The lady bought a $51k Acura and the dude bought a $80k Ram.
These aren’t exactly “just trying to get by” vehicles. These are financially stupid people not wanting to work within their financial means for a vehicle. They wanted a too expensive for them “looks good so people don’t think I’m poor” vehicle and now are getting bit in the ass by it.
The article is making it out to be they are just trying to get by in life. Uh no.
If it was new I could understand, but that much for a used car is crazy. I’m guessing she had to buy when used car prices were almost the same as new, but I feel like that’s still a lot.
I’m not sure how it goes with tariffs, conversation rates and whatnot but in last I checked the low end cars in Europe started from way under 20k, Kia picanto for example is 18k
And that’s brand spanking new cars, that are always a bad deal. Few years older and you can drop half the price for basically still a new car
The US is almost devoid of subcompacts. Because when gas prices go down stupid people decide they don’t need them and buy bigger vehicles. And most companies have stopped making them or importing them.
Not justifying these people but there are legitimate reasons some people can’t buy the cheapest possible car, like family size and capacity needs.
I own a subcompact because we’re a family of 3 with a small to mid sized dog. We live in a very urban area so the smaller car is definitely a boon in most cases.
We also have access to decent to very good public transport and a relatively bike friendly area.
What’s crazy is that a mini van is so nice but so many people will go “eww” and demand a ln SUV.
So even if you need a big vehicle, a minivan is expensive, but not so much as the three row SUVs people will demand (and the SUV will get worse mileage).
I will grant that if you need to tow a lot, then an SUV becomes the viable option for decent size and towing capacity, but most folks don’t do that.
Yeah….the customers are the problem…not the tariffs, not the auto industries, not the financial industries, not the marketing practices of these companies.
Even people who’ve been doing relatively well have had their costs jacked up even more as we move from income taxes to tariffs. Wages in the bottom have remained stagnant. First time home ownership’s average age is 40. They’ve/We’ve all drank the materialist capitalist kool-aid and it’s hard to take back what control we do have.
That truck cost more than my bachelor’s degree and car combined… And Acura is just luxury Honda. Japanese automakers like to have luxury brands separate from the main one. Buying an Acura (Honda), Lexus (Toyota), or Infiniti (Nissan) should be assumed out of the question unless you can afford a BMW, Cadillac, or any other classic luxury car. And honestly pickups that you don’t need for work should be seen the same way, but moreso. And yeah even if it is for work like here it should be analyzed as a business expense not a nice car that’ll definitely actually make you money, no, you run the money like any other capital investment for heavy machinery, with a bit of extra leeway as it’s also your company car.
Seriously. Last September we had to replace our old 2007 Corolla that got totaled after someone drove out in front of us. We were the only owners of the 2007 Corolla. We owned it from new to dust. We shipped around a bunch, considering various new and used options. We eneded up buying…a brand new 2025 Corolla.
The cost of this vehicle? About $24k. We ran the numbers on it, and that’s actually less, adjusted for inflation, than we paid for the 2007 one.
Affordable cars still exist. You just have to be content with owning less car.
The lady bought a $51k Acura and the dude bought a $80k Ram.
These aren’t exactly “just trying to get by” vehicles. These are financially stupid people not wanting to work within their financial means for a vehicle. They wanted a too expensive for them “looks good so people don’t think I’m poor” vehicle and now are getting bit in the ass by it.
The article is making it out to be they are just trying to get by in life. Uh no.
In fairness 51k ain’t even luxury prices anymore. Low end cars start at 30k now.
It was $51k for a used car.
If it was new I could understand, but that much for a used car is crazy. I’m guessing she had to buy when used car prices were almost the same as new, but I feel like that’s still a lot.
I got my car when used car prices were up because I had no choice, so yeah there’s no excuse for that shit.
