More Than 80 Percent Of Americans Can’t Afford New Cars

boem@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 620 points –
More Than 80 Percent Of Americans Can’t Afford New Cars
jalopnik.com
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People who buy new are wild to me. I can afford a new car, or I could just buy a car that's only a few years old with low mileage and save a ton of money. Seems like a no brainer to me.

Well for an EV it might make sense. There just hasnt been a used market for them for a while.

What do you mean? The Nissan Leaf first came out in 2011, the original ones are probably 13 years old now. The Bolt was released in 2016.

the originals had terrible range right out the gate and have only gotten worse. practical electric cars aren't common on the used market since most of them are still with their first owners

I own a car older than that. What I don't want is to buy an EV and when it needs repair I have to find the one shop in my state that knows what to do. I keep hearing horror stories of having to go back to the dealer.

The problem will be solved with time but right now I would be hesitant if I was looking at replacing my car.

They generally need the same maintenance as any other car, struts, suspension, wheels, and miscellaneous parts that break. They're not magical, they just use a different fuel.

Ok good to know, and the battery replacement stuff is all settled as well? I am planning my next car to be a used EV I just don't want to have problems.

Battery replacements are generally about as frequent as getting a new transmission or engine. They're rare, expensive, but if you want to pick something up on the used or remanufactured market it's much cheaper. Supposedly the average battery will outlast the life of the car. My EV is only a year old, so I'll have to get back to you on that, but the number I've heard is 10% degradation in 10 years.

Depends on when. There have been many times in the past 20 years that "low mileage" cars are only a couple thousand less than new, and some rare cases during the pandemic where used was more than new, cause new didn't exist.

Even now depending on where you live, you have to get a fairly used car to get a significant discount.

Right but the people they worship buy new cars, and they're just temporarily disgraced millionaires so this 90 grand truck is worth it.

There are very few electric cars available used, which severely limits my options if I want to be responsible with an automobile purchase.