How do new Jeep owners afford them?

A $1k vehicle payment, plus mortgage, plus whatever the cost of living is, I do often wonder how people afford things.

Thankfully we have no vehicle debt. My wife's KL, a '15 with 90k miles and my '12 F150 with 80k should both last a very long time. I dont see either of us with a new vehicle any time soon
 
The math seems off here to me, but...

Short answer: people are okay with massive levels of debt...

Long answer: It's easy to understand why almost 85% of new cars are financed: the average price of a a new car is ~$46,000 with an average note of ~70 months. Car payments have become so ubiquitous that having a payment is the norm. Americans have ~$1,200,000,000,000 (that's trillion!) in auto loans and every year for decades the auto industry has set new collective debt records. And that's not even the worst part - the past 10 years specifically has seen massive debt level rises: +59% since 2011.

With essentially predatory lending at nearly every turn, coupled with capitalism-turned-corporatism, it should come as no surprise that American Life has a massive love affair with debt. The majority of my friends who have new cars have all financed them. Not only are they financed, they all expect to have a car payment, and not for the duration of this car - but for the rest of their working life, they expect to be be making one, and maybe two, car payments each month.

I wish I got a dollar for everytime a friend or Jeeping buddy has found out my income and were not only shocked, but appalled that I don't have a car that I finance! I almost bought a new Power Wagon when COVID first hit and was only considering financing b/c they were giving 0% interest for 84 months - a crazy way to "inflation proof" a purchase as a consumer. At the end of the day, I put that money into investments and made considerable gains. The way the used market is right now, I probably would have broke even with the Power Wagon but I just wasn't comfortable taking out a note of that size, even with zero interest.

mrblaine said:
Guessing you missed the sticker on one of the new Jeep Wagoneer Series III then? They've got one Mike saw with a sticker of 111,000. No Jeep ever made is worth that.
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Especially with cockeyed emblems...

https://jalopnik.com/look-at-this-hilariously-crooked-jeep-wagoneer-badge-1848254340
 
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I remember when the '97 TJs first hit the lots. One of the dealerships local to me had a stripped down SE, no radio or carpet, for $12,000. Things have come a long way.
 
zackcj7 said:
I remember when the '97 TJs first hit the lots. One of the dealerships local to me had a stripped down SE, no radio or carpet, for $12,000. Things have come a long way.
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Indeed...
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I'll take a few base model JLs for $21,000 :)

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While I'm at it, I'll take a few JLURs for $36,000 :ROFLMAO:
 
chimmike said:
People are paying cash for homes now because prices are so high, they can't finance because the homes won't appraise to asking price.
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You're not wrong that homes won't often appraise for these crazy values, but the cash buyers are primarily investment types that are often foreign if not just a hedge fund. You'll see them sit empty a while fairly often. Not just average people trying to get into a house.
 
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So yeah remember the great recession? Running up to that in 2006 all my friends were buying houses, cars, trucks and boats and making outrageous payments. I was running ba computer consulting business and a couple of my clients were mortgage brokers and architects and real estate brokers. Saw a lot of what was going on.

My parents bought their house in '73 for $50k in a swanky new bay area subdivision. They refinanced every couple of years and retired with a $2700 mortgage payment per month.

I bought my first house in 01 and quickly refinanced into a 15 year loan...we'd almost paid it off when we moved to Oregon and bought 17 acres with the cash. Couldn't buy property without cash so nothing was selling so we low balled the offer by 60k and they took it.

I'm not spending 1k on a car or truck payment. I'll keep fixing my Jeep and 2001 Ford F250.

My wife...well...she put a deposit down on a Rivian...so I might not win.

-Mac
 
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The few new trucks we've bought came with question #1 from the sales scumbags. "How much a month can you afford" I typically would play dumb and ask how much are the payments gonna be with X down then add it up over the years with interest. Then laugh at the crooks. IMO I dont think people really care what the total cost will be in the end, just if the monthly cost is doable. Last new truck I bought was a 07 Silverado 2500 which was $24,000 OTD. When their getting 100K + for a PU or 70K for a Bronco now....never again even if I won the lottery.
 
