It wasn’t to refute anything...and I’m not debating the average. I was adding an explanation as to WHY the average is as high as it is because most outlets were not giving that info.  I was also reminding consumers that just because the average is X doesn’t mean they actually have to spend that much.

No, not really. It is actually kind of a hedge. Your lease payment is based on depreciation, a cash factor, term and down payment. In a normal market say you lease a $40k car and residual value is set at $30k, you put down $3k and have a 36 month term. I am going to ignore cash factor since that makes it a bit more…

What type of asset are we talking about when your car is pay off after 72 months of payment ? and how much the car is costing you in maintenance when it ages... It is really a question on how often do you change cars and how much you drive. There is no good or bad choice, it just depends on the situation.

Leasing can work for some folks especually if you don’t plan on keeping the car for long anyway. The same people that say “never lease” are often the same ones that trade their car in every 3-4 years. In previous markets it would likely be “smarter” for those people to lease. However, right now when you compare the…

Great points, but I prefer to call it total ownership cost. Why? Because we have ways of making you TOC.

Eh....90th percentile is $184k for HOUSEHOLDS. As average number of cars is nearly two per household, you’ve gotta halve that for average sake.

Nah. We are in the Midwest, near a largish city, in a nice and convenient neighborhood (so not out in the sticks), mortgage is $810. We did put down 30%.

Jesus fucking christ. Keep ignoring the context.

Still, none of what you said changes why cars are a depreciating asset, you are just explaining how you may have lucked out slightly in this weird time. Don’t expect to do it again in a year or so. 

You are on a car enthusiast website and you can’t understand why people would buy a $30K car?

It’s 12% of people, if we assume that those buyers are mostly in the upper 12% of earners, then most of them make between $210,000 and $500,000 a year. So these $1000 car payments are less than 10% of their income, even in the highest tax states.

The name ‘2022 Ford Bronco Raptor’ comes off as a lot of marketing personal don’t really care how terrible it sounds to say. What’s next ‘Thunder Cougar Falcon Bird.’

So we force pilots to retire at 60 but we let walking corpses run the government?

Yes, I know what overt means.  My point is that even if it’s easier to spot, they don’t give a shit because people don’t feel like they have any alternatives.  

Two reasons:

This has been my experience with tech like radar cruise and lane keep assist. I don’t trust any of it enough to let my guard down, and now I have to pay extra attention to how the systems are working. They’re great for a momentary break to wiggle your toes and shake out your shoulders, but I’m more relaxed just doing…

I haven’t been in any vehicle with any kind of driver assist akin to what’s talked about here or in Teslas, etc. but I have to think that, done correctly, with your unfettered focus on what the car’s systems are doing, at the ready to take over at any moment, would be more tiring/numbing than actually doing the…

Congratulations, now you know how I feel every time someone on Jalopnik tries to write an article about patents.  

“License and registration, please. Umm, Mr. Tracy, do you know why I flipped you over today?”

Hi “Sarahfails” thanks for your constructive feedback. The way this works is: I don’t write the headlines--and not everyone is as Wordle-informed as you. Take care. ✌️