4th Gen Blows the Doors off the 3rd Gen

We sort of agree, and what I'm saying is all of the fussing about these new systems is just that, fussing about the unknown. Deal with it, things change and get more complex, that doesn't in any way mean they'll be less reliable.

 

Had my 1st Gen for 20+ years, 435K miles, almost every failure other than the fuel pump, and replacing starter contacts has been mechanical. Granted there isn’t much electronic gizmos on it, hardly any electrical gremlins.

My fiends Jeeps over the years though…

 

Lots of new features replace others. From Shift-on-the-fly 4wd to braking-based LSD to EFI to power seats to zoned climate control and so many more

 

I see a couple different categories for these "new things". Shift-on-the-fly 4wd is basically an improvement in the way it works. Same with auto windows and streaming music from a phone not fussing with CD or cassette or a dial for shitty FM radio, and many of the other new conveniences that most people want. I don't think I like the auto tailgate though. While it might be handy at times, it looks slow and annoying and how will it work with a heavier metal replacement tailgate cover. This kind of stuff turns a truck into a soccer mom vehicle and I say let the 4R do that. Also not a fan a fully digital instrument cluster. /grumpy old man rant.

Then there are the new things that change how we interact with the road through the vehicle. Stability/traction control is basically the vehicle making decisions for me. Most of the time, this seems to work okay and I've had my Subaru correct itself out of a fishtail in the snow that I was actually trying to have daughter learn how to correct. I guess that's probably a good thing as it can do a better job than most people. But it also allows people to start to rely on technology rather than developing actual driving skills.

I'd argue that stability control is an overall improvement. TSS, to me, is a step too far. Now we can take our hands off the wheel or eyes off the road and let the vehicle keep us safe-ish. I don't think that's what we should be encouraging. Until we have fully automated vehicles, which might also be a bad idea, this partial solution just helps encourage people to be shit drivers. It's something I don't want and don't want to pay for so that just pisses me off, but I guess the counter argument is people are already shit drivers so if the vehicle can prevent an accident all the better.

 

We will see about price increases. Our used trucks for potential trade-in will rise in price with the new ones hopefully proportionally.

About Supercharger, I talked now to a couple good trust-worth mechanics, both told me to leave it all alone, don't supercool it, supercharge it, turbo charge it, not even change the cold air intake or the ignition coils, do nothing, they said. I will listen this time. It does not matter. The truck can pull my future 4,500 gross-weight travel trailer, - add air bags, and if you want too, he said, add a tranny cooler - they stopped putting them in I believe in the 2020 tacoma - etc.

 

but the used trade-in truck will rise in price proportionally too. So it's probably all going to be a wash anyway. Money is just getting worthless.