In all seriousness though, I must admit, I do agree with you. We moved from rustbucket cars of the 70s through to very well built cars of the late 90s, early 00's. (think of that generation Audi, VW, Skoda cars).

This is why I switched to Japanese cars. I think about trading my landcruiser in every 18 months or so, but never actually do it - it may be a lumbering old dinosaur - but it is completely reliable and servicing is cheap.

No DMF. No DPF. No DSG. No electronic handbrake. No Adblue to worry about.

The downside is highish road tax, and only 29-30mpg.

Edited by Marlot on 19/01/2016 at 15:09

To go by your examples, I can't think of a single car where an electric parking brake is available on some models, but a 'standard' handbrake is on others.

C5 mk 2 2008 on, if you wanted hydraulic suspension, and if you're going to have a proper sized Citroen then that suspension is the main reason, you had to have an EPB to go with it, steel springs you got a handbrake.

I can only agree with the OP, don't buy what they tell you you must have, and i agree with your description of the sweet spot in car designs Rob.

Quite happy keeping my 90's designed cars going for many years to come, if i'm still alive and kicking when the supply of proper cars eventually dries up i'll probably revert to a Hilux again or import a 70 series Landcruiser still made up until last year.

Many thanks for that, gordon. Probably the only car to do such a thing ? I've never heard of any others.

I can say for definite that you can spec absolutely any 1 series / 3 series with heated seats, whether the ES 'base' spec-type, SE, Msport, or any other spec name they may be doing, and spec it as a single option.

Many years ago, all Subaru Impreza's arrived in the UK as a standard spec, and Prodrive installed heated seats, leather, etc. before they went out to the dealerships. They even did some of the 'special edition' colours in the Prodrive plant.