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I drive a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. Due to living very close to my office and using my wife's car for any kind of family trip (short or long), it only has 127k miles on it.

People ask me all the time "when are you going to get rid of that truck," even when I tell them there aren't many miles on it.
We always buy gently used vehicles. I bought a 2002 Acura MDX back in 2005 with 35,000 miles on it. I just sold it last year for $5000 with 300,000 miles on it. All the vehicle talk aside, the US dollar has lost 11% of its purchasing power year today. I’ve read several forecast where it’s on track to lose 50% of its purchasing power over the next five years.

I think the one thing few people are talking about is the markets as they relate to the value of the dollar and this national debt. Seems the popular topic of discussion lately is the government going all in on cryptocurrencies and gold, using those assets to wipe out our debt and start anew with a digital currencies. I don’t know what that looks like, how that would even work or how much time that would take. I would have to think that the government attempting to do something of this magnitude would completely gut punch asset prices and 350 million Americans. I took a lot of money off the table a couple of weeks ago. Sitting. Watching. Waiting.
 
Dust off this crusty topic.

 
Sorry, but that statement has absolutely nothing to do with inflation.

The cost of personal transportation has a lot to do with comparing inflation of today with inflation of yesterday. Tractors are much more expensive nowadays. But most people don’t grow their own food.

Correct. If purely measuring production. But is it cost of living or cost of everything including consumer discretionary crap?
 
Computer chips used to costs hundreds or thousands of dollars. They’ve fallen to hear nothing.

Planned obsolescence is what the manufacturers do with their marketing campaigns.

Just buy a solid Toyota. They’ll last several 100k if not abused.
I had a Camry for about 25 years, put about 275,000 miles on it. Cheap to keep, good mileage, had the personality of and ran like an appliance (I joked that its paint color was called refrigerator white). Gave it away to a family that needed a car and they got about five more years out of it. I replaced it with another Camry.

I love new cars but I hate paying for them, so I will run them into the ground.
 
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The cost of personal transportation has a lot to do with comparing inflation of today with inflation of yesterday. Tractors are much more expensive nowadays. But most people don’t grow their own food.

Correct. If purely measuring production. But is it cost of living or cost of everything including consumer discretionary crap?
You're trying to change the subject again. Your previous post said that today's new cars will last for 30 or 40 years. I don't believe that for a second, and it sounds like several other posters agree with me.

Today's new cars are pieces of crap compared to automobiles manufactured decades ago that did actually have the ability to last 30-40 years.
 
You're trying to change the subject again. Your previous post saidthat today's new cars will last for 30 or 40 years. I don't believe that for a second, and it sounds like several other posters agree with me.

Today's new cars are pieces of crap compared to automobiles manufactured decades ago that did actually have the ability to last 30-40 years.

You said that you were done with the discussion, yet here you continue on with stirring up the ****.

I’ve even provided a link to the automobile topic in case you want to argue vehicles.
 
You said that you were done with the discussion, yet here you continue on with stirring up the ****.

I’ve even provided a link to the automobile topic in case you want to argue vehicles.
I continued the discussion because you attempted to claim your statement was about inflation. While your overall post may have been about inflation, the statement I questioned and responded about had zero to do with inflation.

The question is do you stand by your statement that today's new cars will last 30-40 years?
 
Sorry, but that statement has absolutely nothing to do with inflation.
Not my discussion, but I wouldn't say that the quality of the product in question has nothing to do with whether or not there's been inflation.

For example, the raw numbers would tell you that there's been massive deflation in airline tickets since the 70s and 80s, although it is really easy to make an argument that the quality of the product has gone down. If a product has gotten substantially cheaper but is also substantially worse in quality, is that really deflation?
 
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I continued the discussion because you attempted to claim your statement was about inflation. While your overall post may have been about inflation, the statement I questioned and responded about had zero to do with inflation.

The question is do you stand by your statement that today's new cars will last 30-40 years?

