I was about to harp on people throwing money away on new cars, but then the article said Americans are paying an average of 30k for used cars. Every day I understand my countrymen less and less.
What’s not to understand? The system here is literally setup to create consumers and it does a great job.
Theres a variety of factors here. For one, more and more people are rolling their already stupid high loans into their next loan on a new used vehicle. So that is driving up the overall price. Second is that the new car market average price is well over $40k on average. Since people who cant get a new car have to buy used, then used car prices will creep as close to that point as they can regardless of actual vehicle values. The actual value of the vehicle is irrelevant in a country where cars are a necessity for the majority of people. What dealers are selling is the opportunity to have a vehicle more than the vehicle itself, and so they are gouging the shit out of people who have no reasonable alternative outside of buying on the used car market
- Dealers jack prices way up
- High prices allow them to give ridiculous trade in value
- Trade ins scrapped or exported
- Sky high used car prices due to constrained supply
- Buyers forced into new cars
See how that works?
Know what? People used to be able to understand contracts. This is what’s happening. People are so dumbed down, they don’t even know what they’re signing. Welcome to the USA , and soon to be Alberta, Canada
My goodness, people have been trained for far too long that a new car is a better car. I splurged on the newest vehicle I have ever owned last year, a 2020 golf gti, my payment is around 250 a month/60 month at less than 10% apr. It had 120k miles on it when I picked it up but everything that fucks up on these cars happens at 60-80k miles so the previous owner took care of all that. Otherwise every other vehicle I have ever owned has been a craigslist special that I spent time looking for and maintained myself.
We went backwards. Had a 2015 Fit which needed work on the VTC and other electronics, and the new cars have too much unneeded stuff that can fail, and surveillence in the infotainment system, so we traded it down to a 2004 Echo.
The car looks and runs like new, and I can fix whatever breaks.
I managed to get a Mercedes C-Class for under 300 a month, was 3 years old at the time, with 140k km. APR was under 4%… Until Putin attacked Ukraine anyway, after that EURIBOR went up and so did my rate lol, must’ve been about 8% APR at peak (interest rate was around 6%). Best car I’ve ever had and the monthly payment was low enough that it easily made up for all the time I spent in the garage on all of my older cars.
I got a brand new car last year and I’m paying like 300.
I’m driving a 1999 RAV4. I do regular oil changes. I replaced the brake pads years ago, but I think I got conned. That mechanic also told me my timing belt needed to be replaced. It did not. This vehicle is incredible. It’s a little freaking tank. My pride and joy…
If it had a timing belt on that engine, and hadn’t been changed already, then yes it needed a timing belt.
Its a preventative maintenance part. You don’t want to run it till it breaks then fix it, because a broken belt can mean valves are down (open) and piston is coming up for a interference crash.Agreed. However, at the time (15 years ago?), when I was told I needed to replace the timing belt, I got a second opinion and was told there was absolutely nothing wrong with the existing timing belt. I think the original mechanic was a bit dodgy :( I also truly believe he needlessly replaced my brake pads. But that’s another story. The timing belt was replaced in 2018 by my now amazing mechanic! Actually, I think he gets a kick out of me when I ask him if this or that needs to be checked. Invariably, everything is fine, he shakes his head, assures me, and sends me happily on my way 🥰
Sometimes you find honest places. When I had an 80s Honda into the 2000s, I took it into the dealer and gave a list of maintenance items of what I assumed it needed for its age. Like shocks, stabilizer bushings, ball joints etc. They came back with “You just need new tires, we’ve never had to replace shocks unless there’s been a serious accident” and pointed to a sign on the wall. The sign was a 70s Honda hatchback picture with a note that the car still was running on the original shocks. They could have sold me all kinds of parts and labour back then (before I was more into cars), but they took the honest route.
If you can’t pay cash for a car you either don’t have the means for it or you just totalled your new one.
I know that people being offered $1000/mo auto loans are already in dire straits, but if you could trade that for a $1000 annual bus pass or $2000 commuter e-bike, you’d have enough to go on a dream vacation about every year and have some left over.
In much of the US, the bus routes (if they exist) don’t serve everywhere and only run once an hour or two. And biking on the roads is essentially signing your own death warrant with the lack of bike lanes and driver antagonism towards cyclists. Everything is so car-centric that not having a car consumes an undue amount of time and safety.
The last car I bought cost me $1000 :( A 2002 Jetta Vr6. Lasted me three years (purchased in 2018) before the head gasket needed to be replaced.
We went into the pandemic with beater cars costing $500-$1000. Now? A shit beater starts at $3000. It blows my mind. I know I am getting old, but christ.
I don’t know why people buy new cars, but someone has to I guess
so glad I sold my car last christmas.
Yet, I still have people asking me “when will you buy another car?”
Possibly never, and if I did, it certainly would be something very compact, and certainly not new.
Did you not read the contract?
IDK who in their right mind would consider buying a new car with all the drm and tracking in them no car should need its own internet connection ever the most smart thing I want in a car is a headphone jack and some speakers
