These Are The Features You Would Sacrifice To Make Modern Cars Cheaper

Capitalism is at it again and as things have continued to get more expensive, the things we purchase are getting to be more cheaply made. It’s rather disappointing when the $50,000 vehicle you bought five years ago was nicer than the $50,000 vehicle you purchased in the year 2026. And that’s if you can even afford a $50,000 vehicle, which currently stands as the average new car price.

The average used car price doesn’t feel that much cheaper either as it now sits at $30,000. The problem arises from vehicles that are more expensive to make thanks to tariffs, safety features and technology, and many are much larger than their past examples. Throw in that automakers have been making less of them over the years as well, and you have the perfect storm in the form of an awful car market.

But what if we were willing to give up those luxuries and niceties? If we sacrificed some of these features could we make a car cheaper today? Many of you said no, but if it was possible, Jalops came in with long lists of features they’d be happy to part with for a cheaper vehicle. Here are some of the best answers.

Any and all “safety” features. Lane departure, blind spot monitoring, collision warnings etc… If youre actually paying attention to your driving, you dont need these things.

From Nick B

To do that would require some edits to NHTSA regulations for the industry. Otherwise, you make a fair point.

Flappy paddles.

Unless it’s a 430 Scud or whatever it doesn’t need an F1 style box. Manual or auto, I don’t need to pretend I’m Lewis Hamilton while driving a blazer

From JaredOfLondon

Screens. All of them.

Give me an analog gauge, and a phone mount like Slate, and I’ll happily provide my own screen/infotainment/navigation.

AND

To me, the better question would be, “Which features would you sacrifice?” Don’t even care if it makes the vehicle cheaper. I’d happily get rid of the infotainment system, AEB, BSM, LKA, ACC, autonomous anything, and I have absolutely no need for heated seats if I’ve got fabric seats. The entire reason everybody loves heated seats is because leather and fake leather absolutely suck in the cold, far more than fabric. Physical controls, AC, basic Cruise, BT audio, and electric windows (stares accusingly at Slate) are all I really want.

AND

• Touch screens, large screens in general
• Digital gauge clusters
• Pretty much all Infotainment
• Any and all “safety assists”
• Adaptive cruise
• Blind spot monitoring
• Backup assist
• Lane keep assist
• Auto parking
• Auto braking
• 360 cams
• Any self driving tech
• Oversized sunroofs/moonroofs
• Cylinder deactivation and auto stop/start
• Overly large wheels with expensive tires
• Anything haptic touch
• Transmission with more than 6 gears
• Electric parking brakes
• Electric door handles
• “connected” services
• Any subscriptionOh, so I want a pre-Tesla era car.

From dolsh, …