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.)

  • Steeve@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Don’t worry, if you can’t afford it in cash you can always take out an 84 month loan at 6.5% if you’re lucky, so it’s actually only ~$25,000, or 3,448.3 hours/86.2 40hr weeks!

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yes that seems very reasonable. Also why the fuck are you buying a new car on min wage lol

      I make about 8x the min wage and I would still probably never buy a new car.

      • IonAddis@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Covid fucked up the car market pretty bad for several years and it’s only NOW just barely recovering. People were selling used cars for more than they bought them new. And used shitty cars that used to go for cheap are going for premium prices.

        If you’re going to pay out the nose anyway, it starts to make a lot of sense to get something new because it’s both cheaper and you’ll know the full history and have the full warranty.