[DIRTYSECRET]

I’d like to buy a cargo van. Too expensive. It’s nothing but a shell + a motor.

[fella]

A pickup costs 40 to 60 K. To much for something that I’m going to haul who knows what across fields and through the woods and work with.

[grania]

First of all, people with any financial sense at all find a way to not have to finance a vehicle. Granted, it's not easy. I was 50 years old before I paid off a car early enough and kept it long enough to finally be able to pay cash for the next car. It's wonderful, saving money monthly before the purchase and not have that debt.

It's not going to happen, ever, for foolish people getting seven year loans, in fact anything over five years. Why? After four years or so (depending on use) repairs and maintenance get more expensive. That on top of a loan? It's a recipe for disaster.

[BereanBrain]

Fake News. From the industry that pumps up it’s numbers on cost of cars.

Same deal in the Movie industry. They drain the profits away from the main company by leasing cameras for 30X what they should go for, and sets, and every other service. That’s why it takes 100M$ to make a crappy film.

IF they make over 100M$, then they have to pay residuals to actors, profit to investors, etc. AND TAXES.

Meanwhile, their “subs” are making obscene money, and they have a hand-in-glove relationship.

For years, car companies did the same thing.

Time to put a few people in jail until they stop with the dishonest profit reporting.

[joshua c]

CAFE kills!

Do not rollback CAFE, repeal it!

Bring freedom back to the car market and get the government out.

And yes, the options(very profitable) are mostly nonsense.

Give me a basic truck. Four wheels and a steering wheel. Stuff the rest of it.

[Terry L Smith]

There isn’t any new car on any lot, American, Japanese, German, Korean, British, French, or Italian, that is worth more than $10,000.00, tops.

Beyond the present price of any of those makers listed, there comes the second nightmare ... maintenance. That is anoother landscape of inflated prices, tools the average knowledgeable American cannot acquire due to proprietary licensing, and, of course, the availability of parts.

And lastly, ‘the nanny state’, thanks to Ralph Nader.

[crz]

In 1977 I bought a brand new GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 on a one ton frame for just over 6500 on the road. After Jimmah was done with his term, that same truck was nearly double in price.

And it got abt 8 miles to the gallon. Could actually watch the gas gauge drop when it was driven.

Tough truck though.

[Clay Moore]

There are grass fields containing thousands of new cars and trucks about 20 miles from my house. I still don’t understand it.

[discostu]

He’s grinding the wrong axe to fix the “problem”. Emission standards have nothing to do with dropping car sales. Even loan lengths aren’t part of it. There’s really just 2 things going on: Car looks aren’t changing from year to year so there’s feeling of “behind” the curve when nobody can tell by eyeball that your car is 5 years old. And now pretty much all the companies make good cars that last a long time, back in the day getting 100,000 miles out of a car was good, now barring accident you should get 200,000 miles. You can see it in how 3 year old cars keep 75% of their new value, that’s the market understanding the mechanics.

Really all that needs to happen is for the car companies to understand their situation and stop making cars they know they won’t sell.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have two cars - a 2008 Ford Escape and a 2000 VW Golf with 40K miles. I bought it from my Little Old Lady Step-Mom’s estate when she passed. Both have been paid off for - FOREVER. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a car payment. Sometime in the early 90’s, maybe?

Dave Ramsey taught me to buy quality cars for cash and keep them maintained for forever!

Now, if only the bubble would pop in something important to me, like, say, Precious Metals? LOL!

[windcliff]

ping

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks so much for your support to this point... I personally apprecaite it...
FReepers, it's time to wrap up this FReep-a-thon.  Lets do it...

President Donald J. Trump and the Free Republic of the United States of America

Ramirez political cartoon: Hungry Media LARGE VERSION 06/10/2017: LINK  LINK to regular sized versions of his political cartoons (archive).

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...this is a general all-purpose message, and should not be seen as targeting any individual I am responding to...

Just $880.00 to 91.00%

[Windflier]

"...ludicrous technical complexity for the sake of electronic gimmickry..."

There are far more bells and whistles in newer cars and trucks than I'll ever need, or want.

We have a 2013 Silverado that is so jam packed with high tech features, I still haven't figured them all out - and we've owned it for three years. I almost prefer driving my 2012 E-250, which is bare bones, in comparison.

[certrtwngnut]

I would like a Mustang/Challenger/Camaro with a lot of H/P,
a six speed, radio, heater and the rear end and suspension goodies to keep it going straight and fast. But that ain’t gonna happen any time soon.
I guess i’ll have to keep my 03 Mach1 Mustang even though it has more crap than I need.

[AZLiberty]

The reason that the car market will crater is that many millennials don’t care to own cars. This is partly because they can’t afford to, and partly because with Uber they don’t have to. People’s need for transportation will soon be satisfied by many few cars.

[AZLiberty]

The reason that the car market will crater is that many millennials don’t care to own cars. This is partly because they can’t afford to, and partly because with Uber they don’t have to. People’s need for transportation will soon be satisfied by many few cars.

[smokingfrog]

I’ve heard that many millenials are not really very interested in the idea of owning your own home or a new vehicle. I guess if you’re still living in mom’s basement because you can’t get a decent job with your art history degree and still paying off student loans that might be the case.

[The Westerner]

What a wonderful article! He opens with the overview that phony emissions regs raise the price of cars more than the middle class can afford. Then explains how the marketplace adjusts via 7-year loans which by the end are for a car that is only worth 50% of the loan. Then says this adjustment will cause a car market bubble to burst. And then he ends with the only solution to the whole damn thing: let honest scientists determine air quality vs. auto emissions, i.e., roll back the junk science and decouple the industry from Big Brother, the source of this fiasco!

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[AlaskaErik]

I bought a brand new pickup last year. Factory sticker was $52,430. I paid $36,622 for it. That’s for a brand new truck with 12 miles on the odo and no trade in. $36,622 is all the dealer got from me. And there’s no trade in for him to make it up.