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> "Gen Y" doesn't want new cars, rather [...] they simply can't afford the luxury of a new car. The bay area certainly is filled with plenty of 20-somethings w
by akavi 12y ago
> "Gen Y" doesn't want new cars, rather [...] they simply can't afford the luxury of a new car.
The bay area certainly is filled with plenty of 20-somethings who can afford the luxury, and yet people still don't seem to want it. Among people I know, I can think of multiple couples with income in the quarter million a year range who share a 5+ year old beater as their only car, if they have a car at all.
- pronoiac 12y agoI moved to San Francisco with a car, but it wasn't very useful most of the time, since everything I needed was in walking distance. Also, parking and street cleaning were a giant pain in the ass.
- Malician 12y agoMany of the young people who can afford cars live in cities where cars are not necessarily required. (See car ownership patterns in Europe as compared to the US for a more extreme example.) There are two separate divides: can afford car vs can't, and do want car vs don't.
- WalterBright 12y ago5 years is hardly a beater! My daily driver is a 1989 Ford. A 2009 would be a 'new' car to me.
- derekp7 12y agoThe worst part of this is back when I was younger, I could go out and buy a decent used car for cash. 25 years ago a 6 year old sedan with about 70,000 miles on it was around 3 - 4 grand, or less than 2 months pay. Now you can't get a car that is under 10 years old without taking out a loan, and at that point you might as well buy a new car.
- zrail 12y agoThis is because the bay area is a pathological case in every respect. 20-something couples with a ~$250k household income are as rare in the rest of the country as parking spots are in San Francisco.