New Cars And Why They Cost More Every Year - Everything Else

According to internetautoguide, the corolla still has the same drag coefficient of the 98's .31 and the 03's .30

Can't just go by numbers - as it only shows one aspect. Even so, the show exactly what I said earlier - the 8th gen have a little more drag than the 9th gen, even though the 9th gen are slightly bigger. Not just in the numbers - just take a look at teh bottom of a 9th gen vs the 8th gen - 9th gen looks pretty flat (not a lot of stuff hanging down, places to disrupt air flow).

Not to mention the price!!

Not a whole lot people can do about that. As they add more safety related equipment, refinement, and performance - the price will naturally go up. Not to mention the growing cost of living. When my son gets out of college - I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of an new "economy" car will set you back $30K. Hopefully, I can keep my current cars running that long - as long as they keep passing inspection and still safe to drive, they will make an excellent starting car for him.

1,424 posts

Fish is right about new cars getting more expensive all the time. People expect more and more out of cars all the time. My Mom's RX-7 was a good example. She bought a Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE with every option. It was a nice car, really hot interior with leather, power seat, tape player, manual sunroof, awesome acceleration, legendary handling, top notch tires, brakes, etc. She kept it two years and traded it off on another RX-7 GSL-SE. This one cost a lot more. But, it had a sunroof that was now electrically operated in both the tilt and retract instead of a manual tilt and remove sunroof. It also had 2 more speakers and a lot higher powered amp for the stereo and the stereo equipment was now high end Clarion stuff and not Mazda no-name junk. A fully automatic power antenna replaced a semi automatic one. The leather on the seats was a lot nicer, it was standard on that trim and not optional, the seats had more adjustment and the bolsters were better. The tires were Perillis instead of Bridgestones, the wheels were larger and lighter. The suspension was improved, the brakes were bigger. The pop up headlights actually worked right all the time.

You can't make all those improvements to a car, improvements that make the car nicer, improvements that the customers expect and demand, you can't make them without raising the price.

Bikeman982

Fish is right about new cars getting more expensive all the time. People expect more and more out of cars all the time. My Mom's RX-7 was a good example. She bought a Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE with every option. It was a nice car, really hot interior with leather, power seat, tape player, manual sunroof, awesome acceleration, legendary handling, top notch tires, brakes, etc. She kept it two years and traded it off on another RX-7 GSL-SE. This one cost a lot more. But, it had a sunroof that was now electrically operated in both the tilt and retract instead of a manual tilt and remove sunroof. It also had 2 more speakers and a lot higher powered amp for the stereo and the stereo equipment was now high end Clarion stuff and not Mazda no-name junk. A fully automatic power antenna replaced a semi automatic one. The leather on the seats was a lot nicer, it was standard on that trim and not optional, the seats had more adjustment and the bolsters were better. The tires were Perillis instead of Bridgestones, the wheels were larger and lighter. The suspension was improved, the brakes were bigger. The pop up headlights actually worked right all the time.
You can't make all those improvements to a car, improvements that make the car nicer, improvements that the customers expect and demand, you can't make them without raising the price.

That's true - a lot of the options become standard equipment. They also change things just for the sake of change.

Sometimes they look at what people do to modify their cars and incorporate those changes into their next design.

They may even do surveys and polls to see what people want and like most.

Either way, change is costly and is passed on to the consumer.

1,424 posts

This is a new topic so we can discuss this topic without cluttering up Twinky's thread about forced induction options for the 1ZZ-FE.

That's true - a lot of the options become standard equipment. They also change things just for the sake of change.Sometimes they look at what people do to modify their cars and incorporate those changes into their next design.

They may even do surveys and polls to see what people want and like most.
Either way, change is costly and is passed on to the consumer.

Options do become standard equipment and this actually lowers the price of the car line overall. It reduces production complexity and therefore production cost. This savings is passed along to the consumer. As in, you can get a car with poer windows for less the year after it was made standard than you could when you had to buy it as an option. It is true that many times common mods are incorporated into later designs. This usually increases price, but these things are usually optional. I'm personally not adverse to change. I like it and I think that changes justify price increases. If they want to charge 3k more for a 2007 350Z than for a 2006 350Z but the 2007 has better performance in the handling, braking and acceleration departments and comes with a better appointed interior and higher end audio systems, I have no problem with it. Improvements warrant higher prices in my book, especially when they take a great car over the top.

