 6, so I'm out of the line, but...

Truth is, the 2009 Mazda 3 was actually one of the first from the BL-Generation, while the 6 is the last one from the GH-Generation, which is from 2008.

So, yeah - it feels like an older car, although it's technically newer.

I drive a 2007 Honda Accord. It has a little over 100k on the odometer. I'll probably still be driving it until EVs really take over the mainstream.

> Those things were monstrously durable.

Which is fine until you get in an accident. Then you’d be wishing you bought a newer, safer car....

...or an older, larger one...

Just like VWs and other small cars, they're great for driving around the city but not ideal for extended high-speed travels. You would be far worse off on a motorcycle, in any case.

Are newer cars actually safer than that? Honda was years ahead of many manufacturers, and modern cars are disproportionately SUVs which are inherently less safe on a number of axes.

My sibling is still driving a 1991 Prevea

Now cars end up in a landfill when the encrypted wireless key fob falls in a puddle because no one wants to pay $900 just for the right to open the door and start the engine.

The price we pay for shiny objects...

You mean cars that you can walk away from after an accident? New cars are much, much safer than older cars.

Automobiles are one of the few items in the USA that's nearly 100% recycled. There's a huge secondary market for parts, rebuilds, and scrap metal.

Youtube is full of videos of folks buying nearly used cars that were totaled by insurance (usually due to accidents that triggered the airbags) for pennies on the dollar and fixing them up.

I didn't heard of anyone that scrapped their car just because keyfob failed. (and cars don't end up in landfill anyway, just small part of it)

This will lead to modding and firmware hacking as soon as it becomes profitable (and safe).

A broken or missing keyfob likely won't even impact a vehicle's trade-in value. The vehicle will go to auction, and it will be sold by an independent dealer with one set of keys, or they'll pick up a used keyfob on a secondary market for $50 and re-pair the set.

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