I recently want to upgrade my car for improved comfort and safety features. I'm located in an area where $/kWh is not cheap. Everyone around me raves about the Tesla but I can't seem to see it beating a hybrid in $/mile. And it lacks features like parking sensors (the vision based parking assist failed 50% of the time during my test drive). The test drive went poorly overall. I'm not a "$TSLA short" hater, as I happily hold the stock, but I was excited to be done with my vehicle search and disappointed in its performance.<p>I want to know how people choose what car to drive, and what metrics people optimize for.
Tesla model 3.<p>My wife was spending 300$ a month on gas with her commute. Now that costs us 30$ a month. Basically our total cost of ownership is the same, but we upgraded from a Yaris so well worth it in our case.<p>Works for us because we have a garage and can charge at home. Ours is old so we got FSD back in the day when it was a lot cheaper. FSD has vastly improved over the past 5 years, the car routinely drives 45 minutes to work with zero interventions and the latest update greatly improved park assist. The screen now visualizes all the nearby spots and you just touch the screen to select where you want it to park. Works well for me.<p>The used ones like CAD25k, worth it my opinion.
2018 Subaru Forester. AWD is kind of mandatory in the Sierra Foothills, and a pickup to replace my 20-year old Tacoma cost about twice as much. There were no chargers within about 20 miles at the time. And I roughly doubled my gas mileage.<p>The 2018 I got has zero internet connectivity. The cell phone meets any needs. No built-in GPS. And no "telemetry" other than the phone.<p>Of course, it's older now and new instruments have vastly less glare.
Everything's a distraction, so the less on the touch-screen, the safer I feel as a driver.<p>CA is a very large state and people seem to prefer hybrids.
1998 Honda Civic. Somewhere over 350k miles, the odometer is broken.<p>I bought it for $1200 in 2011 and just never stopped daily driving it. Granted, I love doing the maintenance myself, and I easily have a few thousand dollars in tools for it lying around. Gets about 35mpg too.<p>I know my situation doesn't fit yours at all re: safety features and comfort. But I'm an advocate for any car that's paid off.
2013 Subaru Outback
Main Reason: All wheel drive
I had a couple bad experiences in the past not being able to get out with only moderately slippery roads.
Dacia Sandero Stepway<p>Reasons:<p>- €10,500 for a new car (in 2020)<p>- 5.5 l/100 km (~42 US mpg)<p>- no touch screens<p>- simple and reliable<p>- good clearance without being an SUV
2010 VW Diesel Jetta Sportwagen.<p>- $10k<p>- Great gas mileage<p>- No fancy stuff<p>- Big enough for small little ones or hauling stuff<p>- All-glass roof :)