Yahoo Autos 
Buying Low-Tech: The 10 Least Connected Cars
MORE AT EDMUNDS.COM
If Bluetooth's a bother, navigation systems make you nervous, "hackable" connectivity concerns you and drilling down is something your dentist does, you are in a distinct minority these days. And you probably find car shopping a chore.
Technology's the name of the game now. For many car buyers, connectivity trumps horsepower. For them, the best instrument panels have sprouted slick touchscreen displays and infotainment systems that control everything and replace those once-familiar knobs and switches.
But what's a poor technophobe to do? Is it possible to find a low-tech car?
Cars and trucks with limited technology still can be found if you are willing to work at it. Low-tech vehicles usually don't come with much in the way of interior or exterior upgrades, and they certainly aren't highlighted in automaker and dealer advertising. In a few more years, the things that are now considered advanced technologies may be commonplace on even the most basic models.
How bad has it gotten? In tracking just one model, the Infiniti G (now Q50), over a seven-year period, Green found that the total number of pages in this entry-level luxury car's multiple owner's manuals grew by an average of 30 a year. That means the owner of a 2013 Infiniti G has to read the equivalent of a small novel to understand how to operate all the new features added since 2006.
What Low-Tech Car Shoppers Want
Most of what low-tech car shoppers want to avoid are the features that are lumped under the heading "infotainment." These features are increasingly being fitted into systems that replace knobs and switches with joysticks, touch-sensitive buttons and sliders and voice commands, or some combination thereof.
Play With Technology Before You Buy
The best thing to do if you want a car with the least complex and intrusive electronics systems is to limit your shopping to brands that have tended to lag behind in adopting new technologies, says automotive infotainment systems expert Doug Newcomb. He and several Edmunds.com reviewers all mentioned Kia, Mazda and Subaru as good brands to check out.
Or look for an automaker that has taken pains to keep operation of its infotainment offerings simple. Newcomb's suggestion in that category is Nissan. Otherwise, you might not even be able to figure out how to tune a radio station or adjust the climate control system without reading a thick manual or watching an instructional DVD.
Whatever your reason for wanting a low-tech car with minimal infotainment options, here are several strategies that can make it easier to find a vehicle that will be a good fit.
Buy Used
The easiest way to find a low-tech car or truck is to avoid the new vehicles that come laden with the stuff. Buy older, previously owned models. The older it is, the more likely it is to be low-tech.
The technology tipping point was 2006, says professional auto shopper Christopher F. Abrahms, owner of the Cars for All brokerage in Burbank, California. Cars and trucks built before then are less likely to be overloaded with complex technology systems. Of course, a real Luddite might concentrate on pre-1970s vehicles to avoid almost all of the modern era's entertainment technologies.
Buy End-of-Cycle
Cars typically undergo significant updates once every four or five years, with smaller, often cosmetic, changes in the model years in between. Grabbing a 2014 model that is at the end of its cycle won't get you a tech-free car or truck, but it almost certainly will get you one that has fewer gadgets than does a model that was new or redesigned for the 2015 model year.
Buy Base Models
Technology packages escalate a vehicle's price, and increase in complexity as the prices go higher. A luxury model is far more likely than the base model in any lineup to be loaded with the latest in audio, navigation, communications and climate-control technologies, along with the voice- or touch-command operating systems that run them.
Heading Off "Hackability"
If it's the specter of hacking that has you concerned, you have options, but not a lot. Here is Edmunds' list of "least connected" cars, meaning that these are models that are least likely to be hacked through remote interference with onboard electronics.
These cars lack such possibly vulnerable standard features as navigation systems, Bluetooth functions, exterior cameras, keyless ignition or embedded cellular connectivity.
Also absent are systems such as adaptive cruise control or accident avoidance technology that use potentially hackable networked electronics to control critical functions such as braking, steering and acceleration:
2015 Hyundai Accent GS hatchback and GLS sedan
2015 Kia Rio LX
2015 Mazda3 i SV
2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata:
2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV
2015 Nissan NV passenger van
2015 Nissan Titan S pickup, King Cab and Crew Cab models
2015 Smart Fortwo Pure Coupe
Special Order It
Another avenue for those who prefer new low-tech cars to used ones and don't mind waiting is to special order a model from a dealership.
Most carmakers allow special orders, says Abrahms, whose customers include a number of entertainment-industry personalities and sports figures whose demand for custom touches has tested many of the special order systems. Some manufacturers have fairly limited selections on their special-order menus. American Honda, for instance, offers only preconfigured packages that don't provide customers with the ability to select individual features from a master menu.
The drawback is that special-order vehicles take time. Abrahms says most domestic brands can turn out a special-order vehicle in 60-90 days. Most import brands are on a 90-120-day schedule.
Get Used to It
Car companies say their new cars and trucks are tech-heavy because customers demand it. The vast majority, they say, want to be able to replicate in their personal vehicles the connectivity, choice and control they enjoy at home with their remote- and voice-operated smartphones, tablets, personal computers and customized music playlists.
It's clear that high-tech information, entertainment and safety- and performance-enhancing systems aren't going to go away. Those who prefer low-tech cars ultimately will have to learn to adjust, or resign themselves to owning only older vehicles.
"People who don't want technology in their cars are a distinct minority," says infotainment specialist Newcomb. "People stand in line for two days to buy the latest iPhone and the car companies want those customers. You can't stop progress."
This article is reprinted by permission from Edmunds.com © Edmunds.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Edmunds and the Edmunds.com car logo are registered trademarks of Edmunds.com, Inc.
