Car ownership has long been integral to the American dream. But as automakers slash the production of inexpensive models to cater to customers who can afford oversized pickups and sport utility vehicles, buyers find themselves facing sticker shock at the same time they are already frustrated by the lingering effects of high inflation.
Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March, the biggest yearly increase since May 2024, while new car prices were up 12.6% from a year ago, the Labor Department reported Friday.
New vehicles now sell for an average of nearly $50,000, up 30% in six years, and average monthly payments — based on 10% down and a 6-year note — recently hit $775. Looking for something on the cheap end? The share of vehicles listing for less than $30,000 is about 13% — down from 40% five years ago, per the car review site CarGurus.
This supports my hypothesis that living in the city with buses and trains is worth the higher costs.
I’ve been saying this for years but it has taken the current political environment for people to not treat me like an idiot for thinking it.
We sold our car and moved to a modern developed city. Only been in on taxi in 8 months, but we ride the trains every day and walk to the local stores for most things. It works great and I would hate to go back to a car centric old world place.
Sounds like a dream. Maybe the UK will one day reach this level of transport integration.
The UK is making some progress. I know Edinburgh and Glasgow are building as they can. They need to get back to digging tunnels soon since trams are great, but very speed limited.
London is world class for pedestrian access and the biking infrastructure is coming along nicely. Get Oxford Street pedestrianized and you’ll have a jewel in the shopping district.
The smaller cities do hold onto a kind of vision where cars are the modern day horse ride through the countryside, but once the rail network gets renationalized and back up to speed there will be more demand for local transit improvements.
Including the stress from noise, lights, and concentrated pollution? I’m not sure.
Most of the noise and pollution in cities comes from cars, many of which are driven by people who live in the suburbs and drive into the city…
The only noise I hear is my music playing from a speaker and a fan. I’m getting natural light from the windows. I have curtains in my bedroom that turn it into a cave.
The pollution, maybe. A lot of that is caused by cars. My parents lived out in the suburbs, but rather close to a major highway that wasn’t good for environmental quality, and was loud.
Cities aren’t loud. Cars are loud.
This reminds me, whenever you hear like stock “city noise ambiance”, yeah, it’s all car noises.
Vrooms, horns, maybe somebody’s thumpy car stereo bass. All cars. And like, very low people chatter by comparison.
People who live in the suburbs are exposed to Far higher levels of pollution from being in traffic and get far less exercise. Cities are not loud unless you’re in a tourist area.