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rasband said:
You're not wrong that homes won't often appraise for these crazy values, but the cash buyers are primarily investment types that are often foreign if not just a hedge fund. You'll see them sit empty a while fairly often. Not just average people trying to get into a house.
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Aside from the every growing awful traffic, this was one of the main reasons we left Arizona... Here was the house we were interested in and put an offer on. Listed in Jan 2021 for $475k, sold in 3 days for $550k (all cash!), now it's ~$700k in value. This is just a regular house - less than 1700 sq-ft on only 1/3 acre. And no - nothing inside was gold plated lol... This one happened to be purchased by Californians leaving the state - but there were two others we were looking at that were snatched up by investors.

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rasband said:
You're not wrong that homes won't often appraise for these crazy values, but the cash buyers are primarily investment types that are often foreign if not just a hedge fund. You'll see them sit empty a while fairly often. Not just average people trying to get into a house.
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When we were selling our house, we had an "investor" give us an offer that was $10k below asking and a rent back of $2k/month:rolleyes: Our realtor said it was an individual who would just turn it into a rental right away.
 
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Gilaguy23 said:
The few new trucks we've bought came with question #1 from the sales scumbags. "How much a month can you afford" I typically would play dumb and ask how much are the payments gonna be with X down then add it up over the years with interest. Then laugh at the crooks. IMO I dont think people really care what the total cost will be in the end, just if the monthly cost is doable. Last new truck I bought was a 07 Silverado 2500 which was $24,000 OTD. When their getting 100K + for a PU or 70K for a Bronco now....never again even if I won the lottery.
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I had the same conversation with a dealer when I bought my last truck. Over the phone I asked him to give me his best OTD price and we would worry about the details when I arrived. They also gave me a trade estimate. I had them email it to me.

When I showed up, it caused a lot of confusion. I wanted all they promised and the promo 0% financing.

The salesman said, "0% is only for 36 months, your payment will be pretty big".

He had a hard time swallowing my trade in ($40K value) was paid for. I handed him the lien release and he ran the numbers. My payment is $400 a month for 36 months.

This guys said the majority of buyers have marginal credit, put very little down, and leave upside down. Many trade up while upside down and pay the price with gap insurance. He seemed to have a conscience about it but sad "its my job to find a way to make it work, even if its a bad financial decision".
 
rasband said:
You're not wrong that homes won't often appraise for these crazy values, but the cash buyers are primarily investment types that are often foreign if not just a hedge fund. You'll see them sit empty a while fairly often. Not just average people trying to get into a house.
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down here, it's mostly folks from up north who sold at ridiculous prices and want to move down here.
then complain about the traffic, poor infrastructure, and trash...but refuse to pay more taxes towards fixing all those things...
 
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Pokahpolice said:
Suggesting the government needs more income to solve problems is like suggesting fat kids eat more cake to lose weight.
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it's a well-known fact that everything infrastructure-related and more in the south, especially FL, suffers because of piss poor planning coupled with tax rates too low to support keeping up with the growth.

You're from Maine. You have zero idea what it's like here now. Spend some time on Florida roads. Experience the hell that is traffic and unbridled growth.
 
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Jeep prices have been high since the introduction of the TJ. Kind of hard to believe, but' here's the sticker price on a 1998 Sport that had a fair number of good options......

View attachment 298955

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I often wonder the same thing. Fancy big Jeeps everywhere here in Sarasota driven by young women. A salesman friend once told me that most buyers are over their heads with huge payments..Glad my wife grew up poor, and would never cry for a super expensive vehicle. We are very well off in our late fifties because like many of you we pay our bills every month with no interest. Even at 21/2 percent interest is a lot on thirty grand.
 
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Irun said:
Jeep prices have been high since the introduction of the TJ. Kind of hard to believe, but' here's the sticker price on a 1998 Sport that had

View attachment 298956
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I wanna see the rest of that window sticker now!

$6000 in options in 1998 seems crazy - that was 1/3 the cost of the Jeep and more than the $$ in options that I wanted on the 2020 Power Wagon I was considering lol
 
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