“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
“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.
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…
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’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.
[Thanks for the link]
“This is one of the many reasons I encourage consumers to jump to EVs and avoid the bitter end of combustion technology.”
BS...these ev’s are disasters on wheels unless all you want is a grocery getter. If you want to go anywhere, use ice.
Its not just the electrogizmos that put me off; its the mandated connection with clouds that take and store God knows what info. For who knows what purpose...but I always impute the nefarious ones so I am never disappointed.
I will keep my 2000 and 2003 as long as its humanly possible.
Due to the Gov. regulations, the engines are getting smaller, so the new cars have less power. They put turbo in, which doesn’t work too well. Turning off at stop is major problem, destroying battery and starter motor.
On my 2019 Jeep, I found out, they added special battery, just for this restart. They found no easy place to put it so they hid it somewhere in the middle of the engine. It cost me $400 just to replace it. A lot more than I could ever save on gas!
I have an ‘05 F350 V8 Turbo-diesel. It has 190k miles on it and runs great, it looks good and rides like new.
It blows a little blue smoke on first startup and for about 300 feet down the road, then, nothing.
It gets me 18.3 mpg freeway at 70 mph.
I won’t sell it, although several local people have expressed an interest in buying it.
Todays new cars simply don’t interest me..
I remember the late 1970s when we all worried if there would be gasoline in the future. The auto industry was converting from leaded gas to lead free, the Arab oil Embargo was on and the government was trying to get us into battery driven cars like the Citicar. Saw many on the car lots but never saw one on the streets.
Then it all blew over and we bought used autos with the block in the gas fill tube reamed out for the still cheaper leaded gas.
The final reason why cars are lasting longer is tide to the post Covid reduction in commuting to and from an office and to the aging population and retirement of Baby Boomers.
If you live in a densely packed urban center with lots of public transportation, an automobile isn’t quite as important; and pollution is more of an issue.
If you live in a sparsely inhabited rural area, an automobile is more important; and pollution is less of a problem.
Democrats dominate the urban areas. Republicans dominate the rural areas. One of these two doesn’t care as much if cars are expensive and unaffordable, and therefore doesn’t mind making them pricey and unobtainable. Hmmm.... I wonder which group that is?
Nobody can afford these new car prices!
Even leases are way too expensive.
Soon, the entire auto industry will switch to electrics and it will become even more expensive.
Insurance companies will refuse to cover EVs, so only the rich will have personal transportation.
Common folk will be riding cattle cars....................
Who can buy new? I was looking at new trucks for work. $75,000 base models were about starting prices for anything.
