The average new car price today is in line with historical averages given median incomes. A new car average at 50% of median income is not high historically. The les-than-40% car price versus median income from the ‘70s to the ‘90s was low by historic standards.
Entry-level new cars today have features that would have been luxury or unavailable when new cars were at their relative cheapest. Not to mention improvement in acceleration and mpg.
Oh yeah, new cars are very affordable....Btw, have ya seen the price of a quality new pickup truck?
Last numbers I saw was the median income per household in the US in 2015 was around 57K.
40% of that is about 23K. The last average price of a new vehicle was 33K.
Maybe that is affordable or maybe most should be looking at SMART cars, I don’t know because on a household income of even 60K, after taxes, insurance, rent (mortage plus upkeep), food, utilities, I don’t know how anyone easily buys the average new car today.
How about repair costs? Those seem to have gone up exponentially. I just had to repair an LED center brake light. No bulb since, hey, LED. I had to replace the module. $125 bucks for a freaking center brake light. Had to wait a day for the part since, naturally, nobody had one in stock. Cars used to more affordable to buy, maintain, and run. Now they’re just a drain on the wallet. Sigh.