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No. But dollars are much more available. In 1955 a person who made 150K a year was rare, elite and very rich. Now, that is middle class and very common.
And the car purchasing power of an average person is much greater today than it was in the 1950's ...
Back then, you either had the cash to buy a car or you got a bank loan based upon your good credit rating. Easy access to consumer credit via a car dealership sourced/manufacturer loan program didn't exist.
Used car values are at all time highs right now due to a bad economy(people buying more used than new therefore depleting stock of used cars and driving up prices of used cars). Less new cars being bought= less used cars available.
Unless you're an auto mechanic, better just to buy new. Once you factor in repairs/maitence/trade in value/risk and everything else it works about to about the same.
And yes of course greed plays into it. A lot of millionaires were made in the car business. Both in retail and production.
Evidently, private sellers are trying to become millionaires at this, too.
It seems live EVERY 99-03 F150 I look for in whatever trim you can fire off books for $7000 on CL.
Doesn't seem to matter if it's a v6 SuperCab or a bare bones reg cab/long bed...it seems like sellers are pricing these trucks just to keep them.
Maybe the econoboxes are different, but none of these trucks I look at are moving. The GM trucks are even worse with prices.
Really, if it was supply and demand, there would be no cars left on the used market. I am pretty sure the average consumer's buying power isn't all that high, either. If what my apartment manager tells me is true, the priority was Christmas over paying December and January rent (then mass evictions). That doesn't bode well for car buying...I guess.
Not necessarily accurate. It would depend on the car.
I've owned about 1/2 dozen '60s and '70s cars (GM and Mopar) and they were nowhere near "done" by 70-80K. In fact, my first car, a '66 Dodge Dart GT V-8 already had 109,000 miles when I took ownership. Original engine and transmission (no rebuilds or valve jobs) when I got it. I had the engine rebuilt at about 170,000 miles only because it was burning a lot of oil. Most likely would have made 200,000 miles with the original engine had I decided not to have the rebuild done. The car eventually went past the 235,000 mark. So think about it... the original engine and transmission lasted 20+ years and over 150,000 miles. That is a very good record and many, many other owners of cars from that era have similar experiences.
My brother's car, a '66 Plymouth Fury III V-8, also ran up to 170,000 miles when he had the engine rebuilt... it still ran fine, but, again, was burning oil.
My mom's '70 Cadillac Coupe de Ville went past the 200,000 mile mark with the original engine and transmission (I think it had a valve job before she owned it starting in 1988).
One of my current cars ('69 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham) has only 97,000 miles but the engine and transmission (both original) have lasted over 40 years. My '66 Plymouth Fury VIP (383), too. Relatively low miles for its age (90,000) but it is a 46-year-old car.
Two years ago our local junkyard had running and inspected cars available for between $500 and $750. Today any running and inspectable example is a minimum of $1,200. Anything needing work to be road ready is a minimum of $800. That's basically the crush value plus the value of any good tires, battery and the converter plus getting back the $150 to $200 paid to the previous owner.
Anything still running and inspectable, anything, is worth at least $1,200 to $1,500 today almost anywhere. Anything less than that range and you've found a bargain or have an inside track.
Mostly the fact that the value of a junk car for scrap alone is at least $300, and if it's got any good parts at all it can be higher. Why should anyone sell a car as a "fixer-upper" for $100 when the salvage yard will give $300-$400 to crush it?
Mostly the fact that the value of a junk car for scrap alone is at least $300, and if it's got any good parts at all it can be higher. Why should anyone sell a car as a "fixer-upper" for $100 when the salvage yard will give $300-$400 to crush it?
Let's use a '99 Ford Taurus, a very common junkyard turn-in, as our example. These are junkyard figures, not scrap yard, there is a difference.
The yard pays $200 to the seller.
The yard receives an average of:
$75 to $125 for the catalytic converter.
$7 to $10 for the battery.
$5 to $10 for the alternator.
$25 to $50 each for the tires, depending on tread life.
$7 to $27 each for aluminum rims (if any)
and finally...
$300 to $400 to the actual scrap yard for the hulk.
Now keep in mind the junkyard does all the prep work, removing the tires, the gas tank and draining the fluids. You have to do these things yourself if you turn it in to the scrap yard plus find a way to get it there.
Let's use a '99 Ford Taurus, a very common junkyard turn-in, as our example. These are junkyard figures, not scrap yard, there is a difference.
The yard pays $200 to the seller.
The yard receives an average of:
$75 to $125 for the catalytic converter.
$7 to $10 for the battery.
$5 to $10 for the alternator.
$25 to $50 each for the tires, depending on tread life.
$7 to $27 each for aluminum rims (if any)
and finally...
$300 to $400 to the actual scrap yard for the hulk.
Now keep in mind the junkyard does all the prep work, removing the tires, the gas tank and draining the fluids. You have to do these things yourself if you turn it in to the scrap yard plus find a way to get it there.
And this is about the minimum that the yard will get - if they manage to sell some interior parts, engine, transmission, etc. that adds gravy to the profit.
Worth mentioning that if you have an older car and consider it a "keeper", you could do worse than to buy a used alternator for it, take same to a good local rebuilder shop to have it checked out and put new brushes in it (brushes if practical) and put on the shelf, against the day your current alternator quits (and quit it will, although usually it just needs a set of brushes to be whole again).
Also worth mentioning that if money is tight, a boneyard battery, correct size for your car, is likely to last several years, and is way cheaper than new.
Get to know your local boneyard operators, they are scruffy but very useful guys.
Remember not too long ago, at least the 90's when it wasn't too hard to find cars that ran, through friends or whomever, for 300-600 bucks. Now looking at Craigslist, for example, 90-95% of the 300-600 buck cars that are advertised, don't run.
... What gives? Greed?
That was back when gas was between $1.20 to $1.50 a gallon and small cars were not as desirable to drive then larger cars, Trucks and SUV's. Now that gas is $3.50 to $4 a gallon, small cars that do not use a lot of gas are very desirable thus the prices reflect this. Back in 2008 when gasoline prices spiked, you almost couldn't give away big trucks and SUV's there value tumbled 40 to 50% overnight and old used compact cars there value doubled overnight. The prices for used cars reflects this.
If you could bring back $1.50 a gallon gas and the prices will reverse themselves, where big trucks will double in value and small used cars will be for welfare types. Don't count on this happening though, I expect to see $5 a gallon gas this summer or close to it.
Back in 2008 when gasoline prices spiked, you almost couldn't give away big trucks and SUV's there value tumbled 40 to 50% overnight and old used compact cars there value doubled overnight. The prices for used cars reflects this.
I did not see this. I was trying to buy a truck during that time. (primarily Avalanche). People did nto lower their price. They just said they woudl keep the truck before they would go any lower. Manufactureers had all kinds of incentives and rebates on new trucks. Thus, a nearly new truck often cost as much or more than a wholly new truck. Still the used prices did nto come down. Maybe the clunky junkers prices came down, not sure. But at the closer to new range, they did nto drop much at all.
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