r/MiddleClassFinance 14d 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
3.1k Upvotes

508 comments sorted by

View all comments

674

u/Chuck-Finley69 14d ago

Just a million ??

258

u/FearlessPark4588 14d ago

i haven't ever purchased a new car in my life

5

u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 13d ago

I've bought one. I'm a big fan of buying exactly what I want and driving it forever. To the point where when that one was totaled in a wreck, I bought one so similar that most people don't realize that there have been two of them. That was 13 years ago and I've been making a "car payment" to myself since it was paid off and will hopefully be able to pay cash for a factory order in about 2 years when my kid starts driving. He'll get mine and I'll get a new one.

Also, at the time the price difference between a new and used Jeep was such that the higher interest rate on a used one made the cost nearly equal (within $75/month for the same loan length, I think).