Owning a car is an American way of life, yet it's becoming less affordable.

[edhopper]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/record-setting-car-sales-but-not-because-of-affordability/

Blame the rising cost of cars and the stagnant wages of American workers. According to a new study from Bankrate.com, the median-income household in the 50 largest U.S. cities can't afford the average-priced new car or light truck. The cities with residents that are most capable of affording for a new car include San Jose, California, and San Francisco, but the median household in those cities would still find it a slight stretch, the report noted.

As Corporate America continues to suppress wages, move manufacturing off shore and to non-union States, the will soon find their workers can't afford their products.

[gollygee]

1. It's also becoming more and more difficult for people to fix their own cars

Everything about cars is more expensive. The cars, the gas, and keeping them running. I remember my first car - a 1979 Malibu. I would take it in to get fixed, and no repair ever amounted to anything. And a lot of things I could do myself, with a book of instructions and the part, because the car wasn't that complicated.

[edhopper]

2. With the way they are computized now

I would say they are near impossible to repair yourself.

Also the price of used cars has skyrocketed as new cars have become affordable.

The old rules of how much they depreciate are gone, i have seen 2 year old used cars selling at 2/3 the new price.

[yeoman6987]

9. The country got rid of used cars in 2009 with the turn in used car program

Since thankfully that dumb program went away more used cars will be available again.

[edhopper]

10. The cash for clunkers program

got a lot of fuel guzzlers off the road.

It in no way "got rid of" used cars.

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. It was hardly a "dumb program"

In fact, it did exactly what it what designed to do - stimulate new car sales and remove older, less fuel efficient cars from the fleet. There was a downside, to be sure and that was the reduction of the inventory of used units going through the auction system. That caused the price of used cars to spike, but that also helped new car sales because for only a little more, people were able to buy a new car with a longer warranty.

All of that has washed through the system a couple years ago though. The used inventory, that is to say the number of units auctioned weekly nationwide at the dealer auctions has gotten back to pre "Cash-For-Clunkers" levels.

[ileus]

17. Try finding a 1988 pickup....that program resulted in

1000 pickups going for 3600.



affordable used pickups have been redefined...A 95 any pickup in fair condition starts in the 3000 buck range.

[EL34x4]

22. My parents got rid of a mid-90s Nissan Hardbody pickup

V6, barely 100,000 miles on it which made it practically brand-new for Nissan pickups.

I was so pissed. Sigh...

[Travis_0004]

3. There also was only 5 digits on a lot of odometers

The logic was, most cars wont go past 100k miles.

Now a days, a car should easily go 100k miles.

[edhopper]

5. true

I expect to get at least 150,000 out of my 10 year old.

[ileus]

16. We have 162k on our 9yo Nissan

Bought it with 4 miles on the odo....I expect at least another 100k without issue.

[edhopper]

18. But with over 100,000

on ours, I have to anticipate that we might need to get a new one. (any major repair would not be worth it.)

I am surprised at the cost of cars that are a few years old.

[onehandle]

4. That's part of the formula now. My car is 5 years old this year.

Last payment is coming up soon. I had my first out of warranty repair a few weeks ago and it was $300 to essentially analyze and update the firmware of the car's brain.

Now I am getting endless mailers, emails, even texts to buy a new car.

They want me to buy/lease a new car regularly.

[Egnever]

30. on the flip side cars also typically last much longer now

just saying.

[bigwillq]

7. Most things are becoming less affordable

Especially in my state. So expensive.

[Yo_Mama]

8. As is owning your home, getting a college education, health ins you can afford to use ....

This is why the economy is such a big issue in this election even with unemployment below 5%.

[underahedgerow]

11. Well maybe it's time to rethink car 'ownership'. Seriously, what's the point in paying so much for

something that depreciates?

Leasing is much more cost effective, and you can take over leases through a number of different programs and different offers. I was looking to some for my daughter in LA and they were shockingly affordable. Half the price of buying a new OR used, same quality car, for the duration.

And when you're done with the lease, you get another one.

It makes excellent economic sense.

[HughBeaumont]

12. Well, that is, unless you do this thing called "Drive" them.

Go over the allotted miles and you're going to get it good when it comes time to buy a new one. Learned that from experience in the 1990s.

[Initech]

14. GM wants to do away with that very idea, and it's not a good thing.

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/

[ileus]

19. As long as you own a car to drive on the weekends and vacations.

[Trajan]

27. Maybe it's time to talk about wage increases

Nice derail there ...

