Author Topic: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month  (Read 26542 times)

BTH7117

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Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« on: March 03, 2016, 07:22:11 PM »
"The average amount financed on a new vehicle in the U.S. was $29,551 – a 4 percent or $1,170 increase over 2014 – while monthly payments grew to $493, a 2.3 percent or $11 jump."

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/03/car-loan-amounts-payments-rise.html/

Woof

Abe

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2016, 08:16:57 PM »
I'm buying a new car after 15 years, and total cost will be $27k cash. This is for a fully equipped suv meant to last another 15 years. This is on an income well above average. Are these the same people complaining about having no savings?

slugline

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2016, 08:25:35 PM »
Typically writers use "average" to refer to arithmetic mean. I'd prefer to see the median figures as well, as I think that gives a better feel what's happening. Some stupid inflation in the luxury segment can overweight the overall market.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2016, 08:37:30 PM by slugline »

galliver

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2016, 09:06:42 PM »
That's approximately 6 years at 6%. Or a 5-yr, 0% loan.

MilesTeg

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2016, 11:36:46 PM »
Even fairly utilitarian vehicles like Toyota Camrys, minivans, etc. are starting at around $25k these days after tax.

If you put down a decent 20% with a 3/0.9% you're talking a $570 payment. A 4 year/1.9% term is $430, and a 5 year term if $350/2.9% you're at $360/month. And most people aren't going to qualify for those rates.

steviesterno

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2016, 05:50:05 AM »
i saw the news today that new car sales are averaging almost $39,000 and more people are choosing to lease, or "resorting to buying a used car". Who buys new cars? certainly not people with maxed out 403s.

I saw some idiot a few years younger than me driving a brand new, $50k pick up yesterday. Got jealous for a second, and then got over it. I could do that, too, if I spent every dime I made and didn't invest anything. And canceled my health insurance, and ran some credit card debt. that idiot was stuck at the same traffic light as me though, so the light changed and my $7k, 9 year old bad-ass truck turned to the house I own. I got over being envious

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2016, 05:55:52 AM »
I have a coworker who purchased a full sized Nissan pickup for ~$25k out the door financed for an astounding 5 years @ 11.3% APR (that is NOT a typo).

Since we began working here together he has made ~$100k in the past 15 months and STILL hasn't refinanced at a lower APR or paid it off in full.

'murica

Papa Mustache

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2016, 07:28:23 AM »
I'm buying a new car after 15 years, and total cost will be $27k cash. This is for a fully equipped suv meant to last another 15 years. This is on an income well above average. Are these the same people complaining about having no savings?

My intentions as well eventually. My numbers will be longer though. We're at 16/18 yrs with the current rides and I think I can get another 5 years out of either of them without much effort. If only I could buy something new(er) with a manual transmission again.

Most of what I'd like to buy is available in the rest of the world with a turbo diesel and a variety of gasoline engines paired with manual transmissions. Not here though. Nope. One gas engine and some sort of automatic... -grumble grumble-

Side bonus to the old cars: What I am enjoying with a smirk are a few people who complain about how old our cars are. They're shiny, clean and respectable. Apparently I'm one of those people who drives the same car for most of their adult life and this is a bad thing to some.

Car payment vs paid off mortgage... Hmmmm... ;)
« Last Edit: March 04, 2016, 07:35:43 AM by Jethrosnose »

Fishindude

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2016, 07:34:00 AM »
Bought a new pickup for the business this week.
Basic F-250, 8' bed 1-1/2 cab, gas engine, rubber floors, vinyl seats and the minimal accessories package which still gets you AC, cruise control, a nice radio, etc.
$35,000

My first house was $25,000

Papa Mustache

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2016, 07:55:41 AM »
Wow - I had no idea that the basic truck was that expensive now... Someone told me last year that the four door Jeeps that seem to be everywhere here are $35K+ and I was so surprised.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2016, 10:32:26 AM »

My intentions as well eventually. My numbers will be longer though. We're at 16/18 yrs with the current rides and I think I can get another 5 years out of either of them without much effort. If only I could buy something new(er) with a manual transmission again.

