CR shows the Focus transmission going to much better than average reliability in the 2015 MY. ‘12-14 were poor for reliability, but it does appear they fixed their problems.

That’s no worse in terms of time it took to address the issue than Honda took with their transmissions.  We’ll see how long it takes Toyota to fix…

Unless you’re clear-cutting the Amazon rainforest to grow sugar...

There are already cars and trucks on the market that were at or near their required fuel efficiency for 2025.  Hell, you can buy an F-150 today that is less than 1 mpg off the 2025 standards.

3rd:

You can also finally buy a proper hybrid from Honda in the Insight - same mpg as the Prius, looks a hell of a lot better, has considerably more space for passengers (and arguably for cargo, as well), and is considerably cheaper around here as well...

The absurdly oversized center console.

Same stupid move Ford made with the Taurus. Good way to make a car feel overly cramped.

You’re confusing two different numbers. You’re talking about the average age of all vehicles on the road. The 5 years of ownership is the average time someone owns a vehicle before selling it to someone else. And the median vehicle has a lifespan of nearly 16 years now.

So what you’re really seeing is:

Car bought new.…

5 years is about the normal ownership period for any vehicle.

It’s also the reason why people insist they can’t afford a new car - because they’re always stuck in a payment and sucking depreciation, rather than saving money and buying a new car and keeping it a long time.

Well, both the BMW and the LeBaron kinda looked like shit on the interior by the standards of most vehicles made since the early/mid 90s, so I guess there’s that.

cell phone / internet bills?

When I was in college, a phone line would run you $35 a month and on top of that you got to pay $0.25 a minute for long distance. When long distance dropped to $0.10 a minute, it was almost unthinkable. A cell phone would run at least another $20 a month for a limited 60 minutes of airtime,…

I’d argue its WAY over 30-40% that can buy their product. Its that many that you discount make bad choices that make it not affordable.

For example, a $450 payment on a 25 year loan implies roughly a 5 year loan. But the median new car today has a lifespan over 15 years. A good portion of those over 10 years old that…

Much like with phones, if you want a new car with the latest-and-greatest features, much of which you absolutely do not need, you’ll have to pony up a lot more than you used to, and you’ve got to really want a new car

The closest one to me tried telling me that the brutal transmission flare and shudder in a 2010 Accord, brand new, was perfectly normal and that all good cars feel that way. This was so awful it would have made a Focus with a powershift, before any of their improvements, feel like a high end luxury car.

On top of that,…

What beauty?

Kia? I prefer my cars to not self-combust.

Actually, they’ve pushed their pricing up around here such that Hondas don’t look so bad.  

Yep.

I have a Mazda6 and a Ford Fusion.  Both companies are basically telling me they don’t want my business anymore.

OTOH, where I live, the Honda dealerships are the ones that are beyond insufferable.

I live solidly in the middle of the rust belt, where we can joke about how many inches of salt will be applied for each inch of snow.

I hardly ever see rust on any 2009 or newer Mazdas unless there’s obvious body damage to go with it.

Your first post:

You’re correct. You can’t exactly use the term statistically insignificant.

It IS fair to say, however, that for most owners, that level of difference would never be noticed and that paying significantly more for the “more reliable” vehicle could be a waste.   I mean, does it matter if the lottery odds are one in 100…