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2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer

I joined the Consumer Guide team the summer of 2002. That means that, in just a few months, I will have been writing about cars full-time for 20 years. I mention this because I have only recently begun to consider just how much the automotive landscape has changed in the past two decades.

Most obviously, crossovers and SUVs have replaced traditional passenger cars as the general public’s preferred mode of personal transportation. High-technology “driver assistance” features that were barely even considered in 2002 are now commonplace, and often standard equipment. Recall that backup cameras–now a federally mandated safety feature–weren’t even available on new cars back in ’02.

Pickup trucks have changed, too. In some of their high-end trim levels, Ram pickups now rival top luxury-brand vehicles in terms of cabin refinement, and the regular-cab body style is now near extinction.

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It saddens me a little that I am among the few people to recall—let alone care about—a failed attempt to resurrect the Studebaker brand that took place about 15 years ago. I also need to point out that the Kia Sedona minivan now starts around $31,000–considerably more than the $19,000 teased in the ad below.

Collected here are 12 car and truck ads–all but one of them from 2002. (We fudged a bit by including a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid ad, but since the Civic Hybrid debuted in the spring of 2002 as an early 2003 model, it’s not much of a stretch.) I don’t know how nostalgic you feel yet about the cars of this century, but a close look at the ads below will demonstrate just how much things have changed. Of the dozen cars, seven are no longer in production, and two of the brands seen here are also now defunct. What big changes have you noted over the past 20 years? The place to leave comments is down below.

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A Gallery of Car Ads from 2002

Chevrolet Trailblazer

2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer Ad

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Chrysler PT Cruiser

2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser Ad

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Ford Escape

2002 Ford Escape Ad

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Honda Civic Hybrid

2003 Honda Civic Hybrid Ad

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Jeep Liberty

2002 Jeep Liberty Ad

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Kia Sedona

2002 Kia Sedona Ad

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Lexus RX 300

2002 Lexus RX 300 Ad

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Mercury Mountaineer

2002 Mercury Mountaineer Ad

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Pontiac Grand Prix GTP

2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Ad

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Subaru Outback

2002 Subaru Outback Ad

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Toyota Celica

2002 Toyota Celica Ad

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Volvo Cross Country

2002 Volvo Cross Country Ad

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2002-Model-Year Ads Gallery

Car Ads from 2002

Written by: Tom Appel on January 4, 2021.

1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE

By 1988, light-duty trucks—a category which includes pickups, minivans, and SUVs—accounted for roughly one third of new-vehicle sales. At the time, the popularity of trucks seemed scandalous to many in the automotive media, most whom wagged a stern figure at automakers, warning that a sudden surge in the price of gas would leave dealers with lots full of unsellable product.

And while a brief spike in gas prices around the turn of the 21^st Century did, briefly, suppress the public’s interest in SUVs and crossovers, three decades later “trucks” are selling better than ever. In fact, during the first two months of the COVID-19 shutdown, crossover sales accounted for as much as 80 percent of what sales there were during that time.

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Let’s return to 1988 and spend a little time with the sedans of the day. Collected here for you are 16 vintage print ads and one pretty entertaining TV commercial. If you remember spending time in one of these cars, tell us about it. The place to leave comments is down below.

More classic car ads