Most of what I'd like to buy is available in the rest of the world with a turbo diesel and a variety of gasoline engines paired with manual transmissions. Not here though. Nope. One gas engine and some sort of automatic... -grumble grumble-

I am very sad to see the demise of the manual transmission here in America. :(


Paul der Krake

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #11 on: March 04, 2016, 10:47:39 AM »
Wow - I had no idea that the basic truck was that expensive now... Someone told me last year that the four door Jeeps that seem to be everywhere here are $35K+ and I was so surprised.
The F-250 is not a basic truck. The basic truck is something like a Nissan Frontier at 18k for 2WD, 26k for 4WD.

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #12 on: March 04, 2016, 10:53:23 AM »
I don't think it's as bad as you describe it. Materials, labor and such are inflation governed. A bolt that cost 10 cents 10 years ago is now 20 cents, labor for assembling and making parts is higher nowadays. I still remember bananas for $0.19/lb in 2004 when I first came to the US, now you cannot find them cheaper than $0.49/lb in Chicago area.
Note: I will never buy new car

ketchup

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2016, 11:03:48 AM »
Jeebus.  I'm so out of the loop on this sort of thing that it's so shocking to see it in black and white.

That's more than half my mortgage (+taxes/insurance) payment!  It's more than the PITI payment on my rental property.

So glad I got my head on straight with regards to cars early on.  I always have a sense of pride derping along in our 1992 and 1999 cars each bought for a song.

Fishindude

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2016, 11:07:48 AM »
FYI -
That F-250 at $35K is 2WD and about as stripped down as what you can buy for a full size truck.
It's 3/4 ton vs standard 1/2 ton, but going to the 1/2 ton F-150 only saves about $2-3,000.

The Nissan Frontier isn't a full size truck, their Titan model is and it costs more than the Fords.

hops

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #15 on: March 04, 2016, 03:24:00 PM »
I had to go car shopping with my fiancee recently and while I knew that average monthly payments are often insane (and that interest rates are sometimes usurious, and cars can be financed for periods longer than 60 months), I was unprepared for the worthlessness of the special service contracts pushed by the dealership.

There were different tiers that totaled anywhere from $2,400 to $5,700 over the life of a 60-month loan for benefits like emergency towing and tire replacement, or providing replacement keys if yours are lost. I asked if people actually purchase those plans and the finance manager said yes, drivers who worry they wouldn't have enough money to cover unexpected expenses feel better just rolling it into the loan.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2016, 03:25:33 PM by hops »

justajane

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2016, 03:35:46 PM »
We splurged two years ago on a 17K used car. That hurt to pay cash for that, but I think it should hurt. That's one reason I like to pay cash for cars. It encourages you to spend less. Plus financing isn't usually good on used cars.

I just can't fathom spending more than 20K for a car, and on here, that number is still very spendypants. For 17K, we got a larger Ford sedan with 40K miles on it with all the silly extras like a sunroof and heated seats. We splurged on a nicer one because we wanted the back-up camera.

chesebert

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #17 on: March 04, 2016, 03:57:09 PM »
I say never get financing for a depreciating asset, regardless of the interest. My time is better spent elsewhere than reading the financing dox (yes, you do need to read the dox to understand events of default, the covenants, fees/penalties, etc).

One Noisy Cat

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #18 on: March 04, 2016, 04:27:21 PM »
Just thinking about the three times I am familiar with new car payments in my family

1963 Parents buy new Ford Station wagon. Remembering Mom saying it was a three year deal and I think it was $67 a month. bls.gov inflation calculator has that as $518.74 a month

1979 Me: new 1979 Honda Civic CVCC  little down payment, maybe a couple hundred.  $127.21 a month for three years. $415.13 in 2016 dollars

1987 Me: new Toyota Tercel (?) little down payment (still pretty stupid) $192.46 a month for 5 years (make that very stupid)..$401.38 in 2016 dollars


since then I save up and bought cash for decent used car with about 100,000 miles on it.

SMCx3

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #19 on: March 04, 2016, 04:34:14 PM »
We just hit 200k miles with our Accord.  I am embarrassed to say how old our car is on a public forum.

I will tell you we are not holding an 11.3% interest loan on our wannabe Ferrari.

MilesTeg

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #20 on: March 04, 2016, 04:39:35 PM »
I had to go car shopping with my fiancee recently and while I knew that average monthly payments are often insane (and that interest rates are sometimes usurious, and cars can be financed for periods longer than 60 months), I was unprepared for the worthlessness of the special service contracts pushed by the dealership.

