5 ms·

New or used? In the US the realistic floor for a new car is 20k. A few smart cars and such for less, but not anything sold seriously.

sergiosgc 6y ago
Is this real? In Europe you can get a Fiat Panda, brand new, for 9k€. Smallish engine, barebones interior, but overall a pretty decent car.
- brianwawok 6y ago
  Yes. Cheapest Honda 21k https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price#panel-sort-heading-1 https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price#panel-so... Cheapest Ford $19,995 https://shop.ford.com/showroom/?linktype=brand&intcmp=hp-showbb#/ https://shop.ford.com/showroom/?linktype=brand&intcmp=hp-sho... Those budget brands generally don’t have dealers here. Like I said you can maybe find a weird budget dealer somewhere, but it’s well under 1% if sales volume. Low budget people typically buy 3-15 year old versions of these cars (which is easily under 10k cost).
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    You picked a brand that is a hallmark of upper middle class conspicuous consumption and a brand that doesn't make economy cars (for the North American market) anymore. The Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa and Chevy Spark (hatchbacks comparable to the small European cars the GP mentioned) MSRP at under 15k.
    - brianwawok 6y ago
      No one buys those though https://carsalesbase.com/us-chevrolet-spark/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-chevrolet-spark/ What % of new car sales are under 20k? 5% maybe?
  - palmtree3000 6y ago
    Honda fit? https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price-trims?modelseries=fit&modelyear=2020 https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price-trims?mo... "Starting at $16,190"
    - brianwawok 6y ago
      Nice, had to dig deeper to find it. https://carsalesbase.com/us-honda-fit/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-honda-fit/ Only sold 32k cars in 2020, basically a rounding error compares to overall Honda sales. 260k civics and 200k accords.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  >Is this real? In Europe you can get a Fiat Panda, brand new, for 9k€. Smallish engine, barebones interior, but overall a pretty decent car. Mitsubishi Mirage and other ~15k hatches fly off the (metaphorical) shelves. Just not in the kinds of neighborhoods HN tends to live in. Also HN's househeeper tends to buy a used Corrolla (or some other hallmark of upper middle class conspicuous consumption) from one of their clients so HN doesn't have that sort of exposure vector either.
  - brianwawok 6y ago
    19k cars sold in 2020? https://carsalesbase.com/us-mitsubishi-mirage/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-mitsubishi-mirage/ That is a tiny tiny fraction of things like Corrola and Civic.
leetcrew 6y ago
nissan versa starts at $15k. it's a subcompact sedan that I would never want to own, but it has four doors and can fit two child seats in the back row.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
Used of course, you can't buy a new car for £1K anywhere.

sergiosgc 6y ago

Is this real? In Europe you can get a Fiat Panda, brand new, for 9k€. Smallish engine, barebones interior, but overall a pretty decent car.

brianwawok 6y ago
Yes. Cheapest Honda 21k https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price#panel-sort-heading-1 https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price#panel-so... Cheapest Ford $19,995 https://shop.ford.com/showroom/?linktype=brand&intcmp=hp-showbb#/ https://shop.ford.com/showroom/?linktype=brand&intcmp=hp-sho... Those budget brands generally don’t have dealers here. Like I said you can maybe find a weird budget dealer somewhere, but it’s well under 1% if sales volume. Low budget people typically buy 3-15 year old versions of these cars (which is easily under 10k cost).
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  You picked a brand that is a hallmark of upper middle class conspicuous consumption and a brand that doesn't make economy cars (for the North American market) anymore. The Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa and Chevy Spark (hatchbacks comparable to the small European cars the GP mentioned) MSRP at under 15k.
  - brianwawok 6y ago
    No one buys those though https://carsalesbase.com/us-chevrolet-spark/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-chevrolet-spark/ What % of new car sales are under 20k? 5% maybe?
- palmtree3000 6y ago
  Honda fit? https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price-trims?modelseries=fit&modelyear=2020 https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price-trims?mo... "Starting at $16,190"
  - brianwawok 6y ago
    Nice, had to dig deeper to find it. https://carsalesbase.com/us-honda-fit/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-honda-fit/ Only sold 32k cars in 2020, basically a rounding error compares to overall Honda sales. 260k civics and 200k accords.
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
>Is this real? In Europe you can get a Fiat Panda, brand new, for 9k€. Smallish engine, barebones interior, but overall a pretty decent car. Mitsubishi Mirage and other ~15k hatches fly off the (metaphorical) shelves. Just not in the kinds of neighborhoods HN tends to live in. Also HN's househeeper tends to buy a used Corrolla (or some other hallmark of upper middle class conspicuous consumption) from one of their clients so HN doesn't have that sort of exposure vector either.
- brianwawok 6y ago
  19k cars sold in 2020? https://carsalesbase.com/us-mitsubishi-mirage/ https://carsalesbase.com/us-mitsubishi-mirage/ That is a tiny tiny fraction of things like Corrola and Civic.

leetcrew 6y ago

nissan versa starts at $15k. it's a subcompact sedan that I would never want to own, but it has four doors and can fit two child seats in the back row.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

Used of course, you can't buy a new car for £1K anywhere.