… and this should result in an increased supply of used cars, but it’s likely to also be a bellwether of problems in our economy.
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No one I know is expressing signs of finanacial distress. I think reports of doom are overblown.
I’m doing okay, and so are you, apparently. But, a 15 year high in car loan delinquencies would seem to indicate that our financial security is not shared by a whole lot of people.
The only good news is that anyone searching for a used car is likely to find an increased supply in the near future, and that increased supply might even reduce the currently-inflated price of used cars.
I’ve read that a number of large corporations are laying off employees. Add to that public sector (federal) job losses and it’s not hard to see why people are going late on their obligations. Federal jobs include civil service employees and their contractors. I’ve noticed contractors losing their jobs where I used to work for most of this year, though the numbers are small so far. The big hit comes in October when the new fiscal year starts. Note that most federal jobs are not in the DC area, but spread across the country.
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Well you must be in an isolated area because it is bad in many areas of the country . It could have been avoided to some degree.
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It is blatantly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that we (as a country) are overextended on debt…and the majority of families and households are just a few missed paychecks or one major unexpected expense from default. And it is blatantly obvious that current vehicle prices, and monthly loan payments are not sustainable in an environment where incomes are flat, or declining.
I already read this article (it appeared in my Google news feed) and I completely agree with the author’s assessment of the situation. People will literally cut just about anything else before they will default on their vehicle loan. Especially people with decent credit. There are only two things which will make people default: loss of income, or the vehicle breaks down and cannot be repaired (or can’t afford the repairs).
We are likely on the leading edge of the default curve. And with mounting layoffs and a rapidly deteriorating job market, I expect to see a steep increase in the number of vehicle loan defaults (as well as credit card defaults, mortgage defaults, etc.)
Edit to add:
I don’t think any of this will help car buyers, because repossessed vehicles are often poorly maintained, due to lack of funds. Gone are the days of the Dodge Shadow, Ford Tempo, Chevrolet Cavalier, which could survive years of missed oil changes, old dirty coolant, etc. Modern engines will quickly develop sludge buildup, VVT and timing chain issues, etc. if they aren’t properly maintained.
Not just car loans but credit card defaults. You have to put yourself in the place of someone on the edge. Then prices go up, then take a second job, then first default on the cards, then the car, and finally the house.
I used to teach the Boy Scouts that you’d never go broke if you spent less than you made. But when costs quick,y escalated to eliminate the difference, all bets were off.
… and mortgage loan defaults, as mentioned in the Forbes article.
The Shadow, Tempo and Cavalier were also unsafe, underpowered and got lousy fuel economy . .
compared to the new cars available now
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I once rented a Tempo and it had to be the most mediocre car that I ever drove.
It was at best–adequate–but it didn’t do anything well.
Nonsense again !
The lease on my wife’s 2022 hyundai elantra expired in June. We leased a new one for $279 per month which i consider to be a modest cost and should be affordable to most families. You prepare a monthly budget and then buy or lease a vehicle that will cost an amount within that budget. That’s not a difficult concept.
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I think there are a lot of highly educated young people out there looking for jobs right now, far more than is published in the news. We had an open cashier position at my office in the past few months. We were getting a ton of highly overqualified people, mainly in IT. In fact, a lawyer applied. This is just a cashier position that basically counts bags of money and hands out printed checks all day long.
There’s a lot less opportunity out there when you start pulling federal money out of the economy. The multipler effect works in reverse sometimes.
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That is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever heard. From that total bull crap line - I’ll assume you’ve never ever worked on a car before and have no idea what you’re talking about.
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Actually, I work on my own cars, and I’m not just talking oil and coolant changes. I have done major engine/mechanical repairs on my vehicles, so save it. And I have seen how people treated old economy cars like “sheet” and barely maintained them, yet they kept running. In fact, there’s a person who lives in my neighborhood who owns a mid-1990s Cavalier and the engine has been knocking for years, yet it’s still running. Every now and then, this car passes by my house, and stops at the stop sign at the corner, and I see it and hear it.
A modern engine will not survive the abuse which these older models tolerated. And I’m not just talking about poor maintenance. If a hose or plastic coolant fitting breaks, a modern all-aluminum engine will often be hopelessly ruined by the time the temperature gauge shows that overheating has occurred. Older (cast iron block) engines often survived accidental overheating, as long as the driver reacted once the temperature gauge reached the red line.
Those cars rarely made it past 100k. Especially those that were poorly maintained. They turned into smoking junkers.
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You are known as a payment buyer and car salesmen love you! Payment buyers don’t care about the price of the car or the interest rate on the loan. It’s just “What do I pay every month?” That’s not the way to buy (or lease) a car.
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And your anecdotal evidence doesn’t equate to reality. Everyone of those vehicles you mentioned had MAJOR reliability issues. There’s a reason you don’t seen any of them on the road today - they didn’t last.
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For me it is.
I actually don’t remember if oil changes in the old days was 1000 or 2000 miles but was pretty short. I remember the controversy when dad was switching to detergent oil. Yeah, probably the old equipment was abused a little by today’s standards but if it made it past 100,000 miles it was done for.
Maybe the reason why they just weren’t dead on the road was that there weren’t 20 sensors to go bad and kill the engine. Or a computer to screw up and cause a stall. Just the basics is all.