There were different tiers that totaled anywhere from $2,400 to $5,700 over the life of a 60-month loan for benefits like emergency towing and tire replacement, or providing replacement keys if yours are lost. I asked if people actually purchase those plans and the finance manager said yes, drivers who worry they wouldn't have enough money to cover unexpected expenses feel better just rolling it into the loan.

Those things are 100% scam, and should frankly be outlawed. Last var I bought the dealer _really_ pushed hard to get me to buy a "6 year" extended warranty... that was hilariously CONCURRENT with the manufacturer warranty not in addition to. In other words, buying it was completely useless even for a paranoid person.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2016, 04:47:26 PM by MilesTeg »

paddedhat

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #21 on: March 05, 2016, 07:02:53 AM »
I had to go car shopping with my fiancee recently and while I knew that average monthly payments are often insane (and that interest rates are sometimes usurious, and cars can be financed for periods longer than 60 months), I was unprepared for the worthlessness of the special service contracts pushed by the dealership.

There were different tiers that totaled anywhere from $2,400 to $5,700 over the life of a 60-month loan for benefits like emergency towing and tire replacement, or providing replacement keys if yours are lost. I asked if people actually purchase those plans and the finance manager said yes, drivers who worry they wouldn't have enough money to cover unexpected expenses feel better just rolling it into the loan.

Those things are 100% scam, and should frankly be outlawed. Last var I bought the dealer _really_ pushed hard to get me to buy a "6 year" extended warranty... that was hilariously CONCURRENT with the manufacturer warranty not in addition to. In other words, buying it was completely useless even for a paranoid person.

We had one of the "finance weasels" at a Nissan dealer actually forge documents to add a factory extended warranty to a car we bought. It was financed through Nissan and a quick call to them got things corrected. Oddly enough they didn't balk at all, almost as if it was a pretty common occurrence. A few payments later, Nissan made a data entry error with my monthly payment check . Recording it as $700, instead of the correct $200. The $500 extra in principal was a nice gift.

hops

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #22 on: March 05, 2016, 08:00:53 AM »
We had one of the "finance weasels" at a Nissan dealer actually forge documents to add a factory extended warranty to a car we bought. It was financed through Nissan and a quick call to them got things corrected. Oddly enough they didn't balk at all, almost as if it was a pretty common occurrence.

That's what happened to us. My fiancee bought a used Civic that still has a few years left on the manufacturer's warranty and also came with a second, lesser certified pre-owned warranty of some sort. We passed on purchasing what they called an Easy Care service package. The first bill arrived a few days ago and they'd tacked on the cheapest Easy Care option that added over $2,000 to the loan. It was cleared up with a phone call and a fax but the sleaziness was overpowering.

Drew0311

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #23 on: March 05, 2016, 08:01:38 AM »
The really disturbing thing about this is the number of people that can't even secure financing. Many people are completely buried in their vehicles and end up right back at the dealer trying to roll $10k of negative equity into a new ride.

With all of these record numbers you would think that the auto manufacturers would be rolling in the dough...but not so much...many vehicles provide only a razor thin margin for the automakers.

protostache

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #24 on: March 05, 2016, 06:02:35 PM »
We had one of the "finance weasels" at a Nissan dealer actually forge documents to add a factory extended warranty to a car we bought. It was financed through Nissan and a quick call to them got things corrected. Oddly enough they didn't balk at all, almost as if it was a pretty common occurrence.

That's what happened to us. My fiancee bought a used Civic that still has a few years left on the manufacturer's warranty and also came with a second, lesser certified pre-owned warranty of some sort. We passed on purchasing what they called an Easy Care service package. The first bill arrived a few days ago and they'd tacked on the cheapest Easy Care option that added over $2,000 to the loan. It was cleared up with a phone call and a fax but the sleaziness was overpowering.

This is somewhat disturbing. We just bought a new Nissan and we definitely have a document saying we decline all of those packages. Hopefully the loan documents show up correctly.

steviesterno

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2016, 08:32:09 AM »
Im pretty sure car companies and dealers aren't in the car business, but rather the finance business. Unlike a personal loan for home improvement or a trip, it's for a tangible good with an easy to repossess product that can sell multiple times. They may not make much money on the sale (sometimes only $1000 over cost on a new car) but then it's 5% on that loan. Then its 8% again when they sell that same car a second time. They make money as the car depreciates, since they sell the car for 50k once, then maybe 30k the second time, and 15k each time after that.

we had a super d-bag finance guy when we last bought a car. my wife's was totaled and we needed a new one before getting the pay out on the last, so went through a credit union for 1%. why not? anyway, he kept telling me it was illegal to secure my own money, I had to go through them, and my credit union rates were 3%. He would have gotten that additional 2. I may have reminded him that I was smarter than him, knew my shit, and if he didn't shut his mouth my pregnant and injured wife was going to unleash hell on his supervisor.

