Rising prices on old used cars

[93Regina]

Rising prices on old used cars creating crisis in basic transportation
Working poor finding the price of a 10-year-old vehicle is up 75%
since 2010

FREEPORT, Ill. — For America's working poor, an often essential
ingredient for getting and keeping a job – having a car – has rarely
been more costly, and millions of people are finding it impossible to
keep up with payments despite prolonged economic growth and low
unemployment.

More than 7 million Americans are already 90 or more days behind on
their car loans, according to the New York Federal Reserve, and
serious delinquency rates among borrowers with the lowest credit
scores have by far seen the fastest acceleration.

The seeds of the problem are buried deep in the financial crisis, when
in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great
Depression, automakers slashed production. A decade later, that has
made a relative rarity of used 10-year-old vehicles that are typically
more affordable for low-wage earners.

According to data provided to Reuters by industry consultant and car
shopping website Edmunds, the average price of that vintage of vehicle
is $8,657, still nearly 75% higher than in 2010 despite some softening
in prices over the past year. The average new car, in contrast, has
seen a price rise of 25% in that same time period.

"This is pinching people at the worst point possible," said Ivan
Drury, Edmunds' senior manager of industry analysis. "If you need
basic A to B transportation, you have to get an older car that needs
more repairs and has more wear-and-tear issues."

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/10/13/ris ... yptr=yahoo

[93Regina]

You Should Avoid 7-Year Car Loans Like The Plague, Here's Why

For instance, "In 2014, seven-year loans became more popular than five-year loans, which today represent 31.5 and 20.2 percent of new loans, respectively...Consumers end up paying more in interest to the bank than they would with a shorter loan. Then there’s the issue of having an expensive monthly payment on a depreciating asset that could, at one point in the future, be worth less than what’s owed on it. That could be very dangerous not only for someone’s personal financial situation but the entire economy, too, if there were to be any significant economic contraction." (1)

1.
https://www.motor1.com/news/379949/avoi ... car-loans/

[matthew1]

The 2008 recession I'm convinced caused a yearslong spike in traffic here, because many people stopped buying new, they kept their Volvo (and whatever) running longer. Thus DIY searches were up, and MVS traffic rose.

[volvolugnut]

Years ago I started thinking about the future of the hot rod and car restoration hobbies. How would they cope with more and more computer controls on cars? How would you restore a vehicle with more wiring? At the time, we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg with electronic ignition and electronic fuel injection. My car hobby friends did not envision the use of multiple computer modules and Canbus systems to control and monitor everything from air flow to door locks to valve timing.
Now that I have started to learn how these systems work, I think the car hobbies will continue but will change. If you want to add fuel injection to a carburetor engine, there are companies to provide parts and programmable controls to help get everything connected and functional. Want to do an engine and transmission swap? Then there is someone out there who has done this and can help with advice, software and hardware.
Many low cost, basic transportation vehicles will get crushed when they reach the need for major service because they are not valued enough for anyone to pay for repairs (or even the parts with owner labor). Interesting vehicles (like Volvos) will have some enthusiastic owners who will pay or make their own repairs and keep these vehicles going for hundreds of thousands of miles. The internet and groups like MVS will help these enthusiasts maintain and enhance their vehicles. You might say the electronic revolution that changed car design has also changed the way we repair them.

volvolugnut

[93Regina]

I think the car hobbies will continue but will change. If you want to add fuel injection to a carburetor engine

Legally, these are "off-road" vehicles.

Salvage yards have been loosing business, due to computerization...depends upon OEM's system, but many electronic parts are one-time usage, unless they can be programmed in.

With electric vehicles coming online, if fuel prices rise, gasoline based vehicles will bite the dust. Recently, I saw where one electric vehicle would be cheaper to run than a gasoline vehicle. As battery cost drops, and fuel prices rise, people will migrate to electric vehicles.