I’d say the same thing about a new car, but then you see the used car prices. Do I want to spend $60k on a new car, or $50k on a 5 year old car with 80k miles?  Maybe that is a little exaggerated. The “Just drove off the lot 25% discount” doesn’t exist anymore.

Reading through these comments and a lot of people on jalopnik:

I honestly think this is at the heart of why Tesla owners are such zealots. They have extended themselves financially to get the car so it MUST be more than a car, it must be the second coming of Christ.

It seems like you forgot about a little thing called taxes. A family making $200k is not bringing home $8k biweekly. 

Except those same $200k+/year families also overextend themselves in every other aspect of their lives, and then complain that they don’t make enough. I hear so much whining from folks who make this level of money - when I point out their lifestyles, they get defensive and feel that they’re entitled to do what they do…

Exactly.

My local credit union is currently charging a minimum of 5.53% on an 84-month loan, which has become disturbingly popular over the past several years. Sales tax in my state is 5.5%. Assuming you finance the taxes and fees, which a lot of people do, that gives you about $65k for a max budget if the cutoff is $1000/mo.

Once you agree to buy something, its future value is irrelevant.

When my wife and I were buying a car once, the finance guy somehow overlooked that we were putting 50% down on the thing and he tried very hard to get us to buy GAP insurance. I let him ramble on for a bit to amuse myself, then pointed out that it would be impossible for us to be upside down on the loan (it was for 36…

“This has always been the case, but dealers will sometimes claim they have to add GAP coverage to all auto loans...”

I read this as, “California gives consumers a new avenue to sue crappy dealers who continue to deceive borrowers, since they’ve found ways to work around our existing laws”

Tell us what happened in Minnesota since defund the police. What exactly was defunded? The entire state? Wow, I hadn’t read about that.

“By withholding judgment, I can’t be wrong. That’s the beauty of it. I’m always fucking right.”

I just want to ask a question.  Do you think they defunded the police in Minnesota?  You are implying that they did and that homicides went up.  They didn't, the police budget is actually higher this year and the ballot measure was struck down.

In my state it will be more like: Volvo interior radar system will call CPS or Humane society if child or pet left behind.

The vast majority aren’t nay-sayers. We’re just waiting for the value proposition to make sense. We’re probably pretty close already for most of us. Give people time and don’t be a douche about it.

Nowhere else can you sit in 50+ cars in a day. It definitely helps whittle down the list of cars I want to test drive.

I mean, I have, but also just as an insider...

Sorry never got the point of these besides being a party for insiders. Who ever went to an auto show to figure out what car to buy?

My old industry ( outdoor sporting goods) was seeing big trade shows decline pre Covid; I think the pandemic has accelerated the trend. 

I’m noticing conferences in general are all underperforming. I’ve been to a handful of industry related conferences and trade shows, and pretty much all of them are a ghost town.