Cleared those issues right up.

nobodyspecial

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2016, 12:34:56 PM »
Which is really fantastic news for the rest of us - or at east it would be if we ever bought new cars, even for cash.

It's like the budget airlines where all the other passengers happily contribute to paying my fare by buying seat upgrades, meals, $5 sodas and lottery tickets.
 

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2016, 02:31:21 PM »
A modern car has an average of 30000 parts, including all bolts, small screws and such. All of this has to be assembled. All of this has to be produced for the car to become one. A dollar per piece is not that scary after all, given that an engine block costs hundreds alone.

SwordGuy

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #28 on: March 06, 2016, 03:13:56 PM »
A modern car has an average of 30000 parts, including all bolts, small screws and such. All of this has to be assembled. All of this has to be produced for the car to become one. A dollar per piece is not that scary after all, given that an engine block costs hundreds alone.

And yet I've driven very nice new cars that can be bought brand new today for less than half that amount.    And If I bought one of those a few years old, I could do even better.

Abe

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #29 on: March 06, 2016, 03:25:47 PM »
I'm buying a new car with pretty much any feature one could want for a box that moves, for much less than $30,000 and getting a 1.5% rate for the loan (if they're giving that low a rate, might as well take it!). This amounts to well under $500/month. Whatever "deals" the average person thinks they are getting, they are sorely mistaken. 

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #30 on: March 06, 2016, 03:48:56 PM »
A modern car has an average of 30000 parts, including all bolts, small screws and such. All of this has to be assembled. All of this has to be produced for the car to become one. A dollar per piece is not that scary after all, given that an engine block costs hundreds alone.

And yet I've driven very nice new cars that can be bought brand new today for less than half that amount.    And If I bought one of those a few years old, I could do even better.

Oh yeah? Gimme a nice NEW car for 15k in 2015-2016 models. A fucking chevy cruze is 16+k

Paul der Krake

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #31 on: March 06, 2016, 04:29:26 PM »
A modern car has an average of 30000 parts, including all bolts, small screws and such. All of this has to be assembled. All of this has to be produced for the car to become one. A dollar per piece is not that scary after all, given that an engine block costs hundreds alone.

And yet I've driven very nice new cars that can be bought brand new today for less than half that amount.    And If I bought one of those a few years old, I could do even better.

Oh yeah? Gimme a nice NEW car for 15k in 2015-2016 models. A fucking chevy cruze is 16+k
I can't speak for all sub-15k cars, but the two I have driven (Yaris and Fiesta) were just fine.

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #32 on: March 06, 2016, 04:36:33 PM »
A modern car has an average of 30000 parts, including all bolts, small screws and such. All of this has to be assembled. All of this has to be produced for the car to become one. A dollar per piece is not that scary after all, given that an engine block costs hundreds alone.

And yet I've driven very nice new cars that can be bought brand new today for less than half that amount.    And If I bought one of those a few years old, I could do even better.

Oh yeah? Gimme a nice NEW car for 15k in 2015-2016 models. A fucking chevy cruze is 16+k
I can't speak for all sub-15k cars, but the two I have driven (Yaris and Fiesta) were just fine.

Yaris starts at 14895 for a bare bone nothing there model, add taxes, add fees.
One also needs to take into account that if an *average* US car (and that is size of at least a Passat, or even like a decent size SUV) hits a car half its weight..

randymarsh

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #33 on: March 06, 2016, 07:04:33 PM »
The interest rates that people are willing to finance cars at surprises me way more than the actual price of the cars they buy. A Model T in today's dollars would cost ~$20,000, whereas you can get a 15K brand new "economy" car that has features Henry couldn't have even dreamt about.

Im pretty sure car companies and dealers aren't in the car business, but rather the finance business.

You are completely correct. GM effectively invented auto financing and it's been hugely successful for automakers ever since. The book Borrow: The American Way of Debt goes into the history of auto financing and it's pretty interesting to see how things have changed over ~80 years.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #34 on: March 06, 2016, 08:06:36 PM »
Have you good folks looked at Truecar and did you feel it was accurate enough to be useful?

