Too much crap built into new cars nowdays !!
 

Who needs all this crap built into cars nowdays? Sensors for this, sensors for that, computers for this, computers for that. Most problems I have seen with cars nowdays, are these problems with sensors and computers. The modern cars seem like they would run forever if they didn't have this junk!

In the 60's you could buy a Corvette for $3000, a TV for $300, and a house for $10,000
Now a Corvette costs a 100,000, a TV is still $300, and a house you can get for less than a Corvette, Silverado, and a Mustang that sold for $2400, in 65 is now 50 grand !!!

I refuse to buy a new vehicle!

Keep in mind:
- You have regular inflation in the economy.
- Items that were once luxury are now standard, power steering, power brakes, power windows, power door locks, remote keyess entry, remote start, air conditioning. These also contribute to increasing the base cost of a vehicle.
- The want for better sound systems, phone integration, back up cameras and other modern features.
- The level of engineering in a modern car today goes beyond that of the 50's and 60's. Some of that engineering:
---- such as it was at one point stylish and thought to help aerodynamics to put "fins" on cars, those eventually went away).
---- safety features, some as old as the seat belt, or design changes for crumple zones, air bags (which require sensors), some have warnings when you are drifting into other lanes (which require more sensors, and I know it can be argued the driver should pay more attention, but this happens and therefore here comes a safety feature).
---- Creature comforts, heated/air conditioned seats (more wires, sensors and computer controls), dual climate heat/AC, heated steering wheels, eliminating vacuum control on HVAC and leveraging electronic controls (this can be argued either way, but I kinda like NOT having vacuum lines for interior car features).
---- More testing than done on cars of the past. Some of these test also have some expensive test equipment required to do the testing.
---- Engineering newer solutions, such as more efficient brakes for higher power cars or how to squeeze more power out of a car.
---- Improved engine management to get more MPGs, more HP/Torque, less harmful emissions. This is where various sensors like the MAF, O2's and a host of others come together and are used by the car's computer/PCM. And some of these new findings for these elements require understanding and controlling more data from how the engine is running. Working with a tuning device I have and seeing all the different things the PCM does for my 2004 Monte is a wild trip of information.

All of this dumps into the cost of a modern car. We can then get a little more crazy.... How about when cars where introduced to parallel park themselves? Or self driving cars? To accomplish those SciFi-like tricks require more computers and more sensors and more engineering and ultimately more cost.

Just some food for thought. There are multiple reasons in the bucket of why cars have so much technology in them and why the costs keep increasing. My friend still has a 94 Formula Firebird he bought brand new and we recently learned my 2004 Monte Carlo was more expensive when it was new (I am the second owner of my Monte) than his Firebird. 10 years of inflation and a few little seen changes.

I have nothing against classic cars. Love a LOT of them. My 84 Camaro is such a simple car compared to my Monte. Heck, the owner's manual for the '84 Camaro is smaller than the sales brochure for my 2004 Monte!!! But the Camaro has far less safety features and far less features in general (it doesn't even have a cup holder). And you go to cars in the 50's/60's and they are even simpler.

I think a lot of the options on the new vehicles are actually helpful . I recently purchased a 2018 Centennial Silverado as my 2016 was a actual lemon. Keep in mind this is my wife's truck because I work construction and prefer trashing my car . The truck has all the bells and whistles except the sunroof . She really likes the lane asaist and cameras that help her out on when pulling in the garage. She claims that she feels safer driving this than the prior truck. My biggest complement is that this truck gets better gas mileage than my last one. Between it's average mileage and it's best recorded mileage I'm getting 21 mpg average out of a 6.2 liter 420hp engine on the highway compared to the 5.3 liter 355hp that averaged 19 in my last truck. Don't hear of many non sensored vehicles pulling them numbers. I'm not saying all options are needed or required but some just make sense. That's my 2 cents on this subject.

I vote to keep my money in my pocket too. My old 4cyl. 81 jeep will get me everywhere I want to go and most places the newer ones go. A friend of mine is dropping about $750 a month on his 2019 F150, plus full coverage insurance. Every 2 months he pays that is a house payment for me. Sucks to go through life wanting what is new, but then the time in ones life eventually shows up, and they will realize its time to drop out of the rat race and call it good and enjoy what we have. Is it not amazing seeing hundreds of new and used car lots everywhere. Automotive debt is I believe the 3rd largest debt behind mortgages and student loans. Buy buy buy spend spend spend. reminds me of the movie by John Carpenter "They Live" where Rowdy Roddy Piper finds these sun glasses and when put on reveals all the bill boards subliminal messages Consume, Buy , Spend. I mean who will buy all these new cars trucks trailers motorhomes razors 4x4s tvs phones, bends the mind

I completely agree, cost of cars are way up there. I was only dragging out some of the points as to why. By the same, there are still cheap new cars, as I understand KIAs fall into much of that. But the issue is, we have the appetite for things found in higher cost new cars. Me personally, I have yet to own a new car. I have always leveraged the used car market to get a heck of a nice car that I enjoy for a huge reduction in cost.

As for your 81 Jeep, you are lucky to have something that age and still able to use it reliably. Such as where I am at, north eastern Ohio, unless it is a summer only car, rust claims all cars. For many of us, we eventually have to buy something newer.

yes you are correct I was off point. It does seem like the only thing newer cars are missing is a good old coffee pot to use while ones car gets them to work. I like the way you think about the used car market. Wait 5 years and pick up a low mile one owner some elderly gentleman or lady is trading in and you are thousands ahead, that is if you like your hard earned money more than driving around in the latest and greatest thing on wheels. My friend with the 2019 F150 traded in his 2017 F150 on it. And the troubling fact to me is he barely has two quarters to rub together. Always robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Since your 60s price was for a base model, a new base c7 sticker right now is $55k, not $100k, and with the C8 coming, there are good deals and incentives to be had to push that down even further. Certainly that's more than just the delta from inflation alone, but you've got a few things to thank for that:
-the government - for continuing to impose more rules and regulations on the vehicles (which force things to be added such as airbags, backup camera, etc)
-the lawyers - as society becomes more and more sue happy, the car manufacturers have to account for the cost of them both for up front CYA stuff and for defending all the cases brought against them. That ultimately gets rolled into the cost of the cars.
-the consumer - for generally being a materialistic society that always wants more. People already cry about the "awful" interior on the vette, could you imagine if they sold a stripped down version with truly the bare minimum of comforts?

There is always the option to go buy a bare bones Kia, Senta, Spark, etc to get the minimum amount of required new tech.


I'm also not sure where you'd get a new house for less than a new vette today unless you set the bar really low with your expectations and find an area with dirt cheap land. Near most major metro areas, you'd be lucky to get an empty lot barely big enough to build a house on for $50k.

Also, I know people like to romanticize older cars be it nostalgia from owning one 50 years ago or just hearing the hype around them but to be honest, they're worse than modern cars in almost every measurable aspect. Worse power, mpg, braking, handling, fit & finish, etc etc. Plus, the later you get in the old car timeline, the worse they get. My wife's SUV would easily walk a late c3 / early c4.