Would you be willing to pay extra for options such as power windows, door locks, cruise control, AC and an automatic transmission? Of course, you already do. Because you have no choice – assuming you choose to buy a new vehicle.
Before about 25 years ago, it was not uncommon for these features to be optional in modestly priced vehicles. Now they are standard equipment in all vehicles and for just that reason there is no longer such a thing as a modesty priced vehicle. There isn’t one available with a starting price under $20,000 and if you want a new truck, the starting price for a mid-sized one is well over $30,000.
Rather, that he will finance them.
Thus, here we are. Everything is loaded, even what are now styled entry level cars. Economy cars no longer exist – and that’s why nothing’s affordable anymore. The base price of ’25 VW ID Buzz I reviewed recently is $60k. The old Microbus of the ’70s cost about a third of that when it was new. It didn’t have all the luxuries the ID Buzz has because when the Microbus was new, most people knew they couldn’t afford luxuries. Now they think they can.
Or did.
Which brings up an interesting aspect of this; i.e., the lag time built into things. Americans – a sufficiency of them – got used to living beyond their means and have been able to do so for quite a long time. But that time appears to be coming to an end, if it hasn’t already.
You can almost hear the music waning and people beginning to realize it’s time to grab a chair before they’re left without a place to sit.
