As a Jalopnik resident car buying expert and professional car buyer, I receive emails. Lots of emails. I have chosen some of your questions and will try to help you. This week we discuss the incorrect listings of the new Toyota Supras and find an “old” but recent car.
First of all, how do I see many four-cylinder Supras listed as six-cylinder cars?
I was looking at Supras 2021 recently on AutoTrader and noticed many Supras I6s from $ 42 to $ 45,000. I got excited until I read the details. Many of these dealers are listing the Supra as a 2.0 L cylinder.
I count 17 less than 300 miles from Austin, TX. Is this nonsense / ignorance or a tactic?
This is not just a problem at Supras in Texas. I did this search across the country and found a similar pattern of suspicious and economical six-cylinder cars. When the options fill up, you’ll see listings that look like this:
Then, when you click on the tab, you’ll see the details, and that’s where the possible explanation centers.
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It seems that somehow Autotrader labels these cars as if they had a 2.0-liter six-cylinder when we all know it is a four-cylinder model. If I do this nationwide search for six-cylinder Supras through Cars.com and then sort by price from lowest to highest, I don’t get fake matches for four-cylinder cars. All cars appear correctly as Supra 3.0 models.
As for the explanation of whether these Autotrader tokens are “stupid / ignorant or a tactic”, it could be all of the above, but I suspect there may be some sort of error within the Autotrader system that is mislabeling these cars. I contacted Autotrader for a statement and will update the post if they respond.
Then is it even possible to find a modern car without a lot of electronic features?
“I currently drive a 2003 VUE that I bought two years ago and I don’t really like driving an SUV. It was cheap ($ 1200 and ready for the road), but I want to drive a car again. I’ve never had a car in my life that was less than ten years old and I despise all the technology I see in cars today. I want a basic FWD manual (NO CVT PLZ) preferably with manual windows and locks, no Bluetooth / heated seats / cameras / GPS / sunroof. I keep looking around and it seems like I can’t find a way to look for vehicles that fit my criteria. I can choose all of these options, but not rule them out. Can you give some directions on where / how I will look for cars that suit my preferences? Most sites offer all these cool features that I hate and I just want a simple basic car, the less electronics, the better. ”
I don’t think you can buy any car made in the last four years that meets those requirements. Security cameras have been around for several years and I don’t know of any modern vehicle sold in the United States that doesn’t have electric windows. Bluetooth has been a feature of most vehicles since 2010. There are some “basic” vehicles that are FWD and manual transport, but they will have some features and technology that don’t interest you. Almost everything that is built even a little recently will not meet your requirements, so you may want to plan on getting something from early 2000
Do you have a car to buy riddles with which you need help? Email me at [email protected].