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Good for you for managing your money well, but in the macro level, cars are less affordable than they have been since they first hit the mass market in the '20s.
Median price of a new car 1930 = $600
Median USA household income 1930 = $1,160 (193%)
Median price of a new car 1950 = $1,510
Median USA household income 1950 = $3,300 (218%)
Median price of a new car 1970 = $3,900
Median USA household income 1970 = $8,730 (224%)
Median price of a new car 1990 = $16,000
Median USA household income 1990 = $51,735 (323%)
Median price of a new car 2014 = $32,000
Median USA household income 2014 = $53,891 (168%)
Notice something? Cars had been getting gradually more affordable until the past couple of decades. What changed? Easier financing terms that locked people into longer loans, longevity improvements which shored up the intrinsic value of used cars, more and more people in far-flung suburbs that are forced to drive long distances and hence use up their vehicles, and stagnation in salaries.
Do you work in advertising or marketing or something? Since when does having fancy gadgets, gizmos and new cars equal "living life to their full potential"? You do know that they count on the consumer never truly being happy, right? Have you ever heard of planned obsolescence? Am I in a ****ing nightmare right now?
Please point out where I said that one must have fancy gadgets, gizmos and new cars in order to live life to ones full potential...
But then so much of price has to do with mandated equipment now days. the old car were very dangerous in a wreck .I can remember eve in the 60's those hard dash; no seat belts; no air bag; solid steering shaft cars killing a lot of people who now walkout with minor injuries. Its like comparing old race car to new safety technology. Technology cost and the build cost is naturally higher.
A new car is a bad expense because you lose almost 50% value just buy driving the car off the lot.
That's an old adage that doesn't hold true anymore.
There was a time when a vehicle with 60,000 miles was what you would call "high mileage", and probably already had some major repairs. With really good care and a little luck you could maybe get 100,000 miles out of a car, before it was pretty much done. You just didn't get as much use out of a typical car years ago as people do today, so resale value suffered, due to the shorter lifespans. Then, you could factor in styling changes that would occur every year, which could be anything from a facelift, to a completely new body, so last year's model already looked dated when the new model year cars hit the showrooms.
Today, if you go looking for a late-model low-mileage car, you'll probably be faced with a limited selection, and prices that are only slightly lower than that of a comparable new vehicle. Newer vehicles can usually go 100,000 miles without major repairs, and 200,000 miles isn't that big of a deal, anymore. And new vehicles often go at least a few model years with little to no cosmetic changes.
If you are looking to buy a late-model car that has taken the biggest hit on depreciation, your best bet would probably be a high-end luxury car, or maybe a car that is popular with rental fleets, since the used car market tends to get saturated with those cars.
I have bought one new car in my life.......a plain-jane, 4-cyl, 96 Ford Ranger. A great little truck for about 8K.
I also bought a used Ford Aerostar with less than 15k miles on it......it was a gorgeous vehicle that drove like a dream and had just about every option, cost about 13.5K.
If I was to buy a new vehicle ever again.....it would have to be a very, very stripped down model that is being sold on the cheap.
30k....40k..........84 and 96 month notes, LMFAO, are you insane???????????????
Median price of a new car 1990 = $16,000 Median USA household income 1990 = $51,735 (323%)
Median price of a new car 2014 = $32,000 Median USA household income 2014 = $53,891 (168%)
Notice something? ...
Apparently US household income has hardly increased since 1990. If those numbers are true you really may be on to something here. There has been inflation on everything since then, not just cars. So, the US population has about half of the purchasing power that it had in 1990 assuming car prices followed the inflation. It's not car prices which are the problem, it's the people getting much poorer.
All I know is that the automakers have been around a long long time I guess they know what they are doing. They are in business to make money and believe me they are making billions of dollars. So people are buying you will always need cars and trucks.
I knew the world was a different place when we went looking for a new Wrangler last spring and regularly saw sticker prices over $40K for one. My first brand-new Wrangler was only $15K in 2002...
So people are paying more for cars that last longer, get better mileage per performance level and are safer to drive. This is a problem because...?
Cars in the '70s lasted longer (outside of some major lemons) than they did in the 50's, were safer, got better mileage, and were more affordable to the median income family.
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