Posted on 06/07/2024 11:36:29 AM PDT by karpov
It’s not just the political class. America’s fleet of cars and trucks is also getting long in the tooth. Last month a study by S&P Global Mobility reported the average age of vehicles in the U.S. was 12.6 years, up more than 14 months since 2014. Singling out passenger cars, the number jumps to a geriatric 14 years.
In the past, the average-age statistic was taken as a sign of transportation’s burden on household budgets. Those burdens remain near all-time highs. The average transaction price of a new vehicle is currently hovering around $47,000. While inflation and interest rates are backing away from recent highs, insurance premiums have soared by double digits in the past year.
Many buyers are now surfing on waves of vehicle depreciation, picking up used and off-lease cars and trucks still under warranty for thousands less than new. That’s smart. Your Dutch uncle approves. But lately another, stranger element is showing up in the numbers: a motivated belief among consumers that automakers’ latest and greatest offerings—whether powered by gasoline, batteries or a hybrid system—are inferior to the products they are replacing.
That’s different. Americans have been trained from a young age that the New is better than Old, especially coming from the car industry, the people who brought you tail fins, planned obsolescence and generous trade-in allowances. Who are these wild-eyed dissidents?
In fact, new-car deniers form a broad coalition of the unpersuaded. Some fear that new, digitally connected vehicles could expose their personal information to the Chinese—or worse, to their insurance agencies. Other modern marvels people seem eager to avoid include stop/start cycling systems, which shut off engines to save fuel when vehicles are stationary, now all but mandatory in new vehicles; continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), commonly found in compact vehicles with small-displacement engines
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
These are the last vehicles we will buy unless truck prices come down. We kept and maintained two older cars until this year, one my daughter uses until she can save money for a car. We junked her vehicle when the cost of upkeep exceeded its value. That occurred after 15 years and 300K miles. The body was sold for good money, and the rest of the car was junk. We would have kept the vehicles, but the cost of repairs, like everything, has skyrocketed.
“Monthly payments for new trucks were close to $1600 per month.”
That is $100,000 for 72 months!
You are in rich territory!
Thanks!
Sounds like you’re a smug a$$hole
So, a locally extended cab truck, a basic white construction truck with no add-ons, runs around $32K. Better models run as high as $90K. I told my wife I remember when a Ferrari cost $100K, and only the rich could afford them.
which is exactly what I do. It’s a 6.0L.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if half the cost of a new car these days goes to features that the buyer doesn’t want, let alone care about.”
I’ve often thought if one of the mfgs built a basic pickup (4 or 6cyl ice, manual trans, basic gauges, sound system) and left it at that, they could sell a ton of them. I just don’t see why they are so enamored with all these bells & whistles, many of which are seldom if ever used.
My son found a deal in 2019 for a 2016 F-150. 6 cylinder engine. It had been a lease vehicle when it was new. Still going strong.
With the I-Force motor? Good luck, and I mean that sincerely. I hope it proves to be a great engine. They're hot looking design upgrades, and weren't bad looking to begin with.
I don't trust the new technology. Just more things to go wrong. My Fj's are 10 and 15 years old respectively. The Tundra is new for me - 2019 - with a 5.7 v8 which is not good on gas. Neither are the FJ's, but they are dependable as they were made in Japan. The Tundra was made in Texas before Covid. We'll see how she holds up.
Nissan still puts an old timey v6 in their new Frontiers, but surrounded it all in a vast sea of technology such that I've heard horror stories of the computer systems just crashing and leaving folks stranded. Shame. Good looking truck.
>> The new car will cost more than my first house cost. <<
Wow, you are right! My folks’ house cost just under the xurrent average price for a car.
I am happy: my car is 12 years old; the average passenger car is 14.
My next car will be an antique. I have an eye on a car from the 1940s down the road. Imagine: no computer stuff at all on it!
Testimonies just like yours are the reason why I bought my 2023 Tacoma TRD Off-Road brand spanking new in Feb. 2023. Loaded to the gills, V-6 24 valve VVT. Lunar Rock color. Paid cash for it.
Fixed the shifting complaints with an OTT Tune, lifted the truck 3" and am driving it EVERYWHERE. Love it. I personally know someone with almost 500k on theirs and it's still their daily driver. His only complaint was having to have the frame replaced (covered by Toyota) due to rust issues. Beyond that, loves his truck and maintains it himself.
AFAIK, this is the last vehicle I'll ever buy myself (I'm 62) and it's my first new vehicle FOR ME in almost 40 years. I'm gonna drive it until I die or the wheels come off, which ever happens first.
Junk yards will own them in 10 years.
They can’t because of government regulations
“N0”
No, what?
“Sounds like you’re a smug a$$hole”
I know you are one!
“Sounds like you’re a smug a$$hole”
Looking at your posting history conforms that you are a trolling AH!
“These suck”
The stop/start cycling system is the worst thing ever devised…and it was done to meet government requirements. So scratch that first statement, government is the worst thing ever devised.
Lol. I’m not wishing you bad luck, but from what I know about Tacomas. It’s got a real good chance of Winning that bet as to who goes first. Like I said, mine has been my daily driver since 2012, I put about 60 miles on it every day to and from work and in terms of repairs in the last 13 to 14 years I’ve spent about $4000 total
I will say that you probably took the right approach and loaded it up since the bang for the buck on those accessories will be much better seeing how you will likely have it for decades. For me, I went cheap and just got very much a stock Tacoma, which is still fine, but in hindsight, I wish I put a little bit more into it for a few of the niceties. I didn’t think I was going to get 270,000 miles on it. And the way things are going I won’t be surprised if I got to 500,000.
No, I am not in “rich territory”.
“The stop/start cycling system is the worst thing ever devised…”
My vote goes to the old smog pump!
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