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.
As the owner of an 01 Tacoma I can confirm, the damned thing is basically a modern Model A/T. It has a good chance of lasting 500,000 miles and being resurrected afterwards.
I got 400k miles on my current truck. I need to do some repairs to the frame, but I’m going to keep driving it because it’s still cheaper to keep it running than deal with a new truck that also needs money put in to it to fix factory design defects.
V8 version?
Standard cab 2WD V6. Pretty solid for me though and gets mileage comparable to modern cars. Figured that if I’m gonna have a pavement princess I’d at least get one with the specs of one and the repairability of a Yugo.
The 5VZs are stupid reliable if you do the maintenance on them. They’ll basically outlive you lol, I’ve seen people with 500k miles on the stock motors no rebuilds and still daily driving them.