My post was about stagflation. Inflation is a component of that.

ENR. It keeps going and going.

Many new vehicles are affordable.

 
The 10 for 1 NFLX stock split makes selling cash reserved puts a lot more affordable. $10,000 instead of $100,000. The 10-day returns over 2% if the shares hold.
 
Except inflation is off by 2/3rds.

And anybody that wants and needs a job can have one. It’s been more lucrative for the able bodied to take the government handouts and not lead a responsible existence.

New cars are far more expensive, but they can now last 30 or 40 years instead of 10.

Housing isn’t cheap, but it used to be that those starting out would gave a roommate or two. That’s a hard adjustment for the selfie generation to make.

Nobody is starving. Gas isn’t expensive.

Insurance and health care costs are out of control.
New cars that last decades? Please do tell…I’m in the market for one of those.
 
Except inflation is off by 2/3rds.

And anybody that wants and needs a job can have one. It’s been more lucrative for the able bodied to take the government handouts and not lead a responsible existence.

New cars are far more expensive, but they can now last 30 or 40 years instead of 10.

Housing isn’t cheap, but it used to be that those starting out would gave a roommate or two. That’s a hard adjustment for the selfie generation to make.

Nobody is starving. Gas isn’t expensive.

Insurance and health care costs are out of control.
Senior moment?
Yeah, the insurance on a car sucks even with driving low miles. I have a neighbor in his early 30s who doesn't own a car. He uses ride share. His girlfriend goes to the grocery store.
(Sorry, I don't know why post didn't post!)
 
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New cars that last decades? Please do tell…I’m in the market for one of those.

Start here:

Top 30 Vehicles Most Likely To Last 250,000+ Miles - iSeeCars Study*

Rank
Model
% Chance of Lasting 250,000+ Miles|
Compared to Average

1
Toyota Tundra
36.6%
4.2x

2
Toyota Sequoia
36.4%
4.2x

3
Toyota 4Runner
26.8%
3.1x

4
Toyota Tacoma
26.7%
3.1x

5
Toyota Highlander Hybrid
25.9%
3.0x

6
Honda Ridgeline
25.8%
3.0x

7
Chevrolet Suburban
22.0%
2.5x

8
Toyota Avalon
22.0%
2.5x

9
Lexus GX
20.7%
2.4x

10
Chevrolet Silverado 1500
18.8%
2.2x

11
GMC Yukon XL
17.9%
2.1x

12
Chevrolet Tahoe
17.7%
2.1x

13
Honda Pilot
17.5%
2.0x

14
Honda Accord
16.6%
1.9x

15
GMC Sierra 1500
16.1%
1.9x

16
Ford F-150
15.8%
1.8x

17
Toyota Highlander
15.7%
1.8x

18
Nissan Titan
14.8%
1.7x

19
GMC Yukon
14.6%
1.7x

20
Honda CR.V
13.9%
1.6x

21
Toyota Camry
13.5%
1.6x

22
Ford Expedition
13.1%
1.5x

23
Honda Accord Hybrid
13.1%
1.5x

24
Nissan Pathfinder
13.0%
1.5x

25
Toyota Prius
12.6%
1.5x

26
Nissan Armada
12.6%
1.5x

27
Mazda CX-9
12.4%
1.4x

28
Acura MDX
11.9%
1.4x

29
Honda Odyssey
11.5%
1.3x

30
Ram 1500
11.5%
1.3x

 
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You're trying to change the subject again. Your previous post said that today's new cars will last for 30 or 40 years. I don't believe that for a second, and it sounds like several other posters agree with me.

Today's new cars are pieces of crap compared to automobiles manufactured decades ago that did actually have the ability to last 30-40 years.
I agree that 30-40 yr. car life is ludicrous. But, today's cars are not "pieces of crap". I typically don't buy new cars because they depreciate dramatically after you drive them off the lot. I buy used luxury cars that are 3-4 years old with low milage, still under warranty. Those purchases have been really good buys compared to new cars. I could afford to buy most any car I want, but I look for value. If you're not wealthy, you are a FOOL if you buy a new car!
 
