Vehicle Sticker Shock

Some buyers are being priced out of new cars as the average price is $50K. Since your monthly payment should be no more than 10% of TAKE home pay, one should be netting $7700 (average monthly payment is $766). That's a annual net of $100K (how much would you have to make to net that??).

Moody suggested that manufacturers need to come up with ways of reducing prices, even going as far as saying maybe even de-contenting cars and providing lower quality interior materials in order to achieve the prices consumers want. Yeah, I wanna spend $40K on a car with cheap fabric and more plastic.

Wonder if anyone looked at how much government regulations is part of the reason for the price increases. Mandates for 50mpg cause manufacturers to make their cars lighter or totally revamping their engines to make them more fuel efficient. Useless required safety features like backup cameras or soon to be required like lane departure warnings, collision detection, automatic braking, etc. add big costs and complexity to vehicles (I travel alot so the first thing I do when I get into a rental car is deactivate all these annoying features).

I just bought a new vehicle, and it was 50k. The sales manager was pissed because I paid cash.
Apparently, financing is how they make their money.
I didn't pay seven hundred a month for my house mortgage. The features you talk about lowers insurance quite a bit. I traded a fourteen-year-old Mercedes SUV and my insurance was less on a new Honda Ridgeline than my old car.

Buy a Hyundai, the new owner feels so guilty they have to whisper the price in the other persons ear. I won’t be buying a new vehicle anytime soon, especially with my youngest daughter still in college.

I paid more for my Ram truck,then I paid for my first house.

The way I see it...Auto companies could move to open shop states....but the Unions will never allow it...
That is why only foreign auto companies are in open shop states...Years ago had a T-100 full-size P/U that gave the big 3 a run for their money...So that why I think they came up with monster trucks we see now..

It does no good paying off a car.

I have had 2 paid off clean cars totaled in the last 60 days from texting drivers.

They get a fine and maybe a raise in the premiums.

I now have to dump a lot of cash or payments

Can you say tariffs? Especially on steel.

Can you say tariffs? Especially on steel.

I think tariffs is mostly an excuuse.

scjohnny I bought a Honda 100% made in the USA.
No tariff. It's more American made than a Ford F 150

cars are expensive and junk, so many recalls, to many regulations , manufactures are pushing limits just to make mileage, and emission standards set by epa, which only is hurting the consumers.

On a side note...
heard that Endurance Auto Warranty Plans are a scam..

In June I bought a new 350 Ford Transit
A work truck 10 years ago I paid $46,000.00 for a M B Sprinter. In June I paid $68,000.00 for a 2025 Ford Transit. This is crazy to pay this much for a Van. And yes I paid cash and they did not like that either. They wanted 10% for a business load

There are lots of affordable and well equipped, nice cars out there.
I recently saved myself 30k buying a VW over a Lexus. It's the dealers greed and tactics. Took me two weeks to find a good dealership, I used the same dealer about a year ago. I'll keep buying from hem so long as they conduct business the same way. FWIW, bring home is $8800 and new payment is $800.17. Car was ~$48k out the door.

I picked up a 24 titan with 300 miles.
they were asking 42,000 for it and made a typo in advertising and I got it for 32,000.
they stood behind the mistake.

THE MAIN REASON CARS AND TRUCKS ARE SO EXPENSIVE IS THE EXCESSIVE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, CAFE STANDARDS, GAS MILAGE , EMISSIONS ECT. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR 20 YEARS OR MORE , SO DONT BLAME TARIFFS.
A LOADED FORD EXPLORER WAS 70,000 20 YEARS AGO.
BLAME THE LEFTIST VIOLENT DEMOCRATS AND THE GLOBAL WARMING, CLIMATE CHANGE , OZONE , SAVE THE WHALES, HUG A FUCKING TREE CROWED THAT MADE BILLIONS AND MADE YOU PAY FOR IT

"A LOADED FORD EXPLORER WAS 70,000 20 YEARS AGO."

Oh bullshit, like the rest of your posts.

Unless you just have top of the line, I paid $25,000 for a Buick Envista. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but its good dependable transportation. I had a Hyundai before my that grandson is now driving. So there is always options as long as you shop around.

I guess I just buy what I want…my SuperDuty costed what it costed and I still love it. Pills the boat I paid way 2 much for as well and yet I hae never regretted it. Not once. But I’ve planned for what I still stay in the 80/20 rule my grandad told me to stick to and only pay out 20% of what I earn to bills took me awhile to get here but I’m here.

In Mexico you can buy a new Toyota pickup truck, not allowed to be sold in the US for $10,000.
True it doesn’t have leather seats or a lot of bells and whistles.
It’s still a new truck!

Too bad we are not allowed to buy them.

Son and 2 Grandsons were T-boned today on the way to Lacrose practice. 2024 Suburban badly damaged son and grandsons all fine. Vehicle was ~$80k not sure they would be fine in a 2004 Suburban or that $10k Toyota in Mexico.
That said I have 296k on my 2012 Prius V.

