HOLY SHIT.
84 months!
We are going to continue to drive our 16 year old car and 8 year old car around for a while longer, I hope. I cannot imagine paying for a car for 7 years, damn.
They’re bundling and selling these loans off just like they did real estate up until 2008. When it all exploded in their faces.
If they’re offering 0% for 132 months, I’m doing it.
New cars cost what a house used to cost. 7 year loan is wild.
In the future instead of renting an apartment you will rent a parking space and P.O. Box so that you can sleep in your car. The laundromat and showers might be included or they might be pay per use.
you need an address to rent a PO box
My parents were crazy apocalypse preppers, the first 10 years of my life we lived in tents and vans, they had PO boxes the entire time. It’s not exactly nuclear-bunker level security.
Also, commenter above hypothesizing a new housing/living regime entirely which doesn’t seem that far off tbh.
From the USPS. But there are other places like the UPS Store that don’t have that restriction.
New cars are the house
Yeah, and pay hasn’t gone up for over 20 years
CEO pays have. Everyone else … not so much.
Well, some do.
Now, these alarming average new car prices aren’t indicative of pricing across body styles and brands; KBB data shows consumer choice was in no small part behind the increase, as the number of full-size trucks hit a five-year high through the end of 2025. U.S. buyers purchased over 233,000 full-size trucks in the fourth quarter of 2025, at an average price of $66,386. Similarly, the average EV sat around $58,034 through the end of 2025, further driving up the average new-vehicle transaction price.
A new Camry is $30k, half that.
It’s like every car salesman next to a military base spread to the whole country like an invasive species…
But only 1 retains it’s value. 10 years in and that car is worthless.
That’s longer than most US made cars last
Vehicle loans are the antichrist
Mortgages used to be 7 years, and car loans were unheard of on the gold standard. Cheap debt changed all this, and we chalked up the economic growth as a positive thing.
There’s a balance to be struck. Interest rates used to be 15 or more percent, that’s no good. Free or almost free debt is also no good.
No sympathy for modern car buyers. There are almost no limits on size. Things have gone way out of reasonable limits. We need to strike down vehicle size limits by a huge amount.
People buy new cars?
Sometimes they’re cheaper than used cars now. Covid really fucked with used car prices.
Used car? $3000
New car? Sell three children and keep a monthly payment plan.
Where are you finding a used car for $3000 that’s running?
South Mississippi. It’s not even hard yo. I got a 1995 GMC truck for you for like $400, it just needs new keys, a new battery, and maybe some gasoline.
Used cars in my area START at $10k. I think you’re bullshitting.
I guarantee you can go on Craigslist for your area right now and find cars that run for like $1k or less.
Probably all hoopdie ass shitboxes, but wait a couple months and keep an eye and you’ll find something that runs from the 2000s that’s not a total piece of shit for like $3k, with around 300-350k miles.
Are they great? No. Cheap as hell to insure? Yes. Cost the same price as 5 months of a car payment, and last for years with basic maintenance costs and worse gas mileage? Very likely yes.
Some people don’t have the time and money to drop $1,000 on a car that may not run for long and look for another car that’s more affordable.
I’m just saying it’s really expensive to be poor.
Last year, I paid around $5k for my car. It runs well, needs work (that I can do myself), but is overall in good shape. I could have gotten a better deal on it, had I had cash on hand.
Admittedly I live in a high cost of living area, but yeah most Americans arent going to have $5k on hand.
Can everyone quit giving me shit?
I got a 1995 GMC Sonoma for sale right now, only asking $400
Yeah it needs a little work, it needs a new battery and new key+ignition lock.
Fuck, where the fuck you people getting used vehicles for $10K?
People will quit giving you shit when you stop floundering around and wondering why people would buy a new car instead of a used car.
Not THAT many people live in bumfuck Mississippi where things are dirt cheap out of your backyard.
Where can you find a used car for $3k?
Craigslist. Local auction. Random crap for sale at the curb in neighborhoods.
Apparently not. Apparently they rent them, just like their homes.
I bought my current car new - over 20 years ago.
How many years did it take you to pay it off?
Buy a used car, it’s yours, no bills.
Not everyone has several thousands in cash to buy a used car outright. Most Americans don’t even have $1,000 in emergency savings.
Well, that’s no time to tale a loan for a new car.
And I grew up on a junkyard. Nobody ever signed up for a payment plan, they just paid straight cash.
Have you seen the prices of used cars these days? Who has that kind of money in cash and isn’t in the financial position to buy new?
I’m literally trying to hock off a 1995 GMC Sonoma for $400 right now. Nobody seems to want it.
New battery and new keys and it should run just fine.
Yeah…it’s a 1995 and who knows how long it will last on the road before falling apart.
Just because you have a single used car you’re trying to sell for cheap doesn’t make the entirety of used cars suddenly more affordable.
Got me beat 2008 bought new (Toyota Tundra) still love it. It was the first new car I ever bought and it has been great. Also been nice not having a payment since 2011!
2008? Information for your vehicle should be available in Operation CHARM manuals actually…
Wow, I never run across that !
I’m nursing a 23 year old VW along. 1.8T 5mt Jetta; it’s still fun to drive, though I really do need to go through it when I have time and replace all the ancient rubber components. But it still runs fine. Fantastic city car too, because it’s easy to park because it’s so small, and old enough that I don’t really care if someone bumps into it a little bit.
You need to have the tapered oil plug re-drilled and replaced.
Please trust me on this advice, as VW totally fucked up when they designed tapered oil plugs.
What stop don’t.
-Willy Wonka
Lots of used cars on sfbay.craigslist.org. Some surprisingly low prices. No idea about mechanical condition though.
That is a little surprising. Craigslist straight died here after they started charging for car ads. Used to be all kinds of interesting things and decent deals.
Huh. I thought marketplace killed it
Not till Craigslist started charging for car ads. Still a decent amount of other stuff there, and I and a lot of people refuse to use Meta products like Facebook.
Guys, just lease the damn car.
Or buy used and stop contributing to that disposable bullshit industry
Sorry for the downvotes but I do the same and in my situation it makes the most financial sense. I compared buying to leasing and it’s more expensive for me to buy the car I want.
You will rent everything, own nothing. And you will love it.
