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New cars are just for rich people now

jalopnik.com

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Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#41

Post by GalenErso »

naravara wrote: post #31

This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective. The cars themselves have much longer usable lives now so it's for the best that cars move down to new users instead of needing to build more and more. The downsides, however, is that while the car part of the car is more durable and long-lasting than ever, the software/computer parts of the car are hamstrung by terrible decisions that are su…

More expensive cars are better for the environment if people start driving less or stop driving. But it's worse for the environment if people hold on to older cars, because they are less fuel efficient than newer models and release more fine particles in the air.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#42

Post by Beached »

shmatt wrote: post #30

EVs are the way to go right now. Between the "fleet" loophole for federal credits, state credits, free charging for 2-3 years in some cases, discounted charging at night, manufacturers trying to get rid of the EVs that didn't succeed, no sales tax in some states. It's probably 50% cheaper than an ICE car

can you please link an ev that's cheaper than a 26k total cost of ownership over a 10y period(excluding registration) I bought a midsized sedan in 2019, 10y warranty, 17k out the door. I tried to justify the cost of an ev, the cheapest I could find was 32k after credits.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#43

Post by abeppu »

cs702 wrote: post #5

...because of (a) car-price inflation kick-started by pandemic-era supply shocks, and (b) rising interest rates meant to drive down the rate of price inflation. In short, both cars themselves and car-financing are more expensive.

_But_ I also see some car ads with weirdly/implausibly low interest rates. My understanding was that in these cases the base price is artificially higher to subsidize below-market financing rates -- and in those cases even if you don't need the financing, you may be better off taking it. But the point ends up being that these are not independent phenomena; MSRP prices are set with financing in mind.

E.g. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/interest-free-car...

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#44

Post by ramesh31 »

ftxbro wrote: post #3

> "When you do the math on what that means to a median household, it is basically pricing the median completely out of the new vehicle market" Some years ago, 'above median' didn't count as 'rich'. There were 'the masses' maybe like 90% then a bourgeoisie maybe the next ones above that, then less than 1% aristocracy and nobles. Also social class wasn't determined solely by net worth or income. Maybe we will go back t…

>Maybe we will go back to that kind of situation where the median will be considered squarely in 'the masses' class and nowhere near 'rich'.

We're already there. American society has stratified into three groups over the last 20 years. There's the 99th percentile elite who have hoarded over half of all overall wealth, the 90th percentile bourgeois (tech workers, lawyers, doctors, etc.) that are able to maintain a modicum of security and prosperity through real wage growth, and then the masses below who are desperately working themselves to death for near starvation wages to service the above two classes, with zero chance of economic mobility.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#45

Post by jonathankoren »

naravara wrote: post #31

This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective. The cars themselves have much longer usable lives now so it's for the best that cars move down to new users instead of needing to build more and more. The downsides, however, is that while the car part of the car is more durable and long-lasting than ever, the software/computer parts of the car are hamstrung by terrible decisions that are su…

> This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective.

From a purely carbon perspective, new cars are always cleaner than old cars. This is simply due to less wear and tear, and technology improvements.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#46

Post by notadev »

falcolas wrote: post #37

If you're purchasing a new vehicle for over $40k, you're getting scammed IMO. There's a lot of great electric and hybrid vehicles with good reliability history. But if you want to look like a _____ in a lifted dodge ram, well, we'll be happy to give you plenty of room on the road to roll your coal.

The same can be said about all the ______ driving their status symbol Teslas.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#47

Post by julienfr112 »

dgoodell wrote: post #23

They say there are fewer new cars available at $21k today than in 2017. Did they take into account inflation? $21k in Jan 2017 is nearly $26k Jan 2023. There seems to be plenty of new cars that cost that amount.

You can adjust for inflation when wages follow it. I wonder for what proportion of the populaton it's the case.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#48

Post by ROTMetro »

tehjoker wrote: post #27
PaulHoule wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno. Ford saw the automobile as being revolutionary only if the person who makes the automobile is able to afford the automobile. (Funny, nobody applies this one to child care.)

That doesn't make any sense. This sounds like a play for a more loyal labor force, a larger labor force, or to head off unionization. Ford was an incredible asshole that supported Nazi beliefs. He's wasn't going to just give people money.

Quoting Ford “I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be so low in price that no man will be unable to own one.”. You are looking at it from a take of more people fighting over how big their slice of the pie will be. Instead of splitting up one pie, Ford wanted to make more pies and drive down the price from the efficiencies/economy of scale of making so many pies that everyone got their own. And it worked.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#50

Post by ska »

jonathankoren wrote: post #45
naravara wrote: post #31

This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective. The cars themselves have much longer usable lives now so it's for the best that cars move down to new users instead of needing to build more and more. The downsides, however, is that while the car part of the car is more durable and long-lasting than ever, the software/computer parts of the car are hamstrung by terrible decisions that are su…

> This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective. From a purely carbon perspective, new cars are always cleaner than old cars. This is simply due to less wear and tear, and technology improvements.

From a systemic point of view, you have to look at carbon impact of production (and end of life). Being a bit more efficient doesn't necessary net out well.
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