Has anyone here followed cars closely? I don't dig the over-reliance of LED as I enjoy stylish cars and in many headlights LED designs look too fussy. I do know it helps save electricity though and I do enjoy how much smarter new cars are.

I think car styling improved quite a lot in the late 00s and early 2010s compared to the early and mid 00s. Around and after 2011 even formerly boring car makes like Hyundai started to look good. That said, in my opinion the latest styling trends are not so nice. Sure, they look futuristic, but many of them have become either blander or on the other extreme - too fussy just to look different (Prius). Love it or hate it, but I prefer the daring approach Hyundai had with the Elantra:
Before:
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/hyundai/elantra/2013/oem/2013_hyundai_elantra_sedan_limited_fq_oem_2_400.jpg

Compared to the current Elantra, where they have become more restrained:
https://media.caranddriver.com/images/16q2/667349/2017-hyundai-elantra-20l-automatic-test-review-car-and-driver-photo-667974-s-450x274.jpg

The i30 has also become more generic:
https://res.cloudinary.com/carsguide/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto,t_cg_hero_low/v1/editorial/dp/images/uploads/Hyundai-i30-three-door-wide.jpg
and now:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5xBFB1sSmeQ/hqdefault.jpg

But Toyota has gone from bland to outrageous with the latest Prius. Considering styling is subjective, what is your opinion? Also, do you base your purchase on life events (e.g. "That year was terrible so this car model reminds me of it, so I would avoid it")? I do as I am a car fanatic and some models remind me of bad things. For example I was living abroad when I saw some new Peugeot and due to the fact that was a very dark chapter in my life I'd never buy that specific generation. What about you? :)

Yes, I have always followed cars closely and for me they make up some of the earliest things I can remember. I was born in 1997 and even though I can't precisely remember that time I remember the cars of the time. In about 2007 I realized that most of those cars I remembered from my early life had become rare, and now a decade later most cars of the 2007 era are the same way, which is hard to believe. In the snowy part of the United States that I live in, cars don't last that long, although on a trip a couple of years ago out into the drier Colorado area surprised me with so many older cars in better condition, some even going back into the 1950s. I think that is a way in which to feel connected to past decades.
I think the current car design has become much more elegant, although sometimes with a lot of strange angles on the exterior. I love the colored interiors that are reappearing in some cars, especially Lincolns like the new Continental. I think that the interior designs have a lot less plastic and are thus more comfortable and good looking than they were in the 1990s and 2000s. I have a particular liking for Chryslers and I particularly like the 200, 300, and Pacifica. In my life two of the most common cars in the USA have been the Chrysler minivans and the Ford Taurus, both of which I would now say have somewhat uncertain futures.
Thanks for this great topic!  :)

I like the car design from the 80s and early 90s. Especially the trucks.

@kr37, you're right. Many people don't realize that cars (and other vehicles like buses and trucks) are instant era identifiers as they are fixtures on the roads and are virtually everywhere you go outside in a town or a city. Of course, my country not being very rich, it takes time for new models to appear, so I do remember some then-new early 2010s models I saw live but not many. Most were older cars from the mid/late 00s. My country is different to many other Europeans as the culture is very car-based. Almost every family has at least one car, and many have 2. Of course having European tiny streets poses problems but we hate using public transport as much as many Americans. Just as North Americans to us a car means freedom. :) Also given a chance Bulgarians prefer a larger car rather than a small one, making us more similar to US people somewhat. We have relatively lower car taxes than many European countries so we don't have to buy tiny little cars like people in the Netherlands do for example. The difference is that unlike Americans we usually prefer second-hand rather than leasing brand new (my dad being the exception) and of course trucks are rare, we prefer sedans and coupes mostly.

I'm really digging my 2016 Honda Civic's sporty design and 5 speed manual.  Gotta have a manual

Has anyone here followed cars closely? I don't dig the over-reliance of LED as I enjoy stylish cars and in many headlights LED designs look too fussy. I do know it helps save electricity though and I do enjoy how much smarter new cars are.

I think car styling improved quite a lot in the late 00s and early 2010s compared to the early and mid 00s. Around and after 2011 even formerly boring car makes like Hyundai started to look good. That said, in my opinion the latest styling trends are not so nice. Sure, they look futuristic, but many of them have become either blander or on the other extreme - too fussy just to look different (Prius). Love it or hate it, but I prefer the daring approach Hyundai had with the Elantra:
Before:
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/hyundai/elantra/2013/oem/2013_hyundai_elantra_sedan_limited_fq_oem_2_400.jpg

Compared to the current Elantra, where they have become more restrained:
https://media.caranddriver.com/images/16q2/667349/2017-hyundai-elantra-20l-automatic-test-review-car-and-driver-photo-667974-s-450x274.jpg

The i30 has also become more generic:
https://res.cloudinary.com/carsguide/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto,t_cg_hero_low/v1/editorial/dp/images/uploads/Hyundai-i30-three-door-wide.jpg
and now:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5xBFB1sSmeQ/hqdefault.jpg

But Toyota has gone from bland to outrageous with the latest Prius. Considering styling is subjective, what is your opinion? Also, do you base your purchase on life events (e.g. "That year was terrible so this car model reminds me of it, so I would avoid it")? I do as I am a car fanatic and some models remind me of bad things. For example I was living abroad when I saw some new Peugeot and due to the fact that was a very dark chapter in my life I'd never buy that specific generation. What about you? :)

I think a lot of cars from this time look ugly, especially the new KIA Cee'd, nearly everything by Honda and the new Mercedes cars. And then somehow Peugeot has gone to an understated look, which I'm not a big fan of. Some of the only cars I like at least for looks are the Nissan Leaf, the VW up!, the Tesla Model S and the Outlander PHEV - the latter I like because it's one of few SUVs in existence to rely primarily or solely on electricity. If more SUVs were like that, then advertisements of them in nature wouldn't be "greenwashing", except for more people driving off-road if it were more convenient and less harmful to the environment.