A Second-hand World of Second-hand Cars

The real reason that new car sales are falling and have been falling for decades is because Americans, Brits and others in the industrial nations are making less money versus their former living standards. Just a minute ago I ran across the following quote taken from a longer article about the failing of America, if no where else.

"Consider, for example, annual sales of automobiles. Auto sales peaked in 1985 (11 million) and have been declining at a fairly steady rate since 1999. In 2009, Americans bought just 5.4 million passenger cars. As a result, the median age of a registered vehicle in the U.S. is almost 10 years.

Our data shows that real per-capita wealth peaked in the late 1960s. Guess when we find the absolutely lowest median age of the U.S. fleet? In 1969. At the end of the 1960s, the median age of all the cars on the road in the U.S. was only 5.1 years. Even as recently as 1990, the median age was only 6.5 years.

Rich people buy new cars. Poor people do not."

As in the old days when I was young, used cars will become the new norm for 90 per cent of the populace. The article went on to clearly explain how student loans, now the norm for college students, will be a monthly expense for years to those students and will greatly reduce their actual spending money for decades as they pay them off. Those payments racked up as students will prevent all sorts of nice living standards for those students in the near and long-term future, preventing them from renting apartments, buying house, ...and new cars.

reply to post by Adyta


I agree, given a choice between horse, and car, Id choose horse everytime. Easier to care for, less expensive in the long run, more years of service, and a good companion
A car not so much.
But then again I just bought a used Nissan Cube to go back and forth to work in. It rides nice gets descent gas mileage, but doesnt knicker in welcome at me when I come out to drive it in the morning.

Darn wheres that knicker "On" button?

reply to post by Chadwickus

you have to cut the cord sometime.
they love selling big huge gas sucking vehicles on fear

reply to post by tired


While the demand is there, they'll keep on making them.

reply to post by Chadwickus


your right, They do what it takes to make a profit. It just seems wasteful to me
guess I'm just old fashioned.

Used cars are typically easier to work on yourself. That's the main attraction for me at least. I've always had good luck with Fords.

If you want a used car that's dependable, sturdy and will last a long time, find a police auction in your area. Police Departments always upgrade their fleets and they send their old fleets to auction. I know from personal experience that the Ford Crown Victoria is a beast. The fleets for the cab companies in Phoenix come straight from auction. At least they used to. The acceleration can't be beat, it's the intercepter that kicks it into another gear, and their transmissions last longer than your average car.

The Ford Corporation has different specifications that they build these cars by because they are after all going straight to law enforcement. They have to be better than the average vehicle. I was driving a Ford Crown Vic one night, 2 in the morning, about 7 years ago and got into an accident. This was between Queen Creek and Apache Junction Az. Out in the boonies. I was northbound and the southbound SUV was acting like the driver fell asleep at the wheel. We were both going around 70. Because of the way the road went from straight, to a bend, then straight again, I didn't really notice until it was almost too late. When I noticed that the headlights were bearing straight down on me, I swerved to the right as fast as I could. It wasn't quite fast enough though. It wasn't a head on collision, but the SUV sheared the entire drivers side of the car. My car spun around twice, don't know about his.

I was pre-occupied at the time.

I have the pictures in a picture album that I ran across when packing and it looks like the edge of a tuna can after you open it up. Totally chopped up and crumpled. Other than being dizzy from being on that tilt-a-whirl ride, I didn't have a scratch on me. Those cars are built like tanks, I swear. That's another reaon why I wouldn't even think of buying new. The materials they use now don't compare to what they used to use.

If I've said once I've said it a thousand times. Cars are like women. Find one that is built to last and she'll never let you down. If all you're looking for is a fast, short ride, don't expect to keep it long.They burn out pretty quick from the abuse If you want a brand new one, make sure you can afford it. If you want it for the long haul, do your homework. Check the history, check the body, check how many previous owners she had ( You don't want one that's been around TOO much , and above all else.........................check under the hood.

The bottom line: A Ford Crown Vic. It saved my life.

With this pumping through the stereo, you can hit 90 and not even feel it. I think it's the beat. I haven't met a car enthuist yet who disagrees.

youtu.be...

In case anyone's interested, this article is spot-on on what these cars are all about.

Wiki can have spotty information sometimes, but not in this case.

en.wikipedia.org...

