Buying a new car

My wife got a 2018 Mini Cooper. It's being delivered in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how it goes! We (I) really wanted a hybrid or EV, but we couldn't find one that was right for us, or our budget, or that would fit with the other one in the garage. We sort of justified it as, well, it's used, it's the second car, already that means less gas and miles since it won't be the main hauler. Like I mentioned, I would have preferred sticking with one car, but we have two teens, one of whom drives, and next year they will be going to the same school for the first time in years. Said school is around 2 miles away, which is too far to walk, not practical to bike much of the year, and public transportation here (a PACE bus) extremely unreliable. So the older kid gets to drive the older, bigger (safer) car, and take her sister to and from school, too. Then, in a year, she'll be off to college and won't need a car, and we'll be down to one kid who doesn't drive, but we'll still have two cars, one of which will soon thereafter be the one the younger one learns on and drives. By the time *she* has her license, the older one will be graduating from college, and we can determine if we want to give her the old car, or possibly get rid of both cars and replace with a better one-car choice for us, which by then, in 4+ years, might be a more practical EV.

We're planners. ;)

The impetus right now, fwiw, was related to the same car shortages that have inflated used car prices. Car rentals are scarce and prices through the roof. New and used cars are flying off the lots (relatively speaking). It's going to be a problem for the foreseeable future, right when being a two-car family makes the most sense for us. We realized if we ever needed a second car, even for a couple of days, it was going to prove a challenge, but we also realized with two bigger kids it was going to be harder and harder to avoid. Just bad timing we couldn't avoid, but we figure a relatively short-term issue that we will reassess when the family next radically reshuffles.

My 19 year old car is currently crapping out and I'm feeling very cursed considering how terrible the market is right now

recently found this list of most sold cars in america 2021 and can't get over it
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g36005989/best-selling-cars-2021/

https://i.imgur.com/nEcsuER.png

what are people using these cars for?

this is the best selling car in Europe:
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/VW-Golf-Blue-Snow-768x432.jpg.webp
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/europe/2021-full-year-europe-top-25-best-selling-car-models/

what are people using these cars for?

Occasionally, some light duty, but mostly just as status symbols. American roads have wide lanes, parking lots have wide spaces, and if most of the other drivers out there have a high vantage then you want one too (I guess).

My brother has one of these monstrosities and just replacing the tires alone is about $2500.

remarkable

I guess it makes sense in a way

but really mindblowing, did not realize those big trucks were so popular

I'm legit pissed that all the US brands and about half of the import brands have quit selling sedans and hatchbacks in the US. I've never bought a car new, and probably never will, but that means the inventory next time I'm shopping will be almost wholly SUVs and Crossover things.

(Also, they stopped offering any kind of low-end or starter economy cars anymore. "Are you poor? Fuck you, buy something that's 20 years old," they say.)

that is indeed the strategy brought on by the chip shortage. if you can’t sell in volume, only sell high margin. which has of course made the used car market blow up too because who can afford these new cars

and i don’t see them changing their tune any time soon tbh. if they can make record profits in a pandemic when everyone’s driving less and there’s a chip shortage, well just think how much this strategy could net them in normal times

what are people using these cars for?

i think you are somewhat underestimating how many people live in rural places with shitty roads, and/or that actually need a truck. Ofc there is merit to the status thing, too

i don't think the quality of rural roads in 21st century america is really relevant to the portion of car sales that are large trucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aZqn4K5ZcU

yeah a new silverado is like $70k - it’s a luxury car

roads are a lot worse in the city here than in the surrounding counties/rural areas. i'm sure that's why baltimore cops who live in york and lancaster drive these kinds of trucks, so they can get over all the potholes and steel plates.

fair point. can attest that being the case in the city i just moved out of. i thought the potholes were exclusive to that shithole since i've never seen another city nearly so full of bad roads. . .

In 2008 I bought a new Ram 1500 Quad Cab (I was working construction) for $18,250. Not the Hemi but still a V8, even. Inflation yada yada yada but I assume I'd be lucky to find the equivalent for under $40k today.

Probably not even $40k since the juiced-up Focus that is the Bronco Sport is about $40k if you want a 4 cylinder engine.

roads are a lot worse in the city here than in the surrounding counties/rural areas.

seriously, same here! I would actually be interested in a visual comparison between Baltimore and Oakland in terms of road quality, with bonus points for pictures including sidewalk furniture. ... meanwhile I drive to the suburbs / rural areas to visit my parents, who live on a cul-de-sac where everyone but them has the big new truck ... and those roads are pristine.

The CX-5's big flaw is revealed -- if the battery is weak and the weather is cold, the rear liftgate won't unlock.

read a review of the toyota hydrogen fuel cell car

seems like the future

my barely informed hot take is that hydrogen fuel cell is a dead-end for personal vehicles

Yeah, there's a reason Toyota is the only maker still playing around in that field.

https://www.gemcar.com/street-legal-carts/

xp oh didn't realize, seemed so promising