Average Vehicle Price June 2022 = $45844
- Thread starter SubLGT
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slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
One way or another our free market economy will correct this issue. Personally, I've got the itch for a new car but with today's prices being what they are - no way. We have the financial resources but I choose not to even look.
Even in this time of inflation the public has far more purchasing power than they realize. If it's not essential don't buy it.
Scott
Even in this time of inflation the public has far more purchasing power than they realize. If it's not essential don't buy it.
Scott
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That's pretty much my approach to finances these days. When I was younger, I would get myself into expensive car loans and trade in every couple/few years. The bank and dealership wins every time; if only I could get that money back. These days I maintain what I own and shrug off the itch to upgrade until it becomes necessary.
I believe interest rates and inflation is going to suck the life right out of expensive vehicle and home purchases for those folks just hanging on financially, which I imagine there are a LOT of them. I'm certainly feeling the squeeze in day to day expenses like food/groceries, fuel, car insurance-- everything is going up at a breakneck pace.
Better make the cars I have last and last...
D
Deleted member 89374
Unfortunately, it won't.
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
It will if we truly have a free market economy. But whether or not we have a free market economy is debatable.
If people simply wouldn't use debt for non-essential purposes things would be very different. Of course mortgages are required for a home purchase. But what do people do next? They take out home equity loans because their home value has increased - and home equity loans are often times used for non-essential items - like new cars. People don't have equity until they sell and have cash in the bank. Home equity is nothing more than a way to bait people into even deeper debt. Until you sell, home equity is a mirage.
Scott
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The current prices are the market. Of course the market will change as the supply demand curve fluctuates and people's lifestyle choices change.
The biggest influencer right now is the broken supply chain.
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
Yep, I agree. But the consumer still has power. The consumer can buy a $60K F-150 or buy a $45K Ranger. Or they can buy a Honda Accord instead of a C-class MB. The consumer has more choices and buying power than they realize.
Scott
How do I impress the neighbors and friends with a Honda Accord? A Mercedes will make me appear cool.
D
Deleted member 89374
I can't see anything good coming out of debating this subject matter here. As things are out of our control, a discussion like this is a slippery slope, and I feel this isn't the right place to have it. It's a lubrication forum, after all. Sorry, I'll stay out of it from now on.
I wonder how much of this increase is due to the fact that manufacturers have only been shipping the high end, fully optioned models because of the chip shortage. If there are no base models available it skews the numbers. Also with interest rate increases home prices will decrease and people wont be able to get home equity loans because there just wont be equity there which will start to put downward pressure on the car market too.
100% agree. Price affects choices at all market conditions. I am not currently in the new car market, but my understanding is discounting on a Honda Accord is pretty minimal right now as compared to 2 years ago.
Market forces need to flow to supply chain issues. In the mean time, we the consumer are taking it in the shorts!
The supply chain cannot serve the available market demand, which is still strong and will likely remain so as long as people have money.
Gosh, dealerships areound here are looking pretty slim.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
RK,
If BITOG remained exclusively a lubrication forum, it likely would not have much traffic. Once the traffic dies, the postings die. I can point you to dozens of really good forums with a really good subject, that are stagnate or died off. One was pontiacbonnevilleclub dot com. Awesome members, no advertising, outstanding moderation. But the Bonneville (and Pontiac) are gone and not enough new stuff to talk about for the forum members. Now that forum is a repository for researching Bonneville issues, but not active enough to get SMEs to visit the board regularly to respond to questions.
BITOG started as a lubrication forum, but IMHO it is a master mind group of people who like vehicles and often are people who can DIY stuff and think independently.
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Good point; of course this is true; that's just good business. I was at a local Lexus dealer and the GM told me Lexus is focusing on the RX as it is their bread and butter. Why consume scarce resources on less profitable product lines?
Pretty much all they had were RX and ES. Every RX sale was a presale; they were basically at zero RX inventory.
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
Again,Some of us don't wish to drive used cars or beaters. My current car loan is 2.9%. My credit is so good I bought the car in Utah and a credit union in California happily financed it.
That's cool and all. But I think he's referring to people rolling over mortgage debt (home equity loan / cash out) to but a new car they don't really need, which keeps people in a debt cycle. IMO the reason to finance a home is to pay it off eventually, but a lot of people use it as a cash cow, and our economy (especially new car sales) depends on that. Watch what happens to the new car market now that mortgage interest rates have topped 5-6% and refinances start to dry up. And we're nowhere near the peak IMO, and the government knows it-- that's why recession indicator flags are flying nice and high.
Our economy in this country is like a giant game of Jenga. 70% of it is based on consumption / consumer spending. You take a couple of the blocks out in the right places, like easy access to money, and a whole section of the population that's been scraping by is now indebted and their ability to consume and spend is greatly diminished.
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