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.
If love is code for being forced to by horrible corporations that can do whatever they want because we have no consumer protections at all. Yup. If you mean buying cars, we kind of have to. Public transit is a joke outside like 3-4 major cities. I remember my first job out of college, had a light rail stop within biking distance from home and one right outside the office. Looked into riding it. Near 2 hours each way, multiple transfers. 20 minute car drive.
Big difference between buying a small car and buying a tank that costs twice as much and burns twice the fuel.
I feel like you don’t understand that, in addition to the transportation shortfalls from the comment above, people are also stuck buying whatever vehicle they can afford, which oftentimes are the tanks you describe, which unfortunately have the aftermarket values that fall into lower earners’ price range.
Short of that, I challenge you to get a popular rapper to talk about their pimped out Prius.
Lolololol you give me a zip code I’ll find you a car cheaper than a truck. What an absurd excuse.
I drive and EV, who said anything about a truck?
Who’s talking about trucks?
I have an 02 VW Golf diesel. My coworkers are constantly asking why I don’t get a new car. My TDi will still be running when I’m six feet under, I’ll never give it up.
There is some truth to this but small cars have been selling poorly for years now. I’m sure marketing campaigns are at play here but surely some people are capable of seeing through those. Why does no one buy small, affordable, efficient cars anymore? It’s baffling to me.
Nope. This is all driven by the car companies. They can get higher margins on large vehicles.
Also they’re barely offering sedans any more- except for high performance things
They’re all cross overs and “SUVs” and “pickups”
Barely offer sedans? Only if you specifically mean American manufacturers. Toyota, Nissan, Subaru and Honda all offer multiple sedan models. Claiming there aren’t any sedan models out there is just pure nonsense.
The fuel economy regulations are more forgiving for larger vehicles. Since the manufacturers fail at making efficient engines, they just make larger vehicles to get a passing rating. This is why small trucks no longer exist and an F150 is now the size of an elephant.
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.
Extreme wealth inequality causes Muricans to be the most insecure people on the planet. Understand this and you’ll also understand all the other stupid shit we are infamous for.
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.