Am I missing something here on car payments?

[BehindBlueI's]

You missed my point. Regardless of pay, who do you know that wants to sit on a production line and put soles on shoes, or paint lips on barbie dolls?

Pay is what it is for a lot of reasons. You can't lay it all on the back of the CEO. People want their 9mm ammo for $10 a box and will buy it from whomever gets close to that number, whether it comes from Croatia, Mexico, or the US.

I got your point. It's not "follow your passion" work. But that's the majority of jobs. Who wants to run a cash register? Push a broom? Replumb a septic main?

Now, who wants money? So there is no regardless of pay. People work instead of play to get paid.



And frankly, if you read my post as "all on the backs of CEO" or not considering price pressure, I don't think we can effectively communicate on the topic.

[Borderland]

I need a new truck soon, what are you driving that gets that MPG?

My 4R only gets 22 mph avg. and it could be considered a light truck with a V6. Inquiring minds want to know.

[BehindBlueI's]

I need a new truck soon, what are you driving that gets that MPG?

2WD Ford F-150 with Powerboost hybrid power train or the 2.7L both sticker at 26mpg highway, 24 combined, FWIW.

[DDTSGM]

IDK if I'd say dividends, specifically, but I do think it's fair to criticize fund managers for basically driving the entire market toward chasing short term goals.

It seems like every earnings call is full of analysts, each one probably responsible for dozens of companies, who show up and grill the CEOs on the good/bad quarter. They don't know much about the underlying industry or business, just the top line numbers. EPS, revenue, profit, Consistent Quarters and then casting some chicken bones about whether or not next quarter will be good or bad.

They roll that up after their dozen or whatever earnings calls and then the fund manager who has a portfolio of a bunch of largely unrelated companies with a bunch of people who sat in on a bunch of calls puts their magic numbers in some fancy regression model and off it goes. Green is good. Red is bad. Cash out your holdings when the model says the numbers are as green as they're going to get then rinse and repeat.

That might not seem like a charitable read on the overall market, but it's hard to walk away with any other conclusion than "nobody's actually invested in the long term growth of the company." Everything is a buy-low-sell-high get-rich-quick scheme; LBO, pump and dump, whatever. Drive the numbers up as high as you can and cash out while everyone else is holding the bag. Because that model seems to work pretty well short term and that's all anyone cares about.

Obviously, you know what you are talking about, much better than my effort.

[Wise_A]

I need a new truck soon, what are you driving that gets that MPG?

2WD Ford F-150 with Powerboost hybrid power train or the 2.7L both sticker at 26mpg highway, 24 combined, FWIW

AWD F150 w/ Powerboost, Lariat-High. I get 23 on short 10-mile highway runs, 26 for longer 50-mile trips. It's happiest cruising 40-50 on country roads.

I don't think the 3.5L EB or the V8 would be that far behind. It's not about what you drive, so long as it's newer, just how you drive it. Treat the brakes like they burn your soul, and get off the gas. Learn to coast.

[camel]

I dunno about sensible automobiles, but there’s few things worse than making payments on a cat you hate!

What that little video doesn’t talk about is the price of the car and how much down was paid. Sounds like they bought high dollar vehicles with zero down.

Auto prices are constantly being driven up by technological widgets such as adaptive cruise control, traction control, anti lock brakes, voice controls, back up cameras, anti collision brakes, lane control, fly by wire throttle control and do on. Prices are also driven up by government mandated MPG ratings. On top of all this is it’s impossible to negotiate the price. The best deal a buyer can hope to make is MSRP. Right now, one of the most desirable Jeeps is the 392 Wrangler with the Recon package. I dunno the actual price, but I believe the base 392 is $80k. Buyers are talking about buying lift kits and other mods they want to get started on as soon as they take delivery.

I dunno how they do it. I wish I did cuz I’d like to be able to live like that!

2WD Ford F-150 with Powerboost hybrid power train or the 2.7L both sticker at 26mpg highway, 24 combined, FWIW.

In my experience with those models. The mpg doesn’t match the cost of maintenance because dumbfucks do not know how to maintain a vehicle.

[BehindBlueI's]

In my experience with those models. The mpg doesn’t match the cost of maintenance because dumbfucks do not know how to maintain a vehicle.

I am very hesitant to buy a used turbo'd vehicle unless very low miles and preferably with service records and a sworn affidavidit the previous owner was not a dumbfuck.

[camel]

Wait until you have to deal with the start stop feature. Takes a different battery. It needs an enhanced flooded at least.

[Trigger]

I can’t disagree with anything that anybody here has said about the foolish wisdom of large car payments, hi interest rates, 84 month terms, and small down payments on a rapidly depreciating asset.

But I’m also going to look at frugality from a different perspective. If you scrimp and save starting in your teens and 20s, work hard and live a life of moderation frequented with savings and investment, eventually you should be able to retire comfortably, if not luxuriously. But, you might be too old at that point to enjoy the fruits of your savings and frugality. So at what point do you decide “I have enough money set aside, that I can afford to spoil myself with a nice car, or a nice boat” or a similar frivolous, impractical expense?

I agree with the concept of balance and satisfice (that which is sufficient to satisfy). I think we should live our lives in balance. And I agree that a $1500 car payment in your 20s or 30s is pretty foolish. Yes, a good argument can be made for a low interest rate loan, a big down payment, and leaving the savings in an investment, rather than paying cash for a car or truck. But I also don’t begrudge people buying a nice sports car, boat, or airplane as a little payback for a life filled with hard work and some uncertainty.

[Joe in PNG]

Following up on some of the previous comments, I kind of wonder if the unprecedented prosperity of the post WWII years made a lot of unsustainable cultural ideas about living and family briefly possible. That people can be totally separated from their families and thrive; or that kids can successfully be raised by single parents; or other similar ideas.

And if we are seeing the inevitable end of that.