Usually cars cannot be purchased for just asking prices In many markets (due to current economic conditions) there are dealer add ons (including using their financing). Of course it is possible-if these cars are just basic transportation, that most people don't want, the dealers would be happy to just move them.
Average new car price is $50K ? Insanity.
- Thread starter JeffKeryk
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2021
- Messages
- 421
Sure, but the prospective buyer is always free to start walking. Amazing how flexible most dealerships become as the buyer's hand touches the exit door when he's shopping a low demand model. Few people seem to be in the market for basic transportation these days.
Many would take their chances and buy a higher zoot used model.
I'm old enough to remember the following conversation at the office coffee machine: "We went to the Honda dealer looking for a Civic for the wife last night. They want almost FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS for one...
. 
Counted today and my grandparents had at least 17 cars/vans in my lifetime.. 42 years. That's not counting 6+ trucks and 5 RVs. That's just 42 years not counting 30 years prior. He's been gone 5 years now since before car prices exploded. Gma hasn't traded since he's been gone and won't, the Prius doesn't even have 40k. I often wonder what he'd think about prices now and if he'd still trade every 2-3 years. Gma jokes they could be millionaires, but she's doing just fine.
I say all that but I can't just fathom trading that often. I wonder when the market is going to tip if the majority think that.. hmm. Guess it hasn't happened yet probably never will.
I say all that but I can't just fathom trading that often. I wonder when the market is going to tip if the majority think that.. hmm. Guess it hasn't happened yet probably never will.
I traded much more frequently than that. Prior to the pandemic trucks still had crazy high resale values and you could trade your three year old truck and get a new one for not many more dollars. I probably did this for my last time this past September. I traded in a 2018 Silverado with 54,000 miles on it for a slightly used 2020 F150 with 27,000 miles on it. It wasn't that much of a difference. In 2021 when the new F150s came out they were $20,000 more than I paid my my slightly used truck. If I would have waited the difference would have been much, much greater. And yes I did see this situation coming.
Can you fathom why the above situation made sense?
Not in Virginia it doesn't. Personal property tax.
Ugh yes, not counting that. We have it here in Arizona as well.
While $50k seems high across average car don’t they count pickup sales(top 3 sellers by decent margin) to make the average where transaction prices are significantly higher than $50k(near base?).
Well....yea a F150 XLT middle trim is $61,000.00 and a Larait is pushing $70,000.00-or more depending on options.
It doesn't make much sense, from the consumer's perspective, unless you're already in the mindset to replace. Just frivolously swapping vehicles, you incur roughly 10% in transaction costs. So every time one does that on a $30000 vehicle it's another $3000 spent without return. So that every year for 5 years and you've wasted $15k.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2021
- Messages
- 421
Cars - for enthusiasts at least - are as much (if not more) matter of the heart and soul as they are cold-blooded transactional calculation. Your approach is more suitable and appropriate to selecting and acquiring a kitchen apron or a brand of propane gas for the grill
If your scenario is correct it's still cheaper-the vehicles lately have gone up more than $15,000.00. If I didn't frivolously swap vehciles-the BITOGers wouldn't have used vehicles to buy. There are also other benefits such as not paying for repairs and free maintenance that comes with a new purchase.
BTW-It's only "frivolous" if you can't afford it......
End of discussion.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2021
- Messages
- 421
Americans are struggling to pay off their car loans. Three charts explain why
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/cars/car-loan-interest-rates-2023-dg/index.html
This is another reason wht we need to teach personal finance in grade school and high school.
Give kids a fighting chance. If customers did not keep signing on to these crazy deals, both purchase price and financing cost, other options would magically appear.
Prices will tend to rise until consumption falls to an unacceptable level. Period.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2021
- Messages
- 421
A financially responsible person, which, as I understand, you consider yourself to be, should be able to buy a new car with cash, no financing. New car prices have barely changed. So you won’t get 5% off MSRP as before. But a financially responsible person’s purchase can’t hinge on a 5% discount, can it?
I have made my share of mistakes; hopefully I have learned from them. I do pay cash; arguements can be made on both sides of the cash vs finance equation. Opportunity cost is one thing...A financially responsible person, which, as I understand, you consider yourself to be, should be able to buy a new car with cash, no financing. New car prices have barely changed. So you won’t get 5% off MSRP as before. But a financially responsible person’s purchase can’t hinge on a 5% discount, can it?
My point is, we consumers are blindly paying a lot for new cars; hence the title of my thread. If we stopped doing so, car manufacturers and dealerships would need to change their business models. But we keep signing on the dotted line...
- Status
