How much of this is due to vehicle life expectancy improving and how much of it is nobody can afford a new car. Obviously it's not purely the later, because vehicle do (generally) last longer these days, but it's not like everyone was driving their vehicles into the dirt previously.
this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
96 points (100.0% liked)
Optimists Unite
491 readers
1 users here now
Optimists Unite Here
We are living in an age of unprecedented wealth, with millions entering the middle class every year. Homo sapiens live longer lifespans than ever before, with better nutrition, and better medicine than ever in our history. This is also the most peaceful time in our history, with record lows in crime and wars. The developing world is surging in wealth and in the west we have more opportunity and access to information than ever.
Positive Communities of Lemmy:
c/Wholesome@reddthat.com c/UpliftingNews@lemmy.world c/LemmyBeWholesome@lemmy.world c/MotivationalMemes@reddthat.com
We chose Reddthat specifically because no downvotes are allowed. Negative comments will be removed.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
“[Prices are] prohibitively high for a lot of households now,” said Todd Campau, aftermarket leader for S&P Global Mobility. “So I think consumers are being painted into the corner of having to keep the vehicle on the road longer.”
This year my car turns 14 (Kia) and my husband's turns 22 (Acura). We consider ourselves to be "car people" and we probably would have replaced them sooner but the type of vehicles that we like are not very popular (sporty coupes and small lightweight trucks). We've been lucky and had to do very minimal maintenance so far.
If you're in the right neck of the woods (owing to vehicle safety regs), a kei truck might be up your alley.
It goes to show automobile prices are increasing and US income distribution is f'n piss poor.
I drive a 2009 Crown Hybrid. It's fast, it's reliable, it's great on fuel, it's luxurious, the build quality is extremely high, and on top of that, it didn't cost much. I can't see what a new car could offer me other than touchscreens, mandatory data collection, and a heap of tech I'll never use more than once. Mine has radar cruise, that's as advanced as I need a feature to be tbh
Wow they had that in 09? I can't live without that anymore. Beware Nissan's implementation though, it suddenly disables with a tone if you're fully stopped in traffic more than 10s. Complete trash.
Toyota really weren't fucking around with the Crown Hybrids back then. They threw everything into them. It also has soft close doors and trunk, TV/DVD, factory Bluetooth audio, heated/cooled front and rear seats, reclining rear seats, lane keep assist, night vision front and fender/rear cameras, keyless everything, and a heap more.
I fucking love the Toyota Crown.
I've borrowed a top spec Audi A6 from 2004 for a bit last year and that had adaptive cruise control as well. Honestly if not for the infotainment GUI, which felt very "spy kids", it would have passed for a ~2020 car as well feature wise.
Hmm... I wonder where the cutting edge currently is at this point? I had no idea they'd been experimenting with radar in automotive applications that far back!
Covid and the remote work change likely contributed. Not having to commute every day has saved a lot of miles on people's cars.
In Germany there are cars on the road for 20 sometimes 25 years.
Well yeah. 12.6 years is the average in the states, not the upper limit. See plenty of pre-2000 accords and the like daily.
Apparently Germany is also at an all time high for the last 5 years, currently it's at 10.1 years.
You guys have pretty strict regulations regarding emissions on older cars over there right? Could swear I saw a Tom Scott video on the subject or something.
I'm surprised it's that much lower though, given at least the general perception around the reliability of American vs German cars. Wonder how much brands like Honda and Toyota are offsetting that.