New Cars Too Pricey for Many

[sanantone]

I haven't been in the market for a car in a while, but I was shocked at how expensive new cars have gotten in the past five years. Unless one wants a sub-compact car or crossover, the cost of a vehicle from one of the reliable makes is close to $30k. Even though I could afford a $30k car, I'd rather not spend that much. I hate having high car payments. So, I'm waiting for year-end deals. Some of the cars I've been looking at have already been discounted by $9k. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/used-car-sa...1537700401

[Life Long Learning]

When the Obama Administration destroyed the small diesel fuel car/truck market in the USA we can't even buy engines that last 3x longer!

[sanantone]

I've never had a diesel vehicle. The most reliable car makers don't have many, if any, diesel models in their lineup.

I've never had any issues with my engines. Usually, it's the technology that starts falling apart and is expensive to fix. I'm afraid of getting the new vehicles, even the ones two years old, because they have so many electronics and computer-controlled stuff.

[dfrecore]

We don't generally buy new cars anymore, because they are just too expensive. I want something REALLY nice, so if I buy it used, I can get what I want for WAY less.

There's always stupid stuff that I don't need in cars. A nav system, really??? DVD Entertainment system? They need to get rid of stupid stuff like that and fix the prices, including unnecessary stuff is a good way to jack prices up. We all have phones that will do these things, they are no longer needed.

[sanantone]

I thought about buying a pre-owned vehicle. I'm still debating that. I've had several used cars, and you never know what you're getting.

I don't need the entertainment systems with the touch screens. I drove TDCJ vehicles with those and didn't see the need for them. All I need is an auxiliary jack to hook up my phone. I use the Google Maps app for navigation. The things I most care about are reliability and engine power. I don't need a V6, but I don't want a 1.5 L engine. I also don't want an ugly car, and most cars are ugly these days.

[burbuja0512]

We've looked at pre-owned cars, but the price difference over the life of the vehicle is not that great when you look at cars with high resale values.

Therefore, we've just decided to buy only Honda or Toyota because we know they'll last 10+ years. We buy new and suck it up and make car payments, but know that we'll own the car for many years after the payment is gone. Others may have better ideas for buying cars, but this works for us.

Our Honda mini-van is now going on 12 years and we just got a new Toyota Corolla and hope for the same lifespan.

[sanantone]

I'm surprised at how much Kias have improved. They seem to have surpassed Hyundai. Too bad their current grills are hideous.

[dfrecore]

I'm surprised at how much Kias have improved. They seem to have surpassed Hyundai. Too bad their current grills are hideous.

Kia's and Hyundai's are nice, and the 100,000 mi warranty is a nice bonus.

Buy a previous year model (or whenever they updated the grills) and you're good.

My requirement, even for my kids (my daughter now has a car, and my son will get one in a couple of years) is leather seats.  They play sports, so are sitting in the seats with stinky and/or dirty clothes.  With leather, there doesn't seem to be a problem.  With cloth, a couple of their friend's cars smell like locker rooms.  My husband has driven his truck for 11 years, to dozens of ultra marathons - he's been when sitting in there for hours on end on the way home from a race where he ran 100 miles, sometimes in the rain, many times is 100 degrees, and I can't tell you how dirty and disgusting he's been - and his car looks and smells great.  So we will stick with leather seats forever.

[bjcheung77]

Cars! Woo... that's the topic of the day... I upgraded my older Corolla a few years ago to another Corolla (2014).
They came out with the newer body style and I liked it, further to that, my older model was stolen...
I think people should stick to something they can afford and is in their price range/brand they want.
I would love the new 2018 Toyota Scion 86, but it's not practical enough for the family.

In regards to Kia/Hyundai, they're getting up the charts as their models look pretty good.
I wonder why Hyundai started selling their ownership/shares, they had 51% of Kia and now about 33% ownership.
Hyundai has that luxury line Genesis, the Kia counterpart I don't think has a luxury line.
Anyways, good cars overall and getting better...

[Life Long Learning]

I've never had a diesel vehicle. The most reliable car makers don't have many, if any, diesel models in their lineup.

I've never had any issues with my engines. Usually, it's the technology that starts falling apart and is expensive to fix. I'm afraid of getting the new vehicles, even the ones two years old, because they have so many electronics and computer-controlled stuff.

Gas engines do not last long compared to diesel.  I expect to own my vehicles for 20-years.  My government agency purchased 50 RV type FEMA emergency vehicles.  They went cheap and the gas engines are so bad they are replacing the whole fleet with guess what?   Small diesel engines are everywhere in Europe.  The US buys $13,000 diesel Ford Ranger trucks for the Afghan and Iraq police.  They are excellent and I used one for six months deployed.  My 2005 diesel Ram truck (bigger than I need) I can still sell for a lot of money.  Resell is excellent.  Mercedes Benz makes great diesel cars, but will not import to the USA anymore.  The most reliable car makers make diesel not junk gas engines.