What is the best way to find the invoice price of a car?

Thanks.

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #35 on: March 06, 2016, 09:12:30 PM »
Have you good folks looked at Truecar and did you feel it was accurate enough to be useful?

What is the best way to find the invoice price of a car?

Thanks.

That's pretty simple - the invoice price of a car can be as low as you want it to be. It's just you will never get it for this price. Market governs the price

SwordGuy

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #36 on: March 07, 2016, 12:02:14 AM »
Kia Rio, Chevy Spark and Ford Fiesta are all below 15k brand new in my area - and we have a lot of naive and ignorant GIs getting their first car, so prices are often higher here.

They all have way more features than my 14 year old car and my wife's 10 year old car.


ender

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #37 on: March 07, 2016, 06:28:04 AM »
Yaris starts at 14895 for a bare bone nothing there model, add taxes, add fees.
One also needs to take into account that if an *average* US car (and that is size of at least a Passat, or even like a decent size SUV) hits a car half its weight..

Well, only if you consider the actual impact on your life for what your driving will entail.

While SUVs or larger cars "win" in some car accidents, not all car accidents are going to be in situations where having a small car instead of an SUV matters. So while yes a larger car tends to have better results in accidents, there are a lot more factors at play (such as the relatively low frequency of accidents to begin with).

FerrumB5

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #38 on: March 07, 2016, 07:01:43 AM »
Kia Rio, Chevy Spark and Ford Fiesta are all below 15k brand new in my area - and we have a lot of naive and ignorant GIs getting their first car, so prices are often higher here.

They all have way more features than my 14 year old car and my wife's 10 year old car.

Thanks! Looked at Spark which is indeed substantially lower than 15k for a base model.

Scandium

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #39 on: March 07, 2016, 07:20:50 AM »
"The average amount financed on a new vehicle in the U.S. was $29,551 – a 4 percent or $1,170 increase over 2014 – while monthly payments grew to $493, a 2.3 percent or $11 jump."

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/03/car-loan-amounts-payments-rise.html/

Woof

But this is just new-new cars. So how many percent of car purchases is new cars vs used cars? People who buy brand new cars are better off than those who buy used (at least you'd hope..) so there are probably more luxury/expensive cars in that segment. I mean, if I'm the kind of person that only need a yaris, why would I care about buying new? But if I'm a millionaire with expensive tastes I'd want my BMW to be brand new. I agree the median would be more interesting.

I'd be curious about the new/used breakdown.

It does say used cars average $19k. That sounds pretty high to me. I've found a ton of fine used cars in the $12-18k range (I go for 2-3 years old, 50k miles), all except SUVs and minivans usually.

edit; found some info.
According to this article, 16.5 million new cars were sold in the US in 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/business/us-auto-sales-jump-for-2014.html
And this claiims that 41 MM used cars were sold
http://usedcars.about.com/od/research/a/Used-Car-Sales-Figures-From-2000-To-2014.htm

So the new/used breakdown is 29%/71%? That's pretty high used car percentage. Not as bad as I had thought actually.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 07:39:32 AM by Scandium »

BeerBeard

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #40 on: March 07, 2016, 08:34:48 AM »
Most of what I'd like to buy is available in the rest of the world with a turbo diesel and a variety of gasoline engines paired with manual transmissions. Not here though. Nope. One gas engine and some sort of automatic... -grumble grumble-

+1!

I bought a manual Jeep patriot in 2011, hopefully in 2025 someone still makes a manual 4 cyl suv.... I wish I could have the turbo diesel.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 08:36:32 AM by BeerBeard »

mizzourah2006

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #41 on: March 07, 2016, 08:53:33 AM »
Both times we were looking at getting new (to us) cars we started looking used and then realized it was almost as cheap to just buy new, unless you want to go really used (5-6 years old with 80-100k miles on it). You just have to wait for the right times to buy new and buy the year before model. We just had a baby and needed a small SUV to visit family (we take our 2 dogs with us).  The wife settled on a GMC Terrain, we started looking used,  but wanted no more than 3-4 years and no more than 60k miles. We were able to get a new 2015 with everything the wife wanted for 10% more than the same Terrain used with 35-40k miles on it, we just waited until the end of the year when they wanted the 2015s off the lot. The KBB trade-in on our Terrain in "very good" condition Is actually about $5k more than we paid for it. If you look at very good private sale it's worth over $8k what we paid for it (and it's probably considered in excellent condition, considering we have had it for 4 months and I wash it 3x a month).

