Are We Witnessing The Demise Of The Affordable Car?

[WNCblueridge]

There's some security in the fact that I could easily ride my bicycle to work and run most errands in town on a bike. Since relocating to a new job I now drive 80+ miles round-trip to work. Needless to say, I rack up miles quick and longevity is a necessity for my vehicles. This couldl likely be the last truck I ever own (not by choice) and will get the a budget fuel saver n the future. But for now I keep the old Frontier & Ranger and drive them till thr wheels fall off. Then drive them some more

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[brroberts]

Good cars can be had for less than 30k. Maybe not fun cars, but certainly good ones. 2016 Corolla LE Plus $16,900 and I have changed oil, air filters, 2 sets of tires, a couple of alignments from our gravel roads, coolant once, brake fluid flush once, plugs once, and a tranny service. It has 135,000 miles, and literally, no issues.

My ‘21 Ranger XLT screw 2wd with locker, towing and a few adds was 27,300.

Now that Ranger is the most expensive car I ever bought. Second was a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport that was fun to drive when it ran, but was a pile of crap. I sunk thousands in it to keep it on the road, and junked it at 139,000. Needless to say, I’ll never buy another Subbie.
Some here put down Chevy’s, but my ‘98 C 2500 is still going great. It was $19,000.

 

[9zero1790]

So it is doable. I haven't really checked out car/EV prices in a while now mostly just trucks. I guess good is subjective but anything that isn't like one of those ugly Cubes. They look like a clown car. lol

are a clown car. in my mind cars like that are barely real. you know those cheapo hp printers that are cheaper brand new with the ink cartridges already in than replacing the empty ink from a decent printer that lasts? thats what those cars are lol. throw away recyclable transportation. sadly with the lifestyle the powers that be have put in action for us i likely could not even afford a silly throw away car now.

 

[9zero1790]

There's some security in the fact that I could easily ride my bicycle to work and run most errands in town on a bike. Since relocating to a new job I now drive 80+ miles round-trip to work. Needless to say, I rack up miles quick and longevity is a necessity for my vehicles. This couldl likely be the last truck I ever own (not by choice) and will get the a budget fuel saver n the future. But for now I keep the old Frontier & Ranger and drive them till thr wheels fall off. Then drive them some more

i feel like that is exactly what the gov wants. us pee ons to be on foot or bicycles or in the ev cars they see fit for us.

 

[RedlandRanger]

I agree completely.

We are very happy with our CX-5. It's my wife's daily and meets her needs We've had it for over 6 years now. But I couldn't drive it on the regular. It's okay off the line, but drop the hammer on the freeway and it's gonna be a bit.

Their transmission tuning makes it bearable. But 185 hp is not "more than enough" in my book.

You obviously have not driven any car from the 70s or early 80s...... 185 HP would be a muscle car in those days!

 

[D Fresh]

You obviously have not driven any car from the 70s or early 80s...... 185 HP would be a muscle car in those days!

I have. But I expect progress in 50 years, odd I know.

Again, our CX-5 is just fine for what it is. But nobody who's driven it would EVER say, it has "more than enough power."

 

[RedlandRanger]

I have. But I expect progress in 50 years, odd I know.

Again, our CX-5 is just fine for what it is. But nobody who's driven it would EVER say, it has "more than enough power."

I guess my point is it is all a matter of perspective. Under 100 HP was common back then and we somehow survived. Cars these days have WAY more power than they "need". Is it cool? Is it fun? Sure! I love the power of my Ranger - but It certainly is not NEEDED.

 

[D Fresh]

I guess my point is it is all a matter of perspective. Under 100 HP was common back then and we somehow survived. Cars these days have WAY more power than they "need". Is it cool? Is it fun? Sure! I love the power of my Ranger - but It certainly is not NEEDED.

For sure.

By that measure we should all be driving Zaporozhets-965s.

But where would the fun be in that?

 

[NoTacos]

To be fair, Justin Trudeau doesn't even own a functioning brain cell, and he certainly seems happy enough.

Crap. I am still pissed with Brian Mulroney and brining in the Goods and Service tax to replace the manufacturer’s tax back in the early 90’s. We ended up paying taxes on more things than less tax. At the end of the day it’s always the common folks who get screwed.

 

[Trigganometry]

You obviously have not driven any car from the 70s or early 80s...... 185 HP would be a muscle car in those days!

VW beetle 1970 was smokin 57 hp! ?

 

[Muffin1]

'Are We Witnessing The Demise Of The Affordable Car'?

Imo Yes, amongst other things too.

 

[FunInTheSun]

I know in many threads we've discussed the rising prices and how out of control they are. This article really shows how (in percentages) much they've gone up and the lack of affordable vehicles. There really isn't much (that's good) in the sub $30K range and the prices of vehicles over $60K have soared 163%.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20230228113/are-we-witnessing-the-demise-of-the-affordable-car-automobile-makers-have-all-but-abandoned-the-budget-market#:~:text=Sub-$25,000 cars made up almost 13% of new,for several years, left the market in 2022.

And we crushed and destroyed all the older vehicles a few years back. They would be filling the gap now, but...

 

[Mellow]

We have a NA 2.5L CX-5.

"More than enough" is a lie. That thing is a slug. It suffices for the wife, but anybody getting a CX-5 should definitely go turbo. It was not available when we bought ours or I would have.

Well, all of my driving is done close to sea level. I can see how living in Colorado you'd want more HP/TQ.. I always felt the cx-5 was adequate..

However, after having a Ranger.. I'm not sure I would come up with the same conclusion if test driving a NA version.. I'm sure I would have to get the turbo.

Just saying, there are affordable options. If you just need good dependable transportation and Mazda has done a great job w/cx-5 feeling luxury without the luxury price. But, it's not a rocket, not even the turbo version will be that.

 

[KJRR]

VW beetle 1970 was smokin 57 hp! ?

And more of those 57hp VWs are probably my next vehicle purchases. No more overpriced vehicles with too much power and options I don't need. As someone said earlier, a vehicle gets you from point a to point b. May as well do it in style with an old car that will have people pointing and talking. And they are easy to fix.
Airbags, antilock brakes, collision warning? Pffft, we die like men.

 

[Dgc333]

I just did a quick pursue of Edmunds and every non luxury manufacture has multiple models with a MSRP under $30k and a number of them have a model for under $20k. The issue is you will never see them on a dealers lot because no one will buy them. Virtually everyone wants all the bells and whistles in there vehicles. I am no different, my Lariat has every option that was available with a MSRP over $48k. A 2wd XL for $25k would have served me just fine but that was not what I wanted.

Before I retired I was always amazed by the number of high end vehicles in the parking lot at work. A very high percentage of these vehicles belonged to hourly production workers that did not earn enough to really afford them. The manufacturers offering ultra low mileage leases are the only way they could afford the monthly payment. Not sure what percentage actually could meet those low mileage constraints but dealers will keep rolling them over into a new lease.

IMHO, the demise of the affordable vehicle is just as much the fault of the consumer as it is the manufacturers and government.

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