Windshields at now $2500-3k with another $k for install and calibration on some new high end cars.

$5k for a rock chip repair doesn’t make me believe “costs are coming down”.

I was also looking into blind spot monitoring and cross traffic alert calibration on my 2022 Tacoma when I got an alarm that thankfully cleared, which is not sophisticated at all, and it was outrageous to the point that a single failed sensor in the future (which will happen) would make me consider ripping the whole thing out. It’s just not worth it to fix, but you’d have to fix it on an autonomous car.

The cost of a stupid econobox “entry level” car is now $30k. When I was in high school, my parents bought a new KIA for $9999 out the door. And that was only 20 years ago and the cost has more than tripled for the same tin can.

Don’t bet on a utopia where a middle class American will be renting his car out. The middle class will be buying the rides, not selling them.

The move to autonomy will make our roads safer at the expense of freedom of travel.