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> Auto loan debt increased by $12 billion to $1.61 trillion I really can’t understand how people are so desperate to drive a new car that they’d go into debt t
by mock-possum 3y ago
> Auto loan debt increased by $12 billion to $1.61 trillion
I really can’t understand how people are so desperate to drive a new car that they’d go into debt to do it. Why would you sign up for years worth of payments on a $15k+ car when you could just buy a used one outright for like $4k, and not have to worry about it?
A house, sure, you then own real estate, you even can borrow money against the value you’ve already paid into your property, and when you’re ready you can sell it, likely for significantly more than you paid. Real estate is such a solid investment.
But a car??
- lotsoweiners 3y agoHonestly I’ve never seen a $4k car that I would consider worth purchasing and driving. I’d be too concerned about reliability and maintenance. Then again I haven’t seen any new cars in the $15k range that I’d consider driving either.
- mock-possum 3y agoYeah I guess I just have very different requirements for cars than other people. All I really need is a thing on wheels that goes when I push the go button, and has an empty space for me to stuff a stereo into.
- supertrope 3y agoThose $4,000 cars now cost $10,000. https://www.iseecars.com/what-happened-to-affordable-cars-study https://www.iseecars.com/what-happened-to-affordable-cars-st... https://site.manheim.com/en/services/consulting/used-vehicle-value-index.html https://site.manheim.com/en/services/consulting/used-vehicle...
- pavel_lishin 3y ago> Why would you sign up for years worth of payments on a $15k+ car when you could just buy a used one outright for like $4k, and not have to worry about it? Because I want my child to be in a relatively new car, with a proven safety record, no history of accidents, surrounded by airbags and all the other safety features we've come up with. For $4k, she'd be sitting in the back seat of a 1992 Nissan Sentra, counting lane-changes through the rusted-out hole in the back-seat floor: "one... two... dad, the hole getting bigger!"
- pandaman 3y agoAuto loans are often subsidized and have very nice terms. People who understand inflation and interest rates often take advantage of this.