The ever constant rising cost

[tallfreak]

I've never bought a new car in my life. The only two new cars my dad ever bought were in 1965 to move the family from Toronto to Michigan, and in 1987 when he bought a Mustang GT convertible as a retirement present for himself.

However, IIRC that car was about $18k, fully loaded, and that was 28 years ago. According to inflation calculators, that's the equivalent of $37,000 today. Guess what a 2015 Mustang GT convertible costs? About $37,000. In other words, the car is exactly zero more expensive than it was 28 years ago, only it's 10x better car. Better built, better suspension, better brakes, ABS, stability control, far more safety built into it. We're in a golden age.

Some cars have maintained reasonable prices. I have the window sticker for a 95 Accord LX Sedan and it is $17,700, an equivalent Accord 20 years later has an MSRP of 22,800. The destination charge has doubled though, and that 95 was built in Japan.

I still have the original sales receipt for my '88 BMW 535is. $41,000. That was a fortune in 1988. That is equal to about $84,000 today. An equivalent 5 series today would be the 550i with M sport package. It starts at $65,000. Thats a damn good deal if you ask me. Its much faster, has many more comfort, convenience, and safety features.

One of my teachers in automotive school (an older retired man) used to love talking about the old farts at car shows saying "They don't build them like they used to". No, they build them so much better and the prices are still about the same.

We are living in a golden age of automotive technology. Sure I don't want to spend 50k on a truck, but probably will in the next few years.

 

[BladeX10]

I will never buy a new car. Its a complete waste of money to me. For a daily driver, I have no problem buying a 5 year old used reliable car that i can rely on for a few years and not lose my ass on. I currently have a 2006 Nissan Sentra that is now approaching 190k miles so i'm going to have to replace it soon. Thinking about getting an 07-10 Toyota Camry next and hope to get 200k miles out of that.

For my "toy" car, I wont even look at a payment on that. I would be 100% fine on having a 03/04 Terminator paid in cash. I'm just not a huge fan in new performance cars these days.