At a time when Americans increasingly want pricey SUVs and trucks rather than small cars, the Mirage remains the lone new vehicle whose average sale price is under 20 grand — a figure that once marked a kind of unofficial threshold of affordability. With prices — new and used — having soared since the pandemic, $20,000 is no longer much of a starting point for a new car.
This current version of the Mirage, which reached U.S. dealerships a decade ago, sold for an average of $19,205 last month, according to data from Cox Automotive. (Though a few other new models have starting prices under $20,000, their actual purchase prices, with options and shipping, exceed that figure.)
Americans sure love wasting money.
Nope. This is all driven by the car companies. They can get higher margins on large vehicles.
But is it? Even the few small models available aren’t selling. If this were being forced on us, the few economy models would be in high demand but it seems to be the opposite. What is going on in the American psyche? I don’t understand it.
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Unfortunately you might be right about this. It’s a difficult problem to fix.
Lololol just blame everyone but they market! I can walk into a Subaru or Nissan dealership today and buy a no frills car for under 20k (despite the false headline). People willfully choose to spend more on features.
I live in a car manufacturing city. I don’t work in the industry but have plenty of friends and acquaintances who do. Have 2nd hand stories of high level managers giving speeches where they literally say they are focusing on trucks and SUVs because the margins are better.
Oh don’t get me wrong, trucks and SUVs ARE the focus. They just aren’t the only option. I can point out like 5 sedans under 20k with availability. People matter the choice to buy bigger and with more features. There market represents it by making more of them. But you still have plenty of choices.
Go try. Last time I had to buy a car they wanted 3k over sticker. The market has been a nightmare for years.
Right? People can’t seem to cope with the fact that Americans want bigger cars.
Not just Americans. SUVs (less so trucks) are huge sellers in Europe as well.
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I don’t think you hate telling people that.
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‘Enjoy’ is probably a better term.
That’s why I bought an 18-year-old Porsche. I’m a sly one.
You’re supporting a local mechanics shop at this point
I have a recurring service appointment every two weeks where I drop off the car and throw a stack of money at them.
Actually, it’s a reliable car, but the previous owner ignored a few big service items. Now that those are done, it’s cheaper to maintain than you might think.
You have any recommendations on how to find a good range EV used?
Sit down and wait? Yeah that’s not great
Build one of those custom jobs that runs on fry oil?
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It’s still cheap, only 20x the minimum wage
At least if you consider that in my country the cheapest is 50x the minimum wage
The minimum wage is not $1,000 anywhere in the United States.
At the absolute worst min wage, the car is 2x the minimum wage.
Yearly vs monthly wage.
if the new mirage is like the old one id rather have used anyway.
The 1995 Mirage was one of the most fun cars I’ve ever owned, I’d take it over any newer model.
And with a jiggler it’s an easy one to take!
A fucking Mirage? That’s even worse.
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Difference is that the number they’re looking at is the average sales price. There is a big difference between starting price for a bare-bones option without fees and actual sales price across the model line.
What’s the Nissan versa going for? I thought it was supposed to be cheap as balls too?
Fuck Nissan and their shitty transmissions
Detroit thanks Biden for standing behind trumps China trade war or else the American consumers may have been able to get a new EV at half that cost.
“Average sales price” what a shitty headline, but hey gotta soak that karma somewhere.
Consumers are choosing expensive vehicles and companies are responding. Stop blaming everyone else but the rampant over spending on features.
You poor bastard.
When your choices are made for you, you have no choice.
Blah blah blah, everybody but my own fault. You do have a choice. Instead of buying the model with 50 different features, you can buy the one with plain cloth and 5 inch shitty screen. But you won’t because you want ACC, heated seats, and cameras everywhere.
Edit:
Shipping all the Mitsubishis for sale.
Big “millennials and their avocado toast” energy
Lol apparently having AC in your car is a privilege and not a basic feature… It’s 2023 and it’s just getting hotter, I want AC sorry
Pretty sure AC is standard in most (all?) cars sold here so I expect he’ll start trashing us for “spending extra” on motorized windows next
No car comes with AN OPTION for AC. He is kinda right you know. No car on the market has equipment so basic it would be unlivable. All come with central locking ac, electric windows, ps, most come with cruise. I can see drivetrain options, but spending 19 grand optioning up a Mirage is just mad.
Oh God I realized you literally have no idea what ACC is and you think it’s AC 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Confidentlyincorrect material right there 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What is inaccurate? Care to speak up about what you think I’m wrong about here? You don’t think I can go out and find you a list of base model cars for under 20k?
That’s the core of your argument. Why wasn’t that the very first thing you did?
