521
We may soon have 70 million boomers too old to drive, too car-dependent to stop.
(lloydalter.substack.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2026
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Fuck Cars
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Yes and most of them live near me.
And they’re ruining cars. High, upright seating position because they can’t get out of the car, big chonky tires on an SUV chassis because they hit potholes and curbs, measly little engines because they’re not going to use them anyway, driver assistance because their meds make them impaired.
Cars will be cool again when old people don’t have to drive.
So, never?
Yes, I’m afraid the golden age of cars is past. Now they are appliances with quirky features.
And it just makes me want to burn it all down.
I'm genuinely curious what types of cars fit your description. I drive a 10 year old hatchback and don't have any interest in a big car so I have no idea what current state is like. My best comparison is an even older Suburban that seemed floaty but pretty agile when you gassed it.
Most hatchbacks are crossover SUVs now. Take a tiny hatchback, make it uglier and taller. Handling gets worse and the ground clearance doesn't increase, AWD isn't available in most cases so now they're shit on the road AND off it
This is separate from big SUVs which have cargo and towing capacity and can often go off road.
VW in the US is a great example of this. They no longer sell the Golf, but they do sell a compact SUV that is basically just a Golf they made worse with higher ride height and bigger tires.
They still sell the Golf GTI (and the Golf R), which are just Golfs with better trim.
Yes and they lose money on them. Only 10,000 were sold last year. The basic Golf and its wagon variant are gone in favor of SUVs that are basically the same car but taller, heavier, and worse.
Subaru did a similar thing. You can get an STI but it’s the only non-crossover they sell anymore. No more Legacy sedans or Outback station wagons.
Hell, Volvo is killing their last remaining wagon this year and going all SUV.
I’m not going to argue your overall point, only that VW almost certainly does not lose money on each performance Golf variant. Maybe in opportunity cost, but not in real dollars.
Yeah that was an exaggeration. But they certainly make more money on Tiguans and Atlases.