Not surprising to see the WSJ skipping the surveillance angle entirely. Aside from classic sport cars and to a lesser extent manual transmissions, I've never even heard about someone preferring old models until surveillance started rolling in.

I wish the US or EU mandated the separation of "basic driving OS" and "surveillance/infotainment/everything else OS" with the requirement that the vehicle be operable with the latter disconnected completely. It would let you avoid costly repairs when the massively overpriced spy-tablet breaks down on an old car. It would incidentally make everyone safer by not having people drive 30-year old jalopies just because they're not mobile spy stations.