> The young are falling out of love with cars because they're unaffordable. It's as simple as that. It's yet another sign the standard of living is declining fo

> The young are falling out of love with cars because they're unaffordable. It's as simple as that. It's yet another sign the standard of living is declining for the young. Have you compared to how things used to be? These numbers all seem to assume that it used to be much cheaper relative to income. That seems like a rosy look at the past but the numbers don't support that assumption. Yes it would be dumb for a young person to pay 47K for a new car! (I'd say it's financially dumb for any person of any age, unless very rich, to pay 47K for a depreciating car.) Since when do young people (on average) buy new cars? Aside from wealthy families, that was never a thing. My first car cost $500 in 1988 was 20 years old with the floorboard rusting away so the road was visible through the floor while driving. And a starter that didn't work so it had to be push started every time. That's $1264 in todays dollars. That doesn't buy much, but I see a handful of beaters on craigslist that can be had for that money, and most seem nicer than the rusted beater I bought for $500. My first new car (nothing fancy, a Mazda) cost 42% of my gross salary at the time. A Mazda 3 can be had for $23K today, so at a similar price proportion a $55K salary would feel the same as when I bought. So, none of it feels proportionally more expensive than 30+ years ago. I think what is different today is the very high end of the market has grown a lot. There are endless cars over 100K whereas back in the 80s the list of hyper-expensive super cars was a very short one. Maybe this twists the perception of the market. But the basic beater cars and new Toyota/Mazda/Honda/Kia-level cars are about as affordable as they ever were.