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The $25k car is going extinct?

(media.hubspot.com)
319 points pseudolus | 1 comments | 29 Jun 25 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.199s | source
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paxys ◴[29 Jun 25 20:52 UTC] No.44416339[source]▶
One fact not mentioned in the article - Americans now owe $1.64 trillion in auto loans, and cars make up 9% of all consumer debt in the country. In fact we now owe more on cars than student loans. The average loan term is rising - almost 6 years now. 60-day delinquency on auto loans is at 6.6%, the highest ever recorded, and is as high as 9% in some states.

So while car prices keep going up, people also keep going deeper into debt to buy one they can't afford.

You can blame manufacturers or banks, but ultimately the problem is unchecked consumerism and treating cars as a status symbol, which is sadly pervasive in this country.

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nradov ◴[30 Jun 25 03:10 UTC] No.44418919[source]▶
Sure, status is a factor. But for people who do a lot of driving, having a nice car really benefits their quality of life. No one wants to spend hours every day in a miserable little penalty box.
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neogodless ◴[30 Jun 25 03:18 UTC] No.44418963[source]▶
This is very subjective. The cars people today call a "little penalty box" are easily equivalent or better to many of the luxury cars of the 1990s. Bluetooth, AC, ABS, backup camera. There's almost nothing that isn't required / standard. Plus they tend to be the efficient 35+ mpg cars.
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aembleton ◴[30 Jun 25 09:55 UTC] No.44421365[source]▶
Plenty of tech, but are the seats as comfortable?
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1. neogodless ◴[30 Jun 25 12:46 UTC] No.44422601[source]▶
Again subjective, and varies by model.

I can't speak for every car. I test drove a Civic and did not find it comfortable (way back in ~2007) and that was mostly due to my own dimensions, but I found the 2007/2008 Honda Fit seats great, as well as the 2014 Mazda 3 I had owned.

As comfortable as an $80K car? In some cases, no, but often more comfortable than the luxury cars of a few decades ago. Hardly a penalty box!