Once you take inflation into account:
A New Toyota Camry Costs Thousands Less Than It Did In 1997 (If You Adjust For Inflation)
@bcohen2010 Sounds like your holy grail 1997 Camry isn’t such a good deal, after all
I remember when insurance cost more than my cars. Liability without reliability was my thing back then.
I forget th3 exact explanation but the jist was that manufacturers are pushing standard pricing on their dealers. Seems like this go around, the msrp is just the given price, the the dealer just has trades, upgrades, fees, etc to work with.
This is a sad example of “Cherry Picking” to make a misleading point.
The “Inflation Rate” is based on a wide variety of Consumer Costs including Food, Housing, Transportation, Medical, Insurance etc.
So assuming my 1997 Gross Income increased by the Inflation Rate I’d be fine BUT what happens if my employer decides that I now have to pay $1,000 / month for the formerly free Family Health coverage?
Since Medical Costs only make up a small percentage of the Inflation Rate, most of that cost increase would be reflected as additional expense in the Family Budget. i.e. I have $1,000 less per month to spend.
So while a Camry may be a couple of thousand dollars less on a “once in ten year purchase”, overall in the above example I’ve fallen behind by about $1,000 / month.
I think a large reason why the Younger Generation feels neglected is because many of the traditional perks that us Old Farts simply took for granted, never actually considered part of our Income, like Employer Paid pensions, medical insurance, educational and workshop tool expenses have been foisted on them.
The local Toyota dealer shows 162 Camrys “available”, starting at $34,077.
Of the 162 Camry listings (each with pictures, pricing and VIN) 88 are “in production”, 73 are in transit and 1 is in stock.
The one car in stock is $39,682. Saturday there were 7 in stock, I can imagine the bidding wars over the weekend.
If someone needs a new vehicle today, they have 80 pickup trucks in stock. Single cab trucks start at $37,832, double cab $42,280.
How can the vehicle market in the 1990’s be compared with today’s market?
I believe the majority of new Camrys being sold are SE models, fwiw
The LE msrp is apparently still just below $30k, but by the time you add all the taxes, fees, etc., you’re comfortably above $30k
But I do see plenty of LEs driving around, so they seem to be well enough equipped to satisfy the needs of many people
I had a defined benefit retirement at my first job. About half way through my stay there they ended the defined benefit and started the defined contribution retirement (401K). I worked another 42 years after the defined benefit retirement ended and had either a 403B or 401K only. I also experienced steady increases in my medical insurance that I paid as well as an erosion of the benefit over that 22 years. I always had education benefits. Tools were purchased by the sponsor. I didn’t use them but the hourly people did. The hourly folks made less per hour than auto mechanics did, but they worked at least 40 hours per week. Note that everyone on staff had the same benefits, old or young.
No cherry picking involved. It’s simple: the inflation adjusted price of an old base Camry is higher than a new base Camry. None of your “medical costs” stuff matters any more here than it does regarding the price of a loaf of bread.
There are a half dozen new Camrys within 20 miles of me for less than $35,000, the inflation-adjusted price of the old Camry.
There are more examples of this if you want to look. Recent article about how the price of a Wagoneer in the '60s is just about exactly the same as that for one today, inflation-adjusted. I found the same thing with Corollas.
Fact is, one big reason average new car prices keep going up is that people keep buying fancier cars.
Sorry to disrupt your view but you are very wrong.
I think there are two separate points being made. One is the comparison of the price of a car, adjusted for inflation. The other being the affordability of that car over the same time period. Two separate topics…
If someone wants to make the point that cars are less affordable because the cheapest ones (subcompacts) are no longer available, I wouldn’t argue.
Yes, but sometimes the model that replaces the subcompact sedan is essentially just as affordable as the sedan was. Hyundai dropped the Accent sedan in the US, but they introduced the boxy little Venue, which starts at less than $21k.
Different cars for different markets but i remain unconvinced that the execs know as much as they think they know.
Sounds like you miss your Oldsmobile (automobile markets have changed).
Good observation and my points are:
- Making a general conclusion that, “cars are more affordable today”, based on a specific car can be misleading and I’m confident that a contrary argument can be made by simply selecting a different car. i,e. “Cherry Picking”
- Then there’s the argument that a 2026 car isn’t actually comparable to a car that’s 30 years older. There’s been substantial improvements during those 30 years so a valid argument can be made that if reasonably similar, the Inflation Adjusted price of a 2026 Camry is the same or less, the cost has actually decreased.
- But equally and possibly more important is the Affordability issue. Inflation is a measure of COSTS but if the consumers’ Net Disposable INCOME haven’t kept pace with Inflation, then the consumer cost has basically increased. i.e. If Inflation has increased 15% but Wages have only increased 10% then “Cost” (percentage of family income allocated to transportation) has made the car more expensive.
There’s an old saying in Statistics that, “Figures don’t lie but liers can figure” and with the selective misuse of the data I believe I can easily “prove” that birds can’t fly (penguins) and dogs don’t bark (basenjis).
So with any Statistic, activate your BS radar, consider the source (Politician or Clickbait Merchant), the source of the data, how they’re using the data and if it doesn’t square with common sense, run!
Never said that, and I resent being called a liar. I’ve noted several examples of cars whose inflation-adjusted prices have been stable. I’m not conducting an affordability study, rolling in the impact of alleged (but unsupported) changes in disposable income. Have some folks suffered? Certainly, but large numbers haven’t.
I consider 30% of the population adverse affected by the current economy to be significant number.
Me too. But not the point of my simple post - a number of cars have not increased in price on an inflation adjusted basis.
I agree with you about the price of cars being cheaper counting for inflation.
But unfortunately the economic situation of this country - people of lower income are having a very hard time right now. Especially if you rent. Rentals in this area have seen significant increase yet income has stayed stagnant.