Wouldn't it have been nice if the US had a mass-transit system like Europe or China? Oh well.
this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2026
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The mass transit system in Europe is inadequate, even.
Inadequate is hardly the word and extremely harsh for a system that most people benefit greatly from.
Most people don't really benefit from it because it is inadequate and needs to be greatly expanded
Don't worry... that extra cost gets you more LCD displays and the ability to pay for a heated seat subscription.
It's fine. They'll take away all the stalks and buttons to keep the prices from rising top fast.
In Europe physical buttons and stalks are coming back for the key interactions, even on the fully electric 20k EUR Renault, might be because without them, cars get downgraded in their safety score, as they should. But then, you also get downgraded for producing a car that is more dangerous to pedestrians than it needs to be. None of that appears to be much of an issue for US car safety organisations or regulators.
average cost of a new car nears $50K
People choose those cars. They have the money. Otherwise they would buy smaller cars.
WHAT smaller cars? The only damn thing sold in this country is giant SUVs or pickup trucks.
Smaller non-electric trucks and vans are effectively illegal in the US. Starting in 2011, fuel economy ratings started being weighted on vehicle footprint instead of vehicle classification. And as fuel economy regs become stricter, it's easier for the manufacturers to just make the footprint larger than to make things more efficient.
It's why the Dakota, S-10, and Ranger all stopped being made that year, and when the Ranger was relaunched years later it was the size of older F-+50s. It's also why every compact cargo van stopped being produced between 2021 and 2022 as fuel economy standards increased.
An NV200 compact commercial cargo van has stricter fuel economy requirements than a Toyota Camry.
A lot of people buy new cars with dealer financing at perhaps the worst interest rate possible, for a car that will lose 10%-15% of its value the moment the contract is signed and the vehicle is driven off the dealership's lot.
¯\(ツ)/¯
There are 4 models of minivan being sold currently. Anyone trying to fit 3 car seats or 7 people into a vehicle and looking for a new car pretty much gets those 4 options and that’s it.
Generally you’re right but Logic 101 and Obi wan Kenobi should’ve taught us by now that absolute statements like yours are bogus.
Or used cars
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.
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I'm 60, I've never bought a brand-new car, and I doubt I ever will.
The car I'm driving now, which is two years newer than the car I drove for 18 years, is a 2006. I paid $6000 for it about eight years ago, and I'm very happy with it.
Yep, I find it insane people who buy a new car every few years. Cars don't just die after 4 or 5 years of use. Most of my Toyotas have 300k miles on them and are early 2000s. They will last way longer than most people assume. Just maintain the damn things.
My car is 46 years old. Average vehicle in Australia is 10-12 years old. People who exclusively lease new cars are nuts! Assuming petrol is still around I'll keep my car going as long as I can - and even then I'll only swap an electric drivetrain into it. There's nothing wrong with the rest of the car
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.
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Car prices will rise until all cars are self driving and nobody can afford to own them so you will rent driving time when you need transportation. This rental time will be even more expensive than ownership but it will be all you can afford.
You will get deals from driving subscriptions, but the ownership model will go away almost completely someday and big companies will continue to reap the rewards.
The rest of the world will just buy Asian cars and get on with it.
I really love my e-bike more with every day
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This has been news for 6 years... Associated Press really did axe their employees to think this is a story.
We’ll have our walkable cities for sure at this rate.
We'll have more people walking in cities, anyway.
Walkin down the stroad
Futures so bright I have to wear shades
Does US media know the difference between average and mean or median?
Yes and they use them all to get you to click.
There is always a choice. If those overweight SUVs would be resting like lead in the showrooms and only the smallest and most cost effective offers actually move, producers would adapt. They aren't. (I am aware that producers do their best to advertise those high margin oversized cars but that doesn't change the above).
In Europe we have been seeing a similar trend, for some time. However I am happy to report that this appears to be changing right now. Not long ago, almost all new EVs were some oversized and overweight SUV stuff for fantasy prices. Finally however, we are starting to see more and more compact EVs that are practical, reasonably sized and relatively reasonably priced as well. Take the Renault 5 and soon the Renault Twingo for example. The former in a good version with big battery 33k EUR, the latter 20k EUR.
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I'm not fretting, I'm simply not buying anything other than necessities until Pedolf is gone. I'll have a nice little pile of cash ready to go, assuming this nightmare ever ends.
For purchases that can be deferred without it being too painful, it's probably a good idea on purely financial grounds, since some of purchases now are going to go towards taxation, paying tariffs. Trump's earlier tariffs were overturned by the courts, but now courts are looking at the new, global, 10% tariff. Assuming that a future administration will roll back tariffs (or, I suppose, if courts overturn this and later attempts by the present administration at imposing tariffs) the same money would go further then.
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Seems like the average is inflated with $100,000 extended cab pickup trucks with luxury features. Which have taken over the market.
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