Car ownership is now a luxury

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My perspective on cars has changed. I always thought that when I got older, I’d get an expensive luxury car. Now that I’m older, and can afford it, I no longer want that. I really just want a solid reliable car with maybe a little creature comfort (leather seats and warmers).

+1. Driving my 2017 Forester instead of buying a new luxury SUV because I don't want to deal with expensive, time-consuming repairs. I take it to a reasonable independent mechanic for regular maintenance and occasionally replace brakes and tires. I've driven Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Infiniti and Tesla and they all cost more to own. My time is more important to me now than prestige.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:yup....avg price of new car this year at $50K. If you live in Fairfax County, you will pay 6% car tax, the crazy insurance rates, etc which essentially has made new car purchases for the wealth. No different now vs homes, and other high price items where MC "realistic and best value" route is purchasing a used car. Hoping EVs will lower new car price, but EV prices likely contributing to the inflation here.

Or you could get a used Altima for $7k and pay the VA DMV a $500 fee for permission to drive without insurance. The working class can still manage to have a car.

YES..the working class will "options" but will not be "owners" of future new cars.

There's always car leases. You don't own but have a new one every 3 years

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My perspective on cars has changed. I always thought that when I got older, I’d get an expensive luxury car. Now that I’m older, and can afford it, I no longer want that. I really just want a solid reliable car with maybe a little creature comfort (leather seats and warmers).

Leather seats, heated seats, and a heated steering wheel are all that matter to me now, too.

Adaptive cruise control and automatic front and rear-breaking are also important, though standard nowadays.

I've never used cruise control once in 30 years of driving.

Great...that's not a flex...adaptive cruise control is a safety feature that will automatically break and accelerate you at an appropriate distance to the car in front of you, up to a maximum speed you set. Regular cruise control is fine driving on open highways with little traffic, but somewhat dangerous if you are an easily distracted driver.

Why can’t you do this yourself? It’s basically giving you a reason to not pay attention.

Well you can, but in fact as Waymo has now proven in spades...the computer always pays attention and also isn't subject to human emotions and is far safer than human drivers. Hence, why it won't decide to tailgate or perhaps get distracted at the exact time the car in front of you decides to abruptly brake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My perspective on cars has changed. I always thought that when I got older, I’d get an expensive luxury car. Now that I’m older, and can afford it, I no longer want that. I really just want a solid reliable car with maybe a little creature comfort (leather seats and warmers).

Leather seats, heated seats, and a heated steering wheel are all that matter to me now, too.

Adaptive cruise control and automatic front and rear-breaking are also important, though standard nowadays.

I've never used cruise control once in 30 years of driving.

Great...that's not a flex...adaptive cruise control is a safety feature that will automatically break and accelerate you at an appropriate distance to the car in front of you, up to a maximum speed you set. Regular cruise control is fine driving on open highways with little traffic, but somewhat dangerous if you are an easily distracted driver.

You're right. It's not a flex. It's a disagreement regarding the importance of ACC and "rear-breaking."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:100% OP. In fact even higher income household are paying an absurd amount of money as a percentage of their fake home income for transportation expenses if they have a car note.

And cars are not getting cheaper. They come with far more technology than we need and are incredibly complex.

My car has been at the dealer for 2 weeks now. Only 5000 miles. The car just stopped working. And these expensive cars aren't designed to last for years.

I hope you demanded a free rental from the dealership while they fix the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is an insane expense for a depreciating asset. That’s why I drove an old crappy corrolla. Try to keep costs low as possible. If you want wheels if you can manage to keep the annualized cost incl insurance to around 100/mo on average that’s a “good” deal. So if you want wheels - 100/mo minimum and that’s driving some old pos

And work to save for the next car, while you have no payment and are driving the car into the ground. Then your monthly payment on the next car will be much lower.

[Anonymous]

I was essentially forced to buy a new car last year when my 25 year old Toyota RAV4 finally died and my mechanic refused to put a new engine in it because he couldn’t warranty it for me.

I did try buying an older car in good shape, but it turned out not to be in good shape and I lost thousands doing repairs only to realize it was going to need thousands more in repairs very quickly and given the actual condition and mileage, my mechanic wanted me to jettison it rather than invest anymore in it and I trusted him because he always has taken good care of me (he would not have let me buy the car, but I stupidly didn’t let him see it before purchase because I was buying from a friend of friend and thought I could trust the representations of its condition).

Anyway because I’m rebuilding credit after major life upheaval a decade ago, I decided to buy my first ever brand new vehicle because after shopping around I was finding the same model gently used was only a couple grand cheaper. I got a Toyota Corolla hatchback which suits my single person dog copilot needs just fine, but was sick about how expensive a little car like that is these days. I do like the tech and it gets great gas mileage I’m glad I’m no longer driving AWD with all the increased costs - but I doubt I’ll get 25 years out of this vehicle no matter how excellently I care for it and I do. I hope I get 15 at least without major repair costs but we’ll see. I hope by that point in my life to have created a lifestyle where I can live without a vehicle and just rent one occasionally when I want to go on a trip. Just can’t make that work at this point in my still working full time in semi rural America life.

