[qwerty1234]

I really can’t understand how cars got so expensive.

The truck I drive - which is only 6 years old - has gone up almost 50% since the last time I bought it - crazy, who wants to pay $40-$50K for a rapidly depreciating asset. I will keep mine a lot longer unless some sanity returns to the market.

[cuban leaf]

Pickups were never that expensive. But they were also a little more basic. I’d like to see a return to that. But to get that kind of truck I have to buy used.

[Dilbert San Diego]

That’s an increase of about 8% per year, in round numbers, since you bought the truck.

We would need a cost accounting, to see the breakdown of costs which make up the price of a car.

Have labor costs gone up? Prices of component parts which go into cars? Have pension and health insurance costs for employees risen? Rent for the car lots, costs of operations of car dealerships being passed on to consumers?

Have they marked up the sticker price but will be flexible on the price when you are in the salesman’s office?

[xp38]

Inflation and added regulations. All the safety and other features cost. The cheapest vehicles today have lots more tech and features than the most expensive did decades ago and the pace of change is quickening.

[Gen.Blather]

“I really can’t understand how cars got so expensive.”

The answer is called legacy costs. That’s all the medical and retirement costs of present and former workers amortized over each vehicle. This is why the value of the vehicle drops at least 33% the moment you drive it off the lot. That 33% is the legacy cost and is not involved in the vehicle’s content. Foreign manufacturers are at an advantage as they can afford more content for the same sales price due to the socialist nature of their home market.

[Data Miner]

Government mandates. Gotta meet stringent economy and emission standards. Chi ching. SUVs were practically invented by CAFE laws that carved out exemptions for them. Latest and greatest direct injection and variable valve timing, etc. don’t get you to the new CAFE targets. Stop-start gets a little further but gotta make the starter and oiling systems more robust. Still can’t get there though so now we have to add on many thousands of dollars worth of electric motors and batteries to supplement or replace the engine.

Then there are safety systems. Seat belts, airbags, ABS, traction control and stability control are all standard now. Now backup cameras are mandatory with giant dash screens in every car. New vehicles getting a whole suite of sensors and cameras to automatically brake when you follow too close, or buzz when you drift out of lane and enhance your vision at night but are building up to self driving capabilities. All that tech costs money.

Cars are engineered to last longer too. When I was a kid getting 100,000 miles was an achievement. Now we take it for granted that cars should never have a problem before then. I have a truck at 220k miles I expect to keep for years to come. My vehicles range from 11 to 27 years old and all run strong and reliable. That kind of quality engineering doesn’t come cheap (but it is worth every penny)

[SkyPilot]

crazy, who wants to pay $40-$50K for a rapidly depreciating asset.

People buy RVs, which are usually even more expensive, and depreciate more rapidly than cars and trucks.

And RV quality has taken a nose dive in the last 10 years. There are no national lemon laws, and very few states have lemon laws. The manufacturers know this, and have been pumping out units of horrible quality. The warranties are basically worthless, because your RV will simply sit at the dealer for months.

This video has been viewed over 625,000 times. Lehto is a lawer who specializes in vehicles and lemon laws.

Don't Buy An RV! - Lehto's Law Ep. 45