Title: Least Affordable Motor Market In Modern History: Just 8% Of New Cars Cost Less Than $30,000 Source:
[None] URL Source:http://www.womensystems.com/2023/07 ... le-motor-market-in-modern.html Published:Jul 7, 2023 Author:Staff Post Date:2023-07-07 12:29:34 by Horse Keywords:None Views:940 Comments:4
Inflation under President Joe Biden has soared, driving up the cost of everything. But car prices have gone right through the roof.
Poster Comment:
Wages are down. Rents, food prices and car prices are up.
The share of new auto loans with monthly payments exceeding $1,000 has hit a new record as borrowing costs continue to rise and new car prices remain elevated. Consumers are taking on too much auto debt, which could have disastrous consequences during the next economic downturn.
Edmunds' second-quarter vehicle transaction data shows that 17.1% of consumers who financed a new car signed on for four-figure monthly payments. This now stands at a record high, up from 12.2% a year earlier. Before Covid, the figure was around 4.3%.
"The double whammy of relentlessly high vehicle pricing and daunting borrowing costs is presenting significant challenges for shoppers in today's car market," Ivan Drury, Edmunds' director of insights, told Detroit Free Press.
Drury continued, "The Federal Reserve's recent pause in interest rate hikes, unfortunately, didn't offer much relief for consumers, and hints at further raise later this year mean auto loan rates could even continue to increase."
Average monthly payments also reached a new record of $733. That compares with $730 in the first quarter and $678 in the second quarter of 2022. Buyers were financed with an average APR of around 7.1%, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2007.
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”
My wife had a car loan and monthly payments already when we married (her mama had gotten her into it -- the car salesman taught my wife to drive a manual transmission on the lot!). We paid it off, and haven't had another car loan in over 40 years. Since then StraitWoman would rather walk than have a monthly car payment.
I'm blessed with the ability to fix cars (especially older ones) -- and we don't try to keep up with the Jones' -- so avoiding a car payment has been relatively easy for us.
When we lived in Chicago in the 60s we lived a mile west of Wrigley Field and would walk to ball games in summer time. It cost $1 to get into the Bleachers.
One game I spotted a $20 lying on the ground near the refreshment stand. I pounced on the darn quickly. That was a lot of cash back then. ;)
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke