Absurd Car Loans: Are We on the Edge of Another Bubble?

[Speed_Racer]

I remember my dad bought the '98 Accord V6 loaded with everything for $24k out the door. Crazy how much prices have gone up.

My dad bought the '97 Civic mid-level for about $13k. You can't even get a Fit stripper (heh heh) for that price nowadays.

[GoCougs]

C'mon, guys. $13k in 1997 is ~$23k today. The 2013 Civic EX MSRP is $21k...

[hotrodalex]

You can't even get a Fit stripper (heh heh)

[VTEC_Inside]

For example......

2013 Ford Focus SE sedan base MSRP: $18,200.

2013 Ford Fiesta SE sedan base MSRP: $15,200.

$3,000 is a huge savings and can potentially mean either lower payments or a shorter loan term.  And what do you sacrifice by choosing the Fiesta instead of the Focus?  Not much, as far as I can see.  For a single person looking for what is basically just a commuter car (like my co-worker) a Fiesta simply makes more sense.

If you are commuting in the city sure...

I test drove a Fit and I loved it... until I got on the hwy. 90%+ of my driving is on the hwy and though I don't mind downshifting, but having to go from 5th -> 3rd to get ANY meaningful acceleration at 120kph meant that the Fit was off the table.

[GoCougs]

The Fit is a terrible car for the price.

[2o6]

The Fit is a terrible car for the price.

No.

[CJ]

No.

It kinda is.  It's far too expensive. 

[dazzleman]

I want to drown in debt.

[MX793]

I want to drown in debt.

In the words of the great Jack Handey:  "I hope that after I die, people will say of me: 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.'"

[2o6]

It kinda is.  It's far too expensive.

Its about as expensive as everything else in the class.

[dazzleman]

In the words of the great Jack Handey:  "I hope that after I die, people will say of me: 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.'"

[SVT666]

In the words of the great Jack Handey:  "I hope that after I die, people will say of me: 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.'"

That' s awesome. 

[Madman]

The Fit is a terrible car for the price.

Wow, you really are wrong about everything, aren't you?

[GoCougs]

It kinda is.  It's far too expensive. 

Wow, you really are wrong about everything, aren't you?

The Fit is a mean miserable little car - sure it holds lots of stuff but it has the prototypical Honda (lousy) ride, bunches of road noise, relatively lousy mpg (lower than both the Civic and Accord lol) and is but $2,500 less than a Civic. It is no wonder that the Civic outsell it 6:1 or better and that Accord outsells it 9:1 or better.

[2o6]

The Fit is a mean miserable little car - sure it holds lots of stuff but it has the prototypical Honda (lousy) ride, bunches of road noise, relatively lousy mpg (lower than both the Civic and Accord lol) and is but $2,500 less than a Civic. It is no wonder that the Civic outsell it 6:1 or better and that Accord outsells it 9:1 or better.

I suppose compared to that, it's not as strong as a proposition. I prefer most everything else in the class over the Fit.

[MrH]

The Fit is a mean miserable little car - sure it holds lots of stuff but it has the prototypical Honda (lousy) ride, bunches of road noise, relatively lousy mpg (lower than both the Civic and Accord lol) and is but $2,500 less than a Civic. It is no wonder that the Civic outsell it 6:1 or better and that Accord outsells it 9:1 or better.

Not to mention they were losing money on each one they sold in the states for awhile when the yen to dollar ratio was so bad

[TurboDan]

The only people I hear complain about gas prices are those driving sedans and compacts.  The truck and SUV drivers I know suck it up.

The only thing I complain about is that I didn't have the option to buy one with a diesel engine. 

[TurboDan]

The 2013 Accord Touring V6 MSRP is actually $33k, which is equivalent to 2.1% inflation vs. $24k in 1998 . One can argue that the Accord has moved upmarket since '98 and thus use the $30k EX-L V6 as a proxy, which is 1.5% inflation. In short, the Accord actually got cheaper with either comparison.

The difference, however, is that '98 was the height of the dot com bubble and people had jobs and were making good money. Maybe in comparison the car is cheaper, but in real dollars it's still more expensive, and most people are poorer in 2013 than they were in '98.

[TurboDan]

Its about as expensive as everything else in the class.

Nothing in that class is worth more than ten grand, in my opinion. 

[GoCougs]

The difference, however, is that '98 was the height of the dot com bubble and people had jobs and were making good money. Maybe in comparison the car is cheaper, but in real dollars it's still more expensive, and most people are poorer in 2013 than they were in '98.

Very few people benefited directly (in terms of income) from the dot com bubble.

I think you mean to state that in nominal (non-adjusted) dollars the 2013 Accord is more expensive; real dollars it's at worst the same cost, and more likely even a bit cheaper than a 1998 Accord.

Real income has dropped a bit over that period, hence so has the real price of the Accord .