A Snapshot of What Sub-Prime Buyers are Driving

The Truth About Cars ^ | 4/24/2013 | Derek Kreindler

[nascarnation]

Sub-prime finance has attracted a bit of interest (no pun intended) over at TTAC lately, and the segment itself has experienced phenomenal growth in the post-bailout era.

Auto lending site www.carfinance.com released a list of the top 10 most popular new and used vehicles as purchased by sub-prime buyers over the last six months. While it’s not the most complete list by any means, it does give us a glimpse into the choices of sub-prime buyers. As far as we know, no such list has ever been compiled prior to this.

[nascarnation]

Dodge Avenger

Kia Forte

Kia Optima

Chrysler 200

Dodge Journey

Ford Focus

Ram 1500

Nissan Sentra

Nissan Versa

Kia Sorento

[Resolute Conservative]

All cheap junk.

[Abathar]

Much harder to get a car loan than a mortgage it seems...

[ataDude]

Hummm... I figured number one would be a Cadillac Escalade with 24 inch wheels.

[esoxmagnum]

The Kia is not a bad car in our experience. Our neighbors on both sides have one. They look good, drive well, and they are happy with the dealerships. Both neighbors say they will never buy another American car again after their experience with their KIA’s.

I have no first hand experience, just neighborly reports.

[Sir Napsalot]

Clunkers are gone, so they have to get cars anyway.

[Nowhere Man]

The Hyundais are good too, Mom has one. I think Kia is 53% owned by Hyundai so they are the same animal basically.

[albie]

all crap. I wouldn’t pay $100 for any of them.

[Responsibility2nd]

Sub-prime.

These sub-prime cars bought with sub-prime financing are sold at subprime dealerships.

You know the type of dealerships I’m talking about. The flashy-trashy dealerships with loud talking commericals. And payments as low as $99 per month! They are high-pressure dealerships with scummy sales tactics. They cater to lower income folks as they screw them over with high interest rate (sub-prime) financing.

One local dealership in San Antonio is known as the 911 dealership. One poor and stupid woman was getting pounded by the sales team. They harrassed and hassled her so bad to buy NOW!

So she actually called 911 for help.

[Wuli]

the next debt bubble

[ruesrose]

Well, my friend drives a Kia Rio and things keep falling apart on it. Door handles fall off, the grab bar falls off. It is cheaply made.

[nascarnation]

I’m not so convinced.

Cars are easily repo’d, not like homes where you have this huge legal process and emotion. 2 missed payments and it’s gone in 60 seconds.

It is a bull market for the repo guys though.

The real new credit bubble is student loans. There’s NOTHING to repossess for those.

[Responsibility2nd]

Actually, FUBO wants to recreate the mortgage FUBAR we are just now recovering from.

Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it… Obama pushes sub-prime mortgages… again!

Tuesday, April 09, 2013 12:03:10 PM · by Starman417 · 9 replies

Flopping Aces ^ | 04-09-13 | Vince

There’s something macabre about an imminent train wreck, you know exactly what is coming but you can’t help but watching. Now imagine that instead of watching that train wreck from atop a building a safe distance away, you’re standing right between the train and the tanker truck that has stalled on the tracks. That’s a different story all together. At that point, rather than being a mere fascination it’s a matter of life or death. You’ve seen the damage a train wreck can do. That’s why it was fascinating in the first place. The difference now of courses is that...

 

[RedStateRocker]

There had never been any vehicle made that is worth more than $5000. Way too damn much money.
My folks only paid $17.5K for the HOUSE I live in, damned if I’m going to spend 20 grand on a car.

[Cyber Liberty]

I’d like to get a small SUV but the Soul is almost as ugly as the Cube.

[PeteB570]

Dang; that’s a little harsh for my 2007 Ford Focus.

109,000 miles and it’s still getting 37 mpg on the highway.

[central_va]

My folks only paid $17.5K for the HOUSE I live in,

I can adjust that 17.5K for inflation for you if you give me the year of purchase.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

Not a “car” person here, but we have an ‘05 Ford Focus, closing in on 190k miles. Other than tires; brakes and hoses, NO problems. Goes great in avg snow storms (FWD); still gets great mileage. And it’s LONG been paid in full:). It’s just a great little workhorse vehicle.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

I drive a Jeep Patriot (09) great little SUV. DH has the above mentioned Focus (which 16 year old will get in fall). He’ll get a new (or preowned) Focus then.

[enraged]

My Ram 2500 5.9L is now pushing 500hp w/ enough torque to pull a house off it’s foundation.
Go easy on the diesels would ya?