I can’t believe how much cars are these days, and insurance to boot. It’s a scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My perspective on cars has changed. I always thought that when I got older, I’d get an expensive luxury car. Now that I’m older, and can afford it, I no longer want that. I really just want a solid reliable car with maybe a little creature comfort (leather seats and warmers).

Leather seats, heated seats, and a heated steering wheel are all that matter to me now, too.

Adaptive cruise control and automatic front and rear-breaking are also important, though standard nowadays.

I've never used cruise control once in 30 years of driving.

Great...that's not a flex...adaptive cruise control is a safety feature that will automatically break and accelerate you at an appropriate distance to the car in front of you, up to a maximum speed you set. Regular cruise control is fine driving on open highways with little traffic, but somewhat dangerous if you are an easily distracted driver.

Why can’t you do this yourself? It’s basically giving you a reason to not pay attention.

Well you can, but in fact as Waymo has now proven in spades...the computer always pays attention and also isn't subject to human emotions and is far safer than human drivers. Hence, why it won't decide to tailgate or perhaps get distracted at the exact time the car in front of you decides to abruptly brake.

The computer will rely on sensors and other electronics, which can fail. This is why I prefer to not rely on those features.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My perspective on cars has changed. I always thought that when I got older, I’d get an expensive luxury car. Now that I’m older, and can afford it, I no longer want that. I really just want a solid reliable car with maybe a little creature comfort (leather seats and warmers).

Leather seats, heated seats, and a heated steering wheel are all that matter to me now, too.

Adaptive cruise control and automatic front and rear-breaking are also important, though standard nowadays.

I've never used cruise control once in 30 years of driving.

Great...that's not a flex...adaptive cruise control is a safety feature that will automatically break and accelerate you at an appropriate distance to the car in front of you, up to a maximum speed you set. Regular cruise control is fine driving on open highways with little traffic, but somewhat dangerous if you are an easily distracted driver.

Why can’t you do this yourself? It’s basically giving you a reason to not pay attention.

Well you can, but in fact as Waymo has now proven in spades...the computer always pays attention and also isn't subject to human emotions and is far safer than human drivers. Hence, why it won't decide to tailgate or perhaps get distracted at the exact time the car in front of you decides to abruptly brake.

The computer will rely on sensors and other electronics, which can fail. This is why I prefer to not rely on those features.

That's fine...but it's again proven to be less safe. I think you know that, but old habits.

[Anonymous]

I feel this way as well. We have a teen driver. What used to be a right of passage and no big deal, is now a huge financial undertaking. Insurance alone is exorbitant. Plus gas. I live in a HCOL area where there is a lot of driving and no public transportation. I hope my own car lasts a long time because I have zero interest in replacing it.

[Anonymous]

It’s not even worth it if you live in an urban area. It sucks though, because the cost of housing goes up in areas with high public transportation so everyone has to pick their poison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel this way as well. We have a teen driver. What used to be a right of passage and no big deal, is now a huge financial undertaking. Insurance alone is exorbitant. Plus gas. I live in a HCOL area where there is a lot of driving and no public transportation. I hope my own car lasts a long time because I have zero interest in replacing it.

It is weird. When I was a kid around the turn of the century, teens were able to pick up working cars for under $1K and insurance was very manageable. I feel like everything is becoming dystopian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm going through my finances and despite having a low car payment $210, when I add insurance, maintenance and all other costs as a percentage of my take home pay it's ridiculous.

If that is the case why can low income folks afford older used cars? Because they do and can. I think the issue is the car you are interested in.

How much do you think take used cars are costing them a month in terms of maintenance, gas, insurance etc? Those "low income" folks compare their take home pay to their transportation cost, and you will quickly realize car ownership is a luxury regardless of the car you buy. And those "low income" folks tend to have lower credit profiles. And I am sure you know the consequences that come with that.

Yeah -- not a lot if you buy a 5-7 thousand dollar car with very limited insurance and you can source repairs that are way cheaper either doing it yourself or cheaply. Works fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:100% OP. In fact even higher income household are paying an absurd amount of money as a percentage of their fake home income for transportation expenses if they have a car note.

And cars are not getting cheaper. They come with far more technology than we need and are incredibly complex.

My car has been at the dealer for 2 weeks now. Only 5000 miles. The car just stopped working. And these expensive cars aren't designed to last for years.

I hope you demanded a free rental from the dealership while they fix the issue.

PP here. Yes I have a free rental. They can't even tell me what's wrong. The last I heard is they are going back and forth with the manufacturer to figure it out. Yeah the car just won't start no electric nothing. I don't want to say the brand because they are actually taking care of it. The car already had couple of recalls.

[Anonymous]

Car are actually so bad for us. Walking and biking area healthier. Metro and bus are better for our observational and social minds.

Cars are financially ruinous and terrible for the planet.

We drive 1x week to get groceries and 1X week to pick up kid (we carpool with other parents).