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It seems only poor people get the latest new cars through credit or lease. Most well to do folks that I talk to all get used or lease a last year or left over model on a great lease deal.
Every-time I hear someone talking about safety features in modern vehicles I wonder why every-time I see and accident where a newer car and an older car hit each other the older car seems in much better shape after the accident and the newer car has plastic all over the road. not 6 hours ago there was one such accident at an intersection up the street from me, an early 70's Maverick and a newer car bumped from ends the maverick owner may need a new bumper(or to just straighten his bumper out) the other cars whole front end is jacked up cracked and hanging.
I used to sell cars also, granted I have not done so since 1994, but it seems your the one to ask, what happened to the "good work car" sections in the back of your lots that had the affordable cash car's?
you know the ones some guy working at burgerking can drive of the lot with using his first minimum wage paycheck to buy. those rust buckets people would buy when they were getting back on their feet that got them around long enough to save up for a better looking cash car, or be at their job long enough to be comfortable enough to take on the payments of a slightly used car or even a new one?
You see sir there is a reason people view you guys as evil, it may not be your fault but it seems the deals get worse and worse every year at car lots. I think things got much worse when you guys went from being used car lots to being pre-owned dealerships.
You are living in dinosaur land. The percentage of people who work on their own cars has gone down dramatically. Where I live every guy on the block growing up fixed his cars...now most don't even change their oil. Things have changed a lot in 40 years.
Look at crash test videos to see how "safe" old cars were in collisions. 70's Maverick
You are living in dinosaur land. The percentage of people who work on their own cars has gone down dramatically. Where I live every guy on the block growing up fixed his cars...now most don't even change their oil. Things have changed a lot in 40 years.
Look at crash test videos to see how "safe" old cars were in collisions. 70's Maverick
I know, most people these days don't fix anything, they just get a new one, it's kinda sad.
and I'm n ot talking about cars hitting walls, i'm talking about cars hitting each other, but even when they hit the walls, older cars still hold up better after the accident, newer cars have what would have been a minor fender bender they look awful much more damage than what would have happened to an older car. much more body work that needs to but done.
People are keeping their cars much longer. I think the average age of a car on the road is 10 years. So -- it's harder to find a car that's two or three years old. Harder to find usually means more money. I'm hearing from people it's cheaper to buy new with incentives and zero percent financing than it is to try to find that two year old gem. Over and over.
Since I always buy new and I keep them generally forever (my new car is 14 years old now) And it's in fine shape, I'm not in the market for a new car...so pretty much, I don't have experience in this. But...this is what my friends who have experience are telling me.
Good time to remember that financial advice is never carved in stone.
So basically that 10 year older clunker that used to get sold in the free papers 20 years ago is now the 10 year old still runs good enough car that gets passed down to the kids when jr gets his license or becomes the dependable backup car when you finally get a new one.
or simply middle class people drive their cars til the wheels fall off these days. as opposed to buying a new one every 4 years like they did in the past.
I envy where some of you guys live because, picking up a running beater for $1000 in Southern California is unheard of.
5 years ago you couldn't walk a block without falling over a sub $1000 runner in Sacramento
I bought a $800 280ZX and a $650 Volvo 940 5-6 years ago. The 280 needed an exhaust gasket to pass smog the 2nd year I owned it. The 940 needed nothing - but it was a red car with a black leather interior in Sac
So basically that 10 year older clunker that used to get sold in the free papers 20 years ago is now the 10 year old still runs good enough car that gets passed down to the kids when jr gets his license or becomes the dependable backup car when you finally get a new one.
or simply middle class people drive their cars til the wheels fall off these days. as opposed to buying a new one every 4 years like they did in the past.
.... sad times.
Why is that sad?
Financially speaking, for us, buying new, paying cash and driving it till the wheels fall off makes sense. I've already done some research and have narrowed down the next car. I can go into a dealership with the upper hand of not needing to buy a car. So when they start their wheeling dealing, I can walk if they won't meet my price.
And in a few years, I just might...but frankly, I adore my Matrix.
Financially speaking, for us, buying new, paying cash and driving it till the wheels fall off makes sense. I've already done some research and have narrowed down the next car. I can go into a dealership with the upper hand of not needing to buy a car. So when they start their wheeling dealing, I can walk if they won't meet my price.
And in a few years, I just might...but frankly, I adore my Matrix.
It's sad because those of who like getting a $200 - 400 ugly but running cash car and slowly fixing it up and pimping it out don't have a ready supply of vehicles like we used to.
I don't like having car payments and I can't afford to blow $2K on a junker, but I can afford to pay $300 to get a running car, then a few months later puddy it up and primer it, then several months later get a supped up motor for it, then a few months later get some nice rims for it, then a few months later get a nice paint job for it, then a few months later get nice lighting effects for it. etc etc etc.....
It's sad because those of who like getting a $200 - 400 ugly but running cash car and slowly fixing it up and pimping it out don't have a ready supply of vehicles like we used to.
I don't like having car payments and I can't afford to blow $2K on a junker, but I can afford to pay $300 to get a running car, then a few months later puddy it up and primer it, then several months later get a supped up motor for it, then a few months later get some nice rims for it, then a few months later get a nice paint job for it, then a few months later get nice lighting effects for it. etc etc etc.....
Wait...you can't afford 2K on a car, but you can afford 2.5K to drop a new motor in a 300$ car?
Well...all I can say is life is all about change and being able to acclimate to changes...
A 200-400 dollar ugly running car? You are talking about early to mid 1980s. I knew many people who bought such cars then, as I did myself.
In the mid 2000s I helped my FIL find a $1000 dollar car. The cheapest running cars then were about $700 and generally in very rough shape. But for 1K we found a good selection of halfway decent cars. Havent looked since then but it wouldn't surprise me that the lowest cost ugly running cars are now more costly - so is almost everything else.
Wait...you can't afford 2K on a car, but you can afford 2.5K to drop a new motor in a 300$ car?
Well...all I can say is life is all about change and being able to acclimate to changes...
No I cant afford to drop 2.5K for a motor, but I can build one piece by piece at $100 - 150 a pop over the course of several months. and once the engine is finished I can drop it into the car I was driving around in the whole time.
Plus I could never get a vehicle for 2K that i would be happy with and I would feel like crap for spending that much on a hoopty, or some boring slow car, but buying a car for a few hundred and slowly turning it into the car that can blow the doors off that rich A-holes (insert name of highend euro sportscar here), well there is a kind of pride in that.
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