Profile of a future car owner

The subject is a study that tells you something you already know. There is a little story floating around Yahoo news today commenting on the type of jobs being created. Yahoo quoted a study that concluded that only 18% of the jobs created between today and 2018 will provide " a basic standard of living" The lifestyle quoted was not big on details (it did not say if home ownership was one of the “features” that your life would include). The study used a simple food, clothing,shelter,medical insurance,and a bit of savings model. There was a brief mention of “transportation”( I bet it will be public transportation) all of this was tied to a figure of $30,000 per year,single parent,two kids. Myself I can’t see this figure including home ownership(and I can’t see it even possible today to have this on 30K). Since this is an automotive forum I ask for viewpoints on just what this “model” person would or could be driving? The main point of the story was that “the lifestyle middle class America has become accustomed to” is not going to be possible for as many as it used to be. I saw a quote today from one of those famous Greek or Roman guys about how poverty breeds dissent within the population, and I cannot disagree.

I think they would probably be a driving hand-me-down car that their parents(maybe even grandparents) owned beforehand. Something like a Chevy Corrisica or Ford Taurus.

I think you need to look at the current governor changes being implemented. WI, OH, IN have all had proposals by republican governors to eliminate union bargaining. Conspiracy theory, this is not a coincidence. If you can’t sleep you can read here. http://www.billslinksandmore.com/Billsblog/2011/03/28/wisconsin-scholar-targeted-by-gop-for-revealing-their-agenda/

The top 5% of wealth holders are not hurting. I was never a Jessie Jackson lover but I remember his eggs and bacon politics. The proposals at hand hurt the rich like a chicken giving up an egg, and hurts the rest of us like a pig giving up bacon. (paraphrase) Looking to find another 72 nova or a street legal golf cart!

At first I said to myself “2018 this does not concern you as you will not even be driving” but then I did a little math and it certainly does pertain to me as there is every reason to believe I will be driving through my 60’s (except the how to afford it part)I drove a 49 Chevy pickup up until 1984 (new wife put a stop to that) I wonder if there is any chance I will be driving my 2004 F-150 8 years from now? I bet it will be gas prices or some radical tax on older vehicles (or an emission issue)that puts my F-150 in the scrap heap.I certainly know I can keep the vehicle in running condition for 10 more years. This type of thing was everyday common in the America I grew up in. The lower middle class were allowed to drive whatever they could keep running, I wonder if this concept has seen its day.

Certainly you can drive whatever you want, but it will be taxed beyond logic. The path cigarette taxes followed are the standard for the future. Sugar soda tax has been proposed, obesity tax for medicare has been proposed, the philosophy seems to be to tax us into a healthy lifestyle, sure you can do what you like, but we can make it economically unfeasible.

Can we please stick to cars, not politics?

Half of Americas wealth today is held by just 400 people… And the other half is held by people over 60. It’s not a pretty picture…

What kind of car will the Middle Class be driving? Can you say Tata motors?

Well, this is slowly creeping poverty, those making that much would not really be middle class. The middle class is already going away, if you want to see what life would be like, just go to any developing country. Lots of motorcycles and many small 4 cylinder cars. A Corolla or another car in that size would be you road trip family car.

We have to redefine our living standard in the future. The era of cheap and plentiful oil is obviously over, and in the future our cars on average will be more frugal and smaller as well as lighter.

Denmark, for instance, has a very high living standard in spite of the country having virtually no oil or gas, or a car industry. Danes eat well, live well, and have great FREE medical care, and free schooling. However, cars are expensive, gasoline is expensive and many Danes live in very nice condos,heated by community heating systems.

Danes also live longer than Americans.

In summary, in the future the US lifestyle will more resemble the rest of the world, which excludes large, freestanding houses, large powerul cars and more public transportation.

As middleclass purchasing power declines people will settle for less car than they are accustomed to. Cars will be kept longer. The number of vehicles per household will decrease. People will depend more on delivery services and begin to hire vehicles for special circumstances. Access to public transportation will gain importance when choosing where to live. Midsized car sales will shrink along with the middle class. As always the wealthy will do what they can afford.

Please look at the title and in the text I clearly made a link to automobiles. I paid careful attention to make sure there was a “for sure” automotive link in my post. The automotive link is “what car(s) will people of modest means be driving in the near future”?

