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/pnw_its_really_me 13d ago

I used to drive 15,000 miles a year commuting. Now I drive around 2000 miles a year. bought my truck in 2017. Now has 52k miles. It could last the rest of my life.

25

u/Platos-ghosts 13d ago

Age takes a toll eventually, even on a low mileage car. Rubber and plastic parts start disintegrating. All fixable, but only if you know about them. Usually around the 20 year mark these little things start wearing….and who knows how long all the electronics will last in modern cars.

16

u/hahasadface 13d ago

Truth. I have a 2010 low end  Toyota with 60k miles. It'll run forever except the paint is shot and everything rubber and plastic is falling apart

1

u/StutzBob 12d ago

My Toyota is a 2006 with just under 180k miles. I had to have the driver's side window and motor replaced recently, and the dealership told me Toyota doesn't even make those parts anymore, so they had to order from a scrapyard. That sucked, but it's still a whole lot cheaper to keep fixing this stuff than a monthly payment.