2021 Chevy Tahoe for $80 grand. I don't care how much leather you put in it, it's still a Chevy, and will be full of rust in a couple years. I assumed the only Chevy that could be priced this high was some wildly modified version of Camero. Seriously, what is the world coming to?
But wait, there's more!
A 2020 Ford F-150 for $78 grand. I did not know such a thing could exist, and thought the $60 grand Tundras were insane—but were the high water mark, regardless. What should be the cheapest of vehicles, a tool needed for work, is now some hyper-inflated symbol of toxic masculinity build on a foundation of raw, fragile ego.
I cannot believe the SUV and truck markets. Where does it stop?
The new LC500's are $110k+, so the most expensive is still, technically, a Lexus.
But yes...people who pay that much for a truck....that they will only use to go A to B in on pavement to their office job....need their heads examined.
Vehicles have always been used by most people as an extension of self-image (for better or worse), so nothing new there.
But yes, government overspending HAS led to rampant inflation and an increase in vehicle prices.
You pay that much, and they still have reliability/durability issues plus lack of customer service. Yeah, I’ll pass on those.
It's not the dealer's fault; it's the market. SUV and truck prices were stupid before COVID. Now, they are crazy trains.
Speaking of used vehicles, I'm realizing that I prefer them to new ones, because the sudden onrush of technology can be a bit much. I liked when the most complicated thing in a vehicle was the radio.
"it's not the dealers fault" yeah... Righttttt. Ask any big business what is the most important thing to em. They will lie to you and say customer service but that's a BS response that means give us your money. Truck prices new have always been insane. Ever seen the price of a F250+? And people and companies still buy em. I relation to the current market, the worst inflation current is the used market for cars (depending on the cars up to a 50% increase in value now). I got a 2019 Camry for a sold $20k total, tax, licences, and a 7 year warrenty included when it only had 6k miles at the time of purchase. But everywhere else that refused to barter with me (dealerships) all wanted ludacris numbers, anywhere from 35k totals to 24k for a used 2018 55k mile version of my current car. Stealership man. Every single one of em.
you better believe dealers are going to use the opportunity to make money.
"Oh, you don't like the price of this truck? Well this is the last one, and the guy behind you has been waiting for weeks. Have a nice day!"
Well, I meant that it is not the dealer's fault insofar as the market is in upheaval and every single dealer is marking up vehicles to stupid levels. That said, it did not appear that the Lexus dealers were marking up as high as were other dealerships in my area. I did not see a 50% markup over retail on a used Accord, for example, and I actually did compare asking prices to normal retail and wholesale prices.
Another difference is that I did not see vehicles that were unsafe to drive at the local Lexus dealers, as I did at local Honda, GMC and Toyota dealers around Indianapolis.
I would not claim this the case everywhere—just in my area, and my experience wasn't wildly extensive.
It's true that no car dealer, new or used, is to be trusted, ever. They will all lie and mislead for a sale. Some are more predacious than others.