[ansible]

15. I drive an older 1998 Honda Civic and have no intention of ever buying a new car

30mpg+ highway when I don't drive too fast, cheap parts, cheap full coverage insurance, insanely reliable and easier to work on than any other car I've owned before. I have no intention of ever buying another car and don't see any need to buy into the consumerist crap culture of buying something flashier and newer just to outdo the neighbors.

[EL34x4]

23. Going to drive your '98 Honda forever?

Eventually, it will no longer be "insanely reliable" no matter what you do to it.

[ansible]

24. lol, actually yeah

It's so easy to work on, there's videos on youtube on how to do all the repairs yourself and parts are easy to find. There's a junkyard company here in California called Picknpull where I can get any part I need for it as well cheaply. Already have 300k miles on it so far and still going strong. Plus I have a lot of sentimental value to the car, at one point in my life I had to live in it after losing my job and it saved me.

[EL34x4]

25. If you hit a million miles on it, Honda just might

give you a new one for free like Toyota did.

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/05/16/toyota-tundra-million-mile-official/

[bemildred]

20. Cars are an expensive pain in the ass these days. "Open Road" my ass. nt

[postatomic]

21. Which is why there are so many 'Predator Car Dealerships'

For people who can't afford a car and/or can't qualify for a loan - I see a whole bunch of these Predator Dealerships. They'll sell a piece of crap car for more than it is worth at an interest rate that is way above the norm.

Years ago cars were made so badly that they were disposable. We got over 200,000 miles out of our last Toyota with minimal repairs. New tires were the big expense. Our other car is 13 years old and still looks brand new.

Most cars made in the US use parts produced in other countries in an attempt to keep costs down and profits up. It sucks, but it's the way of the world these days.

[littlebit]

26. The last new car I bought

was a 1999 Ford F-250. I still drive it and probably will until it falls apart.

[Trajan]

28. Because I live in a transit friendly city

Last edited Fri Jul 1, 2016, 07:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I 'non-op'd my car over three years ago ..

No car payments ...
No gasoline ...
No maintenance costs ..
No car insurance ...

The free monthly pass from my employer surely helps ...

[Squinch]

29. This is good for the environment. The average new car, which I presume is the average-priced

new car, is generally some oversized monstrosity.

If we had half a brain in our heads, we would all be driving subcompact or smaller cars.

[Just reading posts]

34. But subcompacts or smaller just aren't as much fun....unless we're speaking of tiny sports cars!

My vehicles:





Best of both worlds!

[Squinch]

35. Aren't you special.

[Just reading posts]

36. Of course I am....and so are you. Really, aren't we all?

[UMTerp01]

31. This is very true

I make a pretty good salary and just bought a new car that cost around $40,000. That was as much as I was willing to spend. Its actually the first brand new car I've EVER had. The 3 other cars I've had were all certified pre-owned because I don't believe in putting much money into something that is going to depreciate the second I drive off the lot. Besides, I don't want to be house poor or car poor. I have to be able to save every check, put money into a travel account, and I am a clothes whore. But yes, its not cheap. Could I afford a more expensive car? Sure. But people don't think about maintenance. Even people who buy luxury cars at auction. My mother has a high end German car and that damn thing costs at least $1000 every time she has to put it in the shop. Even oil changes for her car are too damn much. Nope. Thank you.

[bhikkhu]

32. Its partly because of safety laws - cars have become ridiculously complex and hard to maintain

Just looking at TPMS sensors, which are a fine idea but add several hundred dollars to the cost of a car. Not necessarily when it is built, or when it is in its first few years, but I've seen plenty of 7 or 8 year old cars that a dealer has to spend $500 on to replace sensors. That all gets added to the price of the car.

I'm old enough to remember fondly some of the first budget model japanese cars sold here, like the old datsun pickup. It was small, light, built very simply, and (as they said) had just what you needed and nothing else. It would be illegal to make them now.

I appreciate most of the advances in efficiency and safety we've made, but if it were possible to still build a basic car for transportation, that would be a good thing too.

[Just reading posts]

33. I stopped buying new cars many, many years ago. Now if I need a "new" car I'll shop around until I

can find the cleanest low mileage 3 - 8 year old car I can of the model I desire. This enables me to purchase two vehicles for the price of a new one (or less).

Sports car and an SUV....best of both worlds!