Automobiles is beyond comprehension ??? ???
They are OUT of sight and just a set of tires will put you in the poor house…
Crazy dayz.
Unintended consequences of “Cash For Clunkers.”
Used cars in particular. Cash for clunkers did that, but new cars actually can be surprising…Nissan is advertising a sedan for a base price of 10k. For the first time in my life I would give actually serious consideration to buying a new car.
Nic I read up about that car the “versa”. It comes with a smaller engine, standard transmission and NO airconditioning…
that is what you get for $9,990…BUT for a little more cash-ola…ahem…ahem…
Ten thousand is not too shabby of a price for a new something…if you can stand to shift gears manually and never goto
las vegas or phoenix or houston in the summer… ;D
Prices on used cars are up due to the manufacturers not having huge inventories of lease cars coming off of lease, and sending those to the used market at low prices.
The Japanese manufactures are still recovering from the earthquake and tsunami. Their imports to the US are way down, and the plants in the US are still short on some parts sourced from Japan which slows the production rate. People who want one of those brands are sometimes buying a low mileage used car of that brand rather than waiting for a new one.
Tires have a good amount of energy in the manufacturing process. You might be surprised at how much oil is used in tire compounds. We know that oil was way up in price for a while.
New cars are up due to many causes. The dometics have also figured out that if they make a better small car that costs more, it will sell better than a dismal small car that only has the low price going for it.
Jeff I understand what you are saying. My impression is that the ENTIRE structure
of a good portion of the cars for sale is shifted to the bizarre…they cost more than
I paid for my HOUSE…!
When I graduated from high-school in 1985 a new Dodge Ram went for less than 5k. Did not buy a brand new car until 2006. :-\ I bought a used 9 year old Ram with 40k miles for 5k last year.
I too think it is ridiculous that the average new vehicle can cost half as much as what my house is worth. The house at least has the potential of being an investment. An automobile in 99.9% of most cases is a losing proposition.
Worse come to worse there’s always a bicycle.
Have you seen the price of bicycles these days? 
I’ve bought 1 vehicle new in my life. A 4 cyl. Chevy S-10 p/u in 1988. $4k, $6k, can’t remember. Now I let someone else take the depreciation hits…
Haha I almost swooned when I laid down $600 for my Cannondale 600 mountain bike. Then again when I paid $1800 for a Cannondale Silk Road two years later. One could still find a nice used car for $1800 in 98.
Hey, I remember when candy bars were a nickel!
Most of the used cars around here disappeared when you could get more for them at the metal recyclers than what they were worth on the market. There was a time when a car was bringing ~$1000 at the scrap yard. Folks were buying cars out of yards for $600 - $900 and driving straight to the scrap yards with them. Old tractors too.
Most of the used car market around here is flooded with Katrina autos (pun intended).
I hope this movement goes VIRAL! Maybe someone in power somewhere will take pity…
(no I have not been drinking or smoking anything mind altering!)
I would buy a new car for $5k euge I really would…and it would be made in the USA
and it would keep ppl employed here on this side of the pond…that would be reasonable.
The great irony…
“Foreign” cars, Toyota, Honda, etc. are made in the USA by American workers, designed by American enginners, and “domestic” cars, Chevrolet, Ford, Chysler, are made in foreign countries.
I can believe that.
My 06 Rabbit Mk5 was made/assembled in Germany, and the engine was made in Brazil. I like it. A lot.
Foreign cars - Some are made in the US, some are not.
Domestic cars - Some are made in the US, some are not.
It is a global economy these days.
You might be surprised that the only small car made in the US is the Chevy Sonic, which went into production recently in Michigan.
American car companies - union workers
Foriegn car companies - non-union workers
notice the differences
If you are only thinking the US built vehicles, is this true.
Not always true for an imported vehicle.
IG Metall is the union in Germany. They are fairly powerful. IG Metall - Wikipedia
This is the union in Japan. Not as powerful. http://www.jaw.or.jp/e/
The US companies that have plants in Mexico are not union as far as I know.
The US companies that have plants in Canada are represented by the CAW.
I want my car built by union workers that smoke weed at lunch. ;D
And leave beer cans in the doors. ;D
Um, let’s not let this devolve into a union/non union thing. I happen to know a lot of union workers who do a great job and are very reasonable people.