What will poor people drive ?

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

Every car outside of some exotic collectibles eventually becomes a "throwaway" car. It is just a matter of time. Corolla probably has 200k, Taurus about 120k, Prius with the first battery probably about 150k, and if you put another battery on it maybe 250k. When they are not yet "disposable" their used market value reflects that. You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get. I'm sure Prius depreciation reflect that, but people save gas driving it while it depreciates and compensates for its loss in depreciation.

This is how a used 150k Camry is worth way more with a 4 cylinder engine than a V6 engine.

I could totally see a cylinder being more valuable than a 6. Same with Honda Accords. More efficient on fuel, at least they are supposed to be!

Rust is maybe the biggest threat to how long they last? Keep it washed after driving through salt? Is rust preventable?

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

So. It seems to me the powers that be have already made up their minds we are going to jump from ICE straight into plug in EVs.
Why are (what I see as an awesome choice) Hybrids not the big deal transition vehicle for society to go to? First. For me #1 even the hybrids are out of my price / comfort zone until I see a lot more out there and being proven as reliable as what we already have today. Todays modern ICE vehicles are so far advance than what was around just back in early 2000s. The current auto Industry has shown with proper incentives they CAN make a far more quality and efficient ICE car. We should continue pushing that envelope untl proven it is maxed out and done. But also working on Hybrids and EVs at same time. Problem seems like one type wants to kill its competition far in advance of having what the masses really needs or can afford or depend on.

Just what exactly do you think the repair costs on a 5 year old Mercedes will be? I bought mine at about 6 years old at about 1/3 of list price. I don't think I paid too much more than normal for repairs/maintenance although the big ticket items so far has been rims/tires and springs/struts. Although I don't think the springs/struts were that bad considering that I had to buy OEM springs and Bilstein struts. Spent close to 1k for that combo up front including OEM parts like the strut mounts, bumper stop and other OEM strut hardware. Just wanted new stuff, might have been able to reuse the old stuff but didn't want to get stuck in case I couldn't so bought all new stuff that I could have just returned instead. I think on any other car, oem springs/struts will run you at least $500-750 installed anyway. Also if you buy a 5 year Mercedes, you can always get a CPO one and you could get up to 3 years of coverage on a CPO warranty. And at about 7.5 years later, it's worth at least half of what I paid for it and I put on 75k on it. Of course the car markets aren't normal now, probably more like 1/3 of what I paid 7.5 years later in a normal market. As the old saying goes, it's not your father's Mercedes anymore, at least not when it comes to repairs. Have only had to go the dealer for warranty work and firmware updates.

what is the insurance like on the Mercedes? Do they gut you or does it seem like fair rates? Always wondered how that worked with really higher priced vehicles ..... even those Hummers come to mind now.

 

[Astro14]

That’s enough. This thread has started to go after individuals, stereotyped people and engaged in class politics. lock time.