WaPo -- New cars out of reach for many

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a little aggravated by this article (or at least the headline). Yes, a new car was part of the American "dream" -- but by definition that meant it was always out of reach for many. I remember the first time my parents bought a new car (in the 1970s) and how thrilled they were -- they were almost 50 and had decent jobs. People in the 1960s, and 70s bought used cars and fixed them up or made do. Then everything got exported to cheaper countries, and financing became ridiculously cheap, and all of a sudden you had new cars become the norm for teenagers and 20-somethings. Unfortunately, during that time period, people became really snotty about cars, so now it's considered failing not to have a nice new car. I recall in the 70s, it was not uncommon for someone to have a car up on blocks in their driveway, even in a middle class neighborhood. Now that's the kind of thing that would have you on the HOA list.
I'm 50, so I guess that's old to some people, but I have a recurring pet peeve that people seem to not realize that the consumer opulence of the past several decades was an anomaly and probably due for a course correction.

(And none of this takes away from the fact that the depression of American wages for the working and middle class over the past several decades is an awful thing for our country. But the two are rather connected -- we exported good manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries in order to get cheap consumer goods, but in the process hollowed out our working/middle class.)

You're ignoring regional influence. One of my siblings lived in the rust belt for decades and when spouse and I moved to this area my sibling was stunned by the number of new shiny expensive cars here. It looks very different if you drive around different areas of the country. Where my mom lives, you still see mostly American modest cars.

It always amazes me the sheer ignorance of the typical affluent urban poster on this site. We have a house in the mountains and NOBDODY and I mean NOBODY buys new cars. This “travesty” of shiny new cars that is unaffordable is a symptom of affluenza. My in-laws live in South Carolina in a fixed income and my FIL still drives the same car he bought the year DH and I got married in 2004. He simply works on it himself. He’s kept that running for minimal amounts of money.

The average DCUM poster is a caricature you’d expect read for fun about in the Onion.

Yeah this is just not a thing. I am from a small redneck town and of course your first car is a hand me down or used. My first car was a old chevy pickup. But the first thing anyone who get a good job (blue not white) does is buy a new pickup. Most people did buy new cars -- maybe keep them a long time, sure ---- but buy new.

This idea that you only have old cars is limited to the very underclass. The moment someone escapes -- Good ole boy makes some coin or gets credit -- new pickup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a little aggravated by this article (or at least the headline). Yes, a new car was part of the American "dream" -- but by definition that meant it was always out of reach for many. I remember the first time my parents bought a new car (in the 1970s) and how thrilled they were -- they were almost 50 and had decent jobs. People in the 1960s, and 70s bought used cars and fixed them up or made do. Then everything got exported to cheaper countries, and financing became ridiculously cheap, and all of a sudden you had new cars become the norm for teenagers and 20-somethings. Unfortunately, during that time period, people became really snotty about cars, so now it's considered failing not to have a nice new car. I recall in the 70s, it was not uncommon for someone to have a car up on blocks in their driveway, even in a middle class neighborhood. Now that's the kind of thing that would have you on the HOA list.
I'm 50, so I guess that's old to some people, but I have a recurring pet peeve that people seem to not realize that the consumer opulence of the past several decades was an anomaly and probably due for a course correction.

(And none of this takes away from the fact that the depression of American wages for the working and middle class over the past several decades is an awful thing for our country. But the two are rather connected -- we exported good manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries in order to get cheap consumer goods, but in the process hollowed out our working/middle class.)

You're ignoring regional influence. One of my siblings lived in the rust belt for decades and when spouse and I moved to this area my sibling was stunned by the number of new shiny expensive cars here. It looks very different if you drive around different areas of the country. Where my mom lives, you still see mostly American modest cars.

It always amazes me the sheer ignorance of the typical affluent urban poster on this site. We have a house in the mountains and NOBDODY and I mean NOBODY buys new cars. This “travesty” of shiny new cars that is unaffordable is a symptom of affluenza. My in-laws live in South Carolina in a fixed income and my FIL still drives the same car he bought the year DH and I got married in 2004. He simply works on it himself. He’s kept that running for minimal amounts of money.

The average DCUM poster is a caricature you’d expect read for fun about in the Onion.

Old cars make a lot of sense when you can work on them yourselves. For the rest of us non-handy people they eventually become a money pit.

Well of course. People with affluenza never have to learn to use their hands. Necessity is the Mother of Invention a concept that is incredibly foreign.

