Didn’t have to pay money for it, but in college, my then-girlfriend, now-wife was given a hand-me-down 1997 Ford Aspire. (This was in 2006.) Sweet Jesus, what a piece of crap.

No current BMWs with the 5-foot long kidneys and grilles that stretch the entire length of the front of the car? Shame. 

I honestly have no idea what constitutes a good price on a used car in 2023, apparently. I immediately saw 148K on a Dodge and went ‘oh, hell no.’ Then I looked up what similar ones are selling for. NP for the market, but ND for me.

Right now, I have a $320/mo payment on an HR-V that gets 30 MPG highway, and I commute 70-ish miles round trip every day.

If this was for sale anywhere within shouting distance of me, it would already be in my driveway. A cheap (essentially) cargo van in good nick and AWD for the winter? Yes, please. NP all day. 

I remember taking in this era of Cougars and T-Birds as trade-ins...in 2006...for a few hundred bucks. Maybe a grand in mint condition. I get that $5K is the new $1,000 car, but ND. 

I made this analogy before, and I’ll make it again here.

Was poking around last night for a new (to us) minivan to cart parents to doctor appointments and kids to school...my God. 4-year old Odyssey’s are $31K. 4-year old Sienna’s are $36-38K?!?!?

I’d love a pre-owned ID4, but I’ll wait til they come down to sub-$25K for the tax credit. 

“The demand is there, but they’re running into a drastic change in their monthly budget where car payments might be doubling.”

Umm...then guess what. Maybe to shop and look, but the demand ISN’T there to purchase. I don’t know of many people in my circles that can afford to double any payment right now, much less one…

If Stellantis isn’t going to kill off the Chrysler brand (which, at this point, it should)...then just bring over whatever Peugeot is churning out and slap a Chrysler badge on it.

My dad retired in 1997 (at age 55!), making around $90K/year. My mom hasn’t worked since I was born in ‘84. In 1997, on a single teacher’s salary, they had a nearly-paid off house, a 2-year old Olds Achieva, a 5-year old Escort, a 24-foot Class C motorhome, and a crapton in the bank.

November 2019, had to hop a 5a flight from Charlotte to Chicago. Couldn’t have been more than a dozen of us on a A321.

As always with questions like these, I go back to my old beloved Mazda5. That 2.3L 4-cyl was not enough engine for that car, especially loaded with people and/or cargo in the foothills of North Carolina.

First of all, if your family “needs a bigger car,” there are far cheaper options out there than a $49K Ford Explorer.

The first car I bought (not given as a hand me down) was a 2000 Dodge Intrepid SE. I bought it in 2004. It had 78K miles and cost $3,000. A FOUR-YEAR OLD CAR. For 3 grand. (According to AutoTrader, the cheapest 4-year old anything within 100 miles of Chicago right now is a $9,000 Mirage.)

It took over A YEAR to come up with a software patch? 

Since I’m a dinosaur at my place of employment (at age 38), I can definitively say that nearly all of our under-27s don’t own a car. And have never owned a car. At least three have never even had a license. They use (and have always used) public transportation, Uber/Lyft, or parents to get around. If this is the…

One of my favorite cars my family ever had...the Mazda5. The perfectly-sized van for a family of 3 who occassionally takes grandparents to doctor appointments.

I live less than two miles from a Metra stop in the suburbs of Chicago. It would take me 2:15 door to door to get from my house to my work on the northwest side by taking a Metra, a Red Line El, and a bus. I can drive it in 38 minutes.