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December 2021 average new vehicle price $47,077. Median home price $404k according to St Louis Fed. Being a millionaire (asset based) will soon become a common requirement to live middle class America life. Mike | ||
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You are correct! My kids are dealing with this dilemma. My oldest recently graduated in Engineering. He has a great job and zero debt. He wants to buy a house here in Utah. There is hardly anything available and he’d be lucky to get anything good for $400k. He not against fixing something up but these type of homes are rarely a ‘good deal’. People are going to have to make great sacrifices in the coming years, to be able to afford a home (at least that’s how it is here). As far as cars go, it’s mind boggling as well. | |||
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True! As I have mentioned before, over the last 40+ years there has been a drastic imbalance between wages + vehicles, homes, etc. Case in point, in 1973 I was making $160.00 a week + a new pick-up was $4700.00. You could afford it. I don't know how these young people are managing. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
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Ford makes a $20-$30k pickup and can’t sell enough. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24...ders-stop/index.html We need to allow the import of cheap pickups from Thailand and Latin America. Get rid of all duties ect. Mike | |||
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We also need to get a reign on the unions. They are a big part of the problem. I admit that they started out as a good thing but now we have a situation that a guy turning a nut expects $50.00 or more an hour on an assembly line. Along with the steel shortage, that combo is destructive; + the American public are the victims of this destructiveness. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
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Labor is less than 15 percent of car production costs. Mike | |||
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Houses have always been hard to afford. I remember trying to afford my first one. Fretted about whether I could afford it. Then lost my shirt on it and worried whether I could afford my second. | |||
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I read an article where they indicated that lots of the CPI indexes were low--they accounted for new features on cars (ABS, air bags, emissions equipment, etc) as separate from the base price of the car, even though they are mandated and included in the price of every base vehicle. Inflation is much worse last couple of years than previous 40 of course, but principle still applies. Luckily my 1967 Chevy saves me a ton! I haven't had to replace an ABS sensor nor had to replace the evap cannister in over 20 years. In fact, the car literally never throws a code! Kind of like how I save on food since my canned goods never go bad, because they're all from before they decided to put expiration dates on them. | |||
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Supply and demand. The norm today is a working couple where both have good paying jobs. Land is getting scarce and builders can sell all the expensive homes they can build so why build starter homes? And then we have 'investment' groups moving in and buying out whole subdivisions and turning them into rentals. Once this happens the houses are gone off the market forever. The divide between those that have it and those that don't just keeps getting bigger. In the long term this is probably not going to be good. C.G.B. | |||
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I try to measure prices relative to things that don't change much over time. Gallons of gas, hours of minimum wage, grams of gold, and so forth. This kind-of-works, although I suspect that gold prices are distorted by "paper gold" and the federal minimum wage is behind the times and subject to local variations. Seems like when prices are rising, the CPI press releases say it "excludes volatile food and energy prices", but when they moderate it's not so. We are on the cusp of an asset reset, particularly with respect to real estate. This may be a bumpy ride, once we go over the top... TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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A bumpy ride indeed! The best advice I can give is not to refinance your mortgage (unless you get some iron clad contract) + pay your property taxes on time. Basically pay it all off, if + when you can. I paid off mine years ago, I don't know how kids these days can manage it. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
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And don't take the bait on an adjustable rate mortgage. For those who don't remember 2008, it's a bear trap when the rates go up and the house prices go down... TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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Or 1987 either. That one had a lot of bankers out of work + saluting commode cleaners. This escallation of prices can't go on forever + when it tanks, there are gonna be a lot of folks in trouble. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
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I learned long ago, never buy new, You're giving away money the instant you get off the lot. Most of my vehicles come from auctions and I'm mechanically adept enough to deal with the minor problems that brings. Grizz When the horse has been eliminated, human life may be extended an average of five or more years. James R. Doolitle I think they've been misunderstood. Timothy Tredwell | |||
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Only ever bought three vehicles new. They were all specific need vehicles we wanted a certain way. Last one was our 2020 Diesel Wrangler. Waited a long time for Jeep to put a diesel in their rigs. Covid shut the plant down 2 weeks after we took delivery. Drove into a dealership to get parts for a friends truck and the dealer offered me 12K more than I paid for the jeep new. Sometimes you get lucky. BTW, FCA will likely phase out all diesel rigs by 2024. Both my pre-DEF 5.9 L. Cummins have gone way up in value in the last two years. Bigfoot truck camper we bought new for 43K (I thought that was crazy expensive) in 2016 is now 70+K new with a one year waitlist. ______________________ DRSS ______________________ Hunt Reports 2015 His & Her Leopards with Derek Littleton of Luwire Safaris - http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/2971090112 2015 Trophy Bull Elephant with CMS http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/1651069012 DIY Brooks Range Sheep Hunt 2013 - http://forums.accuratereloadin...901038191#9901038191 Zambia June/July 2012 with Andrew Baldry - Royal Kafue http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7971064771 Zambia Sept 2010- Muchinga Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4211096141 Namibia Sept 2010 - ARUB Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6781076141 | |||
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I'll stick with an unrepentant 1993 Dodge with Cummins, for the time being. I bought it new and can so far keep it running (although everything electronic has failed and been bypassed). TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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I had to borrow $5,000 from my mother for my first home so I could put something "down". It was basically stucco over chicken wire, but it was mine. Everyone is always talking new cars these days. I guess I'm not a car-guy anymore. My dad used to buy a "new" car about every five years. I buy a used vehicle about every ten to fifteen years apparently. I have 118,000 miles on a used SUV that I bought in 2012 for $21,000. It runs fine. I buy tires, gas, and an oil change occasionally. Other than that, I'm good. It gets me there and back. | |||
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I also drive old high milers. Both I bought from my friend in Wisconsin who is a priest and a car guy. One was a priest-mobile, a Chevy Impala. The other is a '04 Dodge caravan that was a nun-mobile that I gutted the rear passenger seats out of and use as my farm vehicle. The AWD is awesome in that van. I have friends with much more expensive vehicles. My mother's Mercedes is the most uncomfortable car I have ever ridden in as are a lot of the Japanese cars I have been in. Their seats plain suck. My low budget American vehicles are both very comfortable drivers. I doubt I will ever buy a new vehicle again. I don't drive much anyway. Would be different if I was commuting to a job everyday. ~Ann   | |||
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I like the idea of a interior gutted awd farm minivan. You have a ton of access that is low access - don’t break a back lifting or getting into a raised truck bed. Mike | |||
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Exactly, Mike. Truck beds are too high for me anymore (lifting that high with a lumbar fusion is a no no) and the van offers easy access and if weather is bad, dry storage. One can fit quite a number of small square bales of hay or straw inside besides a few tons of bagged feed. I've even hauled sheep to slaughter in it only because I was having too much drought and pasture was dwindling. I normally butcher my own stock but it was the middle of summer and cooling/aging carcasses would not have been possible. ~Ann | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Other Topics Miscellaneous Topics Average new car price - $47k
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