When did new cars get do GD expensive?

Water Cooler
#1

I was at an event tonight and there was a Ford display. They had an Explorer with an MSRP of $55k, and an Expedition around $75-80k. Granted these were the limited/platinum levels. But WTF?!

Seriously, who would buy these? Both the equivilent the Lexus SUVs would be competitive, or even lower, at these price points. With the crap build quality of Fords? Even the door handles seemed to be a bit loose on these brand new vehicles.

I guess the MSRP is not relevant when buying on a lease or financing over 60 months…

#2

I don’t know…in general I feel cars are cheaper than what I expected when I was younger. Unless it is a super-premium trim package, as you point out, I find myself surprised at how much car can be had for $25-30k these days. Especially as at that price point, even the base-trim new cars come packed standard with gadgets and features that were only in the luxury models 10 years ago.

#3

Ever since people were cool with financing for 72 months :slight_smile: I switched countless people from 60 to 72 when I was in the business.

Also on those fords, they usually have a lot of manufacture incentive while the big luxury brands will have them smaller and less frequent.

#4

For the money, technology, and the looks, Teslas are not that expensive

#5

I bet the majority of people who drive these types of cars do it on a lease…so they can pretend to have that kind of cash

#6

Definitely. Buying/leasing a new car is a complete waste of money unless it’s going to appreciate or you have the money to burn.

It’s all for show…

I live in Toronto and there is traffic everywhere, but you see these people with m4s, 911s, mclarens, ferarris and what not…you can’t even enjoy the car to the full potential and if you do, you’re going to get destroyed when you get caught by the cops.

Never buy a depreciable asset

#7

and the answer is…leverage. you’re an idiot not to borrow 95% of the car price. look how low my payments can go, yay! let’s trade up!

#8

Let me add another point, service cost. My car is in the shop this week - fortunately they lent me a sweet loaner car - but it’s going to cost a few gs for labor and parts.

#9

^ you have an Audi, right? My dad was telling me that the back up sensors are not working on his SUV and it would be ~$500 just to replace the couple of those. He said why bother. The camera still works…

I guess that’s true. At the lower end of the market there is a lot more value to be had, but there is quite a lot of margin and inflation at the top end. I haven’t personally ever bought a new car. I feel like when it comes time to replace my current car it’ll be replaced by another late model, used boring midsize sedan.

#10

Those new Fords are luxury barges that are not comparable to cars from 15 years ago. Let’s compare say, a BMW 2 Series, that costs between $30k and $40k, to a 2000s car with similar performance, amenities, and comfort. All equal, the 2000s car is probably an M3 that costs twice as much after inflation. Look at the new Honda Civic - this car is the same quality as an Acura from 8 years ago, and maybe Audi from 15 years ago.

#11

Hedonic deflation, man! Gotta luvit!

#12

I’ve never heard that term before, but that’s great!

#13

I agree with DoW, cars are quite cheap these days with ridiculous amounts of features on low end models.