Sticker shock....!!!

[joemd11]

Read a feature story on the new 2015 Suburban in Motor Trend this morning...it said a loaded LTZ 4WD would have a sticker price of $71,385....for a HALF TON model. Back in early Y2K I paid $34,830 for a 3/4 ton Yukon XL SLT with every possible factory option. I was earning $18.26 an hour back then and I thought that was good money...but it truthfully baffles me how the average Joe today is going to able to afford a new truck that costs close to $71,000 after tax even with a GM discount. Oh, just so you know how I old I must be...back in '71 when I got my first full time job, my first new set of wheels was a '73 Nova...only $3185 out the door. I wanted the loaded Suburban they had on the floor but that was $5380...out of my price range.

My biased opinion is that GM loads up new vehicles with features like Forward Collision Alert, Front Automatic Braking, Front/Rear Park Assist, Side Blind Zone Alert with Lane Change Alert, Glass Breakage Sensors, Interior Motion Sensors, Magnetic Ride, etc, etc, etc. to justify jacking up the sticker prices. And it's not just GM that adds more and more useless redundant trouble prone electronic crap that a careful driver will never really need. I'm going to run my Y2K model into the ground.

Thanks for listening.

In 1972 my dad ordered a new Nova from the dealer. He got a 2 door with the 6 cyl engine and 3 on the tree transmission. The only options he ordered were an a.m. radio and rear window defroster. No carpeting, just a rubber floor cover and vinyl seats. I think it was around $2900.00 as ordered. He drove it for several years and then gave it to my sister who put many miles on it. My dad then sold it to someone who worked in the same plant that he did and that guy drove it for many years. That car had well over 250k miles on it before rust made it unsafe to drive. Simple car that was bullet proof.

 

[JDgreen227]

Oh trust me I know what sticker shock is all about! Trucks are insane these days! So are used ones! I still can't believe I bought a $45000 truck. I looked and looked and looked at used but just never found what I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay. Don't get me wrong I am happy as can be with my 2014 Z71 but it ain't no $45k truck by no means. At least not in my opinion. This truck should cost at most $38-39 TOPS. Maybe I'm just a cheap son of a gun.lol

No, you are not cheap. What amazes me is that GM adds a steel roof and rear glass to a pickup body and chassis along with the required seats, climate control systems, safety belts and airbags, then they jack up the price $30,000. There is NO WAY adding that much to an already loaded pickup costs them anywhere near that much.

 

[buickanddeere]

Try living in a part of the country where replacing a vehicle at 10-15 years is required because it's rusted through.

 

[ultrarunner]

The more I read about new vehicles the more content I am with my 85 van and 91 pickup...

The sales tax alone at 10% on a new truck is more than my truck is worth... then there is the insurance, license, etc...

Better hold on because price inflation is here... across the board at the hospital we are seeing across the board price increases in just about every area... only thing flat is wages and the only thing less is reimbursements...

Look for a lot of squeeze to come.

 

[ultrarunner]

Try living in a part of the country where replacing a vehicle at 10-15 years is required because it's rusted through.

I think this is why my vehicles last so long... the 85 is just showing some sheet metal rust on the roof and the 91 is still pristine... both have lived outside in the brutal Bay Area climate for decades... (Humour)

 

[JDgreen227]

I think this is why my vehicles last so long... the 85 is just showing some sheet metal rust on the roof and the 91 is still pristine... both have lived outside in the brutal Bay Area climate for decades... (Humour)

I live in the rust belt area of central Michigan and although my GMC was Zeibarted when new, I have never been back for touch ups, but I DO take super good care of it and keep the salt off as much as possible in the cold months by going to a car wash. Automakers have made great strides in rustproofing, I recall seeing 1975 cars that were rusted out in 3 or 4 years...about the time the payment book was empty.

 

[tcartwri]

 

[two_bit_score]

Agreed. Load 'em up for all of the impulse buyers. I normally order my vehicles as well. We generally keep ours for a long time, so I want to get it exactly the way I want it.

Too many are not concerned with the actual cash price because they never even consider it. All they want to know is 'how much a month'? Used to be 36 was the outside now 72 months is common and 84 is catching up. Wont be long before people are financing cars/trucks for 96 months.

 

[fordmantpw]

Too many are not concerned with the actual cash price because they never even consider it. All they want to know is 'how much a month'? Used to be 36 was the outside now 72 months is common and 84 is catching up. Wont be long before people are financing cars/trucks for 96 months.

Yeah, that drives me crazy when I'm looking at new cars and the salesman asks "so, what are you looking to spend a month?" I just want to walk away right then and there!

 

[two_bit_score]

Yeah, that drives me crazy when I'm looking at new cars and the salesman asks "so, what are you looking to spend a month?" I just want to walk away right then and there!

I always know I'm probably looking at a sucker when I hear someone bragging about how the salesman 'worked to get them into a new car for the same payment as they were paying'. Almost guaranteed they rolled over a deficit and took on more debt.