Jesstache

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #42 on: March 07, 2016, 11:13:49 AM »
Most of what I'd like to buy is available in the rest of the world with a turbo diesel and a variety of gasoline engines paired with manual transmissions. Not here though. Nope. One gas engine and some sort of automatic... -grumble grumble-

+1!

I bought a manual Jeep patriot in 2011, hopefully in 2025 someone still makes a manual 4 cyl suv.... I wish I could have the turbo diesel.

My husband bought a 4 door base model manual Jeep JK in 2007 new (paid cash, I think it was $25k).  It currently has about 50k miles on it and he's said the only thing he would consider selling it and buying another car for is if Jeep made a 4 door manual Diesel version in the US.  Otherwise, he'll likely have it forever. 

I have a 2006 Honda Pilot I bought used in early 2014 with 38k miles on it for $17k (also paid cash).  It was a great deal and it'll last us a long, long time.  Especially since I drive about 500 miles per month.

fattest_foot

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #43 on: March 07, 2016, 04:49:30 PM »
Both times we were looking at getting new (to us) cars we started looking used and then realized it was almost as cheap to just buy new, unless you want to go really used (5-6 years old with 80-100k miles on it).

This is what happened to me back in 2013.

The best part is that we got financing at .99% (Pentagon Federal Credit Union). I liked seeing that the entire amount of interest for the entire life of the loan was like $300.

steviesterno

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #44 on: March 08, 2016, 05:30:31 AM »
Both times we were looking at getting new (to us) cars we started looking used and then realized it was almost as cheap to just buy new, unless you want to go really used (5-6 years old with 80-100k miles on it).

This is what happened to me back in 2013.

The best part is that we got financing at .99% (Pentagon Federal Credit Union). I liked seeing that the entire amount of interest for the entire life of the loan was like $300.

that's the only reason we financed. I was able to buy my truck ($15k) and my wife's Audi ($15k) both used and financed with like $600 total interest between the 2 over 10 years. made more sense to do that than tie up money in a depreciating asset.

we got almost 100k worth of car, considering the new prices of what we got. I would take a used sports sedan with heated steering wheel over a stock kia any day, but these were both bought before MMM

Fishindude

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #45 on: March 08, 2016, 06:28:05 AM »
My wife likes the Subaru outbacks and we get a discount on Subaru's.
When looking at them, we could only save about $3-4,000 buying one with 30-40,000 miles vs buying a new one.
We went ahead and bought a new one but paid cash, no loan.

Those Outbacks really seem to hold their resale value?


libertarian4321

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #46 on: March 08, 2016, 07:41:39 AM »
We went and looked at new trucks a few months ago.

When I realized a new full sized truck was going to start at about $30k, I decided that my 14+ year old Silverado was good for another few years.

dycker1978

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #47 on: March 08, 2016, 07:44:33 AM »
I was browsing the cars yesterday(hobby don't judge :)).  I noticed that the new 2016 Nissan Titan Truck, full load was $75000 before tax.  With prices this high, I guess $500 a month makes sense.

MgoSam

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #48 on: March 08, 2016, 08:37:47 AM »
I was browsing the cars yesterday(hobby don't judge :)).  I noticed that the new 2016 Nissan Titan Truck, full load was $75000 before tax.  With prices this high, I guess $500 a month makes sense.

And that's why prices become high, because credit enables people to buy more car than they otherwise would be able to afford. It's crazy. I've had friends that tell about how great their salesmen was at finding the car they could afford based on payments (um, that's their job, it's part of getting the sale).

Scandium

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Re: Average US new car payment nearly $500/month
« Reply #49 on: March 08, 2016, 08:51:32 AM »
My wife likes the Subaru outbacks and we get a discount on Subaru's.
When looking at them, we could only save about $3-4,000 buying one with 30-40,000 miles vs buying a new one.
We went ahead and bought a new one but paid cash, no loan.

Those Outbacks really seem to hold their resale value?

Strange. I think I paid $17-20k for my outback with ~35k miles. New it's $30k? Mine was a higher trim level. Our prius 3 was $16k after taxes, with 40k miles. New they are $25k I think. So a 30% discount. Well worth it to me.

I usually see about that number, 30%+ cheaper, by going 2-3 years/40k miles old. Have no idea where you people are who barely see a discount vs new.