4 ms·

with an average U.S. new-vehicle selling price of just over $45,000 last month So basically somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/3rd to 1/4th the price of a hous

with an average U.S. new-vehicle selling price of just over $45,000 last month So basically somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/3rd to 1/4th the price of a house + plot of land in lower cost of living areas in the US - hard pass. Even if I were a multi-millionaire I would never pay that kind of money for a depreciating asset so I'm going to keep driving my 18 year old car.

darth_avocado 2y ago
Lower cost living areas are the most car dependent. Not really something you can avoid forever.
- alyandon 2y ago
  The way I see it - as long as a healthy used car market exists there should really be no reason to have to pay the kinds of prices being asked for by dealers for new(er) vehicles.
  - macNchz 2y ago
    The used car market has been pretty strange for the past few years. I’ve been considering replacing my car recently and finding the discount for buying used is way less than it was before the pandemic. I’m seeing some five year old models listed at basically the same price they originally cost new.
    - Atotalnoob 2y ago
      The chip shortage hit car makers much worse than a lot of markets, so used cars skyrocketed in value. It’s only just now really starting to return to normal I took my car in for maintenance and the dealer offered me more than I paid for it on the spot.
    - qball 2y ago
      >The used car market has been pretty strange for the past few years. American automakers no longer make compact cars. Actually, they don't make full-size cars either (with the sole exception of the Ford Mustang). Once you understand that, you understand why everything's fucked up. 20 years ago, each of the Big 3 would sell 6-figure sums of compact cars, all for less than 25K (inflation-adjusted). Turns out that they'd rather make 50K SUVs and 100K trucks instead. Part of that is safety and fuel economy standards that make it functionally illegal to turn a profit on a small car now (and electric compact cars that will be forced at gunpoint in the future will continue to be complete garbage range-wise simply because they don't have enough room for the batteries, so there's no point in designing one- customers already refuse to buy full-size EVs for this reason). Part of that was people getting used to negative interest rates, and US automakers tooling up to exploit that fact. Part of that is increased labor costs make it uneconomical to make an inexpensive car (which is specifically why the US bans imports of Chinese compact EVs- even if they passed safety regulations, which they don't). It's not actually possible to solve this in the short term; which is why the meta remains "buy a Corolla and drive it until the wheels fall off".
    - UncleEntity 2y ago
      Last year I bought a 2015 Fiat 500 for basically 2015 list price. Couldn't afford anything newer, wanted a small car that gets good gas mileage and it's in excellent shape so not complaining.
  - darth_avocado 2y ago
    Used cars come with their own costs. A new car will probably last you 20 years, a 10 year old car will need to be replaced in another 10. A new car will have negligible upkeep in the first 5 years, a used car will have upkeep in the first 5 year of your ownership. At some point, repairs on older cars are more expensive as certain parts become obsolete and become harder to find. Newer cars offer better fuel economy, a 10 year old car will make you spend more on fuel. Over a longer period of time (say 20 years), the cost of using new car vs old car kind of converges. You keep a new car for longer, while you’re forced to change the older cars. Unless you’re going for cars >5 years old or cars with a big mileage, used cars will also be very expensive.

darth_avocado 2y ago

Lower cost living areas are the most car dependent. Not really something you can avoid forever.

alyandon 2y ago
The way I see it - as long as a healthy used car market exists there should really be no reason to have to pay the kinds of prices being asked for by dealers for new(er) vehicles.
- macNchz 2y ago
  The used car market has been pretty strange for the past few years. I’ve been considering replacing my car recently and finding the discount for buying used is way less than it was before the pandemic. I’m seeing some five year old models listed at basically the same price they originally cost new.
  - Atotalnoob 2y ago
    The chip shortage hit car makers much worse than a lot of markets, so used cars skyrocketed in value. It’s only just now really starting to return to normal I took my car in for maintenance and the dealer offered me more than I paid for it on the spot.
  - qball 2y ago
    >The used car market has been pretty strange for the past few years. American automakers no longer make compact cars. Actually, they don't make full-size cars either (with the sole exception of the Ford Mustang). Once you understand that, you understand why everything's fucked up. 20 years ago, each of the Big 3 would sell 6-figure sums of compact cars, all for less than 25K (inflation-adjusted). Turns out that they'd rather make 50K SUVs and 100K trucks instead. Part of that is safety and fuel economy standards that make it functionally illegal to turn a profit on a small car now (and electric compact cars that will be forced at gunpoint in the future will continue to be complete garbage range-wise simply because they don't have enough room for the batteries, so there's no point in designing one- customers already refuse to buy full-size EVs for this reason). Part of that was people getting used to negative interest rates, and US automakers tooling up to exploit that fact. Part of that is increased labor costs make it uneconomical to make an inexpensive car (which is specifically why the US bans imports of Chinese compact EVs- even if they passed safety regulations, which they don't). It's not actually possible to solve this in the short term; which is why the meta remains "buy a Corolla and drive it until the wheels fall off".
  - UncleEntity 2y ago
    Last year I bought a 2015 Fiat 500 for basically 2015 list price. Couldn't afford anything newer, wanted a small car that gets good gas mileage and it's in excellent shape so not complaining.
- darth_avocado 2y ago
  Used cars come with their own costs. A new car will probably last you 20 years, a 10 year old car will need to be replaced in another 10. A new car will have negligible upkeep in the first 5 years, a used car will have upkeep in the first 5 year of your ownership. At some point, repairs on older cars are more expensive as certain parts become obsolete and become harder to find. Newer cars offer better fuel economy, a 10 year old car will make you spend more on fuel. Over a longer period of time (say 20 years), the cost of using new car vs old car kind of converges. You keep a new car for longer, while you’re forced to change the older cars. Unless you’re going for cars >5 years old or cars with a big mileage, used cars will also be very expensive.