Car for the elderly

When I visit my grandparents in Arizona it's clear that the Dodge Caravan is the new town car.  I have asked Grandpa what the reason is, and he explained the key features are long wheelbase, comfortable seats, no change to hip elevation required for ingress/egress, and lots of space for golf clubs or visitors. 

I'm not saying that I agree with all of this, but it's what I am told and have witnessed.  Most of these people could pay cash for any car on the market today, so they must really like them.

My 97 year old grandfather drove until last year about 5 years ago he bought a Ford Focus because certain family members wanted him to have something more efficient and friendly to the environment. He had always driven full-size cars.  He drove 4000-5000 miles per year. He went to the Ford dealer and the young jackass salesman put him into a Ford Focus with the digital navigation and touchscreen heater controlshe never figured out how to run anything last year he quit driving on his own volition. I suggest something that he is familiar with

He would call me to ask how to run the air conditioner and heater windshield wipers Etc . Because I was the car guy in the family. I don't think I ever successfully help him over the telephone mostly because I did not know anything about this car

As an aside, this is probably going to be THE biggest benefit of the up-and-coming self-driving cars. While survivalist types argue about big brother and who's in control, once we're really old, the reality is that NONE of us will be in control. It's very likely, however, that within our lifetime, we'll be able to get in something and tell it "take me to the grocery store." That's pretty cool.

In reply to kb58 :

You've been able to summon a vehicle to your location and be driven wherever you please since the days of horse drawn wagons. Taxis/Uber/whatever offer that service to anybody. Eliminating the human driver doesn't make that scenario any more or less likely than it currently is.

It would mean that people with diminished driving capacity would be able to own their own vehicle longer, but that may or may not be a good thing depending on the economics of the situation.

Understood, but given the choice, most people would rather walk out to the garage and go, versus waiting around for a stranger to pick you up.

In reply to kb58 :

Maybe. That would require people to be more trusting of computers than other people, and in general that's not the case yet. But as you say, perhaps later in our lives it will be.

In favor of your argument, it could be said that older people are often lonely, so calling Uber might be more appealing to them, talking to someone rather than riding along in continued isolation.

kb58 said:

As an aside, this is probably going to be THE biggest benefit of the up-and-coming self-driving cars. While survivalist types argue about big brother and who's in control, once we're really old, the reality is that NONE of us will be in control. It's very likely, however, that within our lifetime, we'll be able to get in something and tell it "take me to the grocery store." That's pretty cool.

Agreed. This would save a lot of heartache for a lot of people who need to tell their parents they can't drive anymore. 

My mom (in her mid 80's) just got a new Rogue because it has more nannies than her previous one had.