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.)
At the current minimum wage ($7.25), it’s takes 2.757.6 hours or nearly 70 40-hour weeks to reach $20,000.
That is over 1.3 years of full time work to equal the one “cheap” car option. And it completely ignores any other costs, like taxes and interest, let alone god-damn housing, food, medical bills, etc.
This economic system is fucked. If you’re not fighting for income and wealth equality, you’re sociopathic.
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That’s why, if you or someone you know doesn’t make enough, you get a used car. Brand new cars are such a waste of money. With that being said, prices across almost everything today is still fucked in the US with housing definitely being the worst offender.
I make enough and I drive a 2007 accord. Fuck paying for a new car.
This assumes no home, food, or fun outside of work beyond daydreaming.
If you are minimum wage there’s no way you are getting full time hours. Minimum wage employers will only schedule works for 20 hours a week to ensure they won’t get close to getting benefits.
minimum wage is too low
Very reasonable take. I’m here for it.
all jobs should be compensated equally and wealth should be distributed equally
Hard pass.
Communists should take a long, hard look at how well communism has worked elsewhere. Capitalism has many problems, and wealth inequality is one of them, but it’s the economic system that has worked best so far. The fact is that my surgeon should earn a lot more than my gardener.
Really, the problem stems from the idea of wealth in general. To use a Communist structure like that would require eliminating the concept of non-tangible “wealth” entirely. Because otherwise you get the kind of incongruencies that you describe.
It’s hard though, right? Without wealth, how do you value the work of others? It used to be done by bartering. Or perhaps people did it because they were good at it, and didn’t mind helping out. People worked together.
Obviously this doesn’t fit in the modern era, when people generally work specifically to earn money, rather than for some general purpose. People probably aren’t going to want to do the job they already have in exchange for nothing but goodwill. They have to have a purpose. Our purpose in Capitalism (unless you are very lucky) is to earn Wealth so we can continue to exist, and as a guiding philosophy that does a decent enough job for most people.
how do you value the work of others? It used to be done by bartering. Or perhaps people did it because they were good at it, and didn’t mind helping out. People worked together.
You’re romanticizing an era that never existed. Even if we can build such an economy, it’s absurdly impractical in a modern, complex world. Sure, if we only had to build homes, hunt, and make babies that’s fine, but too many modern necessities, such as sanitation, require a reward beyond being good at it or helping out.
Yes, this was my exact point. Money is how we quantify the value of effort in the modern era. It’s why Communism will never work with our current framework. They are fundamentally incompatible. Our purpose in life is to make money, we cannot just start giving everyone equal quantities of it — life would be meaningless. It requires a paradigm shift on how we value effort.
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Alright bub. You tried buying a car in the last 3 years?
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
You mean the used ones that will need a battery replacement in the near future?
This has been debunked
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2030 is more than 5 years from now.
People who need cars can’t wait 7 years to buy one.
Also, fuck Tesla. Fucking death traps.
Not only that, the new technology will be pretty expensive initially. I say wait another 5 years for prices to come down.
I’ve been waiting for aptera, but I think my current vehicle will finish falling apart before they finally come out. I’m going to look for a battery replacement on a bolt.
Leasing is terrible, I’ll pay much much more over the lifetime of the vehicle. I can afford the money, I just don’t want anything expensive or fancy.
A fucking Mirage? That’s even worse.
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.
How are people up voting this. Can people not do 1st grade basic math? This is just incorrect
Maybe the car is 0 dollars then the math checks out.
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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.
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Mid 20k is a bit higher than “under 20k” though right?
…so get the base model.
Oh, but I get it. You aren’t looking for solutions. You are just looking to complain. Got it!
I hope China can flood the market with cheap EVs.
I hope the Chinese do a better job at it than the Vietnamese have. Vinfast cars are awful.
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
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?
