Average U.S. vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer
Average U.S. vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer
With an average U.S. new-vehicle selling price of just over $45,000 last month, many can’t afford to buy new — even though prices are down more than $2,000 from the peak in December of 2022, according to J.D. Power.
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Great news. Cars are lasting longer these days. Only late stage capitalism could spin that as a bad thing.
Right? They portray it as a problem rather than as a sign that cars have finally hit the point where they're not dramatically improving in reliability, safety, and efficiency nearly as quickly anymore. That is not a bad thing really.
For capitalists, a healthy used market is a bad thing. Captial requires continuous production to make returns on itself.
One of the few things anymore that has a really strong used market besides cars is housing, so the capitalists switched their investment from developing new housing to vacuuming up the existing stock to instead collect rent and increase the value of their portfolio.
Safety is still improving. There are quite a bit more safety features in average cars than 12 years ago. Blind spot detection, collision warnings, brake assist, lane departure, rearview cameras, pedestrian detection, more airbags, driver attention warnings, etc.
A lot of those features were more often available in luxury cars, but they are becoming standard everywhere.
Yes, but the difference in safety over 12 years from a 2000 -> 2012 is much bigger than 2012 -> 2024. There are a lot more features now to stop a crash from occurring, but in terms of crash safety which is what a lot of people consider in buying a car, the difference is much less.
Wrapped myself around a telephone pole several years ago in a 2013 SUV and didn't have a scratch on me. Crumple zones are one of the greatest inventions of the past few decades.
Saying cars aren't improving in reliability, safety, and efficiency anymore is a bit of a simplification given the massive upheaval underway as the industry electrifies. BEVs are a massive step change in efficiency. My takeaway is just that shortages during COVID increased prices, coupled with inflation and high interest rates making the payments mind boggingly stupid as people are squeezed financially. I wish it was people driving less and riding ebikes more, but not sure any data points to that.