Average new car price tops $50,000 for first time as Americans shift to EVs and luxury models

[Theinsanegamer]

Oh neat, probably the same reason I keep reading the average american pays over $1000 a month for their car payment, theyre buying way above their means

The average American also makes over $66k a year, and an average household income of $121k, which people often overlook and assume we're all making 2019 wages.

Unless you are rich buying a brand new car is the stupidest thing anyone can do.

There's far dumber things. Going to the casino, bar hopping, expensive vacations to disneyland.....

A new car carries a new car warranty, used cars do not. You dont know how the previous owner treated that vehicle nor if all issues were accurately reported. Buying new doesnt mean buying luxury. One can easily buy a new Hyundai and get a 10 year warranty out of it for well under $50k. Or you could spend half that, get a used car, and who knows what will happen to it. Will the alternator and water pump both go out within a month? Will the wheel bearings fail? Crankshaft gasket go out? You could well be looking at several thousands in repairs for a car you just bought, no rental coverage, no guarantee of parts, nothing.

And if you dont have cash, well, have you seen used car loan interest rates? 20+%? Is that really the "smart" thing to do?

 

[Nictron]

No mention of money printing & increased money supply and its effect on inflation?

 

[mbk34]

A new car carries a new car warranty, used cars do not ...
Is that really the "smart" thing to do?

The smart thing to do would be to buy a used car that's still in warranty. The Hyundai you mentioned has a 5 year guarantee so buying a 3 year old vehicle will probably by half the price of new yet still give you 2 years guarantee. Kia provides a 7 year guarantee.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The smart thing to do would be to buy a used car that's still in warranty. The Hyundai you mentioned has a 5 year guarantee so buying a 3 year old vehicle will probably by half the price of new yet still give you 2 years guarantee. Kia provides a 7 year guarantee.

2-3 year old cars with low miles are not much cheaper than brand new ones. Instead of $34k, it'll be $31k. OOH the savings! Both the CPO and new Hyundai warranty will give you 100k mile powertrain warranties, difference being the new car doesnt have 30k miles on it already, and the CPO warranty is only 7 years.

The days of used cars being 2-3 years old for half off ended with the Red Lung.

No mention of money printing & increased money supply and its effect on inflation?

Nobody wants to admit the real problem which is that wages are not keeping up with inflation. The price of the cars is not the problem.

 

[mbk34]

2-3 year old cars with low miles are not much cheaper than brand new ones. Instead of $34k, it'll be $31k. OOH the savings!

I did a quick check on the Ioniq 5, one of Hyundai's best cars. A very quick search on a popular used car site showed lots of 2022 models with less the 30K miles all at approximately half their new price. That means you save £18K and still have 2 years warranty left. Maybe you need to look harder?

 

[p51d007]

Unless you are rich buying a brand new car is the stupidest thing anyone can do.

Four of my five Mustang's were brand new. BUT, I did have an advantage...
My father sold them to me, so I got the DEALER discount, which was HUGE!

 

[spam joe]

The only "used" car I ever bought was the first one I ever owned. However, I'll never pay more than $30k to get from Point A to Point B. My neighbors have all the flashy cars and then complain about being so deep in debt. I don't get it. It's almost like a mental illness, where what other people think is just this important to them.

 

[EnTaroTzula]

The average American also makes over $66k a year, and an average household income of $121k, which people often overlook and assume we're all making 2019 wages.

There's far dumber things. Going to the casino, bar hopping, expensive vacations to disneyland.....

A new car carries a new car warranty, used cars do not. You dont know how the previous owner treated that vehicle nor if all issues were accurately reported. Buying new doesnt mean buying luxury. One can easily buy a new Hyundai and get a 10 year warranty out of it for well under $50k. Or you could spend half that, get a used car, and who knows what will happen to it. Will the alternator and water pump both go out within a month? Will the wheel bearings fail? Crankshaft gasket go out? You could well be looking at several thousands in repairs for a car you just bought, no rental coverage, no guarantee of parts, nothing.

And if you dont have cash, well, have you seen used car loan interest rates? 20+%? Is that really the "smart" thing to do?

I didnt even take this into account I completely forgot that in 2019 the average american was making near 70k a year and now in 2025 theyre making around 62k

https://www.epi.org/publication/swa-wages-2019/

Census Bureau Still Studying Full Impact of Pandemic on Income Data

Data collection challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic may have pushed income estimates higher.

www.census.gov

how the heck did we end up making less money ;(

 

[HofyPC]

No way in Hell am I buying a vehicle that has a higher monthly payment than my mortgage!

 

[Tantor]

Silly article. Americans are not willingly shifting to EVs and luxury cars. Especially now that Trump ended the EV incentives and is supporting big oil.

Here's what's going on. In certain Western elite circles, automobiles and high mobility society are regarded as the single worst thing that ever happened to humanity. Their goal is to re-engineer society and remove automobiles.

They use a variety of techniques. Forcing industry to quit making small vehicles is one. Ever wonder why you can't buy small trucks any more? It's INTENTIONAL.

Forcing expensive EVs on the public is another. Ever wonder why there are ZERO small EVs that get 500 mile range, are easy to work on, and cost $25k? China makes them but the West refuses to allow them to be sold here.

The goal is to force families to pool resources to buy a single expensive car, to prevent easy mobility, and to enable tracking. You see the same mentality behind the digital IDs. They want to track everyone.

 

[Tantor]

This vid explains why you can't buy small trucks anymore.

 

[ZackL04]

Why buy a new EV for $50 when you can buy a 1-2 year old EV (depreciates faster than ICE) for more than 50% off. My cheap lease car is now worth less $5K less than residual with 17 months to go. So, for now, there are plenty of 1-3 year old used vehicles in prime condition (and in many cases still under warranty) for 25-50% off and that cuts your car payment to $500/month or less on a 5 year loan.

Depends on the vehicle. SUV’s and pickups get nowhere NEAR 50% cost after a few years even with 100k miles on them.

Not a great example cause my time frame is a lot longer but, my truck is 10yrs old, I paid 40k for it, its got almost 170k now, I can still sell it for $15k easily. Thats a lot for a truck I fear is nearing the end of its reliability stage of life.

I would buy that thing again in a heartbeat, but a 2025/2026 model is $55k and I dont want a car payment!

 

[mbk34]

Forcing expensive EVs on the public is another. Ever wonder why there are ZERO small EVs that get 500 mile range, are easy to work on, and cost $25k? China makes them but the West refuses to allow them to be sold here.

EV's seem to be the same price as other similar quality vehicles these days. To get 500 mile range you need a very large battery. Where would you put it in a small car? why would you want to pay for a large 500 mile battery when the average American drives under 40 miles a day? The additional weight would also affect efficiency. Most EV's don't need to be "worked on", they just need tyres and wiper blades changing each year. Trump's tariffs are why you don't get cheap Chinese vehicles. Average wages in America are much higher than in China so I'd imagine car prices will raise dramatically if you want cars to be made in the US.