From my observations, the push for more technology in the attempt to improve gas mileage has created less reliable / less lasting vehicles. JMO
I bought one early summer and was curious about that very question. The electronics package is overwhelming. And, yes much of that will be obsolete in ten years.

And like you say, there is all kinds of stuff ongoing to make it safer and to provide improved gas milage.

There is a lot going on in a new vehicle these days.,
 
Part (thought certainly not all) of that problem is consumer expectations. 20 and 30-something ideas of a "starter home" are much different than what a starter home was considered to be 40-50 years ago. The size of the average house has exploded since 1970 while the average household size has declined.

Having said that, they are overall less affordable than they were even in the early 80s. The average house price + mortgage interest relative to average income, even with 15-20% interest rates in 1980, are smaller than they are today.
Having purchased my first home in 1984, I disagree with the myth that 1980 comparable homes are less affordable today. I had a solid job making low 30’s and purchased a 25 year old 1400 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and a one car carport that needed complete cosmetic updates for the low 60’s. Mortgages were 17% - do the math.

Only way we afforded it was to have 1 car, no cable, no cell phones, no internet, no eating out, etc. Starter homes today would have been viewed as luxury homes back then.

Same thing with cars and most all consumables - pretty much everything has gotten bigger, better, more, more, etc.
 
Having purchased my first home in 1984, I disagree with the myth that 1980 comparable homes are less affordable today. I had a solid job making low 30’s and purchased a 25 year old 1400 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and a one car carport that needed complete cosmetic updates for the low 60’s. Mortgages were 17% - do the math.

Only way we afforded it was to have 1 car, no cable, no cell phones, no internet, no eating out, etc. Starter homes today would have been viewed as luxury homes back then.

Same thing with cars and most all consumables - pretty much everything has gotten bigger, better, more, more, etc.
This isn't my opinion; it's just what the data says. Relative to a 2025 average income, the average house price + interest on a mortgage is actually more expensive today than it was in 1980. Even though interest rates were near 20% in 1980. From 2005 until about 2015, there wasn't must residential construction in the US. You bought a house in the low 60s in 1980, which was right in line with the average price of a home at the time. Today, the average house price is $426,000. Incomes have not even come close to keeping pace with that.

There is a lot of bellyaching that Millennials and Gen Z do about various things, but they're not wrong when they say that affording a home is much harder than it used to be.

 
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Extended hours/equity futures were negative last time that I looked overnight. Now a bit positive.

It’s going to be choppy for a while with earnings season mostly over, no Fed meeting in November, incomplete data after the government shut down, and repositioning for tax harvesting. Strong retail sales for the holidays would be welcomed. But Home Depot just negatively adjusted forecasts.

The trade deficit shrank, but driven by a drop in imports rather than an increase in exports.

Unless bottom fishing, it might be a good time to not watch stocks for a while.
 
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This isn't my opinion; it's just what the data says. Relative to a 2025 average income, the average house price + interest on a mortgage is actually more expensive today than it was in 1980. Even though interest rates were near 20% in 1980. From 2005 until about 2015, there wasn't must residential construction in the US. You bought a house in the low 60s in 1980, which was right in line with the average price of a home at the time. Today, the average house price is $426,000. Incomes have not even come close to keeping pace with that.

There is a lot of bellyaching that Millennials and Gen Z do about various things, but they're not wrong when they say that affording a home is much harder than it used to be.


Interest rates and tax policy are huge factors. Those high teen mortgages were pretty much deductible for every home buyer. With standard deductions so generous today, few benefit from the tax advantages of owning homes.

Owners with near zero percent mortgages don’t want to sell today.

If more workers were filling trade jobs perhaps the housing supply could grow. I think we’ve got plenty of gender studies and art history majors.
 

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