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 ...
“new-car deniers” Really?
I drive a Lexus.
It has 88,000 miles on it. It’s 20 yrs old.
This video shows why I drive it:
https://youtu.be/75YcIEyWmco?t=1
State sanctioned vehicles only.
“stop/start cycling systems”
These suck.
At my age of 75, the prospect of getting a new car is akin to taking on the purchase of your first new home. Besides the vastly inflated price of the car, interest rates (and the credit ratings needed to support good interest rates) are hard to come by. And then you add insult to the injury. Insurance costs.
By the time you’re done, your’re looking at least $1000/month and probably $1500-$2000 for something like one of these new super trucks.
In December of 2020 I bought a Chevrolet Spark for $9,400. The cheapest car on the market today is about twice that.
That's about 4 years' worth of miles for our main car. LOL
Odd expression. But, I’m one of them I suppose.
I like cars. Once had 14 collectible sports cars.
Doubt I will ever buy a new one for the many reasons expressed in the article.
Too much crap I don’t want, don’t need and won’t pay for.
Purchased a used unicorn last year:
1) Less than 7,000 miles
2) More than three years left on manufacturer’s warranty
3) Did not pass through auction, so manufacturer’s extended warranty is available
4) One owner (died - not in car)
Expensive but worth it.
In 2012 I bought a new Tacoma for 25k.
I paid it off in 2015, and still drive it with 270k miles on it.
I put a total of about 4k repairs of work into it over the years.
Its a grat truck.
In Feb of this year, just out of curiosity I went to see what a new Tacoma...basically the same thing I have now but a 2024 would cost.
It came in at about 50k.
The price of the vehicle basically doubled in 13 years.
I know my salary hasn’t doubled in 13 years.
For me, the price of new cars now are unacceptable.
I think, it’s the huge prices of so many new cars these days.
Furthermore, cars these days are so much longer-lived than in the past. Rustproofing is so much better than it used to be, for example.
I know that in Germany, passenger cars these days live to an average roadworthy age of 19.6 years. This in spite of our winters with, mostly, a lot of salt on the roads.
In the early Eighties, most cars reached about half that figure…unless they were Volvos, Mercedeses or Porsches, which already had galvanized bodies. But on the other hand, many French or Italian vehicles (pretty as they were) didn‘t live to see their tenth year…
You’re telling me. I just bought the 24 Tacoma with manual transmission. It drives great. Prices won’t be coming down any time soon.
Been shopping for a new vehicle.
Sales people seem disinterested in finding what you want.
I have done my research and know exactly what I want. I can find one at a dealership 160 miles away. I tell them. Crickets... They want to sell you some bloated upper trim level thing for $9k more than what I want. Because it’s on their lot.
If I give them a deposit (on a car they don’t have, for an undisclosed final price) they might get off their butt and do something. And yes, I’m old. The new car will cost more than my first house cost.
Now I’m looking for a lower mileage car like the one I’m looking to replace.
The whole thing is nuts.
“I drive a Lexus.
It has 88,000 miles on it. It’s 20 yrs old.”
Two Highlanders and now a 2014 GX460.
ZERO repairs in 21 years. First Highlander went to wife’s daughter. Second Highlander still with wife’s daughter.
I’ve bought one new car in 30 years. Even that one was below wholesale because of work affiliation.
I’m driving my 2007 toyota truck until it can’t go any more.
Its rusted, its got dents, its got scratches, but with regular maintenance it runs 100% tip-top.
Someone recently hit it in a parking lot while I was shopping (and fled the scene, of course). I came out and found a dent in the plastic, and one of the corner clips on the bumper broken
Guess what? I don’t care! I can afford a new car, but this is my urban-camoflauge vehicle. It will never get stolen and no one will mess with me.
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.
It boggles the mind when you find out exactly how much they suck.
ASS or Auto Stop Start touches everything, it's not simply shutting off the engine. It's flat out ridiculous.
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