I’m not sure how it goes with tariffs, conversation rates and whatnot but in last I checked the low end cars in Europe started from way under 20k, Kia picanto for example is 18k
And that’s brand spanking new cars, that are always a bad deal. Few years older and you can drop half the price for basically still a new car
The US is almost devoid of subcompacts. Because when gas prices go down stupid people decide they don’t need them and buy bigger vehicles. And most companies have stopped making them or importing them.
We bought a new 2025 Corolla for $24k.
Impressive, was it toward the end of the month?
I don’t think so. That’s just the normal price for a basic new Corolla.
So it is, maybe my memory is when things were at their worst, if I inflated it even more.
And they burn $3-5K less gas, and cost less to insure. This is the 5 year math everyone should do but nah, people buy cars on childish impulses.
Not justifying these people but there are legitimate reasons some people can’t buy the cheapest possible car, like family size and capacity needs.
I own a subcompact because we’re a family of 3 with a small to mid sized dog. We live in a very urban area so the smaller car is definitely a boon in most cases.
We also have access to decent to very good public transport and a relatively bike friendly area.
Yeah it’s completely fair to buy a wagon or a minivan with a bigger family or other needs, I have a 13k Kia Ceed SW because of family and hobbies.
But light truck SUVs are not “family cars”, they’re thrice the size with similar or smaller cargo capacity
What’s crazy is that a mini van is so nice but so many people will go “eww” and demand a ln SUV.
So even if you need a big vehicle, a minivan is expensive, but not so much as the three row SUVs people will demand (and the SUV will get worse mileage).
I will grant that if you need to tow a lot, then an SUV becomes the viable option for decent size and towing capacity, but most folks don’t do that.
Bullshit. I raised three kids in a small car. No one needs a V8 pickup or SUV for an 8lb baby.
It’s just an excuse to consume.
It’s almost like that’s not what I said.
I bought a rebuild Subaru for $15k and have gotten almost 150k miles out of it in the past 5 years.
There’s no way I would buy a new vehicle unless I was significantly stable in my finances and made way more money.
I don’t understand why people who can barely afford them buy new vehicles when there are much cheaper used options.
Yeah….the customers are the problem…not the tariffs, not the auto industries, not the financial industries, not the marketing practices of these companies.
Even people who’ve been doing relatively well have had their costs jacked up even more as we move from income taxes to tariffs. Wages in the bottom have remained stagnant. First time home ownership’s average age is 40. They’ve/We’ve all drank the materialist capitalist kool-aid and it’s hard to take back what control we do have.
That truck cost more than my bachelor’s degree and car combined… And Acura is just luxury Honda. Japanese automakers like to have luxury brands separate from the main one. Buying an Acura (Honda), Lexus (Toyota), or Infiniti (Nissan) should be assumed out of the question unless you can afford a BMW, Cadillac, or any other classic luxury car. And honestly pickups that you don’t need for work should be seen the same way, but moreso. And yeah even if it is for work like here it should be analyzed as a business expense not a nice car that’ll definitely actually make you money, no, you run the money like any other capital investment for heavy machinery, with a bit of extra leeway as it’s also your company car.
Less that Japanese like to have luxury brands, more that the market here seems to demand it.
Cadillac is fancy Chevy. Audi is fancy VW, Genesis is fancy Hyundai, etc.
At least at one point I think Lexus wasn’t a thing in Japan, they just were Toyota models.
Pickup trucks seem to buck the trend, your fancy ass 100k truck needs to still be a “good ol F150”.
Seriously. Last September we had to replace our old 2007 Corolla that got totaled after someone drove out in front of us. We were the only owners of the 2007 Corolla. We owned it from new to dust. We shipped around a bunch, considering various new and used options. We eneded up buying…a brand new 2025 Corolla.
The cost of this vehicle? About $24k. We ran the numbers on it, and that’s actually less, adjusted for inflation, than we paid for the 2007 one.
Affordable cars still exist. You just have to be content with owning less car.
The gas bill on that RAM is at least $400/mo.
Poor people don’t know how to be poor. They think they can afford whatever banks will loan them.
But how else will strangers know that they are not poor?
Except how you look is almost everything in our society.