Bikeman982

This is a new topic so we can discuss this topic without cluttering up Twinky's thread about forced induction options for the 1ZZ-FE.
That's true - a lot of the options become standard equipment. They also change things just for the sake of change.
Sometimes they look at what people do to modify their cars and incorporate those changes into their next design.
They may even do surveys and polls to see what people want and like most.
Either way, change is costly and is passed on to the consumer.
Options do become standard equipment and this actually lowers the price of the car line overall. It reduces production complexity and therefore production cost. This savings is passed along to the consumer. As in, you can get a car with poer windows for less the year after it was made standard than you could when you had to buy it as an option. It is true that many times common mods are incorporated into later designs. This usually increases price, but these things are usually optional. I'm personally not adverse to change. I like it and I think that changes justify price increases. If they want to charge 3k more for a 2007 350Z than for a 2006 350Z but the 2007 has better performance in the handling, braking and acceleration departments and comes with a better appointed interior and higher end audio systems, I have no problem with it. Improvements warrant higher prices in my book, especially when they take a great car over the top.

I don't have a problem with changes - they are inevitable and part of the planned obsolescence of older models. I just don't like all the changes. I prefer performance enhancing and fuel efficiency improvements, as well as handling, braking and accelerating changes. As far as the high prices - I can't afford the new cars on my pay - I have to wait until they get depreciated and sold again. I don't have any debt and don't plan on going into debt because of a car. They may be great, but they aren't worth my peace of mind.

In relation to a person's salary, I don't think cars are any more expensive now than they were back in the 60's. Actually, they are probably cheaper because overall they should require less maintenance and last longer, as well as not rusting out in two years.

I remember my grade 6 teacher telling me many (MANY) years ago that failing a year at school is like throwing a new car away. Just hypothetically speaking...if you had nothing else to pay for all year, then a year's wage after taxes would be equal to a new car (for the average wagearner).

I do know my daughter works at Chrysler in Brampton, Ont and (AS A STUDENT) started at $30/$45/$60 an hour depending on straight time or overtime. No wonder the Pontiac Vibe costs more than the Toyota Matrix.

Dunno about what happens elsewhere, but in australia since 1980 average wages have gone up by a factor of 5, whilst other prices have gone up a factor of 3. The price of a new holden commodore has gone up about the same as wages - factor of 5. Whilst certain items like electronic goods and appliances cost the same as they did in 1980, real estate has gon up about 7-fold. Petrol is up about 4-fold.

You will find in terms of overall value, cars are far better value than what they were in, say, 1986. In 1986, to get a car that had the same features as a 06 corolla you would need to get youself into maybe a mercedes 190e at over $50k... today's corolla has the same performance as a 1987 4cyl camry, whilst using less petrol, being safer and being much cleaner.

Materials costs are increasing and the dollar is dropping like a stone. I think inflation is actually lagging. I would buy things now (save houses) in anticipation of more severe price increases.

Bikeman982

There is no doubt that the automobiles have changed thru the years. As far as the prices - it depends on what you buy.

If everyone started using public transportation, riding a motorcycle, carpooling, bicycling, or walking - the cost of a car would go down - supply and demand principle.

1,424 posts

There is no doubt that the automobiles have changed thru the years. As far as the prices - it depends on what you buy.If everyone started using public transportation, riding a motorcycle, carpooling, bicycling, or walking - the cost of a car would go down - supply and demand principle.

Ahh, that's a cute idea. Over 80% of America doesn't have any type of public transportation whatsoever. The areas that do are usually in large cities and in cities like Detroit, no one rides public transportation for fear of being assulted, raped or robbed. Motorcycles are impratical. They only seat 2 at most, you get wet when it rains, you can't ride them in snow, and they are dangerous. You are something like 10 times more likely to have life threatning injuries after a minor accident than you would in a car. Bicycling and Walking are nice ideas, if you live less than a mile from work, school, the grocery store, etc. In many areas of America this isn't the case for most of any rural or suburban population. Carpooling sounds like a good idea, until you realize that it severly cuts your freedom to go where you want, when you want because everything is too far away to walk or bicycle.

Your ideas are nice, for Europe. They don't work so well here where we don't integrate housing, shoping, and jobs into the same areas a lot of the time. Or where people work 20, 30, 50 miles from where they live.

I thank my lucky stars that I started out on a motorcycle on my 16th birthday (legally that is). The idea is not to get hit by some idiot or by not driving like an idiot. Starting out on a bike taught me survival skills and most importantly..defensive driving.

Bikeman982

I thank my lucky stars that I started out on a motorcycle on my 16th birthday (legally that is). The idea is not to get hit by some idiot or by not driving like an idiot. Starting out on a bike taught me survival skills and most importantly..defensive driving.

You are lucky. The majority of accidents happen (statistically) to young males who think they are invulnerable and don't have great judgment - especially when showing off to friends.

Motorcycles are inherently dangerous and the operator especially vulnerable. Could be weather , road conditions or other drivers.

I taught motorcycle safety for five years with the Air Force and also for the state of California.

I always say there are two kinds of riders - "Those that have been down and those that are going down".. I have had numerous M/C accidents myself, but fortunately nothing deadly - at least for me.