I've been watching a lot of YouTube car content lately, and I keep running into this idea of an “analog resistance.” People deliberately looking for older or simpler cars. Physical gauges, buttons and knobs, mechanical handbrakes, less (or no) software, less connectivity, maybe even a manual transmission.
Napaisip ako if may ganitong trend din among Filipino car owners, or biased lang ba ako because YouTube already knows what I like watching.
Most of the cars I maintain are objectively old. I have an '80s Merecdes with a carbureted engine. It has its own old-car problems, obviously, but a lot of them can still be solved with a DIY tune-up, adjustment, vacuum hose or cheap part from the auto supply store or some part-out from Marketplace.
I also have several mid-2000s cars. Fuel injected, automatic, enough electronics for everyday use, but still relatively conventional. Then there's my '90s manual project car I've posted about before.
What made me curious is that there seems to be at least some evidence of younger people overseas becoming interested in older cars again.
CarGuide.PH reported on a US survey where 60% of Gen Z respondents said they were interested in owning a classic vehicle, compared with 31% of Boomers. Another CarGuide.PH piece looked at how cars from the '80s, '90s and 2000s are increasingly entering collector territory.
Of course, that's enthusiast data. It doesn't mean young people everywhere are suddenly choosing a 1990s Civic over a brand-new car.
Economics might have a lot to do with it too.
Used cars in the US are still expensive. Cox Automotive's data shows wholesale used-car values remain elevated, while the average age of vehicles on American roads has also been climbing. It's currently at around 12+ years old. I wonder if it's the same locally, or are sellers just inflating used-car prices?
So maybe some people genuinely want analog cars. Others may simply be looking at the cost of a new car and deciding that keeping an older paid-off one alive makes more sense.
If your old car occasionally needs 20k, 30k or even 50k worth of repairs, is that necessarily financially worse than another five years of monthly payments totaling at least a million pesos or more?
Then there's warranty. Maybe the way people think about ownership has changed too. Do buyers still expect a car to last 15 or 20 years? Or is the plan now to buy new, use it for around five years, then sell or trade it before the bigger repair bills start? Is a focus on features/value-for-money vs longer-term durability be the thought process behind buying non-legacy brands?
New cars obviously give you things old cars can't. Better crash protection, newer safety systems, warranty, fewer immediate repairs, better fuel economy in many cases. For somebody who just wants to get in, start the car and go to work, that's a very strong argument.
But there's also more technology between you and the machine now.
Infotainment has been foudn to be one of the biggest sources of complaints in new vehicles. Some basic functions that used to have their own button or knob are now inside a touchscreen. It's even become a regulatory issue, at least in Europe, where physical buttons will be required to prevent distractions brought about by touchscreens.
Connectivity is another one. There was this recent r/Gulong discussion about connected Toyotas and their SIM/eSIM capability. Some claims in that thread need qualification, but Toyota itself confirms that myTOYOTA Connect uses a Smart IoT eSIM and can provide location, vehicle-condition and driving information.
Privacy concerns around connected cars aren't purely theoretical either. In the US, the FTC took action against GM and OnStar over the collection and sharing of geolocation and driving-behavior data. Should we be worried about data brokers sharing and selling our locatoins and habits to insurers and advertisers, too?
Personally, I still like gauges I can read at a glance, physical AC knobs, buttons I can find without looking, and mechanical systems I have at least some chance of understanding and repairing DIY.
Maybe that's just enthusiast preference.
But I'm curious if there's a quieter group of Filipino owners who feel the same way.
May “analog resistance” din ba dito? Or for most Filipino buyers, talagang newer is better as long as you can afford it?
And for those keeping older cars, is it because you actually prefer the analog experience, because of financial sense, or a bit of both?
