The Lack of Future of Modern Cars

Modern vehicles are technological marvels; 57 computers keeping track of everything from spark timing to seat temperature.

They have become grossly expensive, though, both to purchase and to maintain and repair; "it's not the years, it's the miles," used to be the rule for used cars, but that has flipped over the last 10 years or so. Engines and transmissions have more-or-less been sorted out, and 300,000 miles is commonly achievable by at most brands' drivetrains, as long as it happens before the electronics become obsolete and the vehicle can no longer be repaired, at all.

From the perspective of the manufacturers, this is fantastic! Their reputation remains good and they sell more new cars, as used cars become less and less reliable. This is an unmitigated disaster for literally everything else, though: The consumer, the economy, the environment...

There are some solutions: Engines can be switched to carburetors, in some cases (or aftermarket EFI); ABS can be bypassed; manual transmissions (less and less common) don't need electronic controls.

Each door module, though, that controls both window and lock? You can't just rewire that to use normal switches. Windshield wipers? It's split between 3 modules, now: The wiper module, the BCM, and the steering column module (or similar, depending on make).