American Consumers Have Had It With High Car Prices

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

For years it has seemed no sticker price was too high for American car buyers. Even as average new car prices approached $50,000 this year, dealers fretted more over depleted inventories than losing customers to sticker shock.

Those days are coming to an end.

Increasingly stretched consumers are starting to draw the line on what they will pay for a new car, according to dealers, analysts and industry data.

-snip-

“People are asking, ‘How can I afford this?’” said Robert Peltier, who owns dealerships in East Texas. He said traffic, while still solid, has slowed at his dealerships and more customers are gravitating toward less-costly cars such as the pint-size Chevrolet Trax. “There are people who are in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/american-consumers-have-had-it-with-high-car-prices/ar-AA1RrZab

[Wounded Bear]

1. People are putting off buying a new car, keeping their current cars running longer...

[NCDem47]

20. Most modern cars...

Can easily go 8-10 years if properly maintained. Helps too if it’s paid off. I think for the time being, drivers getting new cars every 3-4 years might be waning.

[newdeal2]

2. Pay more for cheaper quality

No thanks. Thankfully there is public transportation available to me.

[kimbutgar]

3. My sister in law who works for Toyota dealership on Phoenix

said the sales of cars at her dealership has not decreased. But she is known to get her facts wrong and she's a maga.

[Greg_In_SF]

18. Toyota's third quarter sales

are up 16% above 2024.

[Conjuay]

4. the mini-pickup was a great vehicle, but there wasn't enough of a profit margin for the greedy manufacturers.

[NickB79]

19. The Ford Maverick is flying off the lots

It's the smallest new pickup you can buy and starts under $30K with a 40 mpg hybrid engine. I absolutely love mine.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Maybe they should stop buying gigantic trucks and SUVs.

Bring back compact cars!

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I don't know. Inventory of good used cars is scarce too

because every good mechanic is adept at repairing them for resale because of the incentive of higher prices with scarcity.

[AZJonnie]

7. Wouldn't more people fixing older cars result in more used inventory as opposed to less?

I'm confused

[erronis]

16. Not if by fixing our old cars we keep them rather then reselling.

If I can keep my 11yo Subaru running another 5-10 years (that's when my personal warranty runs out), then it's not going into the used car pool.

Also, most new cars are made based on near-term demand; unlike in the olden days when Oldsmobile (for example) would make x,000 new models for the new year. Now they wait to see the demand and ship to the lots with a few weeks delay. Of course trump disrupts all this with his stupid trade shit.

[flvegan]

8. American consumers have also had it with bullshit dealerships.

Not all dealerships, mind you. I'm currently in the market for a new vehicle and admit it's a great time to be a car guy based on what's offered for choice. However...

The new car "deals" they advertise are never realistic. 0% financing sounds great, until it's only for 36 months for a $50k car. Do the math. Or, they have one car on the lot that matches the offer. It doesn't have a single option, and it's currently "in service" and can't be seen. The fantastic sounding lease deals, usually aren't. Oh, and be sure to actually READ your sales contract. New or used, some dealerships add "mandatory" upgrades like window etching, door edge protection, paint protection/ceramic coating, "warranty" or "service plans" and all sorts of random document and dealer fees. These can add into the thousands.

Oh, and if you think you're going in there without them running your credit "just to check" or "to make sure you're a real person" good luck.

Vultures.

[NCDem47]

21. Don't even get me started on "market adjustments"

When the sticker price isn’t the selling price, that annoys me to no end. Dealers jack up the price because demand in the local market is high. Well, if it’s so high, why do you have five here on the lot?

[lastlib]

9. If I'm going to pay more than $50,000 for something.....

...I want it to have at least two bedrooms and a basement.

[maxrandb]

10. Even if every billionaire in America bought 20 cars

It wouldn't be enough to sustain the auto industry.

This is Returdlican "trickle down" economics at its "finest".

The average Joe can't pay $70K for a pick-up truck...and to billionaires, a Senator or Governor is a cheaper, more "rewarding" investment.

My dad used to tell me about the Roaring Twenties. Same shit - different century.

[Emile]

11. Predatory Capitalism is alive and well. My Medicare supplement

went up over 30%, and the CEO is making 31 million a year. That's approximately 615 thousand dollars a WEEK.

[Tree Lady]

12. My daughter top manager of large Honda dealership

In Bay Area just had to lay people off because it's been so slow for a long time pretty much starting after Trump became president. So it's been going on for awhile. She has worked there 23 yrs so knows what sales are like and this has been one of the lowest times for new cars , selling more used cars.

She hates laying anyone off and put off as long as she could warned people way ahead of time if they wanted to look for another job.

[mcar]

13. We just bought our first car in 10 years

Got a 2025 Kia Niro, a hybrid crossover. We did lots of research and used Costco's car buying program. Also told the salesguy that we wouldn't consider it if we didn't get a really good finance offer. We love the car - and we hang onto our vehicles until they give up the ghost so we knew it was time.

I think we got a good deal. The finance guy was telling us that Ford and Dodge pickup trucks can run $100,000 and that dealerships are offering 10 year loans. This is our fourth Kia.

[Deep State Witch]

14. We've Been Interested in a Hybrid

Because we're doing a lot of local driving and would prefer not to be burning as much gas. But we're keeping our current SUV until 100K miles or Taco Tits gets out of office.

[Buddyzbuddy]

15. I fail to understand why any mature person with

common sense would waste money on a new car.
I say mature person because I understand why so many young people are compelled to buy their first new car. But once you've experienced that first burn, you learn, fire hot, don't touch.

[Emile]

17. and they are making them with less labor than ever before.

[hunter]

22. Maybe we can start turning our cities into attractive affordable places where car ownership is unnecessary.

If you've ever owned a car that breaks down and you can't afford to fix it, but you need a car to drive to work and shop for necessities, you realize immediately that the so-called "freedoms" of our automobile culture are a complete sham.

Personally I resent the fact that I am forced to own a car in this society to be considered a fully functional adult. We are slaves.

The only thing that makes car ownership tolerable to me is that I've usually been able to afford and operate them, and I'm a pretty good mechanic who's perfectly content driving twenty year old cars that I got cheap.

I bought a new car once, about forty years when I was still young and foolish, but I'll never do that again. The car was approaching twenty years old when my children learned how to drive in it. Their friends learned how to drive cars with manual transmissions in it.

When my kids left home and could afford their own cars I gave it away to make room in our driveway for my next old car.