In reality this post has stayed more “on target” (meaning maintaining its link to an automotive issue) than many others. I have noticd the Forum members are tolerant when there is at least somekind of an automotive link maintained but the Forum frequently delves into politics and it does not seenm to bother most as there usually is an automotive link even if the post goes firmily political

As those who want to keep things running age, the concept will most certainly see it’s demise after awhile. Today’s society is more about owning shiny new things and disposing of old things, so that lease car might go to the scrap heap instead of someone buying it up and driving it for longer than 3 years.

Hey Oldschool…

I’ve fairly recently been made aware of a service in many large cities whereby you “rent” your vehicle, rather than flat out own it. Based on the (admittedly biased) report from the (rather attractive) saleswoman seated next to me on the plane, it sounded entirely feasible.

The vast majority of folks living in towns and cities don’t need to own a car at all. Most of their travel (food, entertainment and work) is within a couple miles of their abode - within walking, bus or taxi distance. The odd outing requiring a car would be serviced by just such a business, and at far less cost than actually owning a vehicle and all that entails (maintenance, taxes, parking, and fuel just to name a couple “top of my head” costs).

So, based on that information, and the little bit on knowledge I do have, I would guess something like a Prius or a Volt, which tend to be fairly cheap to run for the most part.

This is just my opinion, before anyone jumps on my back.

People will drive the same cars that are on the road today, but for a lot longer. Many older cars disappear from the USA and end up in Central and South America. Maybe fewer will find their way south. That should provide more work for auto mechanics.

My school bookstore started to offer the “rent your books” solution last semester. I wonder if this is the way that both major (an automobile) and minor purchases (textbooks) will be handled. Sorting out the mess in College and University bookstores, now that is a clearly political activity (also something that really needs to be done).

Motorists are getting tired of four figure auto-repair bills…Manufacturers that offer a 10 year, 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty will have no trouble selling their cars and makers with a less sterling reputation will fall by the wayside. The blown head gaskets, the failed timing belts, the leaking struts, the fried transmissions and AWD systems at 60K miles, the “Sir, we would like you to come in and look at your drive-shaft boots while we have it up on the lift…” People have had enough of that nonsense…You are not going to be able to sell that junk any more…

The Yahoo story spit out that 30k figure for a single parent with two kids. I ask what is the most likely item not included in this 30K figure, home ownership, child care, car less that 3 years old, medical plan other than the “major medical bare bones plan”. The article did state that there would be no eating out.

I am certainly onboard with this idea when it comes to failures that were no fault of the owner and the system is a Federaly mandated one (meaning emissions). This problem of multi-thousand dollar repairs for emissions systems is just absurd

I am 68, will be 69 this week. If you are eating correctly and have no chronic diseases, you may well be driving well into your 80’s. My wife’s best friend, who lives in the Quad Cities, is 95 and still drives herself for groceries and such, though she does not go out of town. She has a medium sized Buick, from the early 90’s, which she keeps meticulously maintained.

I bought my 2002 Sienna in 2001, and assumed it would be my last car. Last year, in our retirement park in McAllen, a man in his late 80’s drove in from Minnesota. I ran and told my wife we needed to start saving for our next Sienna.

I do not know if you ever belonged to a union or not. I did, for 31 years, so am not totally unsympathetic to unions. But, we also never made anywhere near $100,000 with benefits. And, we only got paid if we made and sold stuff. No one went out with a gun and took money from our fellow citizens to pay us.

And, when we negotiated, no one from the company got to sit in on our union meetings. Nor, did we get to sit in on theirs. And, they certainly did not get to help vote on our union leaders, nor we on theirs.

FDR said it made no sense to have government unions, because the members get to vote on the politicians who will give them stuff to get their vote.

And, it also makes no sense for people making $30,000 a year and who have to pay most of their own health care and pension plans to be taxed to pay lifetime healthcare and pensions to people who are/were making much more.

We are out of money, period. It makes no sense to imagine we can continue to tax and spend as we have for the last 50 years. There is no special interest group which is going to accept the fact that the public trough is running dry.

I have said I think Social Security should be paid only as money comes in. I get paid too much, as strange as that sounds, and I am saving for a time when they can’t pay me that much. And, those who have stolen from the SS fund for 75 years, by “borrowing” money they can never pay back, should be dug up and tortured. Ahem.