I agree that off road vehicles generally use smaller wheels. I was just commenting on aesthetics, I think 20” wheels on a full size truck are fine. And even with 20” wheels you’d have enough sidewall to be fine going off road. Maybe not what you’d take rock climbing in Moab, or whatever.
My concern is more the door-space room. once in, I’m OK, but it’s getting in without hitting the side-airbag-lined door opening is my issue. Rented a giant Chevy Traverse on holiday and had to bend way over to get in, and I’m not even tall, torso-wise. Seat’s up to high and the door frame is too low. Figured out I had to get in head-first and not ass-first.
Not only not standardized, but method changed from year to year within the same manufacturer. Why doesn’t the car press notice?
I’m guessing you are taller than average. That’s on you.
Those tall people over 6’ get all the advantages in life, until it comes to buying a car. Bwahahahahaaaaa.
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Guilty as charged. 
Not only tall, but I have short legs relative to my height, which means my torso is longer than average. My pants inseam is less than 40% of my height.
And I wouldn’t say I have chronic back pain, I would way that I am way less limber than I was 30 years ago and painfully contorting myself to get through tiny car doors is often a lot more challenging.
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Yeah like that, as long as the bottom half of the body is more rhino like than giraffe-ish.
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God damned car!
Now the check engine light went on and it’s hesitating under stress.
Now, I did nearly drain the tank (over 12 gallons refilled), so maybe it’s water in the tank or something. Put some additive in, and I might have to out some “drying” additive in.
I would rather have put that additive in a nearly empty tank and put in about two gallons or so, but I got 20 cents off at the Chevron closest to my home.
In a month or so, I’ll need more gas. Thinking about that Prius, as plane seats for my trip to San Antonio to see a dying friend and the eclipse are all full up. Like, 12 flights, all filled. I wonder why…
So, a new Prius, and I could drive there and back. At least two full days of driving…
1400 miles, 50 miles per gallon, that’s 28 gallons. at $5/gal… $112 each way. Plus a hotel night there and back.
Or, sleep at the Shady Grove Truck Stop at the NM/AZ Border… Get that bed that fits in the back seat (or a long one that fits with the seats folded down).
I’m working myself away from Jalopnik and more to this site, home to former Jalopnik writers.
Here’s an old man rant about physical controls, which I, coincidentally an old man, agree with:
Yup. If I know more about cars, I’d rip out that giant monitor in whatever I buy next, replace whatever it controls with the physical controls we all grew up with.
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GET OFF MY DASHBOARD!
I like the quote " you have to look at a touchscreen, because, despite its name, there’s very little “touch” involved"
I also noticed my horn is lot harder to press than on the Prius. We used to beep the horn every time we crossed the state line but now I just bang my hand on the steering wheel and might get a 10% success rate.
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I feel like we had a sweet spot for a few years where cars all had physical controls and a touch screen for navigation. My 2016 MY car has both, which is great, where the new models do not.
One of the crazier ones I heard lately is that a new VW doesn’t have a way to manually adjust the air vents physically. You need to do it via the touchscreen. That’s something that did not need “fixing”. While you can say something like " my feet are cold" and it can redirect airflow, I’d rather go old school as hitting the button is simple and easy instead.
Fun fact: I don’t need navigation. Then again, I don’t go too many places outside my comfort zone without my wife who is an adequate navigator using her phone. Often, I will simply check the route on my phone before I leave, and memorize exit numbers and street names. The waze/maps are good for changing the route during heavy traffic, as long as no one else on the roads is using it. Fun fact: They all do, rendering the changing of routes moot.
Heck, in my car, which has a lot of windows, I don’t need a backup camera. Therefore, no distracting and hazardous monitor is necessary for me. (YMMV) In my wife’s car (the one we drive when we are traveling together), which seems to have the blind spots built in on purpose, I need the backup camera.
But, I’m different. I’ve been living in SoCal for 45 years, was a delivery driver for a few years in college, always loved maps and exploring places around here.
My next car will likely have the monstrosity. My son’s Prius, which is only one year younger than mine, has a monitor. Fun fact: it works, oh, about 5% of the time, and I have not figured out what conditions cause it to work. Want to change the inside temperature? Too bad. Want to know how you’re doing MPG-wise on a near continuous basis? Too bad. Want to know where you are? Too bad. Want to know which radio station you’re on? Too bad. Want to change the sound mix? Oh, you better believe, that’s a too bad. I’ve seen the online instructions on how to remove it, which entails taking the whole dashboard out, piece by piece. Pass,
Need, no. But that’s one case where it is nicer to have a bigger screen than a phone. Most of the other things they are putting on the touchscreen are not nice at all and actually worse than the old school buttons.
Phones need to be bigger, imo. And foldable. imo
Then again, I can take a quick glance at a map and figure out where I am and where to go (a skill practiced for 30 years or so using Thomas Guide Map Books). My wife insists on telling me (or having Siri tell me) the directions. Just pop up the map with the route!
I was with a friend (about 25 years younger) who insisted on using his nav to get to a couple places that I already knew how to get to. That was pretty frustrating. For me. imo
Nice thing about my wife’s car’s monitor is that it can be folded away while driving, and it folds away when the power is off.
I still have a bunch of maps, including a detailed book of my city that I used to use all the time. I am comfortable navigating via maps.
No idea why anyone would use navigation for a place they know how to get to. That’s stupid.
Weird fact: my wife’s car in the past would sometimes tap in to the traffic conditions! I had no idea how. Might have been a free service that then required a monthly fee.
We did use the nav on my wife’s phone to go downtown LA for a dinner (her car no longer shows the traffic). I knew exactly where it was, having been there several times, but we went during heavy traffic (reservations at 5PM, we left our home at 3:30, barely made it on time). Several times en route, waze changed the route. LA is nice in that way, as there are several ways to get places, and waze is finally competent.
I do sometimes use nav to avoid traffic, but usually I can do better myself if I know the area.
The NAV in my car used to route based on live traffic. Maybe I could pay for it, but google or waze is better if I hit a jam.
This car, a Prius, is that made by Toyota, who is known for durable vehicles?