[Anonymous]

But it’s stupid. A new car is just a status symbol. I’m holding on to my 2017 Subaru like it’s a 3% mortgage bc it basically is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it’s stupid. A new car is just a status symbol. I’m holding on to my 2017 Subaru like it’s a 3% mortgage bc it basically is.

And you think a 2017 is an 'old' car..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a little aggravated by this article (or at least the headline). Yes, a new car was part of the American "dream" -- but by definition that meant it was always out of reach for many. I remember the first time my parents bought a new car (in the 1970s) and how thrilled they were -- they were almost 50 and had decent jobs. People in the 1960s, and 70s bought used cars and fixed them up or made do. Then everything got exported to cheaper countries, and financing became ridiculously cheap, and all of a sudden you had new cars become the norm for teenagers and 20-somethings. Unfortunately, during that time period, people became really snotty about cars, so now it's considered failing not to have a nice new car. I recall in the 70s, it was not uncommon for someone to have a car up on blocks in their driveway, even in a middle class neighborhood. Now that's the kind of thing that would have you on the HOA list.
I'm 50, so I guess that's old to some people, but I have a recurring pet peeve that people seem to not realize that the consumer opulence of the past several decades was an anomaly and probably due for a course correction.

(And none of this takes away from the fact that the depression of American wages for the working and middle class over the past several decades is an awful thing for our country. But the two are rather connected -- we exported good manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries in order to get cheap consumer goods, but in the process hollowed out our working/middle class.)

You're ignoring regional influence. One of my siblings lived in the rust belt for decades and when spouse and I moved to this area my sibling was stunned by the number of new shiny expensive cars here. It looks very different if you drive around different areas of the country. Where my mom lives, you still see mostly American modest cars.

It always amazes me the sheer ignorance of the typical affluent urban poster on this site. We have a house in the mountains and NOBDODY and I mean NOBODY buys new cars. This “travesty” of shiny new cars that is unaffordable is a symptom of affluenza. My in-laws live in South Carolina in a fixed income and my FIL still drives the same car he bought the year DH and I got married in 2004. He simply works on it himself. He’s kept that running for minimal amounts of money.

The average DCUM poster is a caricature you’d expect read for fun about in the Onion.

Old cars make a lot of sense when you can work on them yourselves. For the rest of us non-handy people they eventually become a money pit.

Well of course. People with affluenza never have to learn to use their hands. Necessity is the Mother of Invention a concept that is incredibly foreign.

More like I was a girl and where I grew up girls weren't taught those things. Even if I were to learn (you offering classes?) now we have street parking so where would I do it?

[Anonymous]

A starter Toyota Corolla is $21,000. That's not THAT much more than my starter car that cost $14,000 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

This is not just a DC thing or an urban/coastal thing or even a rich person thing, you can find people everywhere who just want to drive new cars. We have friends who live in a tiny town in the rust belt and didn't go to college, and they buy a brand new SUV with all the bells and whistles ever 3-4 years, and then always have at least one other car, sometimes two. It's a huge expense but their housing is super cheap (they live in a 4 bedroom house that they have renovated and I think their mortgage is like $800/mo) and they have decent and steady jobs through local industry. They think we are very poor because we only have one car and we drive our cars for 10+ years before replacing. We probably make 6x what they make and have a lot more in retirement and college savings. We just do not value cars the same way they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But it’s stupid. A new car is just a status symbol. I’m holding on to my 2017 Subaru like it’s a 3% mortgage bc it basically is.

And you think a 2017 is an 'old' car..

Yup. My newest car is from 2008!

[Anonymous]

At some point, older cars are just not worth the inconvenience and hassle. You have to constantly make repairs, which means time off, and multiple hits to your bank account you cannot predict. Is it worth dumping $10k and all they time into say a $20-25k car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some point, older cars are just not worth the inconvenience and hassle. You have to constantly make repairs, which means time off, and multiple hits to your bank account you cannot predict. Is it worth dumping $10k and all they time into say a $20-25k car?

That's true, but many cars will last 15 years before they get to that point. And when they do, you can replace with a 1-2 year old car and drive that one for 15 years (or even a new car, since apparently used car prices are comparable to new these days). There's absolutely no need to upgrade your car every few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a little aggravated by this article (or at least the headline). Yes, a new car was part of the American "dream" -- but by definition that meant it was always out of reach for many. I remember the first time my parents bought a new car (in the 1970s) and how thrilled they were -- they were almost 50 and had decent jobs. People in the 1960s, and 70s bought used cars and fixed them up or made do. Then everything got exported to cheaper countries, and financing became ridiculously cheap, and all of a sudden you had new cars become the norm for teenagers and 20-somethings. Unfortunately, during that time period, people became really snotty about cars, so now it's considered failing not to have a nice new car. I recall in the 70s, it was not uncommon for someone to have a car up on blocks in their driveway, even in a middle class neighborhood. Now that's the kind of thing that would have you on the HOA list.
I'm 50, so I guess that's old to some people, but I have a recurring pet peeve that people seem to not realize that the consumer opulence of the past several decades was an anomaly and probably due for a course correction.

(And none of this takes away from the fact that the depression of American wages for the working and middle class over the past several decades is an awful thing for our country. But the two are rather connected -- we exported good manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries in order to get cheap consumer goods, but in the process hollowed out our working/middle class.)

You're ignoring regional influence. One of my siblings lived in the rust belt for decades and when spouse and I moved to this area my sibling was stunned by the number of new shiny expensive cars here. It looks very different if you drive around different areas of the country. Where my mom lives, you still see mostly American modest cars.

It always amazes me the sheer ignorance of the typical affluent urban poster on this site. We have a house in the mountains and NOBDODY and I mean NOBODY buys new cars. This “travesty” of shiny new cars that is unaffordable is a symptom of affluenza. My in-laws live in South Carolina in a fixed income and my FIL still drives the same car he bought the year DH and I got married in 2004. He simply works on it himself. He’s kept that running for minimal amounts of money.

The average DCUM poster is a caricature you’d expect read for fun about in the Onion.

Old cars make a lot of sense when you can work on them yourselves. For the rest of us non-handy people they eventually become a money pit.

Well of course. People with affluenza never have to learn to use their hands. Necessity is the Mother of Invention a concept that is incredibly foreign.

More like I was a girl and where I grew up girls weren't taught those things. Even if I were to learn (you offering classes?) now we have street parking so where would I do it?

Even if I offered classes you wouldn’t attend. One of the symptoms of your affluenza is you expect everything to come east in life. Lots of middle class people live in apartments. Despite your pity party, you aren’t special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But it’s stupid. A new car is just a status symbol. I’m holding on to my 2017 Subaru like it’s a 3% mortgage bc it basically is.

And you think a 2017 is an 'old' car..

It will be when I’m still driving it for free in 5-10 years.

[Anonymous]

Some car don’t depreciate that quickly or it’s hard to find good quality use ones. Unless I know the previous owner/car history I am hesitant to buy anything more than two years old used now.

For example People that buy Subarus tend to hang on to them for a long time. In the past their have typically been few good used options.

[Anonymous]

I bought 2-year old car which I drove 10 years, and then bought $30k car (2019) which I plan to drive for 15 years. Both are/were ca $150-$160 a month.The 10-year old started to have too many problems and I was hard on the tires. The small SUV takes even less gas, I've driven only 13k in 4 years because of pandemic and location. The new one may end up being the cheaper after all.
Right now it's not even the price of the new car, but the interest rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a little aggravated by this article (or at least the headline). Yes, a new car was part of the American "dream" -- but by definition that meant it was always out of reach for many. I remember the first time my parents bought a new car (in the 1970s) and how thrilled they were -- they were almost 50 and had decent jobs. People in the 1960s, and 70s bought used cars and fixed them up or made do. Then everything got exported to cheaper countries, and financing became ridiculously cheap, and all of a sudden you had new cars become the norm for teenagers and 20-somethings. Unfortunately, during that time period, people became really snotty about cars, so now it's considered failing not to have a nice new car. I recall in the 70s, it was not uncommon for someone to have a car up on blocks in their driveway, even in a middle class neighborhood. Now that's the kind of thing that would have you on the HOA list.
I'm 50, so I guess that's old to some people, but I have a recurring pet peeve that people seem to not realize that the consumer opulence of the past several decades was an anomaly and probably due for a course correction.

(And none of this takes away from the fact that the depression of American wages for the working and middle class over the past several decades is an awful thing for our country. But the two are rather connected -- we exported good manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries in order to get cheap consumer goods, but in the process hollowed out our working/middle class.)

Thanks for linking to the story