I just recently got a new car after much competition with my wife.
Little background story. I live in China, my wife is Chinese, here it's all about 'face'
It's her first car and my first car to drive on notorious Chinese traffic conditions, so I wanted something second hand, 1-2 years old, cheap to run and doesnt really matter if afew scraps appear.
Anyway my wife demanded a new car due to the 'face' factor, when I told her all my previous cars had been second handers she thought I was shameful!!
Being Chinese she wanted the BEST. so after my father was here for a visit we convinced her that a small little practical car is the best, so I made a compromise and agreed new for a new 1.6lt Elantra. She's already hit two cars with it so far, so it was I wise choice, it's got a 5 year warranty gets AWESOME km's out of a tank, the best economical car i've ever owned, a little gutless but in China you drive at like a snail pace so it really doesnt matter.

reply to post by Aliensun

he real reason that new car sales are falling and have been falling for decades is because Americans, Brits and others in the industrial nations are making less money versus their former living standards.

Maybe the real reason is the price of the fuel rising and the and lower income.

reply to post by Adyta

Nothing would make me happier than if all of humanity went back to horse and carriage.

That might happen but will not be a good thing from practical view.In terms of ego and imagination so but in reality is a pain.

reply to post by diamondsmith

i always buy used cars , i prefer someone else to deal with the teething problems ,
after around two years all the teething problems have been dealt with by the original owner taking it back to the dealers

reply to post by tom.farnhill

i always buy used cars

Second hand cars are a choice for big majority of people in term of costs but as maintenance they can be more expensive.

I don't get the point of buying a new car, but then I also don't get the whole car as a status symbol either. In my mind you're a human no matter what you drive, although I am more likely to have less respect for you if your the type that drives a BMW and think you can get a date with me because of your car.

The newest car I ever bought was 3 years old, I had someone crash into me shortly after. Know this could happen at any time again, I would rather take what I would pay for monthly payments and put it away and pay cash for a cheaper car with a good history.

Originally posted by diamondsmith
reply to post by tom.farnhill

 

i always buy used cars

Second hand cars are a choice for big majority of people in term of costs but as maintenance they can be more expensive.

I have to disagree, I have known too many people who have had nothing but problems with their new cars while my used car ran forever. Biggest mistake I ever made was replacing my very old used car for a newer car.

Demo or demonstrator car. Maybe half a year old, like-new. Pulled back from a rental fleet but with low enough miles to be covered by a warranty. Easy way to save $10,000 on a fairly new car. Good deal, provided the car wasn't thrashed during the time it was in the rental fleet. So instead of buying that $26,000 car with limited features, I got that $16,000 car with power windows, decent stereo, and fairly decent V6.

Over a decade later, it's still running solid. 2001 Grand Am. Showing some age in the interior (beancounters decided which plastic to use unfortunately), and a little "battle damage" on the outside (mostly from careless people opening their doors at parking lots and a touch of cowardly vandalism), but other than that it's holding up rather well.

Oddly enough, the Pontiac also holds a little more value than expected. Primarily because they don't make them anymore and also the last gen Grand Ams aren't too terrible - they were designed to be driven with layout focused on the driver. In my opinion, a lot of newer comparable models seemed to have taken a step or two backwards in terms of ergonomics and interior layout. (Chunkyville, worse forward visibility with fat A-pillars, awkward driver reach/lack of good haptics.)

only idiots and rich people buy new cars.
if you need further explanation, youre likely an idiot or rich.

While it would be nice to get behind the wheel of a sparkling new car, the rush for me would wear off after a bit and then it's just a vehicle - only I would be paying BIG dollars every month while the car itself would decrease in value faster than I can curse at the price of petrol. In Australia I picked up a VS second hand and I've driven it across the country twice and it's also my day to day car.

Money spent? Under 2 grand for the original purchase. Some new brakes here, some new tyres there, some spark plugs and a couple of light bulbs. So over a three year period, maintenance cost has been about $1200.

That same amount of money would have been about 3 or so months of repayments on a new car which I'd have to keep up for a couple of years. So for me, personally, a new car just doesn't seem like a realistic concept. The money saved in repayments alone can go towards a deposit for a house or unit.

On the lighter side of things, I always laugh when I see new car ads raving about ipod connectivity or rear camera view or air conditioning. I mean, come on, if you're paying $30-$40 thousand dollars do they really think the tipping point is going to be a $10 dollar stereo connection or $15 web cam? Sheesh. And when it comes to fuel consumption, I have no doubt that someone paying $250 a week payments on a new car for the next 5 years is spending a whole lot more than I am even though I'm driving a powerful 6 cylinder.

But I digress.... there are some fine machines out there ready to take your hard earned money. If you can afford it, go for it! The struggling car companies that are helped here in Australia with my tax monies will thank you for it

Why do I not buy new cars? A new car is a bad investment and a pretty much guaranteed financial loss. I've never payed more that 2700 dollars for a car. I always make money when I decide to sell.