Study Shows That New Cars Are Too Expensive For The Majority Of Americans

The country is way over its head in debt and consumer income has not risen in years...a downward spiral in quality of life putting a new car low on the list of household priorities. Time for a change in Washington.

I believe *living* is too expensive for most Americans :-(

I note that many Americans are fearful of the word "socialism". To them, it's evil, like communism and fascism. Most Americans aren't aware that socialism already exists in The States: public libraries, some museums (e.g., The Smithsonian), fire departments, police departments, they're all socialist constructs where a product or service is provided to The People, and it is paid by The People in the form of taxes. *I* believe that's a good thing! Well done, America! <3

We also have some examples of socialism in The States that are totally f*cked up. For example, when the giga enterprises GM and Chrysler went bankrupt, the government provided them with billions of dollars in social assistance. The same thing happened in 2008 with the Financial Meltdown, in which the government provided billions of dollars to the biggest, and most favored failed financial institutions so they could resume doing bad business again. In both cases, The People of America paid for this, in the form of taxes, which pay only interest on the National Debt, and in the form of increased the National Debt, the amount that each US citizen owes, due to out-of-control government spending.

Yes, The United States of America DOES have some socialism, but it's serving Wall Street instead of Main Street. That's why so many Americans are having a tough go financially. And it's not due to irresponsible spending. It's due to not having the same opportunities as the wealthy. Ask college students who have $60,000 in debt and are working at Starbucks or as waiters at two jobs.

[Rant Mode: OFF]

I now return you to your regular discussion about cars.

Eye opening, and well said.

TheSteve

One forgets that our country is not a purely capitalistic society. That alone would favor the rich people. However - with the middle class and poor also able to vote - which they sometimes do - Our country is really far more "socialist" because of that fact. Since our government supposedly IS the people - as represented by their government - the government should be what the majority of the people want - since the majority of voters voted them in. Of course the problem with that is that the lower class you are - the less likely you are to vote. And since Money does talk - corruption takes hold. ANd the rich get richer. However - wanting things is much more a current thing - in the past your were taught to be happy with what you did have. Having a car - any car - was once something special - especially at a young age. WHen people got married when I was young - they stayed with one of the parents OR in a small apartment until they could save the downpayment for a duplex or small house(THose Levittown houses were really small). We used buses and trains to go to work - or sometimes we had car pooling. We even had Party Line Telephones.

Today - they don't get married young - and often nut until they already have the house they bought furnished - and it is now much larger a house than before. And that IS the expectation. I wonder how many of my granchildren would have put together a rusting old Chevy as their first car.

TomM: The belief that the power lies in the vote, and that one vote is as powerful as the next, is a myth. All we need to do is look to the well-organized and powerful lobbyists, founded and funded by wealthy Big Pharma or GMO Enterprises, and we see self-authored laws passed to promote and defend their interests, and which have far more influence on government than that the voting masses at large.

As Mark Twain once said, “If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”

And as much as I agree with your assessment of elevated expectations, I am not talking about the shrinking middle class that expects a couple flat screen TVs and game consoles in the same house and whose parents drive their kids everywhere. I speak of the many millions who struggle just to get by. They are invisible to the middle class and above, as well as the media. We don’t want to hear that we might not be America The Beautiful or The Land of Plenty, and the media sure doesn’t want to alienate its consumers by spotlighting that.

I stand firmly behind what I wrote. There are literally millions of our people who are having a seriously hard go financially, and it’s not due to any of The Seven Deadly Sins (I speak to the social morally-based condemnation of those in poverty as simply reaping what they’ve sown).

Steve,

In relation to this comment: "The belief that the power lies in the vote, and that one vote is as powerful as the next, is a myth".

Have you thought about asking all those Brits who voted recently?

Just sayin'

ATrain: In the case of a legally binding referendum, then each vote matters (though voters can be misled to influence voting).

With respect to elected politicians, that is an entirely different matter! Does any informed American actually believe that…

- Writing an “X” on a piece of paper once every four years has your views and concerns represented in government, and the government acts on that?

- The government (each elected politician) is NOT influenced by lobbyists (who do not in any way represent voters’ interests), or by wealthy campaign contributors.

- The Government (each elected politician) acts solely on the interests of their constituents (i.e., a vote during an election determines what a government will do for the next four years)

Hardly! This is why we have laws to protect gun manufacturers and nuclear generating stations from being sued in court, and why a farmer who has a GMO seed blown into his crop (and who is not licensed for that seed) is guilty of patent infringement, and why emission laws that were authored by the auto-industry become law and they require only an (easily manipulated) in-lab-only emission test while there are no laws governing real-world vehicle emissions.

If you believe The People run this country, think again. I’ll say it plainly: The power is in economics, and our economics are ruled/determined by a relatively small number of exceptionally wealthy (AKA powerful) families and enterprises. I believe the stat is that the top 5% of the population owns more than 80% of the country’s wealth. You can’t vote against that. This stuff exists and operates independently of votes.

People also buy way more car than they need because they "deserve" the "best" and that entitled mindset is catered to with 72 and 84 month loans.

A base Fusion SE is nearly as good as the top-of-the-line Fusion, but the latter is more than $10K higher in price without any substantive justification of the price.

MDarringer: I would revise your opening statement to "**SOME** people also buy way more car than they need..." Yes, some people do.

But if you spend much time with the folks in the lower classes, a lot more of them struggle with basics like putting food on the table (or paying hydro this month), and scraping together enough for bus fare. There is a chasm between the haves and the have nots.

@TheSteve, a lot of people over buy and sales people will tell you that.

People get emotional when purchasing a new car and that is precisely what not to do.

People ignore their financial limits and that is precisely what not to do.

People forget how to get up and walk away from a disadvantageous deal and that is precisely what not to do.

Sales people will also tell you that they usually do not have to "sell up" the more expensive model because customers are all too quick to do that on their own.

Like you, I earn my living and have no qualms buying myself something nice like my "voodoo" Mustang, but I routinely go bottom end on my company car when I would drive anything we sell.

Of course, overspending is a major issue.

Most consumers don't understand the "math" behind the loans they sign for. Dealership staff knows this & focuses on the monthly payment amount at the time of the sale - giving very little attention to loan term length & APR & credit ratings, etc.

And yes, there are the "gotta have it now" & "gotta have everything I want" consumers that will just pay whatever to be "satisfied". Sometimes people in this same group don't have the means to maintain their loan or just don't have good credit.

At the same time, there are a lot of people that want something nice but it doesn't have to be too expensive. These people are reasonable but may not have enough cash saved to plunk-down 20% on a new car loan OR don't have a new enough trade-in that will significantly add to their down payment...& that's the average consumer. And they will probably never be in the buying situation where they can put together cash + trade-in to bring down the cost of a new car to make a 4-yr loan reasonable for their budgets.

I think MDarringer is just trying to wake up SOME people to stop trying to buy expensive car and should just go buy Lincolns and TVRs instead. Oh, and Hellcats, too.

I don't know MDarringer, but I speculate his intention was to indicate that **some** folks get themselves into financial trouble through impulse buying, and/or a sense of entitlement (I've worked long and hard, so I deserve a reward like a nice car) without due regard to the financial consequences of their decisions. I believe some folks are in this boat. I also believe a great many Americans experience financial hardship while the top 5% of the population, who own 80% of the wealth, are immune to that reality.

@TheSteve Let's meet and you can drive an RMF-plated TVR Tuscan or Sagaris. I can arrange "willow".

I suspect the median new car price would be much lower than the average used in this analysis.

More need to learn "less is more" applies to vehicle purchases.