Welcome to the PMBug forums - a community supported watering hole for folks interested in gold, silver, precious metals, sound money, investing, market and economic news, central bank monetary policies, politics and more.
Register a free account to join the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including access to market data/charts and additional members only rooms (including one for trade/barter with the community).
You cannot function without a credit card, these days.
To me this speaks to the mental health and (decreasing) competency of the buying public.The State of Americans’ Auto Debt
Loan and lease balances outstanding for new and used vehicles rose by $28 billion in Q2 from Q1, and by $58 billion (+3.5%) year-over-year, to $1.71 trillion, according to the New York Fed’s report on consumer credit, based on Equifax data.
Auto loan balances rose over the years with vehicle prices as automakers kept going upscale with bigger, fancier, and more advanced vehicles. Balances also rose as vehicle prices spiked during the high-inflation years and chip shortages of 2020-2023.
More:
For most people that want the convenience (and looks perhaps) of having a new car. I buy used. They are relatively cheap.To me this speaks to the mental health and (decreasing) competency of the buying public.
I've got a lot, all negative, to say about today's cars and the auto market...but to put it in a nutshell, it's that the value proposition just isn't there. The cars are overpriced; they're DEMONSTRABLY not durable or engineered for long life. And that inexpensive choices in the new-car market have disappeared...all of Ford and GM small-cars; Mitsubishi's little non-SUV offerings, and even Toyota's two smallest cars...these disappeared for low sales...tells me, at heart, customers are making unwise choices.
Unwise? YES, when the best-selling cars are selling for more than HOMES, twenty years ago. When they're more than twice the average annual income of buyers. When this HUGE amount of money is borrowed at 7-to-15-percent. Thousand dollar monthly loan payments.
Those are not wise choices. At some point, a sentient individual has to look at that and say, I can't reasonably manage that. A thousand a month for ten years? What's that Bling-Bling Bro-Dozer gonna look like in ten years? Because I'll still be paying a thousand each month for it.
Just because some predatory finance company WILL lend money on this, doesn't mean the potential buyer SHOULD take it.
These are not Einstein-level questions. This is part of adulthood...times get tough, you can't have what you might want.
People cannot grasp that, it seems; and they're making asinine choices. Lack of basic competence; absence of applied intelligence.
I have bought new in the past - when buying new represented a warranty and increased reliability. Seriously...there's no comparison between a 2000-era car, which could easily last 200k miles with care...that, with a 1980-era car, its carburetor, its miles of vacuum hoses, its poor mileage, propensity to rust.For most people that want the convenience (and looks perhaps) of having a new car. I buy used. They are relatively cheap.
I lost 13 cars in a hangar fire in 2018.
Authorities respond to fire at Anoka County-Blaine airport hangar
Authorities are responding to a fire in a private hangar at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport in Blaine, Minnesota.www.fox9.com Airport hangar fire blazed for hours in Blaine
The Spring Lake-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department had a long night battling a hangar fire Monday, July 30.www.hometownsource.com
I am back to 11 now buying used. But I can work on cars and am building a workshop.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?