Anonymous wrote:That's what a new car costs. A $45-50K car isn't a luxury vehicle like it was in the past. Used car prices have escalated as well.

No, cars are more expensive but I can get a new Honda CRV for ~$32K. Perfectly fine car for majority of Americans (unless you have more than 3 kids and that's a whole different story if you cannot afford to have them). I can get a Honda Accord/Toyota Camry for similar. So you do NOT need to spend $45K on a new vehicle, you simply don't

When comparing prices of new or slightly used cars versus very used cars, keep in mind the Vimes Boots Theory:

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car is table stakes to be able to get a job and survive. The vast majority of Americans would prefer not to shell $45k on a car or $200k on college. They are captive to the system.

So drive a $23k Honda Civic, genius.

All I hear are excuses. Gotta keep up with those Joneses now don't ya? Can't have a simple car to go from point A to point B like a civic. You just gotta have the leather seats, infotainment center, sun roof, upgraded rims, and driver assist options before you pay your student loans, right?

You haven't been car shopping lately, have you? I just bought a Honda Civic EXL hatchback and it was $33k. Not the cheapest model available, but it's not the most expensive and definitely doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I think the cheapest I could have paid was probably $28k. For a Civic.

We considered a prius (I was replacing a 2004 prius) but Toyota was charging a $10k market adjustment so it would have been closer to $40k.

Because buying the EXL hatchback was required.

You could have also bought a Kia or Hyundai instead. More excuses for terrible personal choices.

Are you actually saying that buying a cheap Honda was a terrible personal choice? Weird. My other option was an Hyundai Ioniq 5 but didn't need to spend $50k since I work from home and don't drive much. Tesla was also in consideration but I just couldn't do it because I hate Elon Musk so much.

We have a "car fund" and were ready to pay whatever we needed in cash. So your disdain and judgement is completely misplaced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car is table stakes to be able to get a job and survive. The vast majority of Americans would prefer not to shell $45k on a car or $200k on college. They are captive to the system.

So drive a $23k Honda Civic, genius.

All I hear are excuses. Gotta keep up with those Joneses now don't ya? Can't have a simple car to go from point A to point B like a civic. You just gotta have the leather seats, infotainment center, sun roof, upgraded rims, and driver assist options before you pay your student loans, right?

You haven't been car shopping lately, have you? I just bought a Honda Civic EXL hatchback and it was $33k. Not the cheapest model available, but it's not the most expensive and definitely doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I think the cheapest I could have paid was probably $28k. For a Civic.

We considered a prius (I was replacing a 2004 prius) but Toyota was charging a $10k market adjustment so it would have been closer to $40k.

Because buying the EXL hatchback was required.

You could have also bought a Kia or Hyundai instead. More excuses for terrible personal choices.

You’ve chosen a weird hill to die on. Anyway, the Money and Finance forum may be a better spot for you to carry on your whining.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The next time the CEO from GM calls me to discuss pricing, I will be sure to bring this up.

Prior to that, make better personal consumption decisions before whining about student loans.

I don't have a student loan. What a weird segue.

Speak for yourself, OP. Lots of us are driving non luxury used cars because housing and our kids college are so expensive.

We have a UMC income and only buy used cars. We keep them as long as possible. Current car is 12 years old. My relatives in Europe keep their cars 20+ years until they buy a new one.

None of us asked for cars to cost this much. I would prefer to walk to my job or be able to take public transportation. That's not feasible in my life right now. Even used cars skyrocketed in price after the pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car is table stakes to be able to get a job and survive. The vast majority of Americans would prefer not to shell $45k on a car or $200k on college. They are captive to the system.

So drive a $23k Honda Civic, genius.

All I hear are excuses. Gotta keep up with those Joneses now don't ya? Can't have a simple car to go from point A to point B like a civic. You just gotta have the leather seats, infotainment center, sun roof, upgraded rims, and driver assist options before you pay your student loans, right?

I dont think it’s very hard to understand. Many people are struggling and they dont certainly buy $45k cars (which i agree are not a necessity as there are cheaper cars like the one i drive). There are tens of millions or people with jobs (sometimes multiple jobs) that barely pay their living costs and they rightfully complain. They need the car to work, can buy cheap old used cars but they break down and repairs are $$$$. Less expensive new cars or gently used cars still cost a ton when you add rent/mortgage costs, childcare, food and healthcare costs. People who whine and pay $45k for a car are upper middle class people who stretch themselves, and this is totally another issue. Lots of working people dont even make $45k year, their issue is not that the new Tesla at $50k is hard to get

Im pretty amazed at the carbon footprint of many families in this area. Massive. Probably feel better about themselves though because their new "cute-ute" is a hybrid.

Anonymous wrote:The next time the CEO from GM calls me to discuss pricing, I will be sure to bring this up.

Prior to that, make better personal consumption decisions before whining about student loans.

The next time the CEO from GM calls me to discuss pricing, I will be sure to bring this up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car is table stakes to be able to get a job and survive. The vast majority of Americans would prefer not to shell $45k on a car or $200k on college. They are captive to the system.

So drive a $23k Honda Civic, genius.

All I hear are excuses. Gotta keep up with those Joneses now don't ya? Can't have a simple car to go from point A to point B like a civic. You just gotta have the leather seats, infotainment center, sun roof, upgraded rims, and driver assist options before you pay your student loans, right?

You haven't been car shopping lately, have you? I just bought a Honda Civic EXL hatchback and it was $33k. Not the cheapest model available, but it's not the most expensive and definitely doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I think the cheapest I could have paid was probably $28k. For a Civic.

We considered a prius (I was replacing a 2004 prius) but Toyota was charging a $10k market adjustment so it would have been closer to $40k.

Because buying the EXL hatchback was required.

You could have also bought a Kia or Hyundai instead. More excuses for terrible personal choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car is table stakes to be able to get a job and survive. The vast majority of Americans would prefer not to shell $45k on a car or $200k on college. They are captive to the system.

So drive a $23k Honda Civic, genius.

All I hear are excuses. Gotta keep up with those Joneses now don't ya? Can't have a simple car to go from point A to point B like a civic. You just gotta have the leather seats, infotainment center, sun roof, upgraded rims, and driver assist options before you pay your student loans, right?

You haven't been car shopping lately, have you? I just bought a Honda Civic EXL hatchback and it was $33k. Not the cheapest model available, but it's not the most expensive and definitely doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I think the cheapest I could have paid was probably $28k. For a Civic.

We considered a prius (I was replacing a 2004 prius) but Toyota was charging a $10k market adjustment so it would have been closer to $40k.

Newsflash: not everyone buys new cars. I haven’t bought a new car since 2011.