New Truck Prices

Yeah. That's just crazy to me.

 

cheap credit.. and ppl have to have a brand new vehicle every 4 years or so.
I'll take my paid for vehicles as ugly as they may be and invest that mortgage payment to keep them on the road.

 

Yes!
The thing that drives me nuts is when people (often relatives) that don't really have the money will go finance a new(er) vehicle when, say for instance, the trans goes out on on their paid for vehicle...they say no way I'm dumping $2500 into this thing...but I say, wait, if it still runs good and is in at least halfway decent shape, fix the trans and run it!
If you slow down and think about it a bit, when you buy a new vehicle here locally, we pay 6.5% tax...for a $40k vehicle that's $2600, just in tax...and that tax gets you nothing, and then you still have a ~$750/mo payment for the next 5 years (at least!)
I for one would rather pay cash for the transmission rebuild and just keep driving "ole trusty" (keeping the $750/mo in my bank account...and then I can pay cash for "ole trusty's" replacement...when that day comes...I personally will often just "keep my eyes open" for just the right deal to come along when replacing a vehicle...sometimes takes months to years...this method allows me to buy on MY terms)

 

Seems to me that a person needs to pretty much ignore their common sense before going to the new car dealership.....
On the other hand..... us super smart guys that are wise enough to see through the new car allure, depend on new car buyers switching off their brains and paying stupid high prices for the latest "status-symbol" to keep us supplied with good used vehicles......
So, if everyone was like us, I often wonder what I'd drive....... probably not going to be a problem though, because we seem to have an ample supply of folks sighing up for years of servitude to the "new car smell"....

 

Yes you are right.. you have to be over 50 to remember what inflation is last had it in early 80s

with the end of free money you will see house prices drop. First time home buyers and vehicle owners do not buy what they love buy what meets needs in payment bank says they can have!

Ford was shocked when they could not keep up with demand on 20k Maverick..

Personally like those 3 year old 35k miles vehicles for half or more off and drive them til they die!!

 

I may be totally FOS on this but...

I see the automakers making some poor decisions as of late concerning getting away from ICE powered vehicles and transitioning to EV's. I don't see where the general market (buyers) are ready for EV's en mass and neither is the general grid capable of charging them

Then I read about the dismal range of the EV pickup trucks like the Ford Lightning and I think to myself, might be a good 'soccer mom' truck but for actual work, not really and like their ICE counterparts all of them are super expensive as well.

Living up here in Michigan (60 miles south of Detroit) I always think back to the often used line of.. UAW (You Ain't Working) That is coming again I suspect. When supply exceeds demand, bad things happen and there are sure a lot of new vehicles sitting in various holding lots around metro Detroit presently, in Toledo as well around the Stellantis plant there. The automakers are blaming that on the 'chip' shortage but I'm not sure about that. I think it has more to do with the automakers pricing themselves out of the reach of the general public and the general public's lack of funds due to inflation.

Creative financing only goes so far, especially with something that depreciates over time.

Far as I'm concerned, there is no non commercial vehicle worth over 30 grand, no matter how fancy it is.

Trying my best to keep politics out of my comment, hope people appreciate that.

 

First time home buyers have been priced out of the market by inflated housing costs and increasing interest rates I own 3 rental properties and all of my renters were looking to buy their own homes but not now. One' they have to have 20% down which they don't have and two the interest rate and what they can afford to buy (yes they all work, both the men and the gals) has dropped from that 'palace' to a shack. The reality is, they cannot swing buying a pre owned home, let alone building a new one, which is good for me because they will live in my homes for a long time and pay me rent and mine (rents) aren't a cheap date either. They have all inquired at various time of buying the homes they rent from me but none are for sale and never will be while I'm alive anyway.

Far as the Ford Maverick truck is concerned, it's not worth 20 grand but despite that, Fords is having issues with it concerning drivetrains. It seems like a good deal compared to other pickup trucks but it's not. What it is, is a Chevy S10 pickup truck that costs 4 times as much.

 

No, you are right... I think we will a lot of quiet backpedaling when their plans aren't panning out...it's all just a bunch of virtue signalling anyways.

 

I never buy new vehicles, always off lease or one owner low mileage. I prefer off lease over one owner because I can extend the factory warranties in them (which I do)... Last buggy I bought I got at 50% percent of sticker with the balance of the factory warranty still on it and extended that an additional 4 years because of all the electronic stuff that can (and does) fail. Bought my wife a fully loaded Suburban LTZ from a private owner with 40K miles on it for about 30% of sticker. Wasn't all that keen on it but the wife is always right. Nice ride, gets lousy fuel mileage (18) but I'm not putting gas in it, she is. Today, it takes a C note to fill it.

 

Issue with that is, at the rate of inflation the buying power of that 750 is going backward faster than the piddly amount of interest you are getting.

 

I work with a fella who is always trying to impress. He's getting ready to trade his less than 6 month old hyundai santa fe in on a tacoma. Before the hyundai he had a full size quad cab dodge truck (maybe a 2020) that was paid for. It had a bunch of upgrades, very low miles. He said that he got a good deal when he traded it in, but he had to pay on the hyundai. What deal is that? Deal for the dealer. Same guy tells me has next to nothing for retirement.

 

Its gonna be worse than that one.

 

You say that now, but what about an EV??????

Ah ha! Now you'll change your views!!

 

It’s the current narrative! At least for another 21 days.

 

My ex BIL is like this. Almost 43 years old, still lives with mommy and daddy. Doesn't pay any rent. No wife, no kids. Always has to have the biggest, baddest, and latest truck.

 

You know what they say......

 

Well at 50 our parents late 70s are wanting to come stay with us!

 

I'll never buy a new vehicle again. I haven't since 2003. Yesterday a guy called me and offered me his silly 2006 pt cruiser for 200 bucks. Always garage kept, pristine shape. He just put new studs and brakes on it. New struts, radiator, wipers, battery, belt and had it serviced. I guess two days ago it started running rough so he panicked being 80 and called me to see if I'd take it for 200. I said sure. I brought it home and did the key dance. Just needed a ignition coil pack. Pain in the butt to get to, but I tore everything down to get to it and had it put back again in 3 hours. I put new plugs and wires on it while I was there, so I'm out less than 100 extra bucks to fix it. Well, plus my time which I figured at 65 an hour. Thing is in immaculate condition.

Never thought I'd ever ever ever own one of those ugly things, but for 600 bucks, I don't have to buy another similar 4 cylinder car for my daughter. Cheap insurance and 40 bucks to license. We waste too much money on some plastic junk cars.

 

Sounds to me like he has a manhood package issue..... Usually guys with the big lifted trucks have a deficiency down there.

Actually, that kind of sounds like Fetterneck in Pa. (look him up) I don't want to get spanked so I won't say anything more.

A little word to the wise on it... If it's an automatic, there is NO filler to add ATF and I don't believe you can check the level either at least not easily. There is a plug in the top of the tranny you have to remove to see the level and / or add atf.

They certainly are fugly but for the price who cares. Just don't go visiting friends in it...

 

Vehicle prices will drop somewhat soon I believe.
Thing that bushes up my tail is the fact I CANT buy a simple truck. A one ton flatbed 4x4 easy peasy, even a cab chassis would be fine. I'd love a stick, be happy with crank windows and ac. No rear cameras as i can use mirrors....... just a plain simple truck.