Or he’s grossly overestimating taxes. I know countless coworkers who do that - all claiming that they pay 50% of their income in taxes.

But around here, the max in state and local income taxes combined comes to about 7%. These people are generally in a 22% federal bracket, so that puts them at a 29% marginal tax rate,…

Just shrug and keep on drivin’. People feeling bad because other people are driving nicer cars than them is probably one of the reasons why this debt crisis is happening in the first place.

Depreciation only matters if you sell the car. I have owned one of my cars for 25 years, another for eight (and I have no intentions of selling it). I may never sell any of my cars at this point - I hardly put any miles on any of them, and I have six. For most people, the things you actually lay out money for are a…

I have encountered people like that who think people with good incomes who drive beaters are weird. Go figure. 

Great article, Patrick. My take is we have collectively lost our damn minds. The collective keeping up with the Joneses paradigm never seems to go away, especially when it comes to vehicles.

On a pretty regular basis I start seeing tons, like TONS, of really nice cars out there during my commute being driven by seemingly regular youngish adults like myself (late 20s/early 30s) and start feeling depressed…geez, what the hell am I doing wrong only driving a $5k car that is 15 years old (and wife driving a 3…

Weren’t you just trying to buy a right-hand drive Cressida full of bees?

Prices go up; paychecks don’t. It’s simple math.

I’m just surprised it took this long. I’m always super suprised how many new cars are sold in the US alone!! Who’s buying them? lol Maybe its leases? And or some folks just trade up for a newer car every 4 years or so, but thats never been me or anyone I know. And with the prices on cars today and the shrinking middle…

This backs up the statistic that the average age of a new car buyer is 53. Boomers are dumb with their transportation needs. My parents have basically killed their retirement after jumping from lease to lease for decades.

1st Gear: In terms of US auto sales, it doesn’t seem to be ALL doom and gloom:

Crash tests are probably the biggest issue with trying to sell a 14-year-old vehicle with no significant structural updates.

“GM is looking at a very expensive footprint going forward with autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle development, and they don’t want an expensive legacy costs.”

Challenger/Charger

This is a very good point. I think we might be seeing “peak boomer” far as car sales are concerned.

(buys stock in Purina and Elmer’s)

I tried to take advantage of the slump, but if you want an AWD RAV4 with a sunroof you’re already knocking on $28,000. That’s ridiculous. $1200 off sticker wasn’t enough to convince me to buy one.

Vehicle sales projections have never quite made sense to me. I think everyone would agree that cars today are much better than cars of yesterday. They are more efficient, safer, and last longer just to name a few things. If a company makes things that last longer and longer, then are surprised that they sales start…

I tried to purchase a vehicle last month for slightly under dealer invoice, whatever that made-up number is, and no one wanted to sell me the car. So, I could not care less that they are experiencing a sales slump because of their lack of desire to even negotiate. Once I gave them my number, which should have been the…

I think the boom bust is inevitable.