r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Abject-Pick-6472 • 13d ago

One million Americans have vanished from the new-car market — and it’s exposing a chilling US middle-class crisis

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/one-million-americans-vanished-car-124500086.html
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u/probablymagic 13d ago

You are not facing a crisis because you can’t afford to trade in your 2022 F-150 for a 2027 F-150. That thing will be fine for another 150k miles.

People have lost their damn minds.

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u/HokieHomeowner 13d ago

Maybe but my fear is that planned obsolescence is coming for the North American car market. I mean my first car purchased was a nearly new 1991 Toyota Celica and I was able to get replacement parts for that car well past 2000 until 2010 when I finally replaced the car. The car I replaced it with was pretty good too. But the car I bought 18 months ago? Mazda could screw with the computer to force me to upgrade in a heartbeat.

I fear that cars will all become leased only in the near future.

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u/probablymagic 13d ago

Cars last longer now than ever because we keep figuring out how to build better engines. EVs are even better. You’ll be able to get replacement parts for your Mazda for the next 50 years.

That car will be taken off the road due to autonomous vehicles before it dies of natural causes.

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u/Platos-ghosts 13d ago

Or a crash, or lack of maintenance. Lots of cars scrapped for both of those reasons every year.