Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 105 posts

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#81

Post by amelius »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #30
amelius wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing laundry is of about the same complexity as boiling an egg.

> about the same complexity as boiling an egg I’m more than happy to spend an afternoon figuring out the times and temperatures that get me various stages of runny and jammy at my altitude, on my range, in a way I couldn’t be bothered to for the benefit of having clothes again.

I have a very intelligent friend who has the same attitude towards personal finances and refuses any help. It is very sad but there's apparently nothing I can do about it.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#82

Post by tim333 »

codedokode wrote: post #15
Panzer04 wrote: post #7

Are these really the problem? I feel like new cars are obscenely expensive right now. Even a basic car can easily run you 30-40k, the same thing a few years used will be The difference between a brand new car and a 10 year old car is almost nil in terms of featureset nowadays (if anything, you get more because you can buy a higher end older model for less), every car has all the basics. Cars just got so good over the…

Why there are no $3k-$4k cars? I am sure most people need cheaper cars, not electric cars, or AI cars, or cars with mobile app and telemetry. Those are toys for the rich.

They tried producing one of those - the Tata Nano, starting from like $2k but 3 or 4k with extras in India. It wasn't a big success selling 7500 a year against the 250k they were hoping for. I guess it was a bit rubbish even for the Indian market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#83

Post by drivingmenuts »

willcipriano wrote: post #77
palata wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With that budget you get an electric bike, though. That's a small, cheap, healthy car.

"The reason you can't have a cheaper car is it needs many crash safety features! It would be unsafe! Ride a bike instead!" How does the bike do in a crash?

Bike do fine. Riders, not so much.

Seriously, I cannot recall any news report, of any bicycle accident, that didn't end in permanent injury or death (which sort of makes sense, but still ... )

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#84

Post by jaredhallen »

sokoloff wrote: post #72
amarant wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a top loaded washing machine be better? They use more water than frontloaders, and in my experience they don't clean any better.. Do they cause less wear on your clothes or something?

The bearings on a front-loader live a hard life and eventually fail, often as a result of the seal failing. I will give a typical top-loader a longer projected life without significant mechanical maintenance. (I’ve changed two sets of bearings on my own front loaders and one for my in-laws. It’s doable DIY but takes several hours, making it expensive to have a tech come do it.)

I did bearings on a front loader once as well. Doable, but not particularly fun, that's for sure.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#85

Post by xhkkffbf »

pornel wrote: post #80
willcipriano wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The reason you can't have a cheaper car is it needs many crash safety features! It would be unsafe! Ride a bike instead!" How does the bike do in a crash?

That's why cyclists advocate for protected lanes and separate bike paths, instead of infrastructure made of paint.

Do you realize that at least half of the bike accidents don't involve cars? Getting rid of the cars won't get rid of the dangers of the two wheeled, unstable machines that frequently toss the riders when the brakes lock.

https://discerningcyclist.com/bicycle-accident-statistics/

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#86

Post by jaredhallen »

klondike_klive wrote: post #52
amelius wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing laundry is of about the same complexity as boiling an egg.

If I want a boiled egg, chances are I want it soft-boiled (runny yolk but cooked white) which is the custom here in the UK. (As children we are given a softboiled egg in an egg-cup along with rectangles of toast called "soldiers" to dip in the yolk. I guess it's an Edwardian thing, redolent of Nannies and Nurseries.) In all my 50 years I still cannot reliably produce a softboiled egg, regardless of the method. Do I b…

For the frying, we never have any grief on our cast iron. I usually give it a little spray of oil, but you can successfully fry an egg even if you don't. We have a couple stainless calphalons that are pretty effective at filling space inside the cupboard and that's about it.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#87

Post by zardo »

stock_toaster wrote: post #42
codedokode wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why there are no $3k-$4k cars? I am sure most people need cheaper cars, not electric cars, or AI cars, or cars with mobile app and telemetry. Those are toys for the rich.

I wish there were some domestic manufacturers of Kei type cars[1] and, even more so, trucks[2] here in the US (or that it was cheaper and easier to import and license). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_truck

They are encouraged by regulation in Japan. Lower tax, registration fees, and insurance. Also the requirement in some areas to have off-street parking to register a car is waved.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#88

Post by lores »

drivingmenuts wrote: post #83
willcipriano wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The reason you can't have a cheaper car is it needs many crash safety features! It would be unsafe! Ride a bike instead!" How does the bike do in a crash?

Bike do fine. Riders, not so much. Seriously, I cannot recall any news report, of any bicycle accident, that didn't end in permanent injury or death (which sort of makes sense, but still ... )

Being in a news report is a fatal bias, though, since there won't be one for a bruised knee. It's not possible to derive any accurate knowledge from that.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#89

Post by itchyouch »

BadJo0Jo0 wrote: post #66

I can somewhat justify the cost of mid and full size SUVs currently, but still hate that you're looking to spend about 40-60k, more if luxury. The "popularity" of the segment has pushed makers to actually put some effort in handling, fuel efficiency, and reliability. The current offerings of this segment is leaps better than majority of the offerings of mid 2010s and older. However, each maker is just slightly missin…

Regarding the sports or performance trim, I feel that it's a price anchoring tactic for margin.

They painfully neuter the bottom trim to be able to advertise "starting at" with the most top end model.

Then they lock all the desirable features behind the higher trims. All of a sudden, the 29.5k base price is a sham and you have the option between the fully loaded 45k car or the more "reasonable" 39.5k car. But the reality is that the buyer just paid an extra 10k for heated leather seats, keyless entry, slightly upgraded speakers, some bigger wheels and a nicer looking front and rear bumper.

They understand that there's multiple psychological games to play. Status, reliability, etc... Advertise with the low price, then upsell, upsell, upsell, and use the finance arm to focus on monthly payments.

People are definitely tired of these tactics for sure.

Re: Used cars retain designs and features more coveted than their replacements

#90

Post by itchyouch »

smitty1e wrote: post #65

If buyers want features, this implies a demand in the market. If capitalism is {buyer; market; seller} then demand in the market should draw product from sellers. The market is regulated, so wildly unsafe demands should go unmet. But if the market is over-regulated, then an electoral feedback loop ought to trim excessive regulation so that the market can meet demand. Which brings us to the question: why aren't people…

Trump runs exactly on that platform. (I was super surprised actually. )

Dave Chapelle had a really compelling point about why people love Trump. (I don't support him, but describing the observation)

At the debates, Trump vs Clinton:

T: "The govt is corrupt" C: "Prove it." T: "I use all those tricks myself." C: "Well you don't pay taxes." T: "Then change the rules so I pay. But I know you won't because all your political donors also use those same corrupt tricks." C: ...

Of course Trump did nothing to actually change the regulations in a meaningful way, but his supporters do feel that he represents their interests far more than the established, lifetime, incumbent congressfolk.

Post reply on HN