Not Unions Not Tariffs Not rising materials cost….. it’s greed pure and simple….. Rich get richer and Poor get poorer

General Motors gross profit for the twelve months ending September 30, 2025 was $17.568B, a 243.88% decline year-over-year.
General Motors annual gross profit for 2024 was $23.405B, a 22.3% increase from 2023.
General Motors annual gross profit for 2023 was $19.138B, a 8.78% decline from 2022.
General Motors annual gross profit for 2022 was $20.981B, a 17.36% increase from 2021.

you couldnt give me a honda or a Hyundai. Both are ••••

I have plenty of automobiles. The newer the worse they are. People must like plastic and financial slavery to waste money on newer vehicles that are junk with bad engines and loads of recalls. I bought a new car once. Newer again. I won't pay interest on anything. You are better off to fix up a older 4x4 truck. 2 wheel drive or awd are useless vehicles anyway. I have several however I like my several 4x4 s more and can do more with them, the vette is nice but not very practical like a few other fast classics I have. Some people nowadays pay more for one new car that is junk than I paid for a fleet. The new engines are not good. So so many problems, just not dependable or good. It costs 5 to 20 grand to rebuild a older car. After you do it will be worth the price of a new truck but much better. Just don't buy anything after 06, really after 90.I would put my old 4x4 s up against the new ones any day in the remote. It is tested out here and the newer ones just don't perform or hold up. Don't buy new over regulated over priced junk. Send them middle finger. You vote with the wallet. They can fuck off instead of fucking you over.

new car sticker shock as well....so next best thing buy a car/truck 2-3 years old....low mileage you will save lots of $$$$.. dont get trapped into a loan as big as your mortgage....4 something on 4 wheels...maintenance is the key...good luck... keep the $$$ in your pockets

It is mainly tariffs. Steel now costs more. Components of American assembled vehicles are made in Canada and Mexico as well as USA. Hondas are made in both USA and Canada, but many components are made in either country. Same with other makers.

Amazing what people say, has absolutely zero to do with tariffs. The prices have been a crime for several years. This didn't happen overnight. They are over regulated and it costs more to make due to democrat bs climate hoax. And they like major profits. Chitcan the democrat union would be less as well. When are people going to realize we can't afford democrats anymore. They over regulated everything. Tariffs are new. Explain the higher costs the last 10 years before tariffs then.

Let me ask you...have you seen a newer car melt? There isn't much metal and certainly not grade a metal. Even with tariff, there isn't much to cost more.

Yes, dealers don't like cash. They want the kick back from the finance companies, We paid cash for our last 3 cars plus our motor home. We didn't tell them until the last minute so we could work on a better deal.
Katie

maturemale64 Maybe your opinion but it isn't backed up by facts. Don't know about Hyundai but Honda has a better reliability record than most American cars.
The good news is we all have choices.

baltasar Trumps been in office for nine months. The price of a new car has been crazy for the last several years. I know a Mason that paid 90k for a truck two years ago long before tariffs.
The problem is EPA regulations and safety standards.
Car lots are loaded with last year model cars because people are keeping their cars longer.
Model year 2025 cars we on the lots before tariffs so blaming it on Trump doesn't hold up.

What are you talking about?? Just keep putting more and more regulations and requirements, these companies that are making billions and billions will pay for them out of their profits right???

LOL, tariffs are very little of current vehicle sales price increases.

Car prices have been going up for years, there are so many contributing factors.

4 years of Biden inflation, Bidens fees on internal combustion engines etc.

GM's new contract with the union.

And it is so funny the double standard, Obama added like a 2k fee to pickups and SUVs that could not meet his ridiculous CAFE standards, none said a word, Trump taxes imported steel and aluminum and the media screams "Cars and pickups will go up 200 dollars!"

Also laughable is how people that have never owned a business focus on "record" sales and/or profits but fail to look at the net profit.

GM's gross and net profit by year

Year Gross Operating Pretax Net
Margin Margin Margin Margin

2023 11.14% 5.41% 6.05% 5.89%
2022 13.39% 6.58% 7.40% 6.34%
2021 14.08% 10.76% 10.01% 7.89%
2020 11.16% 7.29% 6.61% 5.25%
2019 10.18% 5.99% 5.42% 4.91%

6% actual profit is far from greedy.

And when you complain about GM's 18 billion dollar gross profit, you have to consider GM's $132.50 Billion dollar debt.

Plus GM has a 100 billion dollar retirement legacy costs as well.

And I will take a free Honda any day of the week, damn good cars.

We need to vote out any democrats. They are making everything over regulated and costing more and more. California is insane with regulated bs. Before Los Angeles moved in and got on city council homes where 15 grand now they are a million and more. They jacked up houses and so now people need more and the democrats unions want more but suddenly cut medical benefits off at retirement. Democrats don't want you to have cars.they don't want you to have private property. They regulated and tax everything to much as they steal the money for their raises and benefits and are nothing but professional embezzlement criminals. Vote out democrats and prices of everything will go down. Doge is beautiful thing as well.

in my entire driving career I have NEVER had a new car. Depreciation and Taxes and Insurance.

I use the difference to buy the used cars I want. Maybe a bit of deferred gratification...

I still like the rocketships but kinda get tired now of folding myself into a cockpit....

Trying to figure out my next one ... safety